Negro Digest - Freedom Archives

Simultaneously there arose a hybrid
political party-protest group
called the Student Rights Oragnization,
inspired in part by Art and
Jay . I accepted the invitation to be
its faculty advisor . SRO's membership
covered the political waterfront
. Their leaders, mainly the editors
and feature writers on the Hilltop
staff-which later was to prove
invaluable - regarded themselves
as black militants, in the responsible
sense of the category, and had
as their heroes the national leaders
of SNCC though their own style
approximated more the style of
national CORE .
When UN Ambassador to the
UN, Arthur Goldberg ex-boss of
Nabrit, came to Howard, SRO
staged a walkout in which I was
able to persuade five other professors-all
white ; of course-to take
an active part . Shortly after that,
some SRO members, dissatisfied
with the moderation of its leaders,
came to me (late February by
now) with a plan to form a "Black
Power Committee ." They were all
freshmen largely unknown on campus,
except in their dormitories and
among their classmates, and accordingly
asked my aid in composing
and reading at a press
conference a sort of "black university
manifesto ." We called for the
complete revamping of Negro colleges
as they now exist, spoke
against the emerging desire to make
Negro colleges predominantly
white, and generally setting forth a
program for transforming Negro
NEGRO DIGEST Morch 1968
colleges into black universities
with relevance to the black community
and its struggle against
white racism and imperialism, cultural
or otherwise . This kicked off
an onslaught of student demonstrations
(with, now and again, some
faculty participation ) and the first
real confrontation between Howard
students and an oppressive administration
.
A rumor grew prevalent on campus
that I was going to be "eased
out" in the summer and, by mid-
April, it had slipped into television
and radio broadcasts . One night,
on the way to my population class,
I encountered a number of students
~~ho inquired anxiously whether
the rumor was true . I assured them
that no such word had come down
to me and that the deadline for
non-renewal of two-year contracts .
December 15, already had passed .
Inside the classroom, I sensed the
downcast spirit of the students,
brought up the rumor and suggested
that, if there was a Howard
in September, 1 would very well be
there . All at once they burst into
applause ; but I knew even then
that, probably, I was passing
through my last days at Howard,
and perhaps, as a college professor
anywhere .
Student uprisings rocked onincluding
a confrontation with a
police riot squad behind a girl's
dormitory ; the sponsorship of a
"Black is Best" lecture by heavyweight
champ Muhammad Ali
after the administration closed
45