"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : THE FORGOTTEN "L.A.I.L.O." NEGRO ORGANIZATION - Part 1 of a 2 Part Series

"Those who cannot remember(or don't know) the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana z Once upon a time, in Louisiana, "Before Black Students were allowed to attend Neville High School or Wossman High School, in Monroe, Louisiana, " and way, way before public schools with Black Students were allowed to join "The Louisiana High School Athletic Association" ; a Negro Organization was established whereby Negro Youth in Louisiana Public Schools could compete against one another in Athletics. The name of this Negro Organization was,"The Louisiana Interscholastic Athletic and Literary Organization," also known as "L.I.A.L.O." While some reports say that L.A.I.L.O. actually began a few years before the "WHITE ONLY" Organization known as The LHSAA, "Google and Wikipedia reports that L.I.A.L.O. was formed in 1935 at Peabody High School, in Alexandria, Louisiana." Also, they listed a professor at Southern University by the name of William H. Gray as being the head of the organization. Initially, the competitions held were only for athletic games, but within a few years, the Negro Organization began sponsoring Academic competition too! Some of the Academic competitions included Speech, Woodworking, Bookkeeping, Mathematics, and Music. Interestingly, the competitions advanced all the way to the state level. Sadly, in 1970, due to desegregation in the Louisiana Public School Systems, L.I.A.L.O. was merged in with The former "WHITE ONLY," LHSAA Organization. In closing, I would like to ask everyone "to examine and compare the practices that The LHSAA Organization did back in the 1960s to the practices that they are doing today." By the way, has everyone heard about these "TWO NEW LHSAA RULES" that was passed during their meeting earlier this year, in 2025? The first New Rule that I Am referring to says that if a member high school of LHSAA "SUES" The LHSAA, the High school "FORFEITS" the Right to play in ANY of the "PLAYOFF GAMES," irregardless of their regular season record! The other New Rule states that a member high school "CAN ONLY FILE THEIR LAWSUIT AT A PRE-DETERMINED COURT SELECTED BY THE LHSAA!" If you are paying close enough attention, you can't help but see that the current LHSAA officials are using practices that are similar to the ones used back in the 1960s. All I can say is,"Similar Script, Different Cast!"

"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : CHANCELLOR WILLIAMS(which happens to be his actual name, not a position) "OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : CHANCELLOR WILLIAMS(which happens to be his actual name, not a position) "OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : CHANCELLOR WILLIAMS(which happens to be his actual name, not a position) "OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" CHANCELLOR WILLIAMS

Well. I'm pleased to announce that in response to my article about White students visiting Booksamillion and buying books as they left the store that a Black "Long-time Educator" friend of mine was reminded about a local event in Monroe that was part of "The Your Museum Cares Project" which was held in 2022, at the NELA African-American Museum to promote literacy for Youth. According to an online article, once the youth arrived to the event, each of them were given one free book from the museum to begin their own private book collection, and they were also given a $10 gift certificate to purchase a second book from Booksamillion Bookstore. At the end of our conversation, my "Long-time Educator" friend posed a baffling question. His question was,"Why is that we do not see bus loads of Black students and/or parent car loads of children visiting Booksamillion to buy books?" As one of the popular cliche says,"Let that marinate on your brain for awhile!" Now, on to this week's Black Pioneer! Chancellor Williams was born on December 22, 1893, in Bennettsville, South Carolina. Chancellor and his family were a part of the first groups of Colored People of "THE GREAT MIGRATION" from the South to the North that began around 1910 in the United States, and lasted well into into the years of the Negro Civil Rights Movement. In 1910, the Williams family chose to relocate to Washington, D.C., hoping that things would be much better there than they were in the South. Young Chancellor and his siblings attended, and later graduated from Armstrong Technical High School. After graduating high school, he worked a job, so he could save up money to attend college. In 1930, Chancellor enrolled in Howard University. Within the next 5 years, he had acquired his Bachelor's and his Master's Degree in Education! Chancellor's first job as an Educator began in 1935 when he accepted a position as Administrative Principal for the Cheltenham School for Boys, in Maryland. Later, in 1939, he accepted a teaching position in the Washington, DC, public school in system. Around 1941, mainly because of WWll. Chancellor began working for the U.S. Government, in an administrative capacity. However, following the war, he returned to his "Alma Mater, Howard University," Chancellor is widely known for a book that he wrote and had published in the 1970s,"The Destruction of Black Civilization : Great Issues of a Race," in which the book received an award from The Black Academy of Arts and Letters. in 1972. Sadly, on December 7, 1992, Chancellor Williams departed this earthly realm, at Providence Hospital in Washington, DC., at the ripe age of 98!

"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : CHARLOTTA AMANDA SPEARS BASS, Part 2

First of all, I just want to say that It's a shame how Black People are having to go back and perform "deep research," in order to learn about past "HISTORICAL EVENTS" as big as Charlotta running for Vice-President, George Hamlet being the first Colored Man to hold the office of Mayor of Monroe, Robert Patterson's Million Item Store in Monroe, in the early 1900s, or the lynching of Warren Eaton at "The Colored Knights of Pythias Hall, at 1101 Desiard St in Monroe.!" By the way, not only was I born and raised in Monroe, Louisiana, but I attended local public schools as well as Northeast Louisiana University in 1983. Never-the-less, if it wasn't for the research I did back in 2021, I probably still wouldn't know about "The Congress of Racial Equality sit-ins that took place in downtown Monroe, in the summer of 1964." Neither would I have known about how 22 Black students were arrested at a Ouachita Parish Library in Monroe, because it was against the law for Negroes to go inside or sit inside a "WHITE'S ONLY" public library! Well, I said all that to say,"If Governor Jeff Landry and Louisiana Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley won't let teachers at the schools in our Black Communities teach our Black Children about The "True American History" that was deliberately left out of the school history materials & books, then the Black Citizens of Louisiana must take it upon ourselves to teach our Black Children!!! Now that I got that off my chest, let me tell you more about Charlotta Amanda Spears Bass. In addition to her running for Vice-President in 1952, Charlotta served as Co-President of the Los Angeles Chapter of Marcus Garvey's group, The Universal Negro Improvement Association. Surprisingly, during the same time period that she worked with the NAACP, Charlotta also held the office of Director of The Youth Movement for the NAACP. Imterestingly, one of the members of the NAACP Youth Movement was a young Negro girl by the name of Lena Horne." In 1912, when John Neimore, the Negro owner of a newspaper called, "The Owl" died, Charlotta's name was etched in the history books as the first Negro Woman to own & operate a newspaper in America! Also, during the worst times of the Great Depression in America, Charlotte engineered a Civil Rights campaign known as,"Don't buy where you can't work!" All throughout her adult life, Charlotta helped establish groups and worked with groups to acquire rights and defend the rights of Negroes in America. One of the final groups she helped was The Sojourners for Truth and Justice Organization, where she served as the National Chairlady, in 1)52. After nearly 70 years of dedicated service to her people and her community, Charlotta Amanda Spears Bass departed her life here on earth, on April 12, 1969, in Los Angeles, California.

"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" "OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : CHARLOTTA AMANDA SPEARS BASS

In 2020, when Kamala Harris was placed on the Democratic Ticket and ran for Vice-President of the United States, why did so many Black People in Monroe, Louisiana think that Kamala was "THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO RUN FOR THE OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?" Was it because so much of the history of Black People was deliberately left out of the history books at the schools that our Black Children attend? Was it because certain people in Louisiana didn't want Black female students getting ideas in their heads about becoming Louisiana State Senators and State Representatives? Was it because the people over the Education System in Louisiana "didn't want Black students to aspire to achieve anything greater than getting a job working for someone else for 20 - 25 years of their life?" Regardless of the reason, many Black People in Monroe are still shocked to death when I tell them that "KAMALA HARRIS WAS NOT THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO RUN FOR THE OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!" Which brings us to this week's Black Pioneer. Many reports say that Charlotta Amanda Spears Bass was born on February 14, 1874, in Sumter, South Carolina. What is surprising to most Black People and White People in Monroe, Louisiana is the fact that in 1952, Charlotta became the "FIRST BLACK WOMAN IN AMERICA TO EVER RUN FOR THE OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT!" An Astounding feat, especially for a Black Woman in the early 1950s. She was nominated by the defunct Progressive Party, and was the running mate of a White lawyer by the name of Vincent Hallinan. Charlotta ran on a platform that included civil rights, women's rights, and to end the Korean War. Her slogan was "Win or Lose, We'll Win by Raising the Issues!" By the way, she was reportedly over the age of 91 when she passed away in Los Angeles, California on April 12, 1969 from a cerebral hemorrhage. Please excuse me for not going into details about the life of Charlotta Amanda Spears Bass, this week's "Phenomenal Black Female Pioneer," but I just had to vent a little about why such "A HISTORIC EVENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY AS CHARLOTTA AMANDA SPEARS BASS, THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO RUN FOR THE OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," was never discussed in any of my American History classes, while I was in school or college! Also, I feel that it's a dam shame that people like Governor Jeff Landry and Louisiana Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley are allowed to continue to keep important information about the accomplishments of Black People out of the history books and the classrooms, at the schools in our Black Communities! Not to mention that both of them have continually conspired to categorize much of the history of Black People in Louisiana as "Critical Race Theory," to keep teachers from teaching the truth to students about Louisiana's dirty past! Well, now it's on us as Black People to tell and teach the truth, not only to our Black Children and Black Adults, but to White Children and White Adults as well! Also, we as Black People are going to have to decide where we're going as a Race of People, because it's time for Black People in Monroe, Louisiana to "Start Separating The True Black Leaders From The Judasgoats!"

"Not only is Reading A Part of the Foundation in Learning and Understanding, it also Plays A Key Role in All Academic Achievement" -Garry O. Blanson OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE : MARION THOMPSON WRIGHT

Last week, while I was performing research at "Booksamillion Bookstore in Monroe, Louisiana for my future articles," I happened to notice a bus full of middle school students,"WHITE STUDENTS TO BE EXACT," pull up to the entrance of the store. One-by-one they exited their bus and entered the store. After about a hour or so of shopping through the store, each of them headed to the checkout lines. In case anyone was wondering, "EVERY ONE OF THOSE WHITE STUDENTS LEFT THE STORE WITH AT LEAST 2 BOOKS A PIECE!" Needless-to-say, what I witnessed made me wonder about "WHY SO MANY BLACK STUDENTS" at most of the schools in Our Black Communities in Monroe, Louisiana "PERFORM SO POORLY ON READING TESTS THEY TAKE IN SCHOOL." While I won't mention the name of the school that brought the students to Booksamillion,"I will say that it's a local public school, and that 65% of the school's current student body are proficient in reading!" With that said, onto this week's Black Pioneer. Marion Thompson Wright was born on September 12, 1902, in East Orange, New Jersey.When Marion earned her College PhD in History from Columbia University in 1940, she became the first Negro in America to earn a College PhD in History! Additionally, beginning in1953, Marion began working as a special assistant to Horace Mann Bond, who was the Deputy Director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Her main duties were to assist him in handling Fourteenth Amendment Cases. Incidentally, her expertise and research papers prove to be of great use in the HISTORIC LANDMARK COURT CASE,"Brown vs The Board of Education." In addition to having a College PhD in History, Marion also held a Masters Degree and a Bachelor's Degree in History from Howard University. Once she had acquired her PhD, she returned to Howard University, where she joined the University's History Department, and worked laboriously for some 22 years of her life! A few other interesting things to know about Marion is that while teaching at Howard University, she began a paper to help educate students on their Black Heritage, which was known as "The Negro History Bulletin." ; her decades of service to various chapters of the NAACP Organization ; and her work to insure equal access for all students in New Jersey State Schools through legislative reform. Regretfully, her career and life came to a close on October 26, 1962, when she was found unconscious inside her car, inside her garage. Sometime after her death, Rutgers University initiated their annual "Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series." The Lectures are held Each February, as part of the celebration of Black History Month.