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About The voice. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1946-195? | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 1946)
THE VOICE A NEGRO WEEKLY “Dedicated to the promotion of the cultural, social and spiritual life of a great people” Rev. Melvin L. Shakespeare Publisher and Owner n?25 S Street Phone 5-6491 If no answer call 5-7508 Rubie W. Shakespeare Advertising & Business Manager Mrs. Joe Green Circulation Mgr. Dorothy Green Reporter Rev. Trago T. McWilliams, Sr. Special Writer Joseph V. Casmer Special Writer Member of the Assoc. Negro Press Subscription rate $2.00 per year 10c per copy y HOW SHALL WE BEGIN? The secret of success in many adventures is a good beginning. And how to make a success of the coming year, for many of us, will largely depend on how we begin it. Like a new and unexplored country it lies before us all un known. What perils and dangers, or what joys and triumphs it may reveal, we cannot tell. What op portunities for progress, for use fulness and service to humanity; what new fields of endeavor, what possibilities of good or evil, what victories and defeats the new year may bring to us, not one of us knows. How shall we begin? We shall begin as creation began, with God. If the coming year is to have any real meaning or pur pose, any worth or dignity; if it is to lead us to any goal worth while, to any loftier level of man hood or womanhood, then He who is the source of all life and the inspiration of all noble living— God—must stand with us on the very threshold of the year and step out with us on its undis covered highways. “Keep me, my God, for my boat is so small and Thy ocean so wide,” was the prayer of an old sailor. And it is in the spirit of that prayer that you and I should face this next year. The expanse of the next twelve months is so wide and so deep, and our little boat is so small; the storms of trouble and sorrow are so great, the tides of opposi tion so strong, the shoals of temp tation and reefs of danger so many, that you and I can never hope to make the harbor in safe ty unless tiie Great Pilot Himself has hold of the helm. In the beginning, God! And on to the end, God! F. R. L. "NEGRO IN AMERICA" Editors Note: The following arti cle was contributed by Mr. Robert T. Malone, president of the Urban League and is taken from the “Yours sincerely” column by James W. Ivy of New York City. Dear George Cokker: I shall answer your question on the “Negro in America” through citation of pertinent facts and statistics. I hope in this way to etch in the portrait of our larg est American minority. Negroes in the United States constitute roughly about 15 mil lion citizens, or 9.8 percent of our total population. Brought here in the 17th and 18th centuries as chattle slaves to furish a needed labor supply for a virgin country, they were freed after a bitter civil war, and given full citizen ship status only 78 years ago with the adoption of the 14th amend ment to our federal constitution. Our Negroes are still largely a southern rural folk, with more than 77 percent of them still re siding in the former slave-holding states of the south. It is here that the so-called Negro problem is most acute and the incongruities sharpest, for life in the south is bi-racial. But there are growing progres sive elements among the southern whites who are working to better race relations and to improve the status of the Negro. They are fighting to eliminate the poll tax, to abolish lynching, to better the schools, to widen Negro suffrage, and to unionize the South. Since their emancipation 81 years ago, Negroes have reduced their illiteracy from 81.4 percent in 1890 to less than 8 percent in 1946. More than 40,000 are enrolled in institutions of higher learning, and the number of college gradu ates has jumped from 313 in 1879 to more than 5,000 in 1946. There are 7 million Negro church members, mostly Protest ant; 128 Negro hospitals; and 155 Negro newspapers with a com | bined circulation of over 2 million Though most Negro labor is un skilled, they now constitute 4.4 percent of American skilled craft smen. In the mechanical and manufacturing trades nearly 30 percent of them belong to trade unions . Their banks have com bined resources of 11 million dol lars, and retail sales from 30 thousand Negro business estab lishments total more than 80 mil lion dollars annually. The com bined annual purchasing power of American Negroes is estimated at twelve billion dollars. During the war just closed, 511,493 Negro troops served over seas in the various theatres of operation. Our Negroes with the help of white friends and sympathizers are daily fighting for full equality and first-class citizenship. They have little of that sad serenity of acquiescence so often extolled in song and story. Yours sincerely, James W. Ivy . --A - HONOLULU JOTTINGS by John Miller Honolulu ^ December 18, 1946 Dear Readers: This column has been dedicated to you for your reading pleasure. Those of you who would like your news printed will please contact Mr. Ruffus Mallory at B. Q. 43, Apt. 310 CHA No. 3, Hono lulu 59. Hawaii. Note: all your news must be of general interest and of good £aste. The editor re serves the right to reject any letters or make any deletions as may be deemed necessary by his judgment. The editor wants you to know that the sole purpose of “The Voice” is to promote better welfare among men and to make good things better. It is a re quisite that all news items be sent in with your name and ad dress as evidence of good faith. Almost a foundling last Thurs day night was 7 year old Fabiola Butler of New Orleans, La., who arrived at John Rodgers Air Port expecting to meet her parents whom she hadn’t seen in 3 years. Fabiola had boarded the plane earlier in the day at San Fran cisco but when a telegram was delayed, her parents failed to meet her. They were located in CHA No. 3 by the Police .and rushed to the Air Port. Among other recent arrivals here are Mrs. Hosea Townsend and chil dren, Rolland, Beverly, and Janet aged 6, 7, and 8 respectively. The Townsends formerly of Newton, Kansas plan to make Honolulu their home. Among those leaving this week for the States is Mr. Clifford Minor of Tulsa, Oklahoma where he has a wife and two children. The list also included Mr. Ralph Jackson of Detroit, Michigan as well as others whose names are omitted for lack of space. To all of you who are sailing The Voice wishes you a Bon Voyage, happy landing and God bless you all. -lr.. OPEN LETTER To Our Subscribers in Honolulu We acknowledge with grateful appreciation your letters of com mendation ^and subscriptions to "The Voice.” We shall be happy to receive and publish articles of interest to you and our readers. Should you want the papers to be sent “air mail” each week an additional 4c per copy or $2.08 per year will be the cost; other wise you will receive each issue through the regular channels. Your continued cooperation will be appreciated. Very truly yours, Publisher and Owner Rev. M. L. Shakespeare BOB’S MARKET F. K. Fulton Fresh Fruits fc Vegetables New Location — 201 So. 10th JOHNSON SUPPLY & COAL CO. “The Home of Good Coal” 2-7236932 No. 23rd GOX PLUMBING & HEATING CO., Inc. , Retail Plumbing and Heating Supplies, Contracting and Repairs Licensed Insured Plumbers Phone 2-3077 140 No. 14th HILTNER FLORAL GO. "FLOWERS FOR ALL OCCASIONS" 2-2775 135 So. 12 * BEAL BROS. 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