"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : "THE FORGOTTEN" - Council for United Civil Rights Leadership

l "In Order for Situations to Change for Black People in Monroe, Louisiana, Black People in Monroe, Louisiana Are Going to have to Change" -Garry O'Dell Blanson We'll begin this week's article with a story about an incident that took place, back when I was in elementary school. One day, during the 1970s, at "Swayze Elementary School," while several of the students and I were throwing "friendly mixes on one another" ; mixes are when a group of guys try and catch some guys from another group off guard and hit one another with open palms, just for fun. Well, after I had finished mixing and was trying to get away from the action, J.J. grab my arm and I accidentally hit my head up against the boys bathroom wall. It hurt, but I was still trying to get away from J.J.'s grasp. Suddenly, he let go of my arm and put his hand on my head and said, "man you're bleeding!" You better believe that got my attention! I placed my hand on my head and sure enough, I saw a hand full of blood. The guys told some of the teachers about my head bleeding.Next, the teachers led me all the way down the main hall to where we washed out hands, before eating in the school cafeteria. Fortunately, for me on that day, there was an off-duty Monroe Police Officer by the name of Richard L Jackson,"who was also the director of the SOUTHSIDE BOY'S CLUB in MONROE that was ran out of the Swayze School Gymnasium." Officer Jackson turned on the cold water and told me to put my head under the faucet. Also, he applied pressure to where the blood was leaking out of my head, and after about 10 or 20 minutes, the bleeding had stopped. The hole in my head was actually large enough for me to stick my finger in the wound! By the way, I got to go home early, but our principal, Charles H. Johnson told me that there was to be no more mixing going on, while we were at school. With that said, I would like to share a little information about "The Forgotten Council For United Civil Rights Leadership." Surprisingly, it was President John F. Kennedy who encouraged and helped organize the main funding for the organization. It was often called an "UMBRELLA GROUP," because it consisted of 6 of the most influential Black Organizations in the United States. The main Black Organizations involved were: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, headed by Martin Luther King Jr ; The National Association For The Advancement of Colored People,led by Roy Wilkins ; The National Urban League, led by Whitney Young ; The National Council of Negro Women, headed by Dorothy Height ; The Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee, led by James Forman and John Lewis ; and The Congress of Racial Equality headed by James Farmer, and advised by Bayard Rustin. By the way, it was only five months after the forming of The Council For United Civil Rights Leadership that "U.S. CITIZENS AND THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD" witnessed the gruesome assassination and death of President John F Kennedy in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963! Amazingly, one of the good things that resulted from the formation of the group was that many White Owned Corporations, including the Rockefeller & Ford foundations, agreed to provide funding for the organization. At a fundraising event, held on "JUNE 19TH, in 1963, at a hotel in New York, representatives from 96 Corporations were successful in raising "approximately $800,000 dollars" that was later divided amongst the Black Groups in The Council For United Civil Rights Leadership Organization. However, on the other hand, once the Black Leaders of these Black Organizations agreed to accept the money from the American White-owned Corporations, the Civil Rights Groups and the Civil Rights Movement itself experienced more and more regulations and restrictions from outside sources. Nevertheless, the organization was instrumental in helping organize and funding the Historic March On Washington, in August of 1963. Finally, it was rumored that it was lack of adequate funding, along with disagreements and several conflicts between the Black Leaders of the organization, which ultimately led to the dissolvement of the short-lived organization that was known as,"The Council For United Civil Rights Leadership Organization, in January of 1967."