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NAACP newsletters, Fort Madison Branch, 1963-1966

1966-02-17 NAACP Newsletter, Fort Madison Branch, Page 2

-2-

Although we, as an organization, have sent messages to those who represent us in the Federal government, it is ver important that each of us..., as individuals speak up and let our congressmen know how we feel about protection for those who are actively engaged in civil rights work, in the south. Also ask them to work for legislation President Johnson stated he would ask for in his State - of - the - Union Address. These would have to do with National Fair Housing Laws, Inner city Renewal, more justice in picking southern juries as well as protection of civil rights workers in the south.

Write to:

Congressman John Schmidhauser
House of Representatives
Washington, D. C.

Senator Jack Miller
Senate Office Building
Washington, D. C.

and

Senator Bourke Hickenlooper
Senate Office Building
Washington, D. C.

It is very important, too, that we let our voices be heard in regards to the affairs of our communities and the state in which we live. For only through the fulfilling of those duties which are part of citizenship, can we hope to attain eventual justice and equality for all. However, if we sit back and don't go to the polls to vote...or refuse to participate in affairs which affect the growth of the community, then..., we have no right to complain about 'second-class' citizenship when we are not willing to take advantage of those rights which are available, now! Vote in the special elections,...as well as those having to do with state and national offices!

In the very near future, all members of the Fort Madison, Branch, will receive a questionaire which we hope will help us to improve the program and activity of our organization. No names need be signed, so everyone will be able to answer all of the questions honestly. We ask that everyone fill out the sheet and return it to the special Committee appointed to study the needs of the Branch. Your help is needed!

"The slave experience is basic to an understanding of current racial realities. It is the substructure of bothe segregation, defacte and dejure, and movements against segregation. " ..."Slavery, in sum, was a  seed experience. The significant dimensions of the race problem, the special dynamism that gave the summers of 1963 and 1964 their special harshness, are reflections of eddies that lie deep in the mind and deep in the past. The Negro is what he is todaybecause he was once held in slavery by white people. And white people are what they are today because they cannot forget, because Negroes will not let them forget what they did yesterday. 
The most dramatic link with this substructure of remembered wrong is the image of the young student, sitting-in at a lunch counter, reading Hegel or Aristotle and singing the same song that sustained his great-grandmother in the slave cabins.

Oh, freedom; oh, freedom;
Oh, Lord, freedom over me,
And before I'd be a slave
I'd be buried in my grave
An' go home to my Lord and be free.

The song and the student's use of it tell us how much things have changed and

Saving...

-2- Although we, as an organization, have sent messages to those who represent us in the Federal government, it is ver important that each of us..., as individuals speak up and let our congressmen know how we feel about protection for those who are actively engaged in civil rights work, in the south. Also ask them to work for legislation President Johnson stated he would ask for in his State - of - the - Union Address. These would have to do with National Fair Housing Laws, Inner city Renewal, more justice in picking southern juries as well as protection of civil rights workers in the south. Write to: Congressman John Schmidhauser House of Representatives Washington, D. C. Senator Jack Miller Senate Office Building Washington, D. C. and Senator Bourke Hickenlooper Senate Office Building Washington, D. C. It is very important, too, that we let our voices be heard in regards to the affairs of our communities and the state in which we live. For only through the fulfilling of those duties which are part of citizenship, can we hope to attain eventual justice and equality for all. However, if we sit back and don't go to the polls to vote...or refuse to participate in affairs which affect the growth of the community, then..., we have no right to complain about 'second-class' citizenship when we are not willing to take advantage of those rights which are available, now! Vote in the special elections,...as well as those having to do with state and national offices! In the very near future, all members of the Fort Madison, Branch, will receive a questionaire which we hope will help us to improve the program and activity of our organization. No names need be signed, so everyone will be able to answer all of the questions honestly. We ask that everyone fill out the sheet and return it to the special Committee appointed to study the needs of the Branch. Your help is needed! "The slave experience is basic to an understanding of current racial realities. It is the substructure of bothe segregation, defacte and dejure, and movements against segregation. " ..."Slavery, in sum, was a seed experience. The significant dimensions of the race problem, the special dynamism that gave the summers of 1963 and 1964 their special harshness, are reflections of eddies that lie deep in the mind and deep in the past. The Negro is what he is todaybecause he was once held in slavery by white people. And white people are what they are today because they cannot forget, because Negroes will not let them forget what they did yesterday. The most dramatic link with this substructure of remembered wrong is the image of the young student, sitting-in at a lunch counter, reading Hegel or Aristotle and singing the same song that sustained his great-grandmother in the slave cabins. Oh, freedom; oh, freedom; Oh, Lord, freedom over me, And before I'd be a slave I'd be buried in my grave An' go home to my Lord and be free. The song and the student's use of it tell us how much things have changed and