— - LIFTING- \\ /I \T I r I ^ Tl GROWING -LI F T T O O I ■ ■ ■ I ■ ■ ■ ■ -T HANK YOU A NATIONAL WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor _ ■ _ ^ $2.00 a Year. 5c a Copy OMAHA, NEBRASKA, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1923 Whole Number 434 Vol. IX—No. 18 N GRO HCE ENTERING INTO IG BUSINESS RACIAL VIEWPOINT NOW UNDERGOING RADICAL CHANGE Commercial and Economic Aspect Re garded As Important Agency In Race Prosperity In America. ECONOMIC CONSCIINSNESS Prominent Group of Leaders Surren der Successful Professional Careers To Enter Field of Business. Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 2. — Race pro gress along economic lines has so challenged the thought and attention I of a group of prominent race leaders in the South that it has given birth to an economic viewpoint which bids fair to becoming a revolutionizing agent in j raising the status of the Colored peo-' pie in this country. The responsibility j for the birth of this new viewpoint is credited to a group of men now en gaged in the conduct of the affairs of three giant corporations in Atlanta, Georgia, having recently given up pro fessional careers to help shape the in dustrial destiny of the Negro. Among the important members of this group are: Dr. W. F. Boddie, who surrendered a medical career with a lucrative practice in a thriving South ern Georgia city to come to Atlanta to serve as cashier and treasurer of the Citizens Trust Company. Dr. Boddie was shortly followed by Dr. A. M. Wilkins, who after having for twenty five years successfully pursued his dental profession in Griffin, Georgia, gave it up to enter the business world as vice-president of the same corpooa tion. These men are now part of a notable group which includes a large number of young college-trained men who have abandoned the teaching and other professions in many of the large cities of the country so as to help put over the ambitious program of the. Standard Citizens Service group in Atlanta. Among these younger men may be mentioned John K. Pinkett and Joseph H. B. Evans, formerly teachers in the Sumner High School of St. Ixmis, Missouri; David D. Jones, who recent-1 ly gave up the work as Executive secretary of the St. Louis Y. M. C. A.; and Oscar C. Brown, who had just, opened law offices in Indianapolis. Dr. Boddie very forcefully sets forth] this new viewpoint in a statement which discusses in detail what part a fundamental economic program will play in the progress of the Negro in America. In the opinion of Dr. Boddie, the fundamental weakness of the Colored people in America is the lack of an economic viewpoint. This is brought out very clearly in our rela-1 tions with other groups. The most profound changes are taking place as a result of this fact. In the South, es pecially in the rural sections, whole areas are being depopulated and the resultant effect will be more far reaching than it is possible at this time to estimate. “One cause of this condition,” Dr. Boddie says, “is that as a group we have never been considered by other groups as an integral part of the economic life of this country. In the past it has been largely a matter of exploitation, due to our inability to; see clearly that their manifest inter-; est was mainly for personal gain. We have possibly never felt before so keenly the need of an economic view point.’OUR LEADERS HAVE GIVEN THEIR FIRST CONSIDERATION TO RELIGION, EDUCATION AND POL ITICS, BUT LITTLE TO ECON OMICS." “Today, our practical elimination in every phase of American life is due to the fact that we have failed to re cognize that the economic group view point is absolutely essential to recog nition in the affairs of our country. WE HAVE BEEN SEGREGATED RELIGIOUSLY, EDUCATIONALLY, AND POLITICALLY, BUT NO DIS CRIMINATION HAVE WE SHOWN FOR OURSELVES ECONOMICAL LY. WE ARE THE ONLY GROUP IN AMERICAN LIFE WHOSE ECONOMIC RESERVES ARE GIV EN TO THE CONTROL OF OTHER GROUPS." Dr. Boddie asserts that in America there is an economic group conscious ness which is so rigid as to practical ly exclude every group which does not have one. Only groups which have this economic consciousness are main taining their place in American civili sation. Since the economic factor is so essential for other groups or races in their struggle for equal advantages for the members of their group, it stands to reason that it would be equally advantageous for us to at least begins to ponder, confer and de vise ways and means by which pro paganda may be disseminated through our racial group that would, in the course of time, grow and crystalize in to a concept that would become so em bedded in the minds and actions of our people that an economic racial solidarity would result that would make us stand out on the horizon of races as do the Hebrew children of the world. “In this country,” according to Dr. Boddie, “every group save our own, controls its own economic reserves. The Jewish race in America, and as it ] is constituted in all sections of world civilization, is a concrete illustration of a racial group without a country, virtually dictating the affairs of the world economically, because of the mastery of their resources. We can only get and maintain a place in American economic life by and through our own efforts.” "To develop an economic viewpoint, the essential thing is that the leaders of the thought of our group should teach racial economic group con sciousness. This should be taught to develop in us not a hatred of other races, but that we might forge for our group a weapon for our advantage to be added to our religious, educational and political armamentarium in furth ering equality of opportunity for our selves. We need to teach practical co operation of the masses of our peo ple, with each other, by each other and for each other.” “In laying the foundation for our economic development, insurance or ganizations, banks and trust compa nies, are the first institutions which should be built. The insurance organ izations to gather the money reserves] of our group and at the same time give them that protection which is es sential to the buttressing of invest-! ments. The banks and trust companies to act as reservoirs for the accumu lation of these reserves of capital, and for the proper safeguarding and intel ligent care of our estates. Along with these, we should have grocery stores, meat markets, clothing stores, manu facturing establishments, and in fact all of those commercial enterprises! which have made the Anglo-Saxon, the predominate factor in the world today. "The task of the co-operation of the masses of our group will not be easy to accomplish, due to the fact that our reserves of capital are all i held by the opposite groups, and these! groups have the bulk of our patron- j age. WE MUST LEARN AS A GROUP NOT TO EXPECT CONSID ERATION BECAUSE WE ARE BLACK, BUT FOR THE REASON THAT WE ARE RENDERING THEj SAME SERVICE FOR THE SAME MONEY.” -- N. A. A. r. P. arranges FOR PRINTING HOUSTON MARTYRS’ PETITIONS New York, November 3.—It is an nounced by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peo ple at 69 Fifth Avenue, New York City, that the National Office will arrange for the printing of the petitions to be used in gathering signatures asking •he release of the fifty-four men of the Twentyfourth Infantry confined In I.eavenworth prison for the use of in dividuals and those organizations which desire the petitions only in small quantities. This the National Office has arranged to do for reasons of economy. Therefore, those organ izations which desire only limited quantities of the petitions may secure them at the rale of one cent a sheet, approximately one half the cost of printing and mailing, by sending an order and the amount necessary to cover the same to the N. A. A. C. P. These orders will be turned over to the printers at New York and filled as promptly as possible. Larger organizations are following the original plan and having their peti tions printed locally, but the N. A. A. C. P. feels that the above outlined plan will be a convenience to smaller or ghntzatlons and to individuals. The N. A. A. C. P. reports that there has never been any cause which has been entered into with such whole hearted enthusiasm as the campaign to free these men. The Methodist Episcopal Church through Bishop R. E. Jones Is distributing petitions among Its churches; the Knights of Pythias of North America, etc., thru Supreme Chancellor S. W. Green, and thru their grand chancellors are cir culating more than five thousand peti tions (each petition having space for sixty slgnaturea); the Citizens Club of Berkley, Norfolk, Va., has unanimous r Big Events in the Lives of Little Men IPJI II I nf ARApDfr /rt w (Coprrlyht, W. N. U.) ly passed' a resolution pledging com plete co-operation in this effort and, during the special meeting which it will bold on November 11, the audi ence wil; stand for five minutes In silent prayer for the release of the men. According to all present Indica tions manv more than the original goal of 100,000 signatures to the peti tion will be secured. “BIRTH OF A NATION” AGAIN BANNED IN PARIS Paris, Nov. 3.—The Frenh auth orities have again emphatically for bidden the showing of Thomas Dixon’s infamous motion picture production, “The Birth of a Nation,” until all scenes containing Negroes or the Ku Kliix Klan have been eliminated. The action of the authorities in pro hibiting the showing of the picture when it first came to France, aroused international comment. Film men de clare that the picture would be robbed of its value, if the scenes objected to by the French censors are cut out. The promoters of the picture stand to lose over 3,000,000 francs. ST. LOUIS CITIZENS OPPOSE SEGREGATION St. Louis, Mo., Nov. 3.—Three hun dred and seventy-five members of the | St. Louis Real Estate Exchange havej approved a plan for the establishment of a Negro residential section of the city. The plan of segregation has for its fundamental force the refusal to sell property to colored people in other sections than those set aside for them. The claim has been made that the col ored population of 65,000 in 1920 has increased through migration to more than 100,000, and that some action for housing of the migrants is imperative. It is said that colored people will press their opposition to the new ruling in court, if necessary, even to the point of holding that the action of the real estate men is conspiracy. SIGHTS, EXPERIENCES AND IMPRESSIONS OF A TRAVELLER WHO ATTENDED NATL. BAPTIST CONVENTION, LOS ANGELES By Mrs. M. //. Wilkinson LOS ANGELES. (Continued from lost week.) The intense heat that greeted us in [.os Angeles was, indeed a disagree able surprise! After crossing the scorching desert in Arizona many had assured us we would have relief in the charming climate of California. How ever, it was explained that this heat wave was very unusual and generally preceeded an earthquake. This ex planation made matters worse, for right then and there we experienced a fear quake! But after the eclipse of the sun, which was very interesting, things cooled off or down, I can't say which. O, the joy and admiration exper ienced in seeing California is inex pressible. What serenity and sublimi ty possesses the traveler as he feeis the balmy air, beholds the beauty of the flowers, the groves of oranges, lemons, grapefruit, prunes, olives and acres of bushes laden with grapes, in haling the soothing and animating fragrance of them all. Really, is this Los Angeles? “Yes,” we were told,” the garden spot of the land, founded by a few Spanish sol diers as far back as 1781 and named Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los An gels — The City of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels—but the Angels was enough for the busy Americans who came later. So now we have Los Angeles, the city of the Angels. Its active life dates from 1885. I can never tell you how delightful ly strange I felt the first morning I walked the streets of Los Angeles, greeted by the glorious sun, shining so friendly and affectionately upon those graceful and historical palms that stood as sentinels on both sides of the streets, whose ancestors had exchanged greetings with this same sun and watched it rise and set for centuries in Jencho and along the banks of the Jordan, where John bap tized the Christ. The palm, it is said, will not be pressed or bound down, or grow crooked, though heavy weights be laid on it. This tree is one of the most fa mous of all the forest, and is the usual emblem of constancy, fruitful ness, patience, and victory, which the more it is oppressed, the more it flourisheth; the higher it grows, the stronger and prouder it is in the top. As a race and as individuals may we strive to imbibe these winning vir tues. David realized its endurance and perseverance and sang “The righteous shall flourish as the palm tree.” Los Angeles presents a unique and beautiful aspect; for while its public and business buildings are notably fine, the peculiarity of the place is its lovely homes; its many flowers and its picturesque shaded trees with its wonderful and varied palm trees, planted so effectively. First a tall, stately palm, then a short bunchy one. We get our palm fans from the palm that grows tall and bunchy at the top with fan-shaped leaves. Then, there is the palm tree that looks like a pine apple with the leaves branching out from the top of the seeming ap ple. Another species’ leaves spring di rectly from the ground like the lilac bush. They are a distinguished and valuable group of plants, gratifying the eye by their adornment of land scape and ministering abundantly to the necessities and pleasures of man. The mild climate allows the most delicate flowers and shrubbery to flourish all the year round. One sees hedges of calla lillies, great 10-foot gerraniums, heliotrope covering the side of the house and trees that bloom in purple the year round, spreading their fragrance everywhere. Speaking of Pasadena, surely it is the lost Eden recovered. It is beauti fully located between the mountains and joined to Los Angeles by a strip of land. Pasedena is an exceptionally beautiful city. Its streets, too, are lined with a great variety of tropical trees such as the Eucalyptus and palm. I can never forget the ride through these streets, viewing those lovely mansions and attractively dec orated landcsapes, everything immacu late and idealistic. It was very quiet and scarcely a person was seen on the streets in the wealthy residential dis trict. I remembered an old man who came from the country to Philadel phia, Pa., and when he saw the bril liant lights and paved streets with fine mansions he was amazed and ex claimed, "If ‘Heben’ is any prettier than this I don’t want to; see it.” My i *4 ' c b ■ "?