"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : ROSALIND PARKER SAUNDERS, "Esteemed Negro Music Teacher in Monroe, Louisiana"

 

                                                                                                                                        Once Upon A Time in Monroe, Louisiana, when Negroes weren't allowed to shop at White Owned Grocery Stores,"NEGROES ESTABLISHED THEIR OWN GROCERY STORES TO HELP TAKE CARE OF THE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE IN THEIR COMMUNITIES!" Reportedly, EACH BLACK COMMUNITY had between 3 to 7 groceries stores, which were owned and operated by BLACK MEMBERS of the BLACK COMMUNITY. Also, in addition to grocery stores, many Black People owned  their own chickens, goats, and cows as well as their own gardens, where they grew their own fruits & vegetables. Why, even Professor Madison James Foster sold milk and eggs to members of his community, to help families survive the rough times! Additionally, there were Black Grocery Store & Meat Market Owners like Maryland Brooks,The Colored Cattle King ; Isac Burnett, who operated his store at 2800 Jackson Street for approximately 50 years ; and T. J. Davis, a young 23 year old Negro who opened up his grocery store a couple of years after John R. Patterson closed "The Million Article Grocery Store," which was located near North 18th Street and Grammont Street, in Monroe. Fortunately, these Black Grocers stepped in and filled the gap, so that Black People in Monroe didn't go without groceries! You see, back when BLACKS couldn't shop at "WHITE OWNED GROCERY STORES" in Monroe, Black People in Monroe learned that "IF THEY POOLED THEIR RESOURCES AND SUPPORTED ONE ANOTHER," they could makeout just fine, and didn't have to depend so much on other races. By the way, "IT HAS BEEN STATED THAT FOLLOWING THE AFTERMATH OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964," BLACK PEOPLE in America lost 70% of Their Black Schools, 75 % of Their Black Businesses, and between 75% - 85% of the land that they once owned!!! With that said, let's get to this week's Black Pioneer, Rosaline Saunders! While I wasn't able to learn anything about her birth and early childhood education, I found out that her mother, Mrs. Bertha Medlock Parker, was also a local music teacher as well. Although Rosaline Saunders taught music locally for "MORE THAN 30 YEARS," you will be hard pressed to find any information about her and her contributions to the Black Communities of Monroe, Louisiana, online or elsewhere! Interestingly, some of her many students went on to become local teachers, lawyers, and other business professionals, right here in the City of Monroe. By the way, in 1970, Rosaline became the first, "AND THE ONLY BLACK ACTIVE MEMBER" of The Monroe Center of The National Guild of Piano Teachers, American College of Musicians U. S. A.! Additionally, in 1975, she was elected to complete the unexpired term of Dr. Frank Carroll, and became the "FIRST BLACK" to serve on The Louisiana Music Certification Board. In addition to her receiving notable honors and accomplishments, several of her students made some too! One of her top students was, CRAYTONIA DAVIS, who was declared the overall District Winner, with an "A SUPERIOR RATING," at a Louisiana Music Teachers District Rally, which was held at Northeast Louisiana University, in Monroe, Louisiana. NOTE : Not only did his winning the competition at NLU make "A BOLD STATEMENT FOR LOCAL BLACK EXCELLENCE IN MUSIC," it also qualified him to compete for state honors. It may interest everyone to know that the "STATE FINALS" was held in Monroe, at the now defunct, Holiday Inn that was located on Louisville Avenue. Of course, as his outstanding music teacher, Rosaline Saunders expected,"CRAYTONIA HANDLED HIS BUSINESS, AND HE TOOK HOME THE STATE TROPHY, MAKING HIM THE FIRST BLACK TO EVER ACHIEVE THIS HONOR!" Well, another thing that most people in Monroe didn't know about Rosaline Saunders is that she didn't just teach her students,"SHE WENT THE EXTRA MILE" and saw to it that many of her students received "HIGH SCHOOL CREDITS" for putting in music practice time with her,"LIKE MANY OF THE WHITE STUDENTS AT HIGH SCHOOLS IN MONROE WERE RECEIVING AT THE TIME. Among the Black Students that she helped to receive credits were : Wossman High School Students : Wiletta Sanders, daughter of William and Idella Sanders  ; Clarinda Andrews, daughter of Darrell and Clara  Andrews ; Karen Brown, daughter of Australia Gualman ; and  Carroll High School Student, Rita Hegwood, daughter of Naomi Hegwood. In closing, I'm hoping that more of her former students and people who knew her will come forth with more information on her, so that students at the schools in Our Black Communities can read about her achievements and contributions online,"SINCE NONE OF THIS INFORMATION IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AT 

Was

"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : THE 1980 JUDGE STAGG COURT RULING

 

                                                                                       "You have to Know the Past to Understand the Present" -Carl Sagan                                                                                                             .                In order to better understand why a small klan of White People, The Neville Charter Association,"ARE SO ADAMANT ABOUT PUSHING FOR NEVILLE HIGH SCHOOL TO BECOME A CHARTER SCHOOL, WE NEED TO GO BACK TO THE YEAR 1931,THE YEAR WHEN NEVILLE HIGH SCHOOL OPENED AS A WHITE ONLY SCHOOL!" Once we visit the past history of Neville High School, we can fully understand why "A SMALL GROUP OF WHITE CITIZENS IN MONROE" would be so concerned about taking a High School, "WHOSE CURRENT STUDENT-BODY IS "APPROXIMATELY 60% BLACK," and making it a Charter School! You see, around 1929, the former old "WHITE ONLY" HIGH School,  "CITY HIGH," was becoming too small to accommodate the amount of White Students attending the school. Therefore, White People decided to have a new school built. By the way, I haven't been able to confirm that this new school opened as "CITY HIGH," but I have reason to suspect that it could of been. Nevertheless, it's a fact that when the school was first built,"NEGRO STUDENTS" were not allowed to attend Neville High School. As a matter of fact, "THE SCHOOL ACTUALLY OPERATED IN MONROE FOR ALMOST FOUR WHOLE DECADES AS A WHITE ONLY HIGH SCHOOL!" These days, some people don't like it when I bring up the racism that Black Students had to endure in Monroe. It's seems as though they can't relate to, or don't want to relate to Black Children being told that they couldn't attend a school, simply because of the color of their skin. However, when I ask them how they would feel if they were discriminated against, because they were White, all of a sudden, they tend to get pretty quiet! With that said, let me inform everyone about the "1980 Judge Stagg Court Order Ruling," that Triggered the last "WHITE EXODUS" at Neville High School. You see, Judge Stagg's ruling included "REZONING" of the high schools in Monroe, however, it didn't take effect until 1981. So in 1981, when Judge Stagg 's Consent Decree went into effect,      it disrupted the lives of many students in Monroe, Black and White! Interesting, it was Judge Stagg 's ruling that sent many new Black Students to Neville High School, and as I eluded to earlier, the departure of many White Students as well. Now, let's fast forward to the year 2024, when The Neville Charter Association presented its proposal to make Neville a Charter School to the Monroe City School Board for approval, under the "GUISES" that they want to avoid  financial bureaucracy, and for Financial & Operational Autonomy, when they really are trying to make Neville High School A Charter School, so they can "CHERRY-PICK" the students they want attending Neville! FURTHERMORE, LITTLE  HAS BEEN MENTIONED PUBLICLY ABOUT THE REZONING OF SEVERAL MONROE CITY SCHOOLS, AND THAT MANY OF THE BLACK STUDENTS NOW ATTENDING NEVILLE WILL HAVE TO ATTEND OTHER SCHOOLS! In closing,I would like to state what everyone in the City of Monroe already knows to be a true fact,"AIN'T NO WAY IN WEST HELL ARE A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF WHITE PARENTS LIVING IN MONROE, LOUISIANA GOING TO ENROLL THEIR WHITE CHILDREN AT NEVILLE HIGH SCHOOL,AS LONG AS THE CURRENT PERCENTAGE OF BLACK STUDENTS ATTENDING NEVILLE REMAINS AT 60%!