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

Page 003

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glorify that tall, dark handsome man. In the immortal Creation Epic in Genesis the first man, "Adam", is created from the clay of the Fertile Crescent (Genesis 2:7) which of course, is not white. When we trace civilization's origins back to our primeal past, that excursion takes us to the darkness of our origins, back to our Black Mother. Here is one reason why the dark night can be beautiful. It reminds us of our needful dependence upon an unseen inner reinforcement, just as the unborn child finds resilience and comfort within the dark intimacy of its mother's womb. 
     The word "black" has favorable connotations, some of them esthetic some pragmatic, others spiritual. Every man who operates a business seeks black figures for it. The height of luxury for many is a black limousine. Why do some Caucasians take pride in maintaining black hair, and in keeping it that way long after nature dictates otherwise? How unique is the role of blackness in advancing the written and the printed word, including the Holy Bible!
     In a time not far remote the majorit of the Church Militant will consist of non-white Christians. It is a likelihood that then the disturbing past history of black-white symbolism will be altered to declare "Though your sins are as scarlet they shall be blacker than coal", as a substitute for "white as snow". 
     How beautiful are the words of the Holy Communion Service printed in black! A white sheet of paper suggesting John Lock's "tabula rasa". offers the mind and the spirit of man almost nothing. But once words appear printed or written in black, man can be inspired, informed, chastened, rewarded.
     Although it is true that black is used to symbolize mourning and sadness, it is true also that black is a high fashion color. By itself, black is employed to hide flaws in figures and in furniture. It is so elegant a color that it is beautiful in the most simple styling. White is never so beautiful, fashion-wise, as when it is accented with black. Where once black was worn only in the winter because of its warmth, now black is worn throughout the summer, in the sheerest and coolest of fabrics...because of its beauty! When we were small school children, we learned that the color black absorbs all the sun's rays, while the color white rejects them. Therefore black is called a warm color in contrast to white which is known as a cool color.
It is interesting that Edmund Spenser's poem "Faerie Queene", published in 1590, should say "As White seems fairer, macht'd with Black attone...
 (Book 3, Canto 9, line 2)
    Does the skin of the black man absorb all that the sun has to give, and because of this has he in the depths of his being a warmth which has enabled him to survive in a white man's world, without hatred, even with humor? This amazing capacity for warm-hearted response and survival is somewhat of a conundrum to the Caucasian.
     To satisfy the esthetic needs of men, God created blackness and non-blackness. Yet the darkness and the light are both alike to Him. (Ps. 139:12)

The above article was taken from a position paper which was written by the Rev. John L. Bryan M.A., S.T.M., a Methodist Minister who is listed in Who's Who In American Education 

Criticizing congressmen who oppose aid to poor Negroes: "They say they do not want to reward people for riots. After World War II and the murder of 6,000,000 Jews, the U. S. adopted a postwar policy of helping Germany overcome its problems and nobody said then that we were rewarding the Nazis.
- Martin Luther King

The 1968 Region IV NAACP Conference will be held in Colorado Springs, Colorado in April. The theme of the Conference will be: NEW PERSPECTIVE OF BLACK AMERICA IN A FREE WORLD.

JOIN THE NAACP...THE MOST RESPECTED CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATION,...TODAY!

University of Iowa Libraries. Iowa Women's Archives

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- 3 - glorify that tall, dark handsome man. In the immortal Creation Epic in Genesis the first man, "Adam", is created from the clay of the Fertile Crescent (Genesis 2:7) which of course, is not white. When we trace civilization's origins back to our primeal past, that excursion takes us to the darkness of our origins, back to our Black Mother. Here is one reason why the dark night can be beautiful. It reminds us of our needful dependence upon an unseen inner reinforcement, just as the unborn child finds resilience and comfort within the dark intimacy of its mother's womb. The word "black" has favorable connotations, some of them esthetic some pragmatic, others spiritual. Every man who operates a business seeks black figures for it. The height of luxury for many is a black limousine. Why do some Caucasians take pride in maintaining black hair, and in keeping it that way long after nature dictates otherwise? How unique is the role of blackness in advancing the written and the printed word, including the Holy Bible! In a time not far remote the majorit of the Church Militant will consist of non-white Christians. It is a likelihood that then the disturbing past history of black-white symbolism will be altered to declare "Though your sins are as scarlet they shall be blacker than coal", as a substitute for "white as snow". How beautiful are the words of the Holy Communion Service printed in black! A white sheet of paper suggesting John Lock's "tabula rasa". offers the mind and the spirit of man almost nothing. But once words appear printed or written in black, man can be inspired, informed, chastened, rewarded. Although it is true that black is used to symbolize mourning and sadness, it is true also that black is a high fashion color. By itself, black is employed to hide flaws in figures and in furniture. It is so elegant a color that it is beautiful in the most simple styling. White is never so beautiful, fashion-wise, as when it is accented with black. Where once black was worn only in the winter because of its warmth, now black is worn throughout the summer, in the sheerest and coolest of fabrics...because of its beauty! When we were small school children, we learned that the color black absorbs all the sun's rays, while the color white rejects them. Therefore black is called a warm color in contrast to white which is known as a cool color. It is interesting that Edmund Spenser's poem "Faerie Queene", published in 1590, should say "As White seems fairer, macht'd with Black attone... (Book 3, Canto 9, line 2) Does the skin of the black man absorb all that the sun has to give, and because of this has he in the depths of his being a warmth which has enabled him to survive in a white man's world, without hatred, even with humor? This amazing capacity for warm-hearted response and survival is somewhat of a conundrum to the Caucasian. To satisfy the esthetic needs of men, God created blackness and non-blackness. Yet the darkness and the light are both alike to Him. (Ps. 139:12) The above article was taken from a position paper which was written by the Rev. John L. Bryan M.A., S.T.M., a Methodist Minister who is listed in Who's Who In American Education Criticizing congressmen who oppose aid to poor Negroes: "They say they do not want to reward people for riots. After World War II and the murder of 6,000,000 Jews, the U. S. adopted a postwar policy of helping Germany overcome its problems and nobody said then that we were rewarding the Nazis. - Martin Luther King The 1968 Region IV NAACP Conference will be held in Colorado Springs, Colorado in April. The theme of the Conference will be: NEW PERSPECTIVE OF BLACK AMERICA IN A FREE WORLD. JOIN THE NAACP...THE MOST RESPECTED CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATION,...TODAY! University of Iowa Libraries. Iowa Women's Archives