FALL 2016
October–December
sclcmagazine.com
“Love embraces justice”
A salute to SCLC legend
Dr. Joseph E. Lowery
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Vol. 45 / No. 4 / FALL 2016
04.
NATIONAL EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
06.
PRESIDENT’S CORNER
08.
FROM THE CHAIRMAN
10.
FIRST LADY’S CORNER
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
N A T I O N A L
M A G A Z I N E
In Print Since 1970
features
12.
Noted Journalist George Curry Remembered
by his Best Friend, Charles Steele Jr. and His Black Media Colleagues.
By Maynard Eaton
16. The Super Southern Scribe—In His Own Words
By Maynard Eaton
20. John Lewis Spent 15 Years Fighting for the
Museum—Now His Dream is Realized
By John Lewis
22. A Dream Come True
By Lee Cowan
24.
Historic Pictures by Horace Henry Housed in
Permanent Collection at the NMAAHC
26.
Love Beyond Walls—One Man’s Modern Day
March on Washington
By Maynard Eaton
28.
Américain Noir á Paris—the Socio-cultural Lens
of Artist Ealy Mays
By Robin Ligon-Williams
COVER: (Left to Right) Brenda Barley Chunn, president of the William Hooper
Councill High School Alumni; retired District Judge M. Lynn Sherrod; former
Alabama A&M football coach Eddie Sherrod; SCLC First Lady Cathelean Steele,
and SCLC President and CEO Charles Steele Jr gather in Huntsville, Alabama to
recognize the civil rights career of former SCLC President Dr. Joseph E. Lowery. A
street in Dr. Lowery’s hometown was named in his honor.
Cover photo by Donnie Hunter Photography. Design and layout by Monica Blood.
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Maynard Eaton
EXECUTIVE MANAGER
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Maynard Eaton
MAYNARD EATON: SCLC Magazine’s Managing
Editor is an 8-time Emmy Award-winning news
reporter; president of Eaton Media Group; editor
and host of Newsmakers Live; adjunct journalism
professor at Clark Atlanta University, and executive
editor of TheMaynardReport.com
www.nationalsclc.org
SPECIAL PROGRAMS DIRECTOR
Cathelean Steele
SUMMER 2016 / SCLC Magazine
3
/ NATIONAL EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
Martin Luther King, Jr.
FOUNDING PRESIDENT
1957-1968
Ralph D. Abernathy
PRESIDENT EMERITUS
1968-1977
Joseph E. Lowery
PRESIDENT EMERITUS
1977-1997
Charles Steele, Jr.
PRESIDENT & CEO
Martin Luther King, III
PAST PRESIDENT
1998-2003
Fred L. Shuttlesworth
PAST PRESIDENT
2004
R.I.P. 1922-2011
Charles Steele, Jr.
PAST PRESIDENT
2005-2008
Howard Creecy, Jr.
PAST PRESIDENT
2011
R.I.P. 1954-2011
4
SCLC Magazine / FALL 2016
Bernard LaFayette, Jr.
CHAIRMAN
www.nationalsclc.org
Comcast celebrates the legacy of the man who had the strength to love — even when
the law was against him. We honor his legacy and the work of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference, for all they do in reminding everyone
of the power of love and serving one another.
Personality rights and copyrights of Dr. King are used with the permission of The Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. Represented by Greenlight. © 2016 Comcast. All rights reserved.
/ president’s corner
My Lifelong Friendship with George Curry
G
BY CHARLES STEELE JR.
eorge Curry and I were twin spirits
who’s similar, yet separate, career
paths took us as we grew in grace
from Black boys in a small, poor
Alabama town to world travelers
and international inf luencers bent
on enhancing the collective African American experience. We were brothers raised in and married to
The Movement.
When we were kids we just knew each other as
homeboys. Growing up across the street from each
other we were part of the local “sandlot” team. We
met and played baseball and softball. Sometimes we
would just play.
George was from Lumpsey Bottom and I was from
Daily Bottom. It was an inside joke our whole lives
that we were moving up from the “bottom”. That bond
started a lifetime friendship between us.
We were the best of friends. We attended Druid
High School under the watchful eye of our principal,
Mr. McDonald Hughes. Mr. Hughes wanted us to be
6
SCLC Magazine / FALL 2016
so much more than good students. He instilled in us
that we should grow up to be good men and good community citizens. We shrugged off his lessons as teenagers, but we were listening, we were learning. Those
lessons hit home in the summer of 1964.
In June 1964, the police in Tuscaloosa shot tear
gas into First African Baptist Church. I remember the
panic and fear as tear gas flooded the pews and running outside only to be met with policemen and their
batons, looking to beat any of us who dared to want
equal rights. It is a day that is now known as Bloody
Tuesday in Tuscaloosa. For all of us who were there
and even those who had to deal with the aftermath,
it changed us.
The horror of that day, though, was inspiring.
It was the unspoken impetus for me and George to
forever continue to fight for civil rights and justice
our entire lives. The bond that we had created as
boys playing on the sandlot team and even as members of the football team together was forged in the
fire that day.
www.nationalsclc.org
George was my
speech writer,
constructive critic,
loudest cheerleader
and sounding board.
Most of all, George
was my confidant.”
—Charles Steele Jr.
The PGA of America is committed to diversity and inclusion,
which permeate the Association’s programs and practices,
as we “serve our members and grow the game.”
We both left Tuscaloosa for college but it was alCONGRATULATIONS TO THE SCLC
ways “home” where we would meet and fellowship
FOR THEIR OUTSTANDING SERVICE!
during holidays and homecomings.
I was always impressed with George’s work in the
world of journalism. His pen was at all times fearless
and forthright. He was never afraid to speak his truth
to power; and he spoke that truth with wit, candor and
insight.
In 2004, when I got the call to leave my state SenSCLC_Ad_3.375x4.5_r1.indd 1
9/15/16
ate seat to lead the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference as President/CEO, one of the first calls I
got was from my homeboy. George was helming the
NNPA [National Newspaper Publishers Association]
at the time. It was only natural that he became one of
my most trusted advisors. We eventually ended up traveling the world together; fighting for social justice in
Italy, France, and Cote d’Ivoire along with the work we
did here in the United States.
George was my speech writer, constructive critic,
loudest cheerleader and sounding board. Most of all,
George was my confidant. It never ceased to make me
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FALL 2016 / SCLC Magazine
7
/ from the chairman
The Problem of Violence in Our Society and
Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation as an Antidote
BY BERNARD LAFAYETTE JR.
Now is the time to
really educate and train
people in nonviolence
as the more noble
path to social justice.”
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
8
SCLC Magazine / FALL 2016
T
his nation has reached unimaginable
landmarks in scientific and technological achievement, yet finds it difficult
to deal with domestic and international
violence. Adversarial and armed methods of conflict resolution have dominated our culture
throughout modern history. From the earliest stages
of education, we have been taught to accept violence as
a normal and necessary part of our culture. What we
have learned from United States history are lessons of
violence—mainly the stories of military victories and
defeats—with little attention to the underlying social
and political problems and conditions that undoubtedly
have had a greater impact in shaping our culture.
Violence has been lauded as the supreme solution
and consistently has been excused as acceptable behavior for human beings. The tentacles of violence stretch
into almost every aspect of our lives: our homes, work
places, recreation, sports and music, just to mention a
few. Even children’s toys and television programs express our unconscious acceptance and clear admiration
for violence, reinforced by our educational and corporate systems, technical processes and institutional patterns. In almost every aspect of our lives, we have been
trained to respond to conflict with violence.
www.nationalsclc.org
In recent history, nonviolence has come to be recognized as a significant alternative for groups, communities, and whole societies to effectively deal with
the conditions they face locally, nationally, and internationally. During the 20th century, the successful social
movements of Gandhi in India and King in the United
States led to the public’s awareness of nonviolent conflict reconciliation in mass movements. This approach
depends not on major material or technological instruments, but utilizes skills and methodologies. Nonviolence is positive, powerful, and effective because it calls
forth the very best in human spirituality and intelligence from the people or groups that use it.
Martin Luther King, Jr. made a tremendous contribution to the application of nonviolence on a broad
scale in our society. Because his philosophy and methods were so effective in transforming long-held values
and discriminatory social conditions, and because he
based his response to repression and violence on his
faith and conviction that violence was not a valid means
of solving social problems, Dr. King’s life stands today
as one of the greatest moral forces in history. We can
recognize the impact of his continuing legacy when we
see Eastern Europeans, South Africans, Asians, Middle Easterners and South Americans singing “We Shall
Overcome” in countless native languages and applying
his methods of nonviolence.
In reflecting on his own experiences, Dr. King was
impressed not by the strength and accomplishments of
the masses, but by the capacity of a small group committed to nonviolence to create positive change when
faced by large problems. In 1967, during a staff conference he said, “Now is the time to really educate and
train people in nonviolence as the more noble path to
social justice.”1 He emphasized education, enlightenment, and leadership development in every facet of his
work and the campaigns he led. Significantly, the new
leadership of his movement has continued to expand
and extend his concept of nonviolence, making it more
accessible to today’s leaders.
Private and public sponsorship of studies and research about nonviolent movements and their methods
of conflict reconciliation have helped to establish nonviolence as a legitimate multidisciplinary body of knowledge from which succeeding generations can learn how
to address the issues of violent conflict and to achieve
their desires for a just peace. It has long been established that people of all ages and in all social or political settings can learn and exercise nonviolent methods,
concepts, and skills. By institutionalizing such training
and education, society as a whole can begin to change.
The policies in the boardrooms and in the halls of
government, attitudes on our playgrounds and in our
homes, and the selection of music on the airwaves can
have positive change. sclc
1. Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or
Community: (Boston, Beacon Press, 1967), p.184. Adapted by
the authors from conversations. The original text is “therefore I
suggest that the philosophy and strategy of nonviolence become
immediately a subject for study and for serious experimentation in
every field of human conflict, by no means excluding the relations
between nations.”
Bernard LaFayette Jr. (Right) with Martin Luther King Jr. at a news conference in Atlanta on Jan. 16,
1968. Photo/Charles Kelly/AP
www.nationalsclc.org
FALL 2016 / SCLC Magazine
9
/ first lady’s corner
A Hometown Honor for National Civil Rights Icon
Joseph E. Lowery
BY CATHELEAN C. STEELE, Special Programs Director
10
SCLC Magazine / FALL 2016
Huntsville and we’re standing in what was
once his neighborhood.” It was a touching
and tender, and well disserved tribute.
During the remarks, the dedication and
the resolution, we were reminded of Dr.
Lowery ‘s extensive body of work for freedom and justice from America to South Africa. From the annals of history, the speakers
told us that Dr. Joseph E. Lowery began
his extensive journey in civil rights in 1957
and became a co-founder of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference. He served as president from 1977 to 1997. His work against Apartheid
in South Africa eventually led to his arrest outside the
South African Embassy in Washington, DC. Dr. Lowery was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by
President Barack Obama on July 30, 2009.
After many remarks, the dedication, and resolution, Dr. Lowery took the microphone and as only Dr.
Lowery can do, he made us laugh as he reflected on his
childhood in Huntsville. He talked about chasing girls
as a young boy and jokingly said “if I could get out of
this chair I would chase them now.” He even reminded
us that he was a minister as he teased us with his drawl
that sounded as if it coming from a Baptist preacher.
On a more serious note, he talked about the emotions of visiting his parent’s grave site on the day of his
arrival back to a city which had been his home for so
many years. Before cutting the ribbon he told the crowd
that was gathered to acknowledge him how proud he
was to have this Street naming honor bestowed upon
him. He recognized his daughters with a tone of loving
pride and in conclusion he thanked the city leaders and
all who came to witness a historical moment in time.
www.nationalsclc.org
Photo/John Glenn
A
ugust 14, 2016 was a hot serene
day in Huntsville, Ala. On the
corner of Governors Drive and
Dr. Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard were tents, chairs, and a large gathering of people from Atlanta, Birmingham
and Huntsville waiting to greet a national
hero of the civil rights movement.
My husband Charles and I were elated
to be a part of this significant day. We have
known Dr. Lowery for over thirty years,
traveling all over the Southern region participating in
SCLC activities while he was president of this historic
organization. Charles fondly remembers the first time
he traveled to West Central Africa it was through an
invitation from Dr. Lowery. When our oldest daughter
married, Dr. Lowery was a preeminent participant in
the ceremony. Since becoming president of SCLC Dr.
Lowery supports Charles through words, guidance and
actions. Please share with me these following reflections of a day in history that honored one of my heroes,
Dr. Joseph E. Lowery.
Joseph Echols Lowery grew up in Huntsville, Alabama in the area that now bears his name. and rightfully so, I suggest. Unlike when he was growing up,
Dr. Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard is surrounded by new
buildings and extensive plans to make this area a show
piece of Huntsville, Alabama. Mayor Tommy Battle
called the naming of the street “monumental in the city
of Huntsville.” The Boulevard was described as having
“four lanes, decorative lights and great landscaping”.
Mayor Battle continued in his speech saying “many
of you know Dr. Lowery was one of the greatest civil
rights leaders, many of you may know he was born in
(Above) April 22, 2016, the Dr. Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard
was officially opened to drivers in Huntsville. (Right) Aug. 14,
Lowery’s mode of transportation to the event in his honor.
Congratulations Dr. Lowery we are so pleased that
you were honored in your hometown. Your years of service to disenfranchised people of these United States
and aboard through the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference have left an imprint for “Justice and Nonviolence” that will forever be etched in history. It meant
so much to me and my husband Charles, your successor
as SCLC President, to applaud your home town and
life-long achievements as a Medal of Freedom Honoree. We idolize and thank you for your tremendous
service to our people.
As a Black woman and the current First Lady of
SCLC, I sadly and personally lament that your late and
lovely wife and my esteemed predecessor Evelyn G.
Lowery—a respected and revered activist in her own
right—was not there to share this special day with you,
though I know and felt she was there with us in spirit.
On January 20, 2009, Dr. Lowery you thrilled the
nation by delivering the benediction at the inauguration of Senator Barack Obama as the 44th President
of the United States of America. He opened with lines
from “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, also known as “The
Negro National Anthem”, by James Weldon Johnson.
You concluded with the following, an interpolation of
Big Bill Broonzy’s “Black, Brown and White”:
Lord, in the memory of all the saints who
from their labors rest, and in the joy of a
new beginning, we ask you to help us work
for that day when Black will not be asked to
get [in] back, when Brown can stick around,
when Yellow will be mellow, when the Red
man can get ahead, man; and when White
will embrace what is right. Let all those
who do justice and love mercy say Amen!
Say Amen! And Amen! Amen and God’s
Best to you my friend and leader!” sclc
Wed., Aug. 12, 2009, East Room of the White House; U.S. Pres.
Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to
the Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery. Photo/Getty Images
www.nationalsclc.org
FALL 2016 / SCLC Magazine
11
Noted Journalist George Curry Remembered
by Best Friend, Charles Steele Jr. and His Black Media Colleagues
BY MAYNARD EATON
12
SCLC Magazine / FALL 2016
Photo/Charles Cherry/Florida Courier
I
t was a home-going salute and celebration of life
to honor a heavyweight Black newsman. Veteran
Black press reporter and renowned Civil Rights
journalist/activist George Edward Curry, 69, was
laid to rest Saturday, Aug. 27, in his hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
“George was a race man,” said Vern Smith, the Atlanta bureau chief for Newsweek Magazine from 1979
to 2002 who knew Curry for 35 years. “He was a journalist but he came out of this place, Tuscaloosa, and he grew
up in the shadow of ‘The Movement’. He brought that kind
of hard-nose, search for the truth to journalism.”
Dr. Charles Steele Jr., president and CEO of the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC),
grew up with Curry in the segregated South during the
Jim Crow era. They were teammates and best friends
on the Druid High School football team. In their professional lives, Curry served as a key advisor, speech
writer, and confidant for Steele as well as a trusted
companion on international trips.
“George Curry was to me, as president of SCLC, as
Rev. Ralph Abernathy was to Dr. Martin King,” said
Steele. “That’s what George Curry was to me. He was a
freedom movement journalist. We were very close; we were
partners. He said we were on the same journey but we are
in different lanes, so why not strategically create a boulevard
for us to travel together. And, that’s what we did for the last
15 years. We were always together. We talked every day.
We were teammates in the civil rights movement playing
different positions in the pursuit of justice and equality for
the least of these, our people.”
Curry was highly regarded nationally and often referred to as the dean of Black Press columnists because
of his cachet and riveting weekly commentary in Black
newspapers across the country. He was fondly remembered as a legend and iconic journalist. He served two
terms as editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper
Publishers Association’s news service. A dozen or more
publishers and contemporaries from across the nation
attended his funeral.
“What George brought to journalism was an uncompromising sense of Black authenticity,” said Les Payne, a
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, who served as an
editor and columnist at Newsday and is a founder of
the National Association of Black Journalists. “He kept
Charles Steele speaks of his best friend George Curry.
that when he worked in the white media at the Chicago
Tribune and the St. Louis Dispatch, and he kept it when
he worked in the Black media. What he taught us, and a
lot of us in journalism still haven’t learned it, is that there
is no reason why we should compromise. That was his real
contribution.”
Curry spent his life writing about issues important
to the African American community. In the early ‘90s,
he ran Emerge, a provocative political magazine that
enjoyed a healthy and robust black readership. He later
became the first African American president of the
American Society of Magazine Editors. He was also a
member of the National Association of Black Journalists. In that leadership role, he launched a journalism
workshop for teens called the St. Louis Minority Journalism Workshop.
“George Curry was the conscience of Black America in
our field,” said Ed Gordon, is an accomplished journalist
and host of the BET program Weekly with Ed Gordon.
“George was unconscionably Black. He never apologized for
it; kept us all pointed to that North Star of righteousness.
More than anything, as fantastic of a journalist as he was,
George was a better man. He was a great soul.”
The journalism workshop program flourished
and eventually came to Chicago, New York City and
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Photo/Charles Cherry/Florida Courier
Al Sharpton gives the eulogy at the service for George Curry in his hometown of Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Washington, D.C. Curry was the quintessential mentor for a bevy of young, talented Black journalists, as
well as a riveting and respected broadcast news commentator on national talk shows.
“We are at a pivotal moment,” opined Dr. Benjamin
Chavis, a civil rights activist and president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association [NNPA],
about the survival of the Black Press. “The passing of
George Curry now raises the question of who will take his
pen? The good news is that George Curry planted good seeds
all over the country. There is a new generation of columnists; there’s some little George Curry’s coming up strong.
We have 209 African American owned publications that
are still members of the NNPA. They came from all over
America today to pay tribute to George Curry.”
TV One news anchor and former Chicago Defender editor Roland Martin shared a memory of
Curry from a 2003 National Association of Black
Journalists convention in Dallas, Texas. He said that
the two were finished for the day near 2 a.m., but instead of going to bed, Curry sat up later with young
aspiring journalists who had questions about the industry. He said Curry was always passionate about
helping young people.
“There was no newspaper, no magazine George Curry
could not have worked for, but he chose to work in Black
media,” Martin said passionately. “He chose to do that
because he said there has to be an independent voice that is
unapologetic; that thinks about Black people from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to sleep.”
Activist and television/radio talk show host Rev.
Al Sharpton gave the eulogy, saying that Curry was
“part of a long tradition, but he was one of a kind.” He
said he experienced a lot of rejection during his career and wasn’t always credited for his work, but he
never gave up.
“George never stopped until the very end,” Sharpton
said. “He never backed up. He never compromised. He
never negotiated his dignity for a contract.”
“There were many Black writers that have gone mainstream; but George Curry made mainstream go Black.
“He spanned decades but he embraced his Blackness;
he embraced the tradition of a strong and uncompromising
voice in Black media as an advocate in telling our story. He
did not let the mainstream media make him change.”
Sharpton added during an exclusive interview, “We
are at a critical tipping point where they are trying to eliminate the Black Press. We are getting ready for the first time
in our history to have a White candidate succeed a Black
president. Without a voice we could end up being erased.
I think George leaving us at this critical time puts a shared
burden on all of us.”
At his death, Curry was fervently trying to raise
funds to revive Emerge Magazine. sclc
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FALL 2016 / SCLC Magazine
13
Photo/Charles Cherry/Florida Courier
Curry was to me, as president of the
SCLC, as Rev. Ralph Abernathy
was to Dr. Martin King. That’s what
George Curry was to me. He was a
freedom movement journalist. We
were very close; we were partners.”
What George brought to journalism
was an uncompromising sense of
Black authenticity”
– Les Payne, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
14
SCLC Magazine / FALL 2016
www.nationalsclc.org
Photo/Charles Cherry/Florida Courier
– Charles Steele Jr., SCLC president and CEO
Photo/Charles Cherry/Florida Courier
George was unconscionably Black. He never apologized for
it; kept us all pointed to that North Star of righteousness.
More than anything, as fantastic of a journalist as he
was, George was a better man. He was a great soul.”
Photo/Charles Cherry/Florida Courier
– Ed Gordon, journalist and host of Weekly with Ed Gordon, BET
www.nationalsclc.org
George never
stopped until the
very end. He never
backed up. He never
compromised. He
never negotiated his
dignity for a contract.”
– Rev. Al Sharpton
Activist and television
and radio talk show host
FALL 2016 / SCLC Magazine
15
1947-2016
“The Super Southern Scribe”
In his own words with Maynard Eaton
G
Originally published in the SCLC Magazine, Vol. 42, No. 3
eorge E. Curry, a son of the segregated
South, has crafted such an accomplished
and acclaimed journalism career that
it has catapulted him from Tuscaloosa,
Alabama to national prominence as editor-in-chief and a syndicated columnist for the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service.
Before joining the NNPA, he was a reporter for Sports
Illustrated, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a Washington correspondent and New York Bureau Chief for the
Chicago Tribune and editor-in-chief of Emerge: Black
America’s Newsmagazine. He wrote and served as
chief correspondent for the Frontline PBS documentary, “Assault on Affirmative Action” and was featured in
a 2013 French documentary on the 150th anniversary
of the Emancipation Proclamation titled, “Abraham
Lincoln, the Roads to Freedom.” He is arguably the
best Black journalist in the nation.
Curry is also a sought after speaker, political commentator and TV talk show panelist who appears every
Friday on Keeping it Real with Rev. Al Sharpton and
regularly with Cliff Kelley on WVON in Chicago,
Bernie Hayes on WGNU in St. Louis, Gary Byrd on
WBLS in New York, and Chris B. Bennett on KRIZ
in Seattle.
Curry is the author of three books: Jake Gaither:
America’s Most Famous Black Coach, The Affirmative Action Debate and The Best of Emerge Magazine.
He is at work on a book about Emmett Till. The National Association of Black Journalists named Curry its
2003 “Journalist of the Year.” The University of Missouri presented him with its Missouri Honor Medal for
16
SCLC Magazine / FALL 2016
Distinguished Service in Journalism, the same honor
it had bestowed on Walter Cronkite, John H. Johnson,
Joseph Pulitzer and Sir Winston Churchill.
Curry was in Atlanta recently to address the National Conference of Black Mayors’ convention and sat
down with this SCLC Magazine editor to discuss his
reporting and his opinions on the Black American experience and the Civil Rights Movement.
MAYNARD EATON: Your award-winning
journalism career has seemingly taken you virtually everywhere in your reporting on the Black experience, but
where were you during the 1963 March on Washington
and what are your thoughts on the 50th anniversary?
GEORGE CURRY: I was in the 10th grade in
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but the most troubling thing to
me is that the focus does not seem to be on jobs. The
original march was about jobs and freedom; now the
jobs in large part has gotten lost. Secondly, if all of the
Black leaders could get together 50 years ago—and they
were of different political persuasions—there should be
no reason why they cannot get together now. I don’t see
that happening and that is very disturbing.
EATON: You started out in Alabama, and Alabama is really where the civil rights crusade was
launched. Now this Alabama boy is a globe-trotting
journalist, just back from Morocco, who is based in
Washington, D.C.
CURRY: I will always be a son of Alabama, that’s
not going to change. I grew up under a mother who
did domestic work and with three younger sisters. I’m
66 years old. I had to ride in the back of the bus, had
to drink from separate water fountains, attend separate
www.nationalsclc.org
schools and face racism every day of my life as a kid. So
this was not something I read in “Eyes on the Prize,”
this is not a theory, this was something I lived. My
mother did domestic work all day, cleaned up those
little white kids’ snotty noses, cooked their food and
when she came home, she had to ride in the back of
the car. That irked me, that is seared in my memory.
As a kid, it affects you in one or two ways—you can
either be consumed by it and become discouraged or it
can motivate you. It motivated me and made me more
determined.
EATON: How did you get interested in journalism?
CURRY: I wanted to be a journalist since I was
in the eighth grade that was because the stories I was
seeing on TV and reading in the newspaper, The only
time you saw Blacks in the media was if they were athletes, entertainers or suspected of being criminals. I
knew there were a lot more stories to be told.
EATON: You have written and reported about
the issue of race and the Black struggle throughout your
career, correct?
CURRY: Yes, for 43 years. I started in 1970 and
was with Sports Illustrated for two years. I played
quarterback in high school and college. I didn’t plan to
stay a sports writer all my life but who is going to turn
down Sports Illustrated. Then, I was at the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch for eleven years, the Chicago Tribune
10 years as a Washington correspondent and the New
York Bureau Chief. In 1993, I became editor-in-chief
of Emerge magazine for seven years. After it closed, I
completed my second book for a year and then became
editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers
Association (NNPA). I left and came back last year.
EATON: Has race and the Civil Rights Movement been the overriding issues you have covered and
reported about during those career stops?
CURRY: I’ve done a lot of things in my career, from
covering presidential campaigns to covering espionage
trials. But because the media does such a poor job covering race, I’ve always felt a special obligation to make
contributions in that area. In one respect, it improves
news coverage and in another, I can help make sure our
people are accurately and fairly portrayed. When you
look at how this country looks at race, everything is
seen through a racial prism. We just look at things differently and race seems to color everything that we do.
This country was founded by importing a people from
their land and compelling them to provide free labor
to Whites, by taking the land of another group already
living here—Native Americans—and annexing land of
Brown people in Mexico. It’s no wonder that we have a
color problem. It’s ingrained in our history.
EATON: And, it continues to drive us, to consume us?
CURRY: Yes, it does, even though it is more
disguised and more subtle today. What happened is
the South learned to be like the North in many ways
whereas before they were quite open with their racism.
Even with its problems, I think the South has made
more progress addressing racism than the North.
EATON: Many conservatives argue that the election of President Obama proves racial attitudes have
changed. Does your reporting reflect that things are
better?
CURRY: No, of course not. First, the majority of
Whites did not vote for Barack Obama to be president.
So, if you eliminate the votes of people of color—which
is what some people are trying to do today—Obama
would not have been elected president. You see reports
that he won the votes of women and that’s true. But if
you remove the vote of Black women, he would not have
carried that group. The same is true of the youth vote.
Yes, Obama was elected president by winning a significant portion of the White vote. But we should not be
duped into thinking there was this radical change that
allowed him to be elected. Yes, things are getting better, but we still have a long way to go.
EATON: Has the Black Press been lax perhaps
in providing that kind of insight or making the case for
civil rights?
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FALL 2016 / SCLC Magazine
17
George Curry and U.S. Pres. Barack Obama
CURRY: I don’t think we have been lax. I think
the problem is that more than half the Black population was not born when they had the original March
on Washington. To them, the Civil Rights Movement
is like the Civil War—it’s ancient history. We assumed
the next generation would benefit, but we have failed to
teach them about our past. I blame our generation for
that because we have not passed that on. That’s why
when I led journalism workshops for high school kids,
I started the program with segments of [the documentary] “Eyes On The Prize.” If they never learn anything
about journalism, they would learn about their history.
EATON: You are old enough to remember the
March on Washington. When they reconvene for the
50th Anniversary, what will you be thinking? What
will it mean to you?
CURRY: I hardly ever agree with [Black conservative political commentator] Armstrong Williams on
anything. We used to fight on BET all the time. But
Armstrong did say one thing that I agree with. He said
that “As long as we have been marching, we ought to
be where we are going by now.” We shouldn’t have to
be out there 50 years later marching for the same thing.
That’s not to say marching is not an effective tool—it is.
But we have to do much more than walk.
You hear so many young people saying they wish
they could have taken part in the Civil Rights Movement—well they are going to get their chance because we are going to have to fight for everything all
over again.
The U.S. Supreme Court has decided it is going
impose stricter limits on affirmative action in—even
mild forms of it—at the University of Texas, and voted
in favor of Shelby County, Ala. And let’s not forget,
they did not give it to us the first time. That means we
have to go back and fight those battles again. sclc
18
SCLC Magazine / FALL 2016
www.nationalsclc.org
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19
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Civil Rights icon and Georgia U.S. Representative John Lewis (D-GA)
John Lewis spent 15 years fighting for
the museum – now the dream is realized.
BY JOHN LEWIS
I
first learned there was an effort
to establish a national museum
dedicated to preserving African
American history and culture
during my first term in Congress
after being elected in 1986. My colleague
Rep. Mickey Leland (D-Tex.) discovered
that the most recent legislative efforts had
run aground a few years earlier because of
an attempt by Rep. Clarence Brown (R-Ohio) and Sen.
John Glenn (D-Ohio) to take the project to Wilberforce, Ohio. Mickey resurrected the idea and asked me
to co-sponsor it in 1988.
I have loved history ever since I was a boy. It started
when I was so young. To celebrate Carter G. Woodson’s innovation—then called Negro History Week and
now called Black History Month—my teachers would
ask us to cut out pictures in magazines and newspapers
of famous African Americans, such as Rosa Parks and
20
SCLC Magazine / FALL 2016
George Washington Carver. Growing up
in Alabama near Tuskegee Institute, reading about Carver and Booker T. Washington, attending Fisk University later with
its world-class art collection and Jubilee
Singers who had sung for Queen Victoria,
I knew the power of legacy. Mickey did
not have to ask me twice. I was on board
to push the museum bill through.
Unfortunately, he was killed in a plane crash less
than a year later. So the baton was passed to me. I introduced the museum bill in every session of Congress
for 15 years. I got it through the House in 1994, but
Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) mounted a filibuster against
the bill. My Senate partners asked to meet in my office
one day. They said, “John, we have the votes to get this
through the Senate, but we just don’t have anything to
trade Jesse.” That push did not lead to passage, but I
had gotten closer than I ever had before.
www.nationalsclc.org
Giving up on dreams is not an
option for me. Optimism is essential to the philosophy and discipline
of nonviolence, so hope in the face
of challenge is the only alternative
I see. I knew that if I was persistent
and consistent, I would at least play
my role well in this effort, but at most
I could win a victory for humanity.
So I continued to introduce the
legislation in every session of Congress and worked to find a way to
get the bill through. Ultimately, I
made a key alliance with Sen. Max
Cleland (D-Ga.), Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Rep. J.C. Watts
(R--Okla.). The bill won passage in
the House and Senate and was signed
into law in 2003 by President George
W. Bush. My final drive to the finish 1961, two blood-splattered Freedom Riders, John Lewis (left) and James Zwerg
line was the completion of a dream (right) stand together after being attacked and beaten by pro-segregationists in
first launched by visionary supporters Montgomery, Alabama. Photo/Bettmann/Bettmann Archive
of black Civil War veterans exactly
100 years ago.
we never mention it. But all around us we see pockets
On May 24, 1916, the National Memorial Associaof the past erupting before our very eyes.
tion held a meeting in Washington at 19th Street BapSome people thought that the hostility and angst
tist Church, a nearly 180-year-old congregation still in
around issues of race, for example, no longer existed
existence today. Its members discussed the creation of “a
in America, to the degree that they actually believed
beautiful building” they hoped to establish on the Mall.
we were living in a post-racial society. Why? Because
Their goal was “to commemorate the deeds American
we spent the latter part of the 20th century burying
[Negroes wrought for the perpetuation and advanceany discussion of a racial divide and refusing to admit
ment of the Nation,” celebrating their contribution to
that antagonism was still festering beneath the surface
America in “military service, in art, literature, invention,
in our society. We vilified people who suggested race
science, industry” and other areas of life. On this Sept.
could be a cause of conflict, believing our denial would
24, exactly 100 years and four months later, the National
somehow make the problem go away.
Museum of African American History and Culture will
But the upheavals in our society today demonfinally open in Washington, D.C., prominently placed at
strate that avoiding the truth is impossible. Covering
the foot of the Washington Monument.
a wound without treating it with medicine first only
Millions of black men and women built this counmakes it fester and increases the danger of infection.
try through hard labor, sacrifice and suffering, through
Actually, it is confronting the truth that leads to libercreativity and ingenuity, sheer willpower and enduring
ation from our past. Yes, it may require an adjustment
faith. They have fought in every war and defended the
in our thinking, but in the final analysis the truth can
principles of democracy knowing they would not share
lead to only one conclusion: We are one people, one
in the victory. They did this not because they anticipatfamily, the American family. We all live in one house,
ed any benefit, but because they believed in something
the American house, the world house. It will lead us to
greater than themselves. That faith in the unseen and
see the divine spark that resides in each and every one
their ability to make a way out of no way is a demonof us and is a part of the entire creation. It will lead us
stration of the character it took to build this nation, and
to see that we are more alike than we are different, that
that is why this museum deserves a prominent space
we are not separate, but we are one. That is why this
among the memorials to the founders of this country.
museum can have a healing effect on our society.
People know so little about African American his“Beauty is truth, truth beauty. That is all ye know on
tory. We want to try to hide nearly 400 years of history
earth, and all ye need to know.” sclc
from ourselves, as though it will somehow disappear if
www.nationalsclc.org
FALL 2016 / SCLC Magazine
21
A dream come true.
BY LEE COWAN, CBS
H
igh in the Hollywood Hills,
on one of those California
evenings that those who don’t
live here wonder why they
don’t, Quincy Jones was at the
piano trying to calm his nerves.
At 83 it’s hard to imagine what could
possibly un-settle such a music legend. After
all, he’s worked with the likes of Michael
Jackson, and has 27 Grammys to his name, as well as an
Oscar. But Jones’ latest task is pretty daunting.
“The big challenge,” Jones chuckled, “is the ‘what,
who, why,’ because there’s a big story to tell there.”
The story he has to tell is nothing short of the tale
of black America. He’s produced the dedication ceremony
for the opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of
African American History and Culture.
Thousands of people descended on the Mall to watch
President Obama cut the ribbon himself.
Jones is on the museum’s council, and has been working closely with founding director Lonnie Bunch collecting
items of both musical and cultural significance.
“There’s not a future without a good past, a good
knowledge of the past,” Bunch said. “So that’s what we’re
trying to do.”
The museum’s 11 massive galleries display, in total,
22
SCLC Magazine / FALL 2016
more than 30,000 priceless artifacts.
“He’s had his fingers on sort of American culture for 60 years,” Bunch said. “I find
myself pinching myself saying I’m sitting
here with Quincy Jones—oh, my goodness!”
Bunch showed Jones a few of his “favorite little things,” including Sammy Davis Jr.’s
tap shoes, “from when we was a baby.”
“I worked with him when I was 12!”
Jones added.
The museum’s 11 massive galleries display, in total,
more than 30,000 priceless artifacts.
There’s a lot of space to fill—the museum is 400,000
square feet, 60 percent of which is underground.
The lower floors present a darker tale—a segregated
rail car; shackles used to enslave a child; and the casket
of Emmett Till, the young boy whose lynching in 1955
helped spark the civil rights movement. And there are the stools from a Woolworth’s lunch
counter where black students were refused service, and so
refused to leave. But make no mistake, Bunch says: This is not (nor
was it ever intended to be) the National Museum of
Discrimination.
“For me, the African American experience is an experience not of tragedy, but of unbelievable belief—belief in
www.nationalsclc.org
Photo/Greg Gorman/Huffington Post
Quincy Jones is a renowned record producer, conductor,
arranger, composer, musician, television producer, film
producer and entertainment company executive. He is also
on the council of the NMAAHC.
themselves, belief in an America that often didn’t believe
in them,” he said.
Few items better represent that sentiment than a P.T.
Stearman bi-plane flown by the pioneering Tuskegee Airmen in World War II.
“If you could in essence fly as high and as fast as white
pilots, then surely racial equality would follow on the
ground,” Bunch said.
There’s also Chuck Berry’s ‘73 Cadillac, Carl Lewis’
Olympic medals, and Muhammad Ali’s boxing gloves.
“We had to say, let’s tell the story and find the balance
between the stories that are going to make you cry, and the
stories that are going to make you smile,” Bunch said.
Which is why Quincy Jones makes such a valuable resource for Bunch. He, like so many others, have succeeded
in the face of enormous obstacles. “When you come from the bottom, you never forget it.
Never,” Jones said.
He was born in Chicago in what he calls one of the
biggest black ghettos in America. He lived for a time with
his grandmother, a former slave, and—while touring the
South with jazz great Lionel Hampton—experienced firsthand the sting of racism.
“We get to the biggest church in town, from the steeples of one of the big churches there, they had a rope and
an effigy of a black dummy hanging off the top of the steeples,” Jones said.
“You remember that to this day?” Cowan asked.
“Hell, how you gonna forget that?”
By the 1950s he watched some of the greatest entertainers on the Las Vegas Strip being cheered on stage,
but scorned off it: “Belafonte, Lena Horne, Sammy, they
couldn’t even go into the casino. They had to eat in the
kitchen. Getting $17,000 to star in a show, and go back to
a black hotel on the other side of town.”
Given the struggle for equality, it’s perhaps not surprising that even in the museum world, the African American piece to the nation’s historic puzzle was often missing.
Few pushed and pulled harder to legislate a home
for the museum than civil rights icon John Lewis. At
the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta (where the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr. was pastor), Lewis said, “If you
believe in something, you have to stand up and fight and
push and pull.”
Lewis introduced a bill for the museum every year
for almost 15 years, met with continued opposition.
“There was just some feeling on the part of one or
two,” Lewis said. “But there was one particular member, the late Senator Jesse Helms, each time the bill
would come up in the Senate, he would put a hold on
it. Every single time.”
It wasn’t until 2003 that President George W. Bush
finally signed bipartisan legislation getting the ball rolling.
But it would be another nine years before construction on
the museum began—erecting the bones of what years later
LONNIE G. BUNCH III is an
American educator and historian.
He has spent much of his career
as a history museum curator and
administrator. He is the founding
director of the Smithsonian’s
National Museum of African
American History and Culture.
Photo/Platon/Vanity Fair
would support a bronze-colored structure that purposely
stands out against its all-white neighbors.
Cowan asked Lewis, “What’s it going to be like for
you walking through those doors the first time?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “I’m going to try to hold it.
But I’ll probably cry. It is my hope that it will make America a better country, and make our people a better people.”
Perhaps it already has.
Maurice and Mark Person’s ancestors were slave owners in Virginia, and came into possession of what is one of
the centerpieces of the new museum: A well-worn Bible
belonging to Nat Turner, who in 1831 led a bloody slave
revolts that left 55 white Virginians, all in a single night.
“We had ancestors that were slain who didn’t make it,
so it’s close to home,” Mark said. “And nothing, no animosity against Nat Turner, I think it’s a time for reconciliation.”
Fact is, it was actually two slaves who saved Mark
Person’s great-great-grandmother by hiding her from the
angry mob.
“The compassion of the slaves saved our ancestor,”
Mark said, “so I think about it, if it hadn’t been for the
slaves, I wouldn’t be able to tell the story. They could have
easily said, ‘Here she is!’ and didn’t.”
As family heirlooms go, Nat Turner’s Bible was so significant experts say it could have gone for millions at auction. But the Persons didn’t ask for a cent.
In fact, Bunch says as much as 80 percent of the museum’s artifacts were donated by ordinary people who pulled
them out of their basements, their attics or their churches.
Each item in the museum’s collection tells a story—
some of a tortured racial past, others of resiliency and
optimism.
But they are all threads woven into the same tapestry,
depicting not only how we as a nation got here, but how we
as a nation are still struggling to make it better.
Jones said, “We still haven’t figured it out. As we speak
right now, we’re trying to figure it out, you know? And it’s
a dilemma, isn’t it? It’s a long time, man.”
“So, what’s the solution?” Cowan asked.
“The solution is to unite or fight, that’s all. And I
think it’s time we unite. It’s the only way we’re going to
make it.” sclc
LEE COWAN is the CBS News National Correspondent for
the CBS Evening News.
www.nationalsclc.org
FALL 2016 / SCLC Magazine
23
Historic pictures by
Horace Henry housed
in permanent collection
at the NMAAHC.
SEPT. 14, 2016
N
early 50 years ago Clark Atlanta University alumnus Horace Henry (CC ’71) attended
the very first ecumenical service in honor of
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Moments before he and
a group of his Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity brothers
dashed out of their dorm rooms in Brawley Hall headed to the service, something occurred by happenstance.
Henry made a snap decision to take with
him a camera he had just received as a
hand-me-down. He didn’t know it then,
but that decision would catapult him into
the history books decades later.
Once Henry and his then-Clark College crew arrived at Historic Ebenezer
Baptist Church, he says he was given unprecedented access to everyone in attendance. So, he whipped out his camera and
began capturing dozens of pictures illustrating the raw
emotions of King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, other
close family members and friends who were there. By
the end of the service he had recorded what is now regarded as the largest, private collection of images taken
at the memorial, said Henry, who didn’t even fully understand how to operate the camera.
said Henry, who didn’t even fully understand how
to operate the camera.
After collecting dust in an old shoebox for years,
Henry eventually published the historic images in a
book titled “One Day In January.” Now, he is set to
receive a new honor for the photos. That’s because all
of Henry’s pictures taken on that historic day will be
housed in the permanent collection of the new National Museum of African American History and Culture
in Washington, D.C.
Henry says this huge honor is less about him, and
more about the generations to come who will always
have access to his images. “My legacy is the photographs are there for the world to see for years to
come,” he explained. “That’s my contribution as a
photographer.” sclc
24
SCLC Magazine / SUMMER 2016
Horace Henry took this photo at the first memorial service held
for Martin Luther King Jr. on what would have been the civil
rights leader’s 40th birthday on Jan. 15, 1969. Photographed
at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta seated are (left to right)
the Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. and his wife Alberta Scott King,
Mrs. Coretta King, and Harry Belafonte.
It was divine
intervention that I
was there to capture
those pictures.”
– Horace Henry
ABOUT HORACE HENRY
Based in Atlanta, Horace Henry has been taking pictures
since his brother sent him a 35mm in late 1968. Since that
time, the camera has been a regular part of his life. A native of Palmetto, GA., he is a college trained musician and
worked at his alma mater, Clark College after graduating.
Also, while working at Clark, and before pursuing a career
in mortgage banking, it was Horace’s pleasure to enjoy over
fifteen years on the road as a professional musician sharing the stage with musicians like Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, and The Isley Brothers. Through it all, he could not
shake off the insatiable desire and compassion that he had
for photography. In 1996, he became self employed as a
professional photographer. With his contributions as a photojournalist and still photographer, Horace Henry has been
enjoying the pursuit of his passion ever since.
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25
Terence Lester walked
13 miles per day for 57
consecutive days from
Atlanta to D.C.
Love Beyond Walls: One Man’s Modern Day March on Washington
BY MAYNARD EATON
T
erence Lester represents the new generation of
civil and human rights activism. Dr. Martin
King and SCLC called for the Poor People’s
Campaign in 1968. It was carried out under the leadership of Ralph Abernathy in the wake of King’s assassination. The campaign demanded economic and human
rights for poor Americans of diverse backgrounds.
This summer the 33-year-old Lester, and his wife
Cecilia, trekked 648 miles to Washington in their
own personal Poor People’s against poverty. He began
following a news conference and prayer service at the
I saw myself in the tapestry
of Freedom Fighters and civil
rights fighters. I felt like I was
a part of that fabric.”
— Terence Lester
front door of SCLC national headquarters on August
20th. He then walked 57 consecutive days, averaging
13 miles per day, before arriving in D.C.
“I’m walking to sympathize and emphasize for
people who are suffering poverty in the United States
of America,” Lester told me before beginning his journey. “What we have created is a working poor class and
the near poor who are two or three checks away from
poverty, and what we want to do is bring attention to
26
SCLC Magazine / FALL 2016
it. This is something to stand up for the injustices that
are happening in our country. I am going to give everything I have every day until I get there because I
know how much this means to me; I know how much
it meant to Martin Luther King, and I also know how
much it means to the people who are suffering.”
SCLC Board chairman Dr. Bernard LaFayette
told the Lesters that day, “We are elated that our young
people are taking the lead. This is what Martin Luther
King Jr. had in mind when he started the Poor Peoples
Campaign. He appointed me the national coordinator
in 1967, and I am glad to still be here to witness what
you are doing.”
Dr. LaFayette added, “This is what SCLC wants to
see happen, that is for young people to grasp these issues,
to understand these issues and then get involved in The
Movement to make a difference; to make a change.”
As reported in a recent NBCBLK story, in 2013
Terence Lester and his wife Cecilia Lester founded
Love Beyond Walls, an Atlanta based non-profit organization focused on exposing the realities of the often
invisible, by sharing their stories and experiences to
increase awareness. The Love Beyond Walls website
reveals this mission message:
“We exist to raise awareness of societal needs
through technology and storytelling, and mobilize
people to take part in it.”
“This is a symbolic walk; this is a walk to raise
awareness and to bring people into the conversation
that poverty in any city is unacceptable,” said Rev. Brian
Bloye, senior pastor at West Ridge Church in Dallas,
Ga. “I know this is going to be the toughest thing
www.nationalsclc.org
“We probably reached millions of people digitally by the
videos produced and shared by
social media companies,” he
said. “My story to them was
mostly a message of hope. The
more people I met, the more
that I found out just how much
poor people don’t feel like they
have a voice and their struggles
weren’t being heard.”
He continues, “I think its
civil rights and I think it is political. Anytime you are fighting
for justice, it is to change policy
for the betterment of people. I
saw myself in the tapestry of
Terence Lester is embraced by well-wishers during his 648-mile march.
Freedom Fighters and civil rights
Terence and Cecilia have ever done. There are going to
fighters. I felt like I was a part of that fabric. It’s a
be moments when they’re going to wonder ‘what in the
crime to live in a wealthy country where you can’t even
world have we gotten ourselves into’.”
make a living wage. I was literally walking in the shoes
True that!
of people who wake up every single day and must wres“It’s probably the most difficult thing I’ve done
tle with the struggles of life and carry the burden of
in my life,” Terence told me shortly after his return
poverty.
home. “It was pretty hard; I was often walking in 98
It was a life changing experience for Terence and
degree weather. When I first started there was a lot
Cecilia. “I think our organization, Love Beyond Walls,
of hype and excitement around it, but after the first 10
will grow to become an advocacy agency that will speak
days it became a burden but I had already committed
on behalf of the voiceless, “he said. “And, I will also use
myself.”
my platform to speak and mobilize people.”
Lester says he saw a lot of impoverished people and
Terence lost 30 pounds during his anti-poverty
communities. He admits he questioned himself often
journey, but gained a world of respect and admiration
about the efficacy and human sacrifice of his mission.
that is destined to fuel a bright and robust future for
“I would always run into somebody who would say,
him as an influential national leader.
‘Man you are walking for me,’ No matter what they
“Terence is not just an ordinary fellow who is conlooked like, Whites, Blacks, Asians Hispanics—everycerned about poverty as an issue,” Dr. LaFayette said.
body could relate with the story,” he recalls. “That is
“He experienced what poverty was as a young child so
what kept me motivated.
he is acquainted with it. He is a product of this whole
Along the torturous trek, Lester had 162 people
problem of poverty and has been able to succeed in
join him; more than 200 people came out to meet him
overcoming poverty.”
and chronicled 512 different stories. He filmed 17
Before the Lester’s commenced their protest march
personal stories to be included in his upcoming docuto Washington in August, Rev. Bloye likened it to a
mentary. Terence and his wife and their march against
spiritual journey.
poverty were the focus of 57 media interviews and sto“When you are engaging the poor and engaging
ries along the way.
the less fortunate and the needy, you are coming along“We met families living out of the trunk of their
side the mission of Jesus,” he said “Jesus talked about
cars on the journey; homeless people that were living in
the poor and he hung out with those who were less forabandoned houses,” he said. “I saw suburban poverty; I
tunate. We cannot claim to be true Christ followers if
saw rural poverty and I saw what would be called urban
we don’t have a heart for the poor. To do that would
poverty. I saw all of it.”
truly be to deny scripture.
The Lester’s struck a chord with the people they
Rev. Bloye added, “We must continue to raise up
met and heard the message behind their march. People
more Terence Lester’s all over this community and all
donated food and opened their homes to them. More
over this country. I am thankful for these two world
than 54 hotel rooms were donated.
changers.” sclc
www.nationalsclc.org
FALL 2016 / SCLC Magazine
27
Américain Noir á Paris
the socio-cultural lens of artist Ealy Mays
BY ROBIN LIGON-WILLIAMS
P
and shows in France, where he is a
aris-based artist Ealy Mays is
permanent recurring resident at Cité
somewhat of a paradox….and
Internationale des Arts in Paris, as
I mean that in the most genwell as other venues. “What I like
erous and loving way possible. In his
about Paris… it is like being a kid in a
latest retrospective collection presentcandy store. I have accomplished a lot
ed at the Hammonds House Musethere. Being a member of Maison des
um/AARL Satellite Gallery, viewers
Artistes is not easy accomplishment,”
experienced the juxtaposition in the
quipped Mays.
simplicity of Mays’ narrative presenHistorically, Black artists of all
tation with the depth of his social and
genres have enjoyed unparalleled sucpolitical commentary.
cesses in Europe, particularly in the
Mays is an artist who knew withfirst half of the 20th century when
out any reservation at an early age, as
Artist Ealy Mays
racism sullied the possibility of not
he put pen to paper and made a cononly becoming known in America European audiences
tinuous scribble, he would someday become an artist.
and venues made it possible for artists to express them“I didn’t have a very good relationship with my Art
selves on their own unique terms. Louis Armstrong,
Teachers in High School,” chuckled Mays in a recent inJosephine Baker, James Baldwin, Henry Ossawa Tanterview at his latest show, which showcases works from
ner and Romare Bearden made cultural waves in Paris
several Atlanta collectors. “In fact, out of the three “F’s” I
and delighted arts lovers all around Europe, expanding
received in High School, two of them were in Art.”
the possibilities of their creative lives, but never letting
He was undaunted by the lack of support from his
go of the true essence of artistic soul.
teachers, and kept forging ahead with his artistic enBearden once said, “being a Black human being indeavors. His father had his heart set upon his son bevolves very real experiences, figurative and concrete”.
coming a doctor, and despite several attempts, includMays works reflect real experiences, imbued with
ing advanced medical studies in Guadalajara, Mexico,
humor, striking a fervent rhythm just below the surface
his art beckoned to him instead. During his tenure in
of a sarcastic narrative. When looking at a portrait of
Mexico, inspiration from master artists such as muralMichelle Obama holding an American Flag and imagist extraordinaire Diego Rivera and Rufino Tamayo set
es of mammies in the upper corner, the phrase “truth
Mays on a life-long journey of self-discovery, as well as
is honey which is bitter” comes to mind. Mays makes a
his first taste of international success.
serious statement, in an almost disarmingly charming
“I actually painted for the Godfather types in the
way. His paintings are indeed an extension of his perwhite suits in Mexico,” he laughed “I was at the Fiesta
sonality in real life……charming, disarming, delightAmericano with Fidel Castro.”
ful, down-to-earth and unapologetically real.
In the colorful splendor of Mexico, the artist took
This New Orleans writer particularly loved his Kawing, both in expressing his inimitable style and defintrina series, where he simultaneously demonstrates the
ing for himself what it meant to be a truly global artist,
massive swirl of the eye of the storm next to a multi-culin a world that wanted to view him solely as a Black
tural swirl of bodies dancing to zydeco in diptych panartist. Today, Mays has accomplished both feats sucels. He nails down the fervent and dynamic energy of
cessfully, and established his unique voice on all counts.
the storm and the undying cultural passion of my home
While in Mexico, he also took a French wife, openspot on. Mays is a student of culture, life and passion.
ing up a new chapter in his International experience as
He fully understands what it means to be human in the
an artist. “I saw the world with my art, not with medworld—to love, to question, to live life to its fullest.
icine,” said Mays. He has held many artist residencies
28
SCLC Magazine / FALL 2016
www.nationalsclc.org
When confronted with the
status of African American art
and artists, he stated that African-American artists should be
concerned with being American
artists—that Africa has taken
over their sense of self.
“What has happened to African-American Art is that it has
been cross-contaminated with
African art,” contended Mays.
“I’m generationally American.
I’m not African, but I see that a
lot of African Art has infiltrated
African-American experiences.
I am an African-American but
I consider myself a ‘global contemporary artist’”.
“It’s sad to say, but I am an
“Hot Sauce Kingdom” from the Katrina Series
endangered species,” Mays asCarrousel du Louvre, Mexico’s annual José Clemente
serted. “I will not compromise
Orozco Art competition, and New York’s Guggenheim
what I know and I will paint what I know.”
museum, among others.
I told him that I think he might have chance at
“The one thing I like about Paris, is that in this
leading the next generation, and being a visionary for
International setting I am catching the cross-roads of
other artists. He joked, “You know they usually kill the
people from all over the world,” he mused. “I’ve made
leader. I do like Paris, a city that has been there for 2,000
my studio my gallery. I don’t have to explain everyday
years where there is history, a foundation.” That artistic
who I am and what I’m painting.”
foundation has landed Mays in some auspicious venues
Will he ever leave Paris? Living around the corner
over the years, including Mexico’s Galeria Clave, Paris’
from where Picasso painted “Guernica,” the pull of artistic legacy and history in the City of Lights is a tough call.
With regard to the state of art in America and Atlanta
specifically, the artist stated, “I am loving my country,
but I want to see where the politics go in this country.
...the decline of Western culture might be an issue.”
If his experiences in Paris allow him to be the architect of his own soul and work, then I certainly understand why he might want to remain in Europe. His
fans and collectors will nevertheless continue to enjoy
Ealy Mays’ joyful and paradoxical style! sclc
“No More Mammies in the White House with Mammies”
ROBIN LIGON-WILLIAMS is an
award-winning cultural producer,
curator, and journalist based in
Atlanta. Williams has served at
the helm of several arts organizations, including the Indianapolis
Philharmonic Orchestra, Garfield
Park Arts Center, New Orleans
Jazz Institute, and most recently
was responsible for spearheading the Aviation Community
Cultural Center for Fulton County.
www.nationalsclc.org
FALL 2016 / SCLC Magazine
29
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