"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : FRANK NED BRIDGES

"Whoever wants to educate adults really wants to act as their guardian and prevent them from political activity.The word education has an evil sound in politics; there is a pretense of education, when the real purpose is COERCION without the use of force” -Hannah Arendt's polemical 1958 essay,"The Crisis in Education" Yes, It seems that while many of the people in Louisiana minds were focused on the "slick calculated stunt" that Senator Stewart Cathey pulled off in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when he "SLIPPED A MICKEY" into Senate Bill Amendment 220, at the last minute to deceive other Louisiana Senators and and State Legislators, so that they would Vote in favor of the Bill. "SOMETHING ELSE WITH A MAGNITUDE OF IMPORTANCE WITHIN THE STATE OF LOUISIANA, FELL OFF THE RADAR!" What exactly am I talking about you ask? Why, I'm talking about Governor Jeff Landry's new highly touted and anticipated, "LA. GATOR SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM," of course! Even from the beginning when the La.Gator Scholarship Program "WAS FIRST PUSHED THROUGH AND PASSED," many of the State Senators and State Legislators had already told Governor Jeff Landry and Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley that there was no way that they could include "the extra $50 Million Dollars" that Governor Landry vehemently wanted in the budget, which began in July of this year. Nevertheless, the Governor still told Brumley to go full steam ahead with their plan to offer thousands of scholarships to Louisiana Students, who were mostly White Students that attended Private Schools in Louisiana. Therefore, in March of this year, Cade Brumley issued the invitation for Louisiana Students to submit their applications for the La.Gator Scholarship Program. Although, it has been rumored that "thousands of White Students had applied for the program," State Legislators were reluctant to move money around to come up with "the extra $50 Million Dollars" that Governor Landry and Superintendent Cade Brumley wanted, in order to fund the La. Gator Scholarship Program for the 2025 - 2026 School Year. So now it looks like students in Louisiana will just have to wait untill the 2026 - 2027 School Year to find out whether or not the Governor can convince more of the members of the Louisiana State Congress to allocate the money that he wants for his flagship program. By the way, on the other hand, $44 Million Dollars was approved and allocated in the budget to pay for 5,600 students who will be attending Private Schools in Louisiana, under a voucher program that was initiated more than a decade ago, by former Governor Bobby Jindal. Now, on to this week's Black Pioneer! Frank Ned Bridges was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 14, 1896. While I couldn't find out anything about Frank's early childhood, I did find out that somehow, he made it all the way to Monroe, Louisiana. Also, I learned that he lived somewhere on Olive Street in Monroe, as a border, in the home of Joseph and Lizzie Johnson, a married Mulatto couple. By the way, Frank worked as a cook at the "Monroe Hotel," similar to the "Hotel Monroe" that recently opened in Monroe. Additionally, Frank was married to a Colored lady by the name of, Bessie Doris West, they were married in the town of Sterlington, Louisiana. Bessie and Frank had two boys, Robert and Dan. As I read about Frank, something that especially stood out was that he had served in the U.S. Military during both World War l and World War ll. During my research, I found out that once he returned home to Monroe, Louisiana from World War ll, Frank and Bessie, along with their two sons, "DECIDED TO TAKE PART IN THE GREAT MIGRATION FROM THE SOUTH TO THE NORTH!" On another note, I think that "EVERY TEACHER and EVERY STUDENT in LOUISIANA" should be taught thoroughly about the "GREAT MIGRATION" as well the circumstances and conditions that triggered it! Well, like Uncle Jed and Ellie Mae Clampett, Frank and Bessie were advised that California was the place where they ought to be, so they loaded up the family and moved to Oakland "OAKTOWN" California. Finally, on June 3, 1966, this proud Black Veteran of World War I & World War ll, and former Cook of the Monroe Hotel, went home to meet his maker! Frank Ned Bridges was buried on June 10 1966, at Golden Gate National Cemetery, in San Bruno, San Mateo County California.