"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : JOHN EDWARD BRUCE

The Negro essayist, novelist, and playwright James Baldwin once said, “Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go.” As we're about to exit 2023 and enter 2024, there's a lingering question that just won't go away. The question is, "What did our Black ancestors fight. bleed, and die for?" Before Rev. Harry Blakes died, he did an interview where he talked about the things that he, his family, and other Negroes had to endure in Louisiana during the 30s,40s, and 50s. Also, he explained how he lived and was reared on two different plantations. One was located in Madison Parish, in Tallulah, Louisiana, and was known as "The Ashley Plantation." In 1951, his family left there and moved to Caddo Parish, and lived on a plantation north of Shreveport, known as "The Woodspur Plantation." What was surprising about many of the things that he brought up in the interview is that some of them took place in the late 50s and early 60s. I'm talking about less than "75 years ago" ; about places & times that most of our "Black Youth" in Monroe, Louisiana have no recollection of! Additionally, he talked about his father being a share-cropper and how the White owner of the land always reminded his family that they were inferior to White People. Furthermore, they were required to purchase just about everything they needed to farm the land with from the White Owner. Long story short, Rev Blakes said that back then everything was setup to keep Negroes in debt, and that America is very much on that style today, because they keep Black People "slaves" with "credit cards.". Please Note that the interview with Rev Blakes is still available online to read or download. Now to this week's Black Pioneer! John Edward Bruce was born a slave on February 22, 1856, in Piscataway, Maryland. When John was three years old, his father was sold to a White slave-owner in Georgia, and John never saw or heard from his father again! Around 1873, he took a 3 month course at Howard University, which was the last time John received any formal schooling. Although he received some public and private schooling, John was mostly self-taught. When John turned 18, he was hired as a messenger for the associate editor of the New York Times. While working for the New York Times, he got the idea to start his own newspaper. So in 1879, John and Charles Otley founded the Argus Weekly newspaper. They decided that the paper would be a fearless advocate of the true principles of the Republican Party, and the moral and intellectual advancement of the Negro American. By 1908, he had followed the Great Migration of Negroes to New York, where he settled in Yonkers. Also in 1908, he established The Yonkers, New York Weekly Standard Newspaper. Along with establishing numerous newspapers, he worked with Marcus Garvey's Organization, "The Universal Negro Improvement Association." Need-less-to-say, John was a strong proponent for civil rights for Negro Americans. Additionally, he would lecture and give speeches that addressed lynching, the condition of southern blacks, and the weak American political system that failed to protect the rights of its Negro citizens. Among his many accomplishments included being elected as President of The National Negro Council, the first Nationwide Civil Rights Organization in the United States, his founding of The Negro Society for Historical Research, which for the first time brought together African, West Indian and Negro Americans Scholars, and his work in the Civil Rights Movement. On August 10, 1924 , John Edward Bruce passed away at the Believue Hospital in New York City Furthermore, he received an impressive state funeral at the UNIA Liberty Hall in New York City.