DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | NAACP newsletters, Fort Madison Branch, Fort Madison, Iowa, 1967

Transcribe
Translate

NAACP newsletters, Fort Madison Branch, Fort Madison, Iowa, 1967

Page 003

3 

counsel to give assistance or advice but only where the question involves a matter of racial discrimination of primary and general importance to the citizenship status of Negroes. No officer, employee, member, branch or other person connected with the Association is permitted to solicit plaintiffs for litigation or otherwise encourage persons to file law suits. When court action is involved, this Association will do absolutely nothing unless the aggrieved party seeks its assistance."

DEMONSTRATION
Did you ever walk into a firehose
With the water turned up full blast?
Did you ever walk toward police guns
When each step might be your last?
Did you ever stand in the face of snarling dogs
And not move as the dogs came on?
Did you ever feel the tear gas burn
Your day, your night, your dawn?
YOUR DAWN
When the water's a rainbow hue,
YOUR DAWN
When the guns are no longer aimed at your,
YOUR DAWN
When cops forget their jails,
YOUR DAWN
When police dogs wag their tails,
YOUR DAWN
When the tear-gas canisters are dry,
YOUR DAWN
When you own the stars in the sky,
YOUR DAWN
When even the atom bomb is yours - 
YOUR DAWN 
When you have the key to all doors -
YOUR DAWN
Will you ever forget YOUR DAWN?
-Langston Hughes

There are those of us - Negro and white - who like to regard ourselves as being above needing what is offered by the civil rights organizations. The truth of the matter is - as we have stated many, many times - the outcome - be it good or bad will affect every human being in America. To sit back and be a "do nothing Negro" is as bad as being a liberal white who assuages his conscience by the virtue of the fact that he has a membership. This is not a social organization nor is it intended that personal glory be a reward. Our objectives are constructive - and their attainment is time consuming. More often that not - the only reward is heart break. No-man, today, can justify his lack of concern over the racial issue - here or anywhere in the world. It is even more true of the American Negro - no matter what his status happens to be!

RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP! JOIN THE NAACP TODAY! 

University of Iowa Libraries. Iowa Women's Archives

Saving...

3 counsel to give assistance or advice but only where the question involves a matter of racial discrimination of primary and general importance to the citizenship status of Negroes. No officer, employee, member, branch or other person connected with the Association is permitted to solicit plaintiffs for litigation or otherwise encourage persons to file law suits. When court action is involved, this Association will do absolutely nothing unless the aggrieved party seeks its assistance." DEMONSTRATION Did you ever walk into a firehose With the water turned up full blast? Did you ever walk toward police guns When each step might be your last? Did you ever stand in the face of snarling dogs And not move as the dogs came on? Did you ever feel the tear gas burn Your day, your night, your dawn? YOUR DAWN When the water's a rainbow hue, YOUR DAWN When the guns are no longer aimed at your, YOUR DAWN When cops forget their jails, YOUR DAWN When police dogs wag their tails, YOUR DAWN When the tear-gas canisters are dry, YOUR DAWN When you own the stars in the sky, YOUR DAWN When even the atom bomb is yours - YOUR DAWN When you have the key to all doors - YOUR DAWN Will you ever forget YOUR DAWN? -Langston Hughes There are those of us - Negro and white - who like to regard ourselves as being above needing what is offered by the civil rights organizations. The truth of the matter is - as we have stated many, many times - the outcome - be it good or bad will affect every human being in America. To sit back and be a "do nothing Negro" is as bad as being a liberal white who assuages his conscience by the virtue of the fact that he has a membership. This is not a social organization nor is it intended that personal glory be a reward. Our objectives are constructive - and their attainment is time consuming. More often that not - the only reward is heart break. No-man, today, can justify his lack of concern over the racial issue - here or anywhere in the world. It is even more true of the American Negro - no matter what his status happens to be! RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP! JOIN THE NAACP TODAY! University of Iowa Libraries. Iowa Women's Archives