"A Nation Under Our Feet" Highlights Black Political Struggles

Book Review of A Nation Under Our Feet 

Have you ever read this one? A Nation Under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migration by Steven Hahn (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 2005) won the Pulitzer Prize in history when it was published, and deservedly so. It chronicles the various, long, difficult struggles for political, social, and economic equality for blacks in the rural South. One interesting finding is that slave associations (kinship, work, religion) were very strong, and plantation life was the beginning of black political movement. Recommended.

Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth Passes

FRED SHUTTLESWORTH, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER, PASSES
Shuttlesworth, one of the leaders of the civil rights movement, has passed at 89. Shuttlesworth is one of the figures in the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta. King once called Shuttlesworth "the most courageous civil rights fighter in the South." Shuttlesworth organized two weeks of daily demonstrations by black children, students, clergymen, and others against segregated Alabama. After much struggle, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed, after the historic Alabama marches that year from Selma to Montgomery, which Mr. Shuttlesworth also helped organize. Read the October 5, 2011 New York Times article.

New Approach to Getting Homeless Off the Streets Is Working

At the Safe Havens in New York City, which started in 2007, nonprofit groups help homeless adults find permanent homes with adjacent social services. The City said it had been able to lure them off the streets by opening smaller and more welcoming shelters, averaging 40 beds. The City's Department of Homeless Services has also contracted with one nonprofit group in each borough to scour the streets around the clock, seven days a week, and persuade homeless people to move inside. The number of single, homeless people in the borough has fallen 80% since 2005, according to a City estimate. Read the October 17, 2011 New York Times article.

Indian Legal Leader Passes

Elouise Cobell - whose Indian name was Yellow Bird Woman and who was a great-granddaughter of a renowned tribal leader, Mountain Chief - was a heroine to American Indians for winning a 15-year legal battle on June 20, 2011 so the federal government has agreed to pay $3.4 billion in compensation for mismanagement of Indian trust funds since the late 1800s. She was 65 and lived on the Blackfeet reservation near Browning, Montana. Cobell was the lead plaintiff in Cobell v. Salazar, one of the largest and most complicated class-action lawsuits ever brought against the U. S. Over 300,000 members of many tribes will receive payments under the settlement. Read the October 17, 2011 New York Times obit.

New Free Film on Maryland Victims of Financial Fraud

The MCRC (Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition) - which advances and protects the interests of Marylanders through research, education and advocacy - is showing an interesting new free film on financial fraud in Maryland. As their press release reports:

"These are tough times for hardworking Marylanders. Many are just a divorce, a medical injury, or a job loss away from poverty. MCRC has captured some of their stories in “Stealing Trust,” our powerful new documentary about Maryland victims of financial fraud. Join us to see the film during our Fall film series. Screening dates:

Tues. Oct. 4 at 6 p.m.
Kittleman Room (Duncan Hall, Room 100)
Howard Community College
10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, MD.
Co-sponsored by Howard Community College’s Office of Student Life and Howard County’s Office of Consumer Affairs.

Thurs. Oct. 6 at 6:30 p.m.
La Plata United Methodist Church
3 Port Tobacco Road, La Plata, MD
Co-sponsored by Lifestyles of Maryland, Inc.

Tues Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.: Special Screening featuring remarks by Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards (D-4th)
Oxon Hill Public Library
6200 Oxon Hill Road, Oxon Hill, MD.

At the Oct. 18 event, Rep. Donna F. Edwards will provide opening remarks on the importance of protecting working families in tough times. The screening is co-sponsored by State Sen. Joanne Benson, Del. Aisha Braveboy, AARP Maryland, Councilman Obie Patterson, the Prince George’s County Dept. of Family Services and Advisory Committee on Aging and the Psi Epsilon Omega chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. If you would like to attend a screening, please RSVP to Franz@marylandconsumers.org.

To learn more about the film, read some of the rave reviews, and download flyers for the screenings: http://www.marylandconsumers.org/Advocacy/MCRCDocumentaryFilmStealingTrust/tabid/153/Default.aspx

MCRC will be scheduling more screenings later in the Fall and Winter. If you or your organization would like to host a screening or a house party, please contact Franz@marylandconsumers.org."

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Carroll County Homeless Resource Day is October 1st

The Carroll County Department of Social Services (DSS), along with its community partners and business leaders, will hold a Homeless Resource Day on October 1, 2011, at the County's Winters Mill High School. The County has invited everyone to be a part of this initiative to help eliminate homelessness. As the County's flyer says,"The goal of the Homeless Resource Day is to bring together resources in Carroll County to assist this population with services which may ultimately lead to housing, employment and self-sufficiency. The State of Maryland has seen much success with Homeless Resource Days in other counties. Due to the positive impact Homeless Resource Day has had in other counties the Governor and Department of Human Resources have already agreed to extend their support statewide. With your help, we can gather together to hold a successful event in our Community to educate and assist our homeless population. Please save the date and it is not too late to participate. We can use volunteers from your organization, donations of goods or services, or a monetary donation. We can also use help in spreading the word about this important event."

For more information, to volunteer, or to make a donation, contact either: Julie Girod, 410-386-3307 / JGirod@dhr.state.md.us or Helena Watson, 410-386-3342 / HWatson@dhr.state.md.us.

Martin A. Dyer, 80, An Appreciation

MARTIN A. DYER, 80, AN APPRECIATION

Martin Dyer - a friend to many, including this writer, and a gentle enemy to bigots everywhere - passed away on September 19th. I knew Martin as a former President of the GBCHRB and a long-time Assistant Director of Baltimore Neighborhoods, Inc. He was a man of grace, intelligence, culture, achievement, and commitment who dearly loved his family. He is sorely missed, but we all are very thankful for knowing him. The following is an extensive quote from The Baltimore Sun obit by Frederick N. Rasmussen on Martin published on September 19, 2011:

"Martin Appell Dyer, a lawyer and neighborhood activist who was the first African-American to enroll at St. John's College in Annapolis, died Thursday of cancer at his Windsor Hills home. He was 80. The son of Martin A. Dyer, a steelworker, and Margaret Louise Dyer, a secretary to Lillie Mae Jackson when she was president of the Baltimore chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, he was born and raised in East Baltimore. After graduating from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in 1948, he entered St. John's College. 'St. John's was the first college south of the Mason-Dixon Line to voluntarily desegregate," said Barbara Goyette, vice president of the college. 'There was no trouble on campus, even though college officials were worried because Annapolis was so segregated in those days. Where would he get his haircut or eat?' said Ms. Goyette. 'He formed strong alliances on campus and even formed an interracial basketball league.' In 2004 at a ceremony at St. John's honoring Mr. Dyer and six other pioneering African-American students who followed him in the early 1950s, he told a reporter for The Baltimore Sun that he attended the college after 'a core of students actively scouted Baltimore's two black high schools to recruit students for a college virtually unknown in the black community.'

'To accept [blacks] is one thing,' Mr. Dyer said. 'But to deliberately and consciously seek someone is another.' He recalled being turned away from the Little Campus Inn in Annapolis one evening because of his race. 'I always felt obligated to do well as a representative of my race. Quite honestly, I was alone in the undertaking and felt lonely and isolated,' he said. 'But I was welcomed on campus, a bastion, and that welcome made all the difference in the world.' Mr. Dyer was interviewed extensively for an oral history project, 'So Reason Can Rule: The Necessity of Racial Integration at St. John's College.'

After graduating from St. John's in 1952, he enlisted in the Army and served with the 843rd Engineer Battalion in Europe. He was honorably discharged in 1954. He earned his law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1959 and briefly was in private practice. In the early 1960s, he worked as a congressional intern on Capitol Hill and was awarded a fellowship in congressional operations by the American Political Science Association in 1963. From 1965 until 1968, he was the principal legislative aide and speechwriter for Alaska Sen. Edward L. "Bob" Bartlett, who had been the architect of Alaskan statehood. For nearly the next two decades, Mr. Dyer worked in the Health Care Finance Administration. He retired in 1990."