"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : NORMAN C. FRANCIS

On the heels of thousands of Black People in Monroe, Louisiana celebrating "JUNETEENTH DAY," a senior reporter for the Louisiana Illuminator by the name of Julie O'Donoghue, which is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization, published an article online detailing "SIX NEW IMPORTANT LOUISIANA LAWS" that will give Governor Jeff Landry "MORE POWER' THAN THE LAW SHOULD ALLOW!" The New Louisiana Laws are expected to be signed by Governor Jeff Landry within the next 3 weeks, and many say that this is the official end of government transparency in Baton Rouge! By the way, I'm not 100% sure, but it seems to me that Governor Jeff Landry wants to be known as Louisiana's "NEW KINGFISH!" Well, most people in Louisiana have forgotten about the "Old Kingfish, Huey P. Long." It was said that even after Huey went from being the Governor of Louisiana to being Senator, it still seemed like he was calling all the shots in Baton Rouge. Yes, I can definitely see a Huey P. Long pattern setting in. Especially when you examine some of the things that Governor Jeff Landry has done thus far. Without A doubt, you can't help but notice that he's been studying the "Huey P. Long Playbook!" Que sera sera, on to this week's Black Pioneer. Norman C. Francis was born on March 20, 1931 in Lafayette, Louisiana. As far as formal schooling goes, he attended Catholic schools in Lafayette. In 1948, Norman graduated from Saint Paul High School. After graduating, he found out that one of his teachers at Saint Paul had procured a work scholarship for him to attend Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana. One of the highlights of his senior year of college was when he was chosen as president of the entire student body! In 1952, the same year he graduated from Xavier University and earned his B.S. degree, he was able to enroll at Loyola University, making him the first Black person to attend this prestigious University! This time around, Norman decided he wanted to earn a law degree, so he applied and was accepted into the Loyola University Law School. Also in 1955 when Norman received his Law degree from Loyola, he was the first Black person to receive a Law degree from Loyola University. After one year of practicing law, Norman realize that law was not his calling. In 1957, he was approached by "The Sisters of The Blessed Sacrament," the religious order that ran Xavier University, an offered the post of "Dean of Men," which he gladly accepted...and the rest, as they say, is history! Additionally, Norman played an instrumental role in getting Xavier University to house the Civil Rights group of "Freedom Riders," back in 1961. As this article goes to publishing, Norman C. Francis is 93 years old!