Rosa Parks Events Featuring or honoring Parks 1991-1992 Box 20 Folder 1 Major Sponsors NCRM AutoZone, Inc. First Tennessee National Corporation Browning Ferris Industries Hyde Foundation Dunavant Enterprises Malone & Hyde/Chism Trail Supermarkets Federal Express Corporation Promus Companies A Salute to Legends Corporate Sponsors Burch, Porter & Johnson Burt & Art Wolff Union Planters National Bank WMC-TV Glassman, Jeter, Edwards & Wade The Regional Medical Center at Memphis Maybelline, Inc. McKissack & McKissack Memphis Light, Gas & Water Schering Plough Smith & Nephew Richards NAACP Memphis Chapter Archer - Malmo Advertising The Commercial Appeal R.J. Reynolds Tobacco. Co, Tennessee Valley Authority A & I Travel (Communications Div.) Special Thanks to: The Banquet Committee: Chrystine Shack, Lynn Tharp, Toni Sallie, Patti McNaulty, Emanuel Tom. Adrienne Bailey, Chairperson. . . The Plough Foundation. . . Ardent Studios. . .Jerry Cameron...The Flower Market of Memphis...Wayne Nathan...Memphis Chapter Girls Friends, Inc...Goals for Memphis/Memphis Ad-Fed-Unity Campaign...Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority... Hostesses: Goals for Memphis Students...Pat Woody. Salute to Legends Banquet Welcome. . . . . . . . Julian Bond Introduction of Head Tables The Original Freedom Singers Invocation. . . . . . . . "Precious Lord" Presentation by Mrs. Vivian Branch Dinner Dinner Music by Kurt Clayton and Just Friends Greetings Commissioner Elaine McReynolds Memphis Mayor Richard C. Hackett Introduction of Speaker. . . . . . Judge H. J. Lockard Speaker. . . . . . . . . Mrs. Coretta Scott King A Salute to Legends. . . . . . Judge D'Army Bailey Rosa Parks. . . . . . Curtis Stafford James Farmer. . . . Patrick Bailey Coretta Scott King . . . . Tommy Lee Smith "Movement to Overcome" by Michael Pavlovsky. . . . J. R. "Pitt" Hyde Recognition of Board Members Entertainment Pete Seeger, Guy Carawan THE WASHINGTON POST ...R MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1991 Personalities by Chuck Conconi Washington Post Staff Writer All those long nights of bombing over Baghdad had CNN ace correspondent Peter Arnett thinking of more pleasant things: his girlfriend, Kimberly Moore, in Jerusalem, for instance. The 56-year-old Arnett called Moore, who is in her early twenties, and proposed marriage, the Washingtonian is reporting in its March issue. The couple met when Moore was an undergraduate student working as an intern in CNN's Washington bureau. After graduating from Florida State University last spring, Moore moved to Jerusalem to live with Arnett. According to the Washingtonian, she didn't know that Arnett hadn't yet divorced his first wife, from whom he has been long separated; they have two children. Arnett reportedly has promised Moore that when he gets out of Iraq, he'll get the divorce and the couple will marry in either Washington or France. Kimberly Moore and Peter Arnett. WASHINGTONIAN Out and About Rosa Parks, the Montgomery, Ala., woman who refused to go to the back of the bus and kicked off the bus boycott that brought fame to a young minister, Martin Luther King Jr., will become part of the nation's heritage by way of a portrait bust in the National Portrait Gallery. Parks will be here Thursday to attend the unveiling of the bust by Artis Lane in recognition of her role as a civil rights leader. The luncheon in the gallery's Great Hall will include a dramatic reading by actress Cicely Tyson and remarks from D. C. Mayor Sharon Pratt Dixon; Rep. William Clay; Dorothy Height, National Council of Negro Women president; Benjamin Hooks, NAACP president; Joseph Lowery, Southern Christian Leadership Conference president; and Carmen Turner, undersecretary of the Smithsonian... There is only one conclusion to draw that explains why CNN anchor Bernie Shaw, his lawyer-agent Robert Barnett and Simon and Schuster senior editor Alice Mayhew were lunching together last week at Twenty-One Federal; A source close to Shaw said several publishers have approached Shaw with ideas for a book that would be part autobiographical and would cover some of the issues related to CNN's worldwide reach... Maestro Isaac Stern isn't one to let a little thing like a Scud attack bother him. He was in Jerusalem on Saturday when the air raid sirens sounded. Several concertgoers, including Defense Minister Moshe Arens, reached beneath their seats for their omnipresent gas masks, and the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra left the stage. The 70-year-old Stern returned wit his violin but without his mask. He signaled the audience to stay put and then played a Mozart solo for the packed, silent concert hall. It was 10 minutes before the all-clear sounded and the audience could remove their masks... The Washington Performing Arts Society celebrated its 25th anniversary at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall Saturday night with guest artists Vladimir Ashkenazy, Lynn Harrell and Itzhak Perlman performing. At the dinner that followed in the center's Israeli Lounge, hosted by Kennedy Center Chairman Jim Wolfensohn, there were special acknowledgements of Patrick Hayes, founder of WPAS; Doug Wheeler, WPAS managing director; Alexine Jackson, president of the WPAS board; and Mary Belin, who has been designated the WPAS founding director. Belin also gave the center the River Terrace fountains in memory of her husband, Peter Belin. Other guests included Rep. Sid Yates, Sen. Carl Levin and Rep. Ben Erdreich... The New Your Times NATIONAL Friday, March 1, 1991 Rosa Parks Memorial Is Unveiled in Washington Rosa Parks, right, greeting Artis Land, whose sculpture of Mrs. Parks was unveiled yesterday at the National Portrait Gallery. Mrs. Parks's refusal to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger in 1955 in Montgomery, Ala., helped start the black civil rights movement in the United States Chicago Tribune $1.50 Sunday, March 3, 1991 ABOUT WASHINGTON Sculpture of catalyst in 1960s civil rights movement unveiled AP Laserphoto Rosa Parks poses Thursday with the bronze bust of her on display at Washington's National Portrait Gallery as Cicely Tyson (right) looks on. By Michael Kilian Chicago Tribune Washington-In 1955, Rosa Parks made history by refusing to stand while riding in a Montgomery, Ala., bus with empty "white-only" seats. The anti-segregation bus boycott that followed and the Little Rock, Ark., school desegregation crisis helped spark Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the civil rights crusades of the 1960s. Now 78, Parks last week was officially enshrined as a part of American history with the unveiling of a bronze bust of her at Washington's National Portrait Gallery. Among the notables present for the gallery ceremonies honoring her as Mother of the Civil Rights Movement were Coretta Scott King, Dr. King's widow; District of Columbia Mayor Sharon Pratt Dixon; Carmen Turner, undersecretary of the Smithsonian Institution; and actress Cicely Tyson, who read the poem "Still I Rise" by black poet Maya Angelou, which includes the lines: "Out of the huts of history's shame I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise." The gallery's Great Hall, where the bust will be on exhibit through May 1, was decorated with 100 pink roses (as derived [from?] [?] [?] name Rosa means pink as well as the flower rose). The bust is by sculptor Artis Lane, whose work has been collected by George and Barbara Bush, musician Quincy Jones, actor Sidney Poitier, comedian Bill Cosby and talk-show host Oprah Winfrey. Even the commander in chief has a commander in chief, it seems. The president got his marching orders last week from Mrs. Bush while she was visiting with military families at Maryland's Ft. Meade. Now that the Persian Gulf war has concluded, her orders (perhaps we should call them "unmarching orders") were: Knock it off now and take some rest and relaxation. Mrs. Bush, stepping to news microphones, put it a little more gracefully, saying: "I hope he'll get a little sun, a little fishing and get a little rest. He's been doing his job 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I hope he's listening." Speaking directly to the president, she then said: "Your pass is signed!" When not dealing with military communiques and orders, Bush has been so transfixed by TV screens in the last few weeks that holding a news conference would probably be the only way Mrs. Bush had to tell him it was time for dinner. The Bushes are spending the weekend at nearby Camp David, Md., where the rainy weather isn't expected to give him much of a tan. Plans for a longer and sunnier respite are in the works. Congressional Quarterly has come out with something that many in the capital wish had been published decades ago: a thoroughgoing, comprehensive congressional directory that weighs less than 20 pounds and doesn't require and wheelbarrow to transport--indeed, one that can actually fit in a pocket. (It is 2 inches thick, however, suitable more for the kind of deep, wide legislative pockets that lobbyists used to keep filled back in Congress' more notorious days.) The directory contains fascinating information. It notes, for example, that Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) voted with Bush's position 68 percent of the time last year, and that the president carried Hyde's northwest suburban district by exactly 69 percent in 1988. As one should expect from Congressional Quarterly, the directory was current enough to include the fact that Bush has just nominated Rep. Ed Madigan (R-Ill.) as the next secretary of agriculture. MARCH 18, 1991/$1.25 64060 A JOHNSON PUBLICATION JET Rosa Parks, "mother" of the Civil Rights Movement, is embraced by Coretta Scott King at the unveiling of her sculpture. Sculptress Artis Lane looks on at the Smithsonian, where Rep. John Conyers lauds Mrs. Parks. Sculpture of Civil Rights Heroine Rosa Parks Unveiled Personifying the quite dignity for which she has always been known and admired, Rosa Parks, the "mother" of the Civil Rights Movement, appeared humbled as hundreds watched the unveiling of a bronze bust of her image at the Smithsonian Institution in the nation's capital. "This is the high point of my life," said the 78-year-old Mrs. Parks, who 35 years ago kindled the flames of equality by refusing to relinquish her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus. The recent unveiling of the bust of Mrs. Parks, which will be permanently displayed at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, attracted numerous civil rights leaders who have been at the forefront of the movement. Among those who came to honor Mrs. Parks were Coretta Scott King, Southern Christian Leadership Conference Executive Director Rev. Joseph Lowery, National Council of Negro Women President Dr. Dorothy Height, Democratic National Committee Black Caucus Chair C. Delores Tucker, former President of the New York state NAACP Hazel N. Dukes, Congressman John Conyers and John Lewis, actress Cicely Tyson and D. C. Mayor Sharon Pratt Dixon, who presented Mrs. Parks with a key to the city during the ceremony. In accepting the sculpture, gallery Director Alan Fern said, "Rosa Parks' act of courage on a December day in 1955 sparked a revolution of conscience. We honor her today as an American hero, a woman willing to put herself in jeopardy for others. The National Portrait Gallery records and celebrates individuals whose actions, words and thoughts have shaped us as a nation. Among them, unquestionably, is Rosa Parks. Her portrait will remind generations to come that one courageous deed can change the lives of millions." 8 Los Angeles.CA 90034 PM 24 May 1991 Ms Elaine Steele 9311 Wildemere Detroit, Mi 48206 Artis Lane ARTIS LANE STUDIO - 1107 S. BUNDY DRIVE, LOS ANGELES, CA 90049 [*BA*] Friday, May 10, 1991 The Christian Science Monitor 15 National Portrait Gallery Highlights Civil Rights Pioneer By Marlena Donohue Special to The Christian Science Monitor WASHINGTON NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY: Artis Lane's sculpture of Parks was installed as a tribute to Park's civil rights struggle. In the nation's capital where Rosa Parks was recently honored, hard hat workers, engineers, fast-food servers all recognized her name. Even children in the third grade lit up, and chimed "That's the lady who said 'It's no fair.'" Several months ago, in Washington's National Portrait Gallery, in a room covered with namesake pink roses, Mrs. Parks listened modestly as politicians, civil rights leaders - including Coretta Scott King - and Washington elite of every ideological persuasion, sang her praises. She spoke eloquently as her portrait in bronze was dedicated in the gallery to sit alongside other significant Americans. That honor was not nearly as impressive as the person herself. Over the years, the understated yet immensely dynamic Rosa Parks has been mythologized and become a part of the nation's folklore. Her act of defiance when asked to give up her seat to a white person on a segregated bus gave birth to the nation's first organized resistance to segregation. It is fitting that the artist commissioned to sculpt the bronze likeness of Parks - Los Angeles-based sculptor Artis Lane - will be the first black woman artist to have work included in the National Gallery. "I was a young black female artist in the '50s when Rosa Parks became a civil rights symbol overnight. I was a woman, and a minority, trying to make it as a fine artist, and it was discouraging.... We were were supposed to be domestics back then, not sculptors," recalls Ms. Lane. Lane's career has included making portraits of Henry Kissinger, Barbara Bush, Cary Grant, Sidney Poitier, and others. But Lane speaks of Parks with special admiration. "What immediately struck me about Mrs. Parks was that never did a negative or hateful word come from her mouth," Lane says. The sculptor has succeeded in capturing the indomitable spirit of Parks in the portrait. She is depicted as she looks today, Lane says, because Parks's influence and her mark on history is timeless. "During the student demonstrations in China and when the Berlin Wall came down, those people sang 'We Shall Overcome;' it seems to me that Rosa's influence will exist wherever people are fighting for equal rights." In person, Parks has a certain animated light that comes through her eyes, very much as she did when her face was splashed across periodicals as the seamstress that defied Southern law. When asked if the portrait reminded her of the events of that day she spent in the Alabama jail, Parks gets a certain twinkle in her eye and responds, not missing a beat: "I remember a bit more clearly the day many, many rough months later when National Guardsmen stood by as blacks were allowed to board de-segregated buses. "I remember the face of the bus driver watching us get on his bus and sit where we pleased.... He was also the same bus driver that had me arrested when I finally said I would not get up.... I guess we are both symbols of change." In creating the likeness of Parks, Lane says she took a few artistic liberties: "Mrs. Parks wears her long silver hair pushed back, and when she came to my studio I asked her to braid it and pile it on her head like a tiara. I worked the hair in a very sketchy indefinite fashion so that it barely suggests a crown or an aura, my symbol for a regalness that Parks radiates.... I made the bust slightly larger than life size, so that the viewer is puller right into those eyes, that brow and jaw, all of which convey the most uncanny combination of tenderness and conviction." The other quality that comes through in this portrait is a focus that has motivated Parks's three decades of civil rights advocacy. "I wanted an intense, intelligent gaze that would counteract all the stereotypes and clichés that describe Mrs. Parks's behavior on that bus as an accidental gesture by a tired black worker or a defiant gesture by someone stirring up trouble. It was something spontaneous, but it was also intelligent and considered and I wanted all those qualities to come through," says Lane. ROSA PARKS: She spoke of the spirit and inspiration driving her efforts. A Grand Gallery Design Holds Its Own in Washington By Louise Sweeney Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor Washington It took 800 boxcars of rose-white marble from Tennessee to build the National Gallery of Art on the site of a former mattress factory and wood lot. The Gallery, a 785 ft. by 303 ft. gift to the nation, was art collector and former Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon's "stately pleasure dome" decreed for art, to borrow a line from Coleridge. Mellon also chose the designer, the talented classical architect John Russell Pope, who had studied at both the American Academy in Rome and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Mellon chose Pope at the peak of Pope's career; he had already put his seal on the National Archives Building (the most important building in the Federal Triangle), as well as the Jefferson Memorial, the Medieval Hall of Metropolitan Museum in New York, and the Tate Gallery and British Museum in London. An architectural exhibition titled "John Russell Pope and the Building of the National Gallery of Art," will run through July 7 in Pope's West Building in conjunction with the "Art for the Nation" 50th Anniversary show in the I. M. Pei-designed East Building. National Gallery director J. Carter Brown traces the difficulties Pope encountered in realizing his design for a single block stretching from 4th to 7th streets. Sketches by Pope in the show illustrate, says Mr. Brown, "his definitive scheme for the gallery, with the domed rotunda at the center, a pair of long sculpture halls on either side.... The Commission of Fine Arts ... was not comfortable with the idea of adding another domed building to the mall. And the commissioners asked Pope to restudy his design, omitting the dome, which Pope was very reluctant to do...." As visitors to the gallery know, the architect triumphed. Andrew Mellon offered both his collection of 132 works of art (including works by Rembrandt, Titian, Raphael, Botticelli, and Van Dyck) and money for the building of a National Gallery to President Franklin Roosevelt at the peak of the Depression in 1936. In 1937 Congress approved its construction and maintenance. Two months later, within a day of each other, Mellon and Pope died. But the basic plan for the building was complete and the work went on. The gallery was dedicated on March 17, 1941. When it opened, says gallery director Brown, "Andrew Mellon's original gift of of paintings to the National Gallery was enough to fill about 5 of the 135 galleries." Soon, what Brown calls "the founding benefactors," began to fill the galleries with art - great art, as Mellon had stipulated. Brown notes that when the Mellon gift was accepted, "The understanding was that the private sector would provide the art. And it always has. We have not ever spent a penny of federal funds on our collections." Since the gallery opened, architectural views have come full circle. A film on Pope shown in conjunction with the West Building exhibition notes that at the time the building went up, "rose-white marble and neoclassical grandeur were rapidly becoming fair game for derision." It was called by one critic "a Mausoleum for dead masters," and by another, "The Last of the Romans." The years have vindicated those who viewed it as "pristine, classical, serene." Elements of classical architecture appear in buildings just built or planned for the Pennsylvania Avenue corridor. Brown says "very few would have predicted that people would be looking with new eyes at John Russell Pope today.... The new Market Square [complex] across from Pope's Archives building and not far from the National Gallery is in a style I think Pope would approve of.... It does something I thought I would never see again in my lifetime in Washington: classical columns, fluted, with capitals, and bases, and plinths.... We are in the middle of a revolution." 16 THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR Friday, May 10, 1991 THE HOME FORUM Making Connections The Hard Way 'Our' telephone was located in a hunting cabin a half mile away on this quiet 1,200-acre ranch. The delightful news was that a call to Baker City, 45 miles away, was not long distance, so a call to my friends cost me only the ambition of a half-mile walk down the road and the willingness to sit in the dark if I happened to get there late in the day. ONE half mile didn't seem far to go to phone a friend unless it was midwinter and the snow was deep and cold. This was a spring evening, however, at the end of a long day of spring cleaning, and the idea of talking with Val appealed to me. The children played outdoors all day as I cleaned. I heated water on the wood-burning cook- stove in big pots, preparatory to the dish washing, counter, and window cleaning I wanted to do. I hung the living-room rug on the clothesline in back and beat it vigorously. I swept and mopped the floors, filled the kerosene lamps, and washed the lamp chimneys. Then I began heating water for evening baths. My husband had been out on the ranch all day irrigating the fields by hand, opening up a ditch here, closing a ditch there, using a shovel as his only tool as he walked about in his high rubber boots. I went in and out of the house on my cleaning errands under the quiet, expansive sky, with only the sound of the sandhill cranes, the killdeer, and the children's laughing voices to keep me company. I hadn't been lonely, but somehow it seemed good, after dinner and conversation with the family, to stroll down the road in the twilight to phone Val. "Our" telephone was located in a hunting cabin a half mile away on this quiet 1,200-acre ranch. It wasn't our phone, but our employer had given us full use of it. He paid the bill monthly, then mailed a copy to us so we could figure our calls and reimburse him. The delightful news was that a call to Baker City, 45 miles away, was not long distance, so a call to my friends cost me only the ambition of a half-mile walk down the road and the willingness to sit in the dark if I happened to get there late in the day. None of the buildings in Whitney, Ore., had electricity. They were all remnants of an old lumber and mining town and were now incorporated into the big ranch we worked on. Sometimes I took a candle to the "phone house." Other times I watched the dusk deepening as I sat talking and listening. This particular evening I was without a candle and had decided not to encumber myself with a flashlight. I was confident that I was starting early enough for a lovely walk, a pleasant talk with Val, and a stroll back to the house in time for lamp lighting. All would have gone just as planned except that when I reached the cabin and wound up the phone (a still workable relic from who knows when) there was no response. I tried a few more times, hoping to get an answer from a Portland operator, who no doubt would question me about where Whitney was, "Is it on the map?" and marvel over my living conditions. This was a common occurrence when I called, especially with new operators. They mused over our phone number, Whitney 111, and wanted to know how I came to be living in such a place. But tonight the phone was definitely dead, and I stepped onto the front porch of the cabin and began to resign myself to my fate of living in an empty northeastern Oregon valley without a way to get in touch, for the moment, except by letters. A letter to my friend would have to be taken to the nearest town, 13 miles away, to mail. Of course one could phone from there, too. But a letter would take a day or two to reach its destination. By then perhaps I'd plan a trip in for groceries, and why write? Then I remembered that the folks from Los Angeles, who lived up the hill about a mile the other way, had just had a phone put into the log cabin they were building. It was getting dusky-dark by this time, but I knew my way and headed up the hill. Scott and Geralyn were just pulling out of the drive when I got there. They were on their way to a party in Prairie City, but Scott said to go on in. I let myself into the house as the last light faded from the sky. Their house was almost as familiar to me as my own, which was fortunate since there was no light left. I shuffled my way across the floor, hoping by this method to avoid any stray trucks or balls the children might have left. I found the phone, but the kerosene lamp which was usually there had been moved. Scott had installed some new-fangled propane lamps, but they were new enough that I didn't know where they were. Besides, how did you light them? I fumbled around in my pockets and found two paper matches. Holding the receiver with one hand, I lit the match and held it with my dialing hand. I could barely see the numbers. I managed to dial three numbers before the match went out. Match number two gave me two numbers and then I was left in the dark again. Wondering to myself why I didn't give up, I walked my finger through each number beginning with one, counting until I reached the last two numbers. The phone rang and I waited hopefully. Val answered and sounded as far away as the 19th century. "Val!" I shouted. "Can you hear me?" "Laura? Is that you? Where are you?" "Whitney!" "They have better connections to Europe than this!" she yelled, beginning to rise to the occasion and obviously enjoying herself. A few more shouted sentences left me leaning against the wall wearily. Was it worth it? I could see the humor in it, and Val was having a great time. I could just imagine her leaning nonchalantly on the counter in her well-lighted kitchen. I pondered the advantages of electricity as her laughter subsided. After making an appointment to meet in the park in town for a picnic with our children, we hung up. I left the house and groped my way down the hill. The moon wasn't up yet, and off in the distance an owl called and another responded. I listened to them talking in the stillness of the valley. SIX years have passed and I now live in a house with phones. I no longer have to feel my way through the darkness or crank up the Portland operator for a chat with a friend. A move to Colorado has put us close to Denver. On a trip to the city for music lessons a few months ago my daughters and I pulled up behind a man in a business suit. He was sitting comfortably talking on a car phone. I marveled that he was able to talk on the phone about who knows how many details, keep an eye on traffic, and be in control all at the same time. It was all I could do to manage the traffic. But has he ever used a winding phone? Who can tell? The light changed and he pulled away. I guess we'll never know. Laura Remmerde THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR Friday, May 10, 1991 National Portrait Gallery Highlights Civil Rights Pioneer By Marlena Donohue Special to The Christian Science Monitor WASHINGTON In the nation's capital where Rosa Parks was recently honored, hard hat workers, engineers, fast-food servers all recognized her name. Even children in the third grade lit up, and chimed "That's the lady who said 'It's no fair.'" Several months ago, in Washington's National Portrait Gallery, in a room covered with namesake pink roses, Mrs. Parks listened modestly as politicians, civil rights leaders - including Coretta Scott King - and Washington elite of DUSKETT ROACH ROSA PARKS: She spoke of the spirit and inspiration driving her efforts. every ideological persuasion, sang her praises. She spoke eloquently as her portrait in bronze was dedicated in the gallery to sit alongside other significant Americans. That honor was not nearly as impressive as the person herself. Over the years, the understated yet immensely dynamic Rosa Parks has been mythologized and become a part of the nation's folk- lore. Her act of defiance when asked to give up her seat to a white person on a segregated bus gave birth to the nation's first organized resistance to segregation. It is fitting that the artist commissioned to sculpt the bronze likeness of Parks - Los Angeles- based sculptor Artis Lane - will be the first black woman artist to have work included in the National Gallery. "I was a young black female artist in the '50s when Rosa Parks became a civil rights symbol overnight. I was a woman, and a minority, trying to make it as a fine artist, and it was discouraging.... We were were supposed to be domestics back then, not sculptors," recalls Ms. Lane. Lane's career has included making portraits of Henry Kissinger, Barbara Bush, Cary Grant, Sidney Poitier, and others. But Lane speaks of Parks with special admiration. "What immediately struck me about Mrs. Parks was that never did a negative or hateful word come from her mouth, "Lane says. NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY: Artis Lane's sculpture of Parks was installed as a tribute to Parks's civil rights struggle. The sculptor has succeeded in capturing the indomitable spirit of Parks in the portrait. She is depicted as she looks today, Lane says, because Parks's influence and her mark on history is timeless. "During the student demonstrations in China and when the Berlin Wall came down, those people sang 'We Shall Overcome;' it seems to me that Rosa's influence will exist wherever people are fighting for equal rights. In person, Parks has a certain animated light that comes through her eyes, very much as she did when her face was splashed across periodicals as the seamstress that defied Southern law. When asked if the portrait reminded her of the events of that day she spent in the Alabama jail, Parks gets a certain twinkle in her eye and responds, not missing a beat: "I remember a bit more clearly the day many, many rough months later when National Guardsmen stood by as blacks were allowed to board desegregated buses. "I remember the face of the bus driver watching us get on his bus and sit where we pleased.... He was also the same bus driver that had me arrested when I finally said I would not get up.... I guess we are both symbols of change." In creating the likeness of Parks, Lane says she took a few artistic liberties: "Mrs. Parks wears her long silver hair pushed back, and when she came to my studio I asked her to braid it and pile it on her head like a tiara. I worked the hair in a very sketchy indefinite fashion so that it barely suggests a crown or an aura, my symbol for a regalness that Parks radiates... I made the bust slightly larger than life size, so that the viewer is pulled right into those eyes, that brow and jaw, all of which convey the most uncanny combination of tenderness and conviction." The other quality that comes through in this portrait is a focus that has motivated Parks's three decades of civil rights advocacy. "I wanted an intense, intelligent gaze that would counteract all the stereotypes and cliches that describe Mrs. Parks's behavior on that bus as an accidental gesture by a tired black worker or a defiant gesture by someone stirring up trouble. It was something spontaneous, but it was also intelligent and considered, and I wanted all those qualities to come through," says Lane. July 20, 1992 The AME Christian Recorder REV. Benjamin N. Thomas Appointed Past of Tanner Chapel by Jerrye G. Champion Phoenix AZ-The Reverend Benjamin Nathaniel Thomas, Sr. was appointed the thirty-fourth pastor of historic Tanner Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church on October 20, 1991 by The Right Reverend Vinton R. Anderson, Presiding Bishop of the Fifth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Tanner Chapel was the first church established by African Americans in the state of Arizona. It is the first church in the Phoenix-Albuquerque District of the Colorado Conference. The Reverend J. Curtis Foster is Presiding Elder. Reverend Thomas is married to Beverly Smith Thomas, and they are the loving parents of eight year old Benjamin Nathaniel Thomas, Jr. (affectionately) called BJ). In accepting the pastoral appointment to Tanner Chapel. Reverend Thomas' pastorate at Price Chapel A.M.E. Church in Los Angeles was terminated after more than six years of dynamic successful leadership and community service. During the eight years prior to Reverend Thomas' pastorate of Price Chapel, he pastored Walker Chapel A.M.E. Church in Seattle and Handy Church A.M.E. Church in Joplin, Missouri respectively. Reverend Thomas acknowledged his call to the ministry at Gilbert Memorial A.M.E. Church of the Northwest Missouri Conference in Kansas City, Missouri in 1976 under the guidance of the The Reverend John L. Shaw. In 1980, he relocated in Los Angeles to study at the School of Theology at Claremont, and he transferred his church membership to First A.M.E. Church, Los Angeles in the Southern California Conference. There under the mentorship of Reverend Dr. Cecil L. "Chip" Murray, Reverend Thomas was ordained an Itinerate Deacon in August 1981. In August 1983, he was ordained an Itinerate Elder. Thomas holds the Bachelor of Arts of Degree with a major in business administration and management from Parks College in Missouri. He is a doctoral degree candidate at the School of Theology at Claremont, California where he is specializing in pastoral counseling and church administration. Reverend Thomas is respected throughout Southern California, and the fifth Episcopal District as one of the finest preachers and pastors of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. At the time of his pastoral appointment to Tanner Chapel, Reverend Thomas held the following positions: President, A.M.E. Church Ministerial Alliance of Southern California. Instructor, Southern California, School of Ministry President, Parent-Teacher Group, First Church Christian School 1st Lieutenant (Chaplain), United States Army Reserve Chairman of the Board of Directors, Inner City Foundation for Excellence in Education (for the purpose of facilitating the building of the first black high school in Los Angeles area) The Metropolitan Phoenix and Arizona Communities joined the Tanner Chapel Church Family in enthusiastically welcoming the Thomas Family to Tanner Chapel, Phoenix and Arizona last November. Under the Reverend Thomas' leadership, Tanner Chapel recently purchased a 4-story office builiding adjacent to the church. In so doing, Tanner now owns the entire city block abounding the church facility. Regarding Tanner Chapel, Reverend Thomas says, "Pastoring Tanner provides an opportunity for Christian leadership and pastoral service. Tanner has a blessed, resourceful and generous membership with much untapped potential. It's 'A Diamond in the Desert,' and God is already blessing us in a mighty fine way." Tanner Chapel Celebrates its 32nd Annual Men's Day by Christopher Champion Phoenix, AZ-The Reverend Benjamin N. Thomas Sr., Pastor of Tanner Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, recently announced that the Men's Organization of Tanner will host its 32nd Annual Men's Day Worship at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday, June 28, 1992. Mr Ronald Booker is chairman of the Men's Organization and Dr. Jerome Garrison is co-chairman. The theme for this year's celebration is "Men: Dedicated to Christ, Family, and Community." Dr. William Pannell, Associate Professor of Evangelism and Director of Black Ministries at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California will preach the Annual Men's Day sermon. Special music will be provided by the Men's Day chorus. Dr. Jerome Garrison and Mrs. Cassandra Frierson are the musical directors. Dr. Pannell is an international preacher, lecturer and author. His latest book titled Evangelism From the Bottom Up was published this year by Zondervan Publishing Company. In 1990, Bishop Vinton R. Anderson, now president of the North American Continent of the World Council of Churches engaged Dr. Pannell as the keynote speaker on "God the Father" at the A.M.E. Church's Fifth District Convocation on "The Holy Trinity" held in Los Angeles. His article on mission, ministry and evangelism, the gospel and the kingdom, Christian world view and other timely subjects are regularly published in: Eternity, The Other Side, Sojourners, The American Scientific Affiliation, The Herald, The Gospel Herald, Theology, News and Notes, Christianity Today, Leadership Today and other church, ministry and evangelism and religion oriented journals. In 1980, Dr. Pannell served as chairman for Youth for Christ USA. He served as president of the Academy for Evangelism in 1983-1984, and he also serves as a member of the governing board of Communication Ministries. Dr. Pannell is a member of the Christian Assemblies (Plymouth Brethren) Church, and he is also a member of Delta Episilon Chi, Honor Society of the Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges. The public is invited to attend Annual Men's Day Worship at Tanner A.M.E. Church, 20 South Eighth Street in Phoenix. For Additional information, please call the church office at 253-8426. Hear Dr. Pannell and be blessed! If A Man Does Only What Is Required Of Him, He Is A Slave. If A Man Does More Than Is Required Of Him, He Is A Free Man Chinese Proverb Tanner Square Office Building, 100 East Jefferson Street, Phoenix, AZ 85034 Fred Champion, Photographer Tanner Chapel A.M.E. Church Purchases Office Building by Jerrye G. Champion Phoenix AZ-The Reverend Benjamin N. Thomas Sr., Pastor of Tanner Chapel A.M.E. Church in Phoenix, Arizona recently announced that Tanner Chapel has purchases the Tanner Square Office Building located near the church at 700 East Jefferson Street. This 4-story office complex is located on 1.31. acres of prime commercial property in the business district downtown Phoenix. Its rentable area is 30,250 square feet, and it has covered and uncovered parking accomodations for 98 vehicles. Rev. Thomas explained that Councilman Calvin Goode of Tanner Chapel heads the church's Ad hoc Committee for the Tanner Square Initiative. Tanner's Pastor and a team of church officers including Demon Carey, Freddie Champion, James Hill and Charles Hughes have worker for nearly a year as directed by the Official Board and congregation to negotiate the purchase of the Tanner Square Facility. This negotiation team was established under the leadership of the late Reverend Russell T. Hill. According to Councilman Goode, Tanner Chapel has had a vested interest in Tanner Square Office Building since its construction in 1984. Goode said Tanner Chapel responded to the Tanner Square purchase opportunity with immediate enthusiasm. This purchase puts under Tanner Chapel's ownership the entire block between Seventh and Eighth Streets, Washington and Jefferson Streets abounding the church. Tanner Chapel's Negotiation Team-(Pictured from left to right): Freddie Champion, Calvin Goode, James Hill, Rev. Benjamin Thomas, Charles Hughes and Demon Carey Fred Champion, Photographer Autograph Event at Tanner Chapel (Pictured from left to right) Rev. Benjamin Thomas Elaine Steele, Assistant to Mrs. Parks and Mrs. Parks. (See story on page 11) Fred Champion, Photographer 10 The AME Christian Recorder July 20, 1992 MISSION: A Global Vision is an Urgent Need Today Rev. Winton M. Hill Stamford, CT -- Mission is the way the church lives out its self-understanding; its reason for being. The mission of the A.M.E. Church is based on a biblical understanding of mission revealed in God's involvement in history in general, the mission of Jesus in particular, and the experiences of African people in the United States, the Caribbean and in Africa. The mission of Jesus is central and is perhaps best described in the Lukan passage: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." In this passage Jesus defines his ministry as related to the oppression of the poor. It is a ministry which deals with human structures that keep people in bondage. This understanding of ministry seeks to deal with the whole person, i.e. the individual's social existence as well as the spiritual. This has greatly influenced ministry and mission in the African Methodist Church. The experiences of African people are crucial to understanding mission and ministry in Africa, South America and the Caribbean. Much has been written to chronicle the experiences of people of African descent in the United States and in the world. The story is one of European greed, exploitation blacks, suffering and struggling by our people and ultimate victory. Foundational to this story is the inextricable relationship between racism and economics. The result is a form of oppression based on race and manifested in the main by people of European descent economically exploiting and depriving people of African descent. Following the end of the Atlantic slave trade in the 19th century the nations of Europe divided Africans among themselves and through devious means and military might further oppressed the people through colonization. The natural resources of the land and the labor of the people were misused to benefit the metropolitan centers of the West. White racism is ubiquitous, influencing almost every aspect of our civilization to include economics, politics, science, law and religion. The mission of the A.M.E. Church has developed in response to the experience of its people who have been and continue to be victims of a white racist society. Since our approach to mission is routed in the Bill, and in the mission of Jesus, as a result of this and a staunch faith in the power of our risen Lord, African Methodism has aggressevely and prophetically fought for the rights of the people it served. As we struggle to do mission in these times of tight budget, there well may be short-sighted voices urging us to abandon the work of overseas mission. Our very "reason for being" would prohibit such an option. We are God's tool for such a time as this. We provide a good model of African descendants lifting and being lifted by others of African descent. African Methodism is unique among the churches in Africa. We have not fought a Eurocentric Christianity as individuals in South Africa where every church has affixed "God our Father, Christ our Redeemer, Man our Brother" on the front wall. Our South African brothers and sisters have learned from our bishops, ministers and missionaries, that God is their personal father, God is a good father, a father who is aware of the plight of His children and is delivering them from the valley of the darkness of oppression into the marvelous light of full liberation and reconciliation. Our sisters and brothers in South America, the Caribbean and in Africa are familiar with the traditions of Bishop Richard Allen and how he led a small band of African people from St. George and formed the free African society and eventually to Mother Bethel, thus demonstrating our own self-determination. Many churches in Africa have concerned themselves with the issues of Eurocentric theology and their legitimate need to discard it. However, African churches with African leadership (whether the African was born on the continent of Africa or in the United States) have been more focused rationalizing their theology of liberation. The African Methodist Episcopal Church has always been able to articulate how God became incarnate in Jesus Christ in order to liberate oppressed communities. The African Methodist members in South America, the Caribbean and in Africa share a common story of exploitation and oppression. Their story is our story and we are pieces of an identical fabric, a fabric that is without seam or separation. African American people live a third world lifestyle in the richest nation in the world. We are brothers and sisters in a common suffering and in a common liberation and reconciliation. God did give His Son to save the world. We in the African Methodist Episcopal Church are called upon by God to give ourselves in mission. We don't have a lot of money and we don't have large budgets, but we do have a Lord who taught His church the value of 2 fish and 2 loaves. If we will commit our little bit of resources to the hands of Jesus, it will be sufficient. We are the children of our parents. They built churches and supported colleges on their "egg money." In Africa today there are three glaring circumstances that require an immediate response: food, education and medical care. God has given us the ability to do ministry among the "have nots." We have 200 years of victorious stewardship and can lead others to progress while they "make do." We have learned in our history that often when we least expected it help did come (often from unanticipated places). Our experiences in the Atlantic passage chained in the belly of the slave ships has taught us that if we can simply hold on, we can ultimately hold out. We have begun a great work, we have a farm in Zambia and people are being fed. Let's build on it. We have a college and seminary in South Africa and students are being educated in a theology of liberation. Let's build on it. We have day care centers in Africa that could serve in dual capacities as family clinics and nutrition sights. In Haiti we have a medical clinic. Let's build on it. As we participate in another general conference, we must reaffirm our commitment to missions. We have come to realize that the genious of African Methodism is that we have dealt aggressively with the social, political and economic issues that effect our members while at the same time nurturing them spiritually. As we move forward into the final years of this century, we must remember that we are not alone in our attempts to make the mission real. Ultimate victory is assured because of the presence of the Holy Spirit. As the spirit of the Lord was upon Jesus when He proclaimed liberty to the captives, just as the spirit of the Lord was upon Jesus when He preached good news to the poor, just as the spirit of the Lord was with Jesus when He healed the sick, just as the spirit of God was with Jesus during His death and eventual resurrection, so shall this spirit be with us. This means that we have a continued source of refreshment and empowerment as we protest against injustices everywhere. No gospel written ties mission and spirit together any more clearly than John: "Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the father has sent me even as I send you.' And when he said this he breathed on them and said to them. Receive the Holy Spirit.'" God gave us the essential ingredient for victory--Spiritual Power. Alone we can do little. But with the Holy Spirit we can successfully confront any missional challenge which lies ahead. Let us claim this power and go forward to chart new courses for mission in African Methodism. Reverend Winton M. Hill Bethel A.M.E. Church Stamford, Conneticut Candidate, Secretary of Mission A.M.E. Church Pastor Sidney Bryant welcomes Rev. Carrie Noble to Payne. Mrs. Noble was the Annual Women's Day Speaker. Continued from page 1 So Much from Someone So Small! "Connie" Graves, Payne Chapel; Rev. Charlene Boone, pastor, Wayman Chapel A.M.E. Church, Columbia, TN; and Rev. Rolyn Dix, Payne Chapel, who discussed various aspects of womanhood, interrelated to treat mind, body and spirit. Culminating on Sunday morning, various women of the church participated in the worship service, directed by Sisters Doris Batey and Wilma Reedy, co-chairs. The First Lady Sister Andriette Bryant introduced the preacher by proclaiming exactly why Rev. Nobles is so noble. This time there were some who were prepared. They had heard before and expected and were not disappointed. Rev. Carrie used 2 Kings 4:1-7; her subject was, "God Moves in Mysterious Ways." Souls were saved that day, the altar filled, people blessed, and the anointing was evident. There was a question ringing around Payne Chapel as the benediction was pronounced, but this time it was a different question. "Reverend," they asked, "is it possible that the sons of Zebeddee, the Sons of Thunder, had a sister?" Pastor Bryant, Presiding Elder Sam Davis, North Nashville, District; Presiding Elder William Scruggs, South Nashville District. First Lady Andriette Bryant, Pastor Bryant and Rev. Nobles. July 20, 1992 The AME Christian Recorder 11 Black Women Politicians Challenge, Praise BMCR Las Vegas (UMNS) -- Two of the most prominent black women in U.S. politics have challenged black United Methodists to become better informed, politically aggressive advocates for the critical concerns of their community. "You cannot be ignorant and free at the same time," declared Arkansas Director of Health Joycelyn Elders of Little Rock. Elders and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) were keynote presenters to 500 lay and clergypersons attending the 25th annual meeting of Black Methodists for Church Renewal, United Methodism's black caucus. Both women praised the black church for its historic, exemplary work in the area of civil rights. Both also decried a wave of apathy among black Christians in the wake of contemporary crises such as inaccessible health care for the poor, ineffective education and support for children, and laws that fail to protect the rights of women. "A man in the Arkansas legislature votes against children's issues every time," said Elders, the sister of a United Methodist minister. "Yet he is continually voted in by the black constituency because our community is not informed about all the issues." She cited appalling statistics: one of every two black children in the United States is poor; 34 percent of high school seniors admit they use drugs regularly; 54 percent of women with AIDS are black; black young adults comprise 35 percent of the U.S. prison population but only 18 percent of all U.S. college students; nearly seven of 10 black women are pregnant before their 20th birthdays. Yet, she said, the church continues to "bury its head in the sand," trying to "legislate morals instead of teaching responsibility." She challenged the black caucus to take the 1992 presidential election seriously, and to vote and advocate for several critical issues including more equitable education for the poor and programs to teach sexual responsibility to black adolescent. "Most states will not fund an education reform bill, but will pay $25,000 a year to keep a young black man in prison, " said Elders. "We could sen a black child to Harvard for what it costs to keep one person in prison." Waters, dynamic and outspoken, was equally tough, challenging black Christians to look beyond the sloganeering of vocal conservatives, and to take a strong stand on behalf of the myriad needs of the poor and oppressed. She defended the national welfare system, currently under attack by budget-slashing legislators as being too costly and full of cheaters. "Don't you be ashamed of the fact that some people need help. Understand that some children would starve if it were not for welfare," Waters said. "Yes, some people take advantage of the system and are ripping us off," she said. "But, as I tell my colleagues in Congress, don't you dare talk to me about welfare ripoffs unless you talk to me about the savings and loans!" Championing universal health care and more government support of the poor, Waters cited statistics about the large number of children who are poor, and the fact that a black woman, for instance, makes only 49 cents for every dollar earned by a white U.S. male. "The problem is not welfare, but that the United States has failed to provide equal opportunity" so welfare would be unnecessary, she added. Waters was unabashed in her criticism of former President Ronald Reagan an incumbent George Bush, declaring that their years in office have "heaped a kind of pain on our people that we do not deserve." She pointed to the irony of an outpouring of U.S. support for citizens of the former Soviet Union-"people were scared of just a few years ago." "I want some foreign-affairs money for Watts, for Cabrini-Green in Chicago, for the Bronx and Harlem," she said. "I love everybody, but charity begin at home." Waters demanded that the church take the lead in countering voter apathy in the black community. "We can determine who will be the next president of the United States," she said, netting thunderous cheers. "It is time for us to use our power, " she said. "We cannot continue to have election days in the United States where only 20 percent of our people vote. People died for us so we could vote and we don't exercise that right. "Fannie Lou Hamer (a 1960s voting-rights advocate) would turn over in her grave," Waters said. Continued from page 8 BLACK AMERICA: Who Was Latasha Harlins And Why Don't You Know? Latasha." The LWM shirt has caught the eye of several black stars. DJ Gripp of the rap group South Central Cartel wore the shirt in their new music video "Ya Getz Clowned" and "A Different World" star Kadeem Hardisson did the same in an ABC After School Special, "Return To Hip Hop High." "We appreciate this support," says Denise Harlins. "Although we're continuing other fundraising efforts, we look forward to this campaign being a success to benefit the Foundation. The building (of) the Latasha Harlins center is a dream we'd like to see come ture." PROTESTWEAR has gone to great lengths to present this message to all of black America by releasing this story individually to every black newspaper and many major magazines in the country. They've proven their commitment. And now it's your turn. Support this campaign now: PROTESTWEAR, Latasha Was Murdered t-shirt, 1950-1/2 La Salle Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90018. Shirts are available in XL and are shipped via first class mail. Orders paid for by money order or cashier's check will be sent the next business day. And of course each shirt comes with a 100% money back guarantee. PROTESTWEAR also plans to make a poster featuring some of those who sup- ported this campaign. Be included! Send a snapshot of yourself in your LWM t-shirt. The posters will be produced in mid-1993 and yours will be sent to you free. For questions about the LWM t-shirt, call (213) 735-8012. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of the LHJC, Judge Joyce Karlin was re-elected June 2, to a six-year term on the bench. A Rose Has Only One Excuse Being Beautiful ANNUAL CONFERENCE SCHEDULE FIFTH EPISCOPAL DISTRICT BISHOP VINTON R. ANDERSON PUGET SOUND ANNUAL CONFERENCE August 4-9, 1992 Bethel A.M.E. Church 5828 NE Eighth Avenue Portland, OR 97211 Church Phone: (503) 288-5429 Pastor's Phone: (503) 252-4952 The Rev. Dorsey McCullough, Host Pastor CALIFORNIA ANNUAL CONFERENCE August 11-16, 1992 Brookins A.M.E. Church 2201 73rd Avenue Oakland, CA 94605 Church Phone: (510) 568-8954 Pastor's Phone: (510) 521-6938 The Rev. A.L. Simpson, Jr., Host Pastor SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ANNUAL CONFERENCE September 8-13, 1992 Ward A.M.E. Church 1177 W. 25th Street Los Angeles, CA 90007 Church Phone: (213) 747-1367 Pastor's Phone: (213) 732-5284 The Rev. Howard S. Gloyd, Host Pastor COLORADO ANNUAL CONFERENCE September 15-20, 1992 Campbell Chapel A.M.E. Church 1500 E. 22nd Avenue Denver, CO 80205 Church Phone: (303) 839-5058 Pastor's Phone: (303) 355-4265 The Rev. John L. Shaw, Sr., Host Pastor KANSAS-NEBRASKA ANNUAL CONFERENCE September 22-27, 1992 Trinity A.M.E. Church 2201 N. 5th Street Kansas City, KS 66101 Church Phone: (913) 621-2306 Pastor's Phone: (913) 371-2801 The Rev. Cheviene Jones, Host Pastor NORTHWEST MISSOURI ANNUAL CONFERENCE October 13-18, 1992 Bethel A.M.E. Church 2329 Flora Avenue Kansas City, MO 64108 Church Phone: (816) 231-3555 Pastor's Phone: (816) 474-6722 The Rev. George R. Reid, Host Pastor MISSOURI ANNUAL CONFERENCE October 20-25, 1992 St. Peters A.M.E. Church 4730 Margaretta St. Louis, MO 63115 Church Phone: (314) 381-3345 Pastor's Phone: (314) 381-0498 The Rev. William F. Dancy, Host Pastor FIFTH EPISCOPAL DISTRICT PLANNING MEETING October 26, 1992 St. John A.M.E. Church 1908 N. Kingshighway Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63113 Church Phone: (314) 361-8236 Pastor's Phone: (314) 361-6487 All Who Call On god In True Faith, Earnestly From The Heart, Will Certainly Be Heard, And Will Receive What They Have Asked And Desired. --Martin Luther Rosa Parks Visits Tanner Chapel by Christopher Champion Phoenix, AZ--Historic civil rights activist, Rosa Parks came to Phoenix on January 16-18 at the invitation of May Paul Johnson and the Phoenix City Council, The Victory Now Committee and Tanner Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church to aid the cause of Arizona's energized movement for the radification of a paid Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Now 78 years young, we remember Rosa Parks as the woman who signaled the call that sparked the civil rights movement when she was arrested on December 1, 1955 for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. Arriving at Phoenix's Skyharbor International Airport on January 15, Rosa Parks was the "reason" for the Mayor's 4-bus caravan of Phoenix officials, community leaders, students and media who enthusiastically and reverently greeted her. Following a press conference in which the Mayor proclaimed Rosa Parks Day in Phoenix and presented Mrs. Parks with the key to the city, she took a commemorative ride in the "front of the bus" flanked by May Johnson, her assistant Elaine Steele, Councilman Calvin Goode of Tanner Chapel A.M.E. Church, other officials and leaders. Speaking at the Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast sponsored by Phoenix's Human Relations Commission on January 17, Mrs. Parks told an overflowing crowd of over 4,000 to "Hold fast to Martin's dream, never give up hope, and there will be a paid holiday honoring Dr. King in Arizona. Fight in a way that is courageous and diligent and have great faith in god, whether you have religion or not." In the afternoon following the breakfast event, the Reverend Benjamin N. Thomas, Sr., pastor of Tanner Chapel A.M.E. Church, provided the leadership for an autograph reception at Tanner Chapel Church honoring Mrs. Parks where she personally signed hundreds of copies of her new book titled Rosa Parks: My Story. A multi-cultural and ethnic over flowing crowd began gatheing at Tanner Chapel hours before the reception was scheduled to start--coming to buy her book, hear a word from her mouth, touch her garment or just to get a glimpse of "Precious Rosa.' At Tanner Chapel, Mrs. Parks showed a special sense of communion with all the children, cautioning that they be loved, nurtured and trained well for ". . .our children are our future." Rosa Parks: My Story highly recommended. FAITH CARRIES THE LIGHT OF TRUTH WHICH ELIMINATES THE SHADOW OF DOUBT 12 The AME Christian Recorder July 20, 1992 A.M.E. Christian Educators Plan New Directions Responding to a call for Action Toward the Year 2000 by the Rev. Dr. Kenneth H. Hill, executive Director of the Department of Christian Education in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Christian Educators from nearly all of the Thirteen (13) Continental Episcopal Districts attended a three day Conference, April 30-May 2, 1992 in Nashville, to fashion new directions in A.M.E.CChristian Education. During the conference, which carried the central theme "Drinking From Our Well", pictorial plaques of the first three directors of the Department of Christian Education of the A.M.E.C were unveiled in a well attended dedicatory ceremony hold at the Sunday School Union office building. The General Conference of the Church established Christian Education as a connectional department in 1936 when the Rev. Dr. Solomon S. Morris, Sr. was elected the first General Secretary and served until 1956. The Rev. Dr. Andrew White, who had assisted Dr. Morris for many years, continued the work that ended in 1980. The Rev. Dr. Edgar L. Mack served the department until his death in 1991. The General Officers, among the many guest, participating in the ceremony that honored the past chief executives of the Christian Education Department were; Dr. Jamye C. Williams, Editor, A.M.E.C. Review; Dr. Robert Reid, Editor, A.M.E. Christian Recorder and the Rev. Anderson Todd, General Secretary, A.M.E.C. Pension Department. Among the other dignitaries were; Dr. Andrew White, Mrs. Edgar L. Mack; Dr. George L. Blackwell, retiring General Secretary of Christian Education for the A.M.E. Zion Church and Dorothy Savage, National Director of Ministry in Christian Education for the National Council of Churches. Bishop Vernon R. Byrd, Chair of the Connectional Commission on Christian Education and Presiding Prelate of the Thirteenth Episcopal District was the key note messenger for the Evening Worship Services held at the Greater Bethel AMEC where the Rev. C. W. Fugh is Pastor. Bishop Byrd Challenged the Christian educators to exhibit new life and rise above all situations as they worked toward their goals for the Church, (John 11:25). In addition to the dignitaries who were present at the dedicatory ceremony, Dr. Forrest Harris, Executive Director of the Kelly Miller Smith Institute and Associate Dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Divinity; Mr. Tom Willhite, Dir. of Support Services for the Middle Tennessee Council of the Boy Scouts of America and Mr. Al Benneworth, Scout Master for Troop No. 42 of the Boy Scouts were also on hand to hear the message of the Presiding Bishop. Four Scouts from the Ram Patrol in Troop No. 42 of the Middle Tennessee Council BSA performed as the Color Guard for the Worship Services. DRINKING FROM OUR WELL In a spiritually moving message, Dr. Kenneth H. Hill, the fourth Executive Secretary of the connectional Department of Christian Education, launched the workshop portion of the conference by anchoring his administrative goals and objectives in Scripture, (Prov. 5:15), "As African Methodist look toward the year 2000 and beyond, we must first Drink From Our Own Well and he refreshed for our mighty journey of Christian education", Dr. Hill said. "Our many prayers, our rich history, our liturgies, our songs are filled with the contributions made by our founding Fathers and Mothers of the A.M.E. Church. Richard Allen was not only filled with the Holy Spirit, he was equally motivated for the liberation of his people who were in bondage; Jarena Lee understood that God was no respector of [column two image captions] Dr. Kenneth H. Hill unveiled the pictorial plaques of the first three directors of the Department of Christian Education. From left to right: Dr. Andrew White, former Director of the Department of Christian Education for three decades with Mrs. Edgar Mack, widow of former Executive Secretary of Christian Education, congratulates Dr. Kenneth Hill. In the background pictures (right to left): Dr. S. S. Morris, Dr. Andrew White, Dr. Edgar L. Mack and Dr. Kenneth H. Hill. [column two advertisements] Payne Theological Seminary WILBERFORCE, OHIO 45384 TRAIN FOR CHRISTIAN MINISTRY IN AN A.M.E CONTEXT Offering the Following Programs: Master of Divinity Degree Certificate Program in Christian Ministry Lay School of Theology Bible Correspondence Study QUALIFIED FACULTY... SMALL CLASSES... LIFE LONG CONTACTS Contact: Dr. Louis-Charles Harvey, President, 513/376-2946 FAX 376-2948 SUBSCRIBE! to the Christian Recorder The bi-monthly newspaper to keep you informed about your church for ONLY $18.00 per year Effective September 1, 1991 Send check or money order payable to: A. Lee Henderson The Christian Recorder, Dept SB 500 Eighth Avenue, South, Nashville, TN 37203-4181 Please print. Payment must accompany order. Allow 4 weeks for first delivery Name _______ Address _______ City/State/Zip ______ [column three] persons and accepted her call and became our first woman preacher in the A.M.E. Church; Wilberforce University is the first major University founded by African Americans in 1856, its founder and first Presiden, Daniel Alexander Payne, has left a deep legacy in our well; and many trails were burned with the pioneer spirit of William Paul Quinn establishing churches in the Mid-West and the South along with Daniel Coker and Henry McNeal Turner". Dr. Hill continued. Further, Dr. Hill introduced his vision of ministry within the Department of Christian Education. He clearly stated that general ministry is inclusive of baptized Christians. From among the whole people of Allen, some persons are Called by God to particular services of ministry. Everyone is Not Called to pastor, but everyone is Called to Ministry. MINISTRY IN CHRISTIAN EDUCATION The A.M.E. Church recognizes the following specialized ministries in Christian education: Youth Ministry, Leadership Ministry, Teaching Ministry, Scouting Ministry and Writing Ministry. Leading by example, Dr. Hill then took a few moments to introduce his newly published book, 'Drinking From Our Well; Foundations for Christian Education in the African Methodist Episcopal Church' Conferees were then treated with presentation by consultants discussing the several ministries: The Boy Scouts were represented by Mr. Russ Doyle, District Executive for the Nashboro District (Inner-City) of Nashville, The Middle Tennessee Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The Girl Scouts discussion period was led by Mrs. Mary R. Dunn, Director of Field Services, the Cumberland Valley Girl Scout Council of The Girl Scouts of America. Leadership Ministry was chaired by Dr. Louis Charles Harvey, President of the Payne Theological Seminary, Wilberforce, Ohio. This area of ministry focused on certification programs for Christian education officers and leaders. The certification program when implemented would be a prescribed course of study jointly offered by the Department Christian Education and The Payne Theological Seminary. The Rev. Ernest Garrison and Mr. Paul Billingsly introduced a program that also centered on the positives of certification for all workers in the teaching ministry. The product presented is now in use in the Michigan Conference and several other Districts across the Connectional church. And the Youth Ministry was enthusiastically presented by Sis. Roberta Seifuddin of Detroit. Emphasis was placed on the revitalization of Allen Christian Endeavor and the Richard Allen Youth Councils. With the plight of youth today, the working session could not have ended on a better accord. All conferees then made group ministry outline presentations for the development of a general manual covering the work of Christian education and designated manual for the several ministries as per discipline of the A.M.E. Church. After deadlines for implementations were agreed, the three day conference was closed with prayers of a safe journey. [column three text box] If You Can't Pay As You Go, You're Probably Going Too Fast. [image] Courage of Conscience Award Peace Awards & Concert Featuring Richie Havens in Concert Invocation: Dan Berrigan, SJ Special Appearance: Jose Feliciano Master of Ceremonies: Barry Crimmons Peace Abbey Award Recipients Joan Baez Benjamin Spock Helen Caldicott Pete Seeger Cesar Chavez Bernice Reagan Dick Gregory Dave Dellinger Brian Willson Lisa & Curtis Sliwa Muhammad Ali Ramsey Clark Arlo Guthrie Bob Dylan Rosa Parks William Sloan Coffin Betsy Corner & Randy Kehler Arun Gandhi Gordan Zahn Posthumous Awards John Ono Lennon Dorothy Day John F. Kennedy Peace Pilgrim Ben Linder Woody Guthrie Jim Henson (Children's Peace Award) Mahatma Gandhi Martin Luther King, Jr. Robert F. Kennedy Abbie Hoffman TICKETMASTER TOWER RECORDS, BOSTIX, HMV, SELECT GOOD VIBRATIONS, NEWBURY COMICS, RECORD TOWN, ANN & HOPE AND MORE CALL FOR TIX (617) 931-2000 Donation: $50 Ticketmaster: (617) 931-2000 TICKETMASTER TOWER RECORDS, BOSTIX, HMV, SELECT GOOD VIBRATIONS, NEWBURY COMICS, RECORD TOWN, ANN & HOPE AND MORE CALL FOR TIX (617) 931-2000 September 26, 1992 6:00 - 10:00 P.M. John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, Massachusetts Fr. Jose Chencho Alas FINDING Building with the Voiceless of El Salvador Peace Brigades International Fr. Ernesto Cardenal Peter, Paul & Mary Fr. Joachim Lally Dick Scobie Fr. James R. Brockman Fr. Ellwood Kieser Weston Priory Monks Michal Schwartz Jim and Kathleen McGinnis Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors Paul Winter Consort The Life Experience School celebrates its 20th Anniversary by honoring the LEGACY of the PEACE MOVEMENT "I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary - the evil it does is permanent." Mahatma Gandhi "One thing we must be concerned about if we are to have peace on earth...is the nonviolent affirmation of the sacredness of all human life." Martin Luther King, Jr. Raul Julia POSTHUMOUSLY: Anwar Sadat Oscar Romero Mahatma Gandhi Alva Myrdal PREVIOUS PEACE ABBEY AWARD RECIPIENTS: The XIV Dalai Lama Mother Teresa Howard W. Moore Ram Dass Camelia Sadat Fr. Frank Cordaro Richie Havens Fr. Daniel Berrigan Zell Draz Thich Hhat Hanh Sissela Bok Paul A TRIBUTE TO ROSA L. PARKS ON THE 37TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT DECEMBER 1, 1955 TO DECEMBER 1, 1992 MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY A RECEPTION FROM 5:00 P.M. - 6:00 P.M. COMMEMORATIVE PROGRAM FOLLOWING RECEPTION ROSA PARKS CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST THERE IS ABOUT HER NAME NO DISCERNIBLE RING NOR AURA OF DISTINCTION. THERE IS ABOUT HER DRESS AND MANNER NO SINGULAR, COMMANDING, OR MEMORABLE UNIQUENESS. HER STORY, HOWEVER, IS ONE OF THE MOST INSPIRATIONAL TO COME OUT OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, A SIMPLE MESSAGE TO ALL THAT HUMAN DIGNITY CANNOT INTERMINABLY BE UNDERMINED BY BRUTE FORCE. ON THE EVENING OF DECEMBER 1, 1955, ROSA PARKS BOARDED A PUBLIC BUS IN MONTGOMERY, ALA., TOOK A SEAT WITH THE OTHER PASSENGERS, AND PREPARED TO RELAX FOR 15 MINUTES OR SO BEFORE ARRIVING HOME. AS THE BUS BEGAN TO FILL UP, HOWEVER, THE NUMBER OF SEATS DWINDLED UNTIL, WITHIN A FEW MINUTES, THERE WERE NONE LEFT. AS SOON AS THE WHITE BUS DRIVER NOTICED THAT A BLACK WOMAN WAS OCCUPYING A SEAT IN THE "WHITE" SECTION OF THE BUS WHILE A WHITE PASSENGER WAS STANDING, HE ORDERED THE "OFFENDER" TO THE REAR. THE "OFFENDER" DID NOT MAKE A SCENE WHEN SHE REFUSED. SHE DID NOT SCREAM; SHE DID NOT WHINE; SHE DID NOT THREATEN; SHE DID NOT EXHORT. SHE SIMPLY DID NOT MOVE, THUS FORCING THOSE WHO WOULD FORCE HER TO MOVE TO MAKE THE NEXT MOVE. ROSA PARKS WAS ARRESTED, JAILED, AND BROUGHT TO TRIAL WHILE THE REST OF THE ONCE QUIESCENT BLACK COMMUNITY REFUSED TO RIDE PUBLIC BUSES. MRS. PARKS WAS THE CATALYST IN THE MONTGOMERY BOYCOTT, THE FIRST PUBLIC CONFRONTATION WHICH BROUGHT THE NAME OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., INTO THE EARS OF AMERICA. MRS. PARKS PAID DEARLY FOR HER COURAGE. HER HUSBAND, A BARBER, BECAME ILL FROM THE PRESSURE; THE FAMILY ULTIMATELY MOVED TO DETROIT, WHERE PARKS RESUMED HIS PROFESSION. MRS. PARKS DID SEWING AND ALTERATIONS AT HOME UNTIL SHE FOUND A JOB AS A DRESSMAKER. In Detroit, she has since become active in youth work, job guidance, cultural and recreational planning - the daily grind of a community activist. Dr. King, while he lived, once called her "the great fuse that led to the modern stride toward freedom." She made the stride while sitting still. Mrs. Parks was for a number of years, a receptionist-secretary to Representative John Conyers. A religious person, she serves as deaconess of St. Matthews A.M.E. Church in Detroit. She accepts many speaking engagements because she wants to help "young people grow, develop, and reach their potential." The Civil Rights Movement suffered many defeats in the first half of the twentieth century. Repeated efforts to obtain passage of federal anti-lynching bills failed, as a series of presidents expressed sympathy but would not exert sufficient pressure on a Senate dominated by southerners. The all-white primary, which effectively disenfranchised southern blacks, resisted numerous court challenges. The Depression worsened conditions on farms and in ghettos. On the plus side, the growing political power of blacks in northern cities and an increasing liberal trend in the Supreme Court portended the legal and legislative victories of the 1950s and 1960s. From the very beginning, the Urban League and the NAACP believed that blacks could benefit from stressing their American heritage and working closely with whites. Less conspicuous was the view that blacks must stress their black heritage and strive for equality on their own. Early in the century, this "black power" approach was maintained by William Monroe Trotter, a cohort of Dubois in the Niagara movement. Trotter, however, refused to join the NAACP because, he said, blacks could not trust whites to work for integration. Trotter also felt that the NAACP was too moderate. Black consciousness was heightened by the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. And Marcus Garvey's preaching of black unity instilled a sense of pride and African heritage. The Civil Rights Movement (1954) Not changed, however, were the rampant discrimination and segregation that were a way of life in America. In the South, they were supported by law, and in other sections of the country, custom was just as effective as law. The United States was, in fact, an overtly racist country. The bulk of the Civil Rights struggle throughout this period was carried on by the NAACP, which had begun chipping away at the root of legalized segregation in a series of successful lawsuits. Its major breakthrough came in 1954 when the Supreme Court ruled in Brown. vs. Topeka Board of Education that discrimination in education was unconstitutional. Not since the Plessy vs. Ferguson Decision of 1896, which legalized separate but equal treatment for blacks, had there been such a momentous decision in a racial case, or one that was to have such far-ranging implications. Today's critics may argue that the Brown decision made little real difference, that even several decades later, blacks are still seeking full equality. The fallacy in this is that without the Brown decision, the legal basis for segregation and discrimination would still be in place. The Brown decision was a start, and should be viewed as that. If any one person can be credited with lighting the match that set off the first of the Civil Rights Movement that was to burn throughout the rest of the 1950s and 1960s, it was the humble Montgomery, Alabama seamstress, Rosa Parks, who decided on December 1, 1955 that because she was tired she would not give up her seat to a white man as the law required. Mrs. Parks went to jail and the Montgomery bus boycott, to be led by a 26-year old Baptist minister, Martin Luther King, Jr., was born. The eventual success of the bus boycott encouraged a wave of massive demonstrations that swept across the south like a floodtime. In Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960, a group of students denied service at a lunch counter started the sit-in movement. That same year, the student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNICC) was created and would number among it's college student members Julian Bond, H. Rap Brown, Stokely Carmichael, John Lewis, and Marion Berry. The Civil Rights Movement mobilized blacks and sympathetic whites as nothing had ever done before. It was not easy. Thousands of people were jailed because they defied Jim Crow laws. Others were murdered. Homes and churches were bombed. People lost their jobs and their homes because they supported the movement. The movement itself made mistakes, but the momentum was too great to be stopped. The movement probably reached its zenith August 1963, when more than 300,000 people poured into Washington, D.C. for a massive "March for Jobs and Freedom" that has never been duplicated. A year later, as representatives of the movement gathered around him, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, among other things, outlawed discrimination in public accommodations and employment. Transcribed and reviewed by volunteers participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.