JACKIE ROBINSON REVISITED

Jackie Robinson, the first Black baseball player allowed to play in the all White Major League, was posthumously honored by the United States Congress at an impressive bipartisan ceremony at which President Bush, House Speaker Hastert and Senate President Frist all spoke about Robinson’s accomplishments, along with both Democratic minority leaders, Congressman Richard Neal and Black Congressman Mel Watts, Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Speaking of bipartisan, the Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony for Robinson was attended by Rick Hurst, Ray Jordan, who organized the trip through the office of Congressman Richard Neal, Bud Williams, Henry Thomas, Henry Twiggs, Jesse Lanier and others, including Denise Jordan and others from the 5A sports group. They rubbed shoulders with the Robinson family, which included his elegant wife, who sat on the dais beside the President. Representative Ben Swan would have attended but he had a very important meeting that he couldn’t cancel.

Richard Neal organized the event at the request of the Boston Red Sox's new management, who are attempting to make amends for some of the racial indiscretions of past Sox owners and managers, which included, among many other things, rejecting Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays as players because of the color of their skin.

MCAD AT WORK

The Pastors’ Council of Greater Springfield filed a complaint against the City of Springfield’s Police Department at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD). They are accusing the police of engaging in a pattern and practice of physical abuse and racially discriminatory conduct when handling police matters in minority areas. They cite the experience of Black principal Douglas Greer, whose claim of police brutality was heard and dismissed by the Springfield Police Commission.

In a complaint brought by Ron Davis, Captain of the Black tennis team, “Tennis Friends,” the MCAD found that U.S.A. Tennis New England probably discriminated against the Black team members by falsely accusing them of “playing out of level” whenever it appeared that the Black team was going to win the tennis championship. The MCAD also found that Tennis New England probably retaliated against the team simply because it complained to the MCAD. What the finding means is that there is sufficient evidence to take the claim to a full trial.

The MCAD found that the Springfield Police Department probably discriminated against Ayana Brown because of her race and color and by failing to accommodate her handicap. Ms. Brown was not allowed to perform certain less strenuous work that similarly situated White employees were allowed to perform and she was transferred to a less desirable shift while others with less seniority remained on the more desirable shift. When she became ill and took sick leave, she was suspended while similarly situated White employees with sick leave were not suspended.

THE CONTROL BOARD AT WORK

Springfield’s Financial Control Board’s Chairman, Alan LeBovidge, Director Phil Puccia and Mayor Charles V. Ryan met with the Black Business Council at the POV offices and engaged members in a constructive discussion about Black community concerns. One result of the meeting was that Puccia, the Mayor and Black political leaders Bud Williams and Benjamin Swan, toured Mason Square. Our political leaders pointed out the housing that needed demolition or rehabilitation.. They also pointed out the many business investments made in Mason Square by members of the Black community during a time when most people had written Mason Square off.

MASON SQUARE LIBRARY TEAM

A team of concerned Black citizens is mobilizing a campaign to take back the Mason Square Library from the Urban League of Springfield, which purchased it from the old Library and Museum Association at a “bargain basement price.” They are coming out of the box with excellent political support, which includes Mayor Ryan and some Black political leaders, who have expressed concerns about the limited amount of space allocated by the Urban League toward library usage.

SELMA REVISITED

On March 7, 1965, Selma, Alabama cops attacked 600 civil rights marchers at the Edmund Pettus Bridge and shocked the nation when national television showed graphic pictures of peaceful demonstrators being attacked by authorities with clubs and dogs and water hoses. The march was stopped but two weeks later, under federal protection, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led thousands in a March across the bridge on a 50 mile trek to the steps of the State Capital in Montgomery. The “Bloody Sunday” attack, as it came to be called, inspired the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. On March 7, 2005, 10,000 people reenacted the march, which included an amazing amalgam of marchers of all colors and walks of life. Few young people were present but many of those who participated in the original marches were.

A CRIME FIGHTING IDEA

Springfield needs to watch Los Angeles closely. Its police department is developing a plan to start arresting parents who allow their kids to associate with gangs. The arrest will be based on laws prohibiting “contributing to the delinquency of minors.” The idea is not to simply arrest parents but to make them responsible for their kids’ whereabouts and actions. The police are sending parents the message that the community cannot have their children running through neighborhoods causing trouble and committing crimes. Most states, including Massachusetts, have laws that could accomplish the same result.

BLACK BAPTISTS UNITE

Not since 1895 have Black Baptist organizations displayed such unity. At a meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, the four most prominent Black Baptist groups convened together for the first time in decades. The joint meeting of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., the National Baptist Convention of America, The Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. and the National Missionary Baptist Convention of America was intended to bring the groups together under one roof in a show of unity. It was not intended to unite the four in the formation of one convention, but it was a new beginning. n