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About The monitor. (Omaha, Neb.) 1915-1928 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 1925)
The Monitor A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED PRIMARILY TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY AT OMAHA, NEBRASKA, BY THE MONITOR PUBLISHING COMPANY Entered as Second-Class Mail Matter July 2. 1915, at the Postoffice at Omaha. Nebraska, under the Act of March 3, 1879 THE REV. JOHN AL»*HT WILLIAM!.....Editor W. W. MOSELY. Lincoln. Nob_Associate Editor LUCINDA W. WILLIAMS__Builnei Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES. *2.00 A YEAR; »1.25 6 MONTHS; 75c 3 MONTHS Advertising Rate* Furnished Upon Application Address, The Monitor, Postoffice Box 1204, Omaha, Neb. Telephone WEbster 4243 _ .. ,4 j; ARTICLE XIV, CONSTITUTION OF THE ; UNITED STATES V i » y Citizenship Rights Not to Be Abridged < j 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States. ■ > ! and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the 1 > ;; United States and of the State wherein they reside. No J | ' state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the ; \ \ privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor ! |; shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or prop- ; 1 > erty without due process of law, nor deny to any person ; \ I within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. i> 41 I ; I I THE PRESIDENTS SPEECH PRESIDENT COOLIDGE'S address to the American Legion was a timely mes sage which the country needs. Its truths will be laid to heart and heeded by all who love America. It is a sagacious, sound and statesmanlike slogan to America to save her soul. That salvation lies along the pathway indicated by Calvin Coolidge in his great charge and challenge to the American Legion and through them to the whole nation. Recognition of the rights of all, toler ance, righteousness, justice, truth and serv ice are keynotes of this great message. Hia main thesis that diversity is the law of progress and tolerance the inner and true spirit of Americanism, needs frequent re petition in these hectic and hysterical times of fixity of type, after a very nar row pattern, and intolerance, racial and religious. This is the real heart of his message. That America is composed of various nationalities and race types, all of whom made their contribution to American life, is strikingly emphasized in the address. The president makes it quite plain that no special group has a monopoly on pa triotism and that America belongs to all who are true to the law of the land. He would have America first but he re minds us, which should jar us out of our national self-conceit, that our task is to make America first, before she really can be first among the nations. Well does he say, “We can only make America first in the true sense which that means by cul tivating a spirit of friendship and good will. by the exercise of the virtues of pa tience and forbearance and by being ‘plenteous in mercy’ and through progress at home and helpfulness abroad standing as an example of real service to human ity.” His call for a mobilization of conscience and a demobilization of racial antagonisms, fears, hatreds and suspicions not only as a national, but as an international policy,puts emphasis upon the right place for bring ing in an era of peace. The speech is a clarion call to America to save her own soul and help save the souls of sister na tions throughout the world. THE LEGION CONVENTION WELL, the long-expected and loudly heralded American Legion Convention has come and by the time these words shall have reached our readers will have ended. How much good it will have brought to our city may be a subject of debate. It has certainly given Omaha and Nebraska wide publicity and extensive advertising. Not only the city, but the nation, have been wonderfully benefited by the timely words of President Coolidge. Of the serious work of the Legion convention, we are not in a position to speak, but that it has a serious and noble side cannot be doubted and its legislation will have a far-reaching influence. To the man on the street, the horse play and carnival spirit so prevalent, seemed to overshadow and dominate its more earnest and real purpose. Taken as a whole the Legion naires. due consideration being made for the ebulition incident to the holiday spirit, were quite well behaved. Their noise and din and harmless fun worried no one but the constitutionally grouchy. There were, however, wilful and inexcusable flaunting of the law in the matter of openly drink ing intoxicating liquor on the streets and in public places and gambling, “crap shooting”, or “African golf’—generally considered to be an occupation of certain gentlemen of color—in hotel lobbies and on the streets which could not and did not add to the reputation of the American Legion as upholders of law and the Con stitution. SHOULD JOIN THE LEGION ONE THING that has impressed us in connection with the American Legion con vention is the almost negligible represen tation of our own group. There doubtless is some reason for this. We will not at tempt to analyze the cause or causes for the lack of interest taken by Negro ex service men in the American Legion. We simply note the fact. We believe, how ever, that inasmuch as the American Le gion has high ideals and earnest purposes and is wielding and will wield a tremen dous influence in the affairs of the country our ex-service men should get in and do their full share in helping to put the pro gram over. We gain nothing by remain ing on the outside and apart from great social movements of this kind. We lose vastly by a spirit of aloofness. We hope therefore that an active campaign will be waged by the broad-visioned ex-service men, who realizing the value of the serv ice that can be rendered by the Leegion ! have allied themselves with it. to enlist ' their comrades in this great organization I which will play such an important part in ' national affairs. HOW WAS it that so much liquor got into Omaha before the convention of the American Legion and evidently prepara tory fee it? Where were the vigilant law enforcing officers? Somebody was asleep or ajourneying. FIE UPON THEE, gentleman, it was supposed that the colored brother had a monopoly on the art of “rolling the bones”; hut say he is not in it for a minute with the white skins. OMAHA can be justly proud of the man ner in which she took care of the Legion. Roosevelt Post, the largest colored post in the world, and our own citizens did their part in making our guests welcome. What is the Mediterranean Race?—H. J. L.. Lima, Ohio. “Mediterranean” is a term applied to those peoples bordering upon the Mediter ranean Sea. English and American scien tists have tried to claim that these peoples were a branch of the white race, but it is not true. The entire southern and north ern coast of the Mediterranean was set tled at different times by colonists from Africa and from them came the dark skins and curling hair. Sergi of Italy is the greatest authority upon the Mediter ranean race and he proves them of African descent. These races include the Spanish, Italian and Grecian peoples and the peo ples of hither Asia. ;; f I; THE NEGRO’S CONTRIBUTION NOT NEGLIGIBLE | '' y A moment’s thought will easily convince open-minded .j. • persons that the contribution of the Negro to American £ I > nationality as slave, freedman and citizen was far from £ < - negligible. No element of American life has so subtly and *{* •< > yet clearly woven itself into warp and woof of our thinking £ < • and acting as the American Negro. He came with the first % <> explorers and helped in exploration. His labor was from £ • ■ the first the foundation of the American prosperity and £ ;; the cause of the rapid growth of the new world in social and £ ;; economic importance. Modern democracy rests not simply £ <; on the striving white men in Europe and America but also % ; on the persistent struggle of the black men in America for y ; two centuries. The military defense of this land has de- £ ' ; pended upon Negro soldiers from the time of the Colonial £ ; wars down to the struggle of the World War. Not only does £ \ the Negro apperr, reappear and persist in American litera- £ ; ture hut a Negro American literature has arisen of deep y ' significance, and Negro folk lore and music are among the £ ! choicest heritages of this land. Finally the Negro has played 2 ; a peculiar spiritual role in America as a sort of living, x » breathing test of our ideals and an example of the faith. £ ! hope and tolerance of our religion.—Du Bois, "The Gift of % Black Folk.” | ‘ ..ooeoeoooooeeeeeeeeoeoeooeeoeeeoooooooooo j NEGRO SCHOOLS TO STUDY 1 IN FRENCH THE STORY OF TOUSSAINT LOUVERTURE Dr. G. R. Simpson has done the race a | great favor in editing for school purposes Gragnon-Laceste's biography of Toussaint Louverture. the Negro soldier, statesman and martyr of Haiti. Here we have a val uable book subserving a double purpose. It facilitates the study of a foreign lan 1 guage by presenting matter of immediate I interest to the Negro student. At the same time it supplies him with valuable information about one of the greatest fig ures in history regardless of his color. This book, then, meets a long felt need; ; for what stimulus can there come to a I Negro student of French when he reads of i the deeds of Louis the XIV, or to the Ne I gro student of history if he is to restrict ! himself altogether to the study of Caesar, ! Napoleon and Gladstone? In this story, however, one will not find propaganda. It is merely the narrative of i the unusual deeds of an exceptional man. With little opportunity for development, the hero of the story made himself a leader of men. Against tremendous odds he hurled his ill equipped soldiers at the mil itary force of France, representing the proudest blood of Europe. He humiliat ingly defeated' these Frenchmen, and laid the foundation of an independent republic. No story is more fascinating than this. Few writers have written a narrative as gripping as this of Toussaint Louverture. the warrior, the hero, the savior of his country. To appreciate the worth of this man and the importance of drawing upon his career for impressive lessons to develop the char acter of the Negro youth, one cannot do better than bear in mind these words of Wendell Phillips: "I would call him Na poleon, but Napoleon made his way to em pire over broken oaths and a sea of blood. This man never broke his word. ‘No Re taliation’ was his great motto and the rule of his life; and the last words uttered to his son in France were these: ‘My boy, you will one day go back to San Domingo; forget that France murdered your father." j I would call him Cromwell, but Cromwell was only a soldier, and the state he founded went down with him into his ] grave; I would call him Washington, but the great Virginian held slaves. This man 1 risked his empire rather than permit the slave trade in the humble villages of his ’ dominions. Fifty years hence, when truth gets a hearing, the muse of history will put Phocion for the Greeks. Ilrutus for the Romans, Hampton for England, Fayette 5 for France, choose Washington as the bright consummate flower of our earlier civilization, and John Brown as the ripe fruit of our noon-day; then, dipping her pen in the sunlight, will write in the clear blue, above them all, the name of the soldier, the statesman, the martry, Tous saint Louverture." The book is well printed and neatly bound. It contains a useful map of Haiti. It has a number of exercises for composi tion and conversation in French and also a useful vocabulary. It is a handy volume containing 139 pages, sold for $1.10 by the Associates! Publishers. 1538 Ninth St., N. W., Washington, D. C. I COLORFUL NEWS MOVIES * By the Cameramen of Presston News Service. Move! But Where? How? If, merely because of prejudice, a black tenant can be made to move out of a city block, upon that same theory he can be made to move out of that city, out of that state, out of that country, leaving naught hut debris of that time-honored principle that a man's home is his castle. Visionary though it may seem, this is just exactly what could eventually happen to everyone of us who, like Samuel A. Browne, of Staten Island. N. Y., or Harry T. Pratt, of Baltimore, Md„ as well as countless oth ers might seek to establish homes in ac cordance with #ie individual tastes and desires of a man’s own choice. This type of prejudice, just like the bootlegging game, laughs at both law and all the j ethics of intelligent society. Even as we | go to press word comes from Detroit of a . race riot, ‘'caused,” says the United (white) ; Press, “by the moving of a black family into a white neighborhood.” Concurrently, : Browne received another notice to “move out” from Castleton Hill, where he sought, with his family, to enjoy the net returns j of his honest toil in the public service, i But should Browne move, who can say but j that he, and you and I might in years Hence be asked to quit the only soil we've \ ever known, in order to appease the sacredness of the white man’s world, as j prescribed by the bigots and the “hour- j geois” of America. This home problem of the black man. vho seeks to select his own homesite, i the “Gettysburg” of the race’s social en deavor; and like the Gettysburg of Abra ham Lincoln's time goes to the heart of the American question of whether a na tion conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal can long endure. The black man of America has lived and endured too long here amid America's joys and sorrows rom Gettysburg to Flanders Field to now i lie pushed and kicked out of the block, out of the city, out of the state and out of the country. There must be a stopping off place somewhere, and it might as well be in the block. Otherwise, the Pacific or the Atlantic oceans seem to fie the safety zone of our ultimate destination. Hence, it appears to be our move NOT TO MOVE and this GOES FOR STATEN ISLAND, BALTIMORE, DETROIT AND ANY OTHER LOCALITIES whose guardi ans are too holy to observe the simple sacredness of a man’s homesite, selected by himself as a tribute to intelligence and the lessons of civilization. Let us exhaust our resources to uphold Lincoln’s Gettys burg philosophies, lest some, instead of all, of the people prescribe the rules of Government and the boundary lines of homes. I I i -—-— The Monitor Is Fighting YOUR BATTLES—BOOST IT! i- -- ■ II Why Pay Rent When Rent Wont Stay Paid? | I will exchange what you have for what you want. I £ will build you a new house to your specification for your X old one. I can sell you good homes ranging from $50 down X to $150. For further information see f | A. J. DAVIS | % 2221 North 24th Street, Jewell Building f f WEBSTER 2900 EVENINGS WEBSTER 0839 } »»»»«»»»»♦♦»♦»♦♦»♦♦»♦♦♦♦♦»«»♦»♦»»»»»»♦»»♦♦»»»»»»»♦♦»» Dreamland Cafe THE LAST WORD IN ELEGANCE f f AND SERVICE | 1' Serving the BEST of everything. Ice Cream, Candies, Soft y :: Drinks, Sodas and HOME COOKED MEALS X < * _ x f DOLLY THOMPSON, Proprietor X I !! - \ ,. Jewell Building 24th and Grant Streets £ WANTED Wide Awake Boys to Sell The Monitor in Omaha, South Omaha and Council Bluffs Call Webster 4243 or apply at 1119 No. 21st Street J WATERS ( BARNHART PRINTING CO. ^Ss-8 I / ;; EMERSON’S LAUNDRY f J ; The Laundry That Suita AH < • > 1301 No. 24th St Web. 0820 III | Reid-Duffy I £ PHARMACY | FREE DELIVERY $ & Phone Web. 0609 $ J 24th and I.ake Streets | | OMAHA, NEB. & $ f To Buy a Home Call ;; I Metcalfe | y Company f Ground Floor 203 So. 19th St., At 5415 *-x~x^x~x*<x~X”X~x. EVER-STRATE HAIR '; ;; DRESSING ;; | ‘ Special Treatment for Robbed Hair • > MRS. C. C JOHNSON !! 1515 No. 26th St. Web. 19B4 ] | Quality Meats Poultry & Fish □ Alwayti Get from | | Jas. A. Riha Successor to Fred \&. Marsh & Co. 2003 Cuming—JAckson 3834 j “The Fire in j The Flint” I : :; The Great Race Novel of the Day i -By | | WALTER F. WHITE I | :: ,. - <> <. * ► A thrilling story depicting race conditions in ths it South. < > | ’ Critical book reviewers pronounce it a master- <• piece. 11 Should be read by EVERY AMERICAN, Black It or White. «> |; • ■ _ ■ ’ *« ;; \\ $2.50 A COPY I; jC • * * r :|: For Sale by The Monitor and the Omaha Branch | of the N. A. A. C. P. f I ♦ y ... y $ 24th and Decatur Sta. Phone WEbster 5802 £ | I. LEVY, Druggist | FREE DELIVERY f | CENOL & MYERS AGENCY ? £ | We Have It $ , j , . . . . ........ Y .r rrr-rvrWY l i £ YOU CAN HAVE THE KIND OF JOB YOU £ | ARE LOOKING FOR | r by listing your name and telephone number with £ 1 1 1 O | ALFRED JONES ! i V Catering and Employment Office I 1322 DODGE STREET ^ | ... r n n 10 M H(i 0 u f I LET US PAY YOU 0^ ON SAVINGS i -We Treat You Right STATE SAYINGS & LOAN ASSOCIATION PATRONIZE THE STATE FBRNITNRE CO. I Corner 14th and Dodge Streets Tel. JACKSON LH7 i H“d~ BRUNSWICK