Wadleigh High School - Owl Yearbook (New York, NY)

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I recogmzed Afrlca as my background as my Old Counfry I soon became enormously inferesfed an Afrrca Why hadn I' I been lnferesfed In Africa before? Why dldnf fhe whole fascmahng plcfure of Africa mferesf ofher Negroes7 I wenf mfo fhaf . Well lf seems fhaf fo gef fo our Afrncan background we Negroes have fo wade fhrough slavery If was along fhaf ugly eval degrading roufe fhaf Negroes were broughf fo fhns counfry If us easy fo undersfand why we wanf fo forgef fhaf dreadful mferlude Havmg luved fhrough If perhaps I should say havmg survived rf we wanf fo skup rf Mosf of us Negroes do nof wanf fo look back We are always frymg fo look forward Behmd us IS slavery humnlrahon persecuhon greaf suf fermg and greaf sfruggle We do nof wanf fo look back fo slavery so we do nof look furfher back fo Afrrca So few of us know anyfhmg abouf fhe Afrucan pucfure Mosf of us do nof wanf fo look af af fearing If mrghf even be worse fhan slavery lf we fhoughf of Africa af all we fhoughf abouf her lnaccurafely as I know now as a wuld counfry full of black savages dressed ln leopard skms performmg wenrd dances yellmg war whoops and lnvmg sude by slde wnfh Irons Correchng fhns wholly wrong umpressron and learmng some fhmg of fhe real facfs abouf Africa and Afncans bofh pasf and presenf has been for me a happy and rewarding advenfure Fmdmg ouf abouf my new relafrons abouf my African brofhers and srsfers has been a fhnllmg and grahfymg advenfure If answered and fulfilled many of fhe queshons and yearnmgs whrch faced me as a young American The condlflons under whlch we Negroes llve an America have made us sensnfrve abouf Afrnca Mosf of us would feel vaguely lnsulfed nf we were called Afrrcan As I sand before we do nof wanf fo look back fo slavery so we do nof look furfher back fo Afrrca I fhlnk nf as hme for us as a people The Negro People fo look back fo find ouf abouf our background our roofs our Old Counfry Buf whaf abouf ofher Africans fhose I50 000 000 we are accus fomed fo regard as rgnoranf savages7 The wlfch docfor s son IS now fhe fechmclan In fhe laborafory usmg fhe microscope every day The drum mer s son IS now fhe felegraph operafor The carriers fhe porfers who used fo carry loads on fhelr heads are now funmg up airplanes The former blacksmlfhs are now dlrechng smelfmg furnaces nn modern mdusfry The boy who rushed away from a railway engune a few year ago ferrllied by fha belchmg monsfer IS now fhe engmeer The boys who used fo counf caffle wlfh rows of shcks or pebbles are now usmg modern compul' mg machmes In banks An Afncan frader who used fo know only srmple barfer now holds fhe governmenf confracf for carrymg mall In has fleef of frucks he won fhe confracf agarnsf whufe compehfuon 28

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. I I . , V . . is nl Q 4 ' ' I -if I - 'ni IQ - I .f: -'Tr' V 1 '-fbi' glxcerlafgi rom an Exgclclreu Ag mm. pau! pogefionf l 'PLT -.ae5-s, , ,..4g -f' - ,--'L'f'g 'I lMrs. Paul Robeson made such an impression on her audience when ' i'WN'TTkT'TwM' she appeared af our assembly early Ihis Ierm IhaI many girls asked if her Ialk couldn I be reprinfed IH Ihe Owl We are delIghIed Io prInI parIs of - Mrs Robeson s splendud address and regreI IhaI lack of space prevenIs our Including all of II When I was a school girl abouI 35 years ago In IhIs same Wadleugh HIgh School I remember abouI a loI of Ihungs I was one of Ihose eager sIudenIs wIIh a greedy mind I was always asking quesIIons always wanfed Io know and undersfand abouI Ihmgs I remember IhaI I occasionally found myself Ihe only Negro girl In my classes and I remember some of Ihe problems which arose In my mind because of Ihls For InsIance I remember dIsIIncIly IhaI nearly all Ihe gurls In my class had an Old CounIry excepI me The parenIs of many of Ihe children and ofIen Ihe children Ihemselves had come recenIIy or noI so recenfly from England France Germany lIaly Spam The Balkans The Near EasI Russia When we came Io Ihe sIudy of hIsIory or geography nearly every child had a special personal InIeresI In some counfry excepI me This worried me a lIIIle Like all chnldren I dIdnI wanI Io be ouIsIde dIdnI wanI Io be dlfferenf I wanIed Io have come from somewhere speclal and InIeresIIng Io have an Old CounIry like Ihe oIher children Even Ihen a school girl I KNEW I WASNT dIfferenI I was a child very much like oIher chIldren I had Ihe same or very sImIlar physical menfal moral reacIIons my classmafes had The calm blonde Slgrid from Scandinavia wasn I supposed Io be dlfferenf from Ihe very dark vivid sparkling Carlfa from Spam YeI Ihere wasn I so much differ ence befween me and Ihe resI of my classmates In general as Ihere was beIween Ihose Iwo I IusI WASN T dIfferenI Of course I had come from somewhere My ancesIors had come from --rf! 'W Africa Perhaps II IS Inaccurafe Io say Ihey had come I should say QTQI' Ihey were broughI from Africa The reason I dldn I have an Old Coun Iry In school was because Ihe schools didn I Include Ihe sIudy of AIFICB In hIsIory and geography Well some day I musI do someIhIng abouI THAT I sand Io myself 62 - . -I '. . . , . I ' '- I I U Il Il . I . I I , I I I I I 0 I I , . I 0 I . 0 ' ' ' I ll ' .ll I I I Il ' ll o I I ll ll 0 I I I ' . . . ' - I . i ' l . . ' I . I I . ' - -elQ,4-,qs.-- ' . . I. . . . . 2 I . . I . 'A ,5:2A I I I . ' I A . . . ' ' Q wi. , . . I- :A aw r TT .. I began Ihen In school, by findung ouI abouI my Old CounIry. ff:g 5,5 I Ex - Hfsiif 5 I - 0 v - . ll ll -'il-I-',5',w4s..-ga I I ll Il - o I ll '-I..-A-' 1 s '- , - fu V ' lg n n l o s .L A I ' ll 0 ' I I , , 3:1-, I .I ll - ' 4 I . 1 I ll.- 4, fig 27 . ' . J!

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In Leopoldville, in Congo, fhe only big hofel, which used fo be run by missionaries, isa now run enfirely by Africans. The African manager main- fains his sfaff, plans, orders, runs fhe modern dining room, fhe modern laundry, meefs fhe guesfs. He speaks Porfuguese, French, English, Swedish, and of course, many African languages. In posf offices in Wesf and Cenfral Africa, African clerks make ouf infernafional moneyi orders, regisfer mail for overseas and receive mail from all parfs of fhe world. Now whaf has all fhis fo do wifh us, here in America? l fhink il' has a greaf deal fo do wifh us. Knowing our hisfory, our background, we can fake our places wifh dignify, wifh confidence, on an equal foofing wifh our fellow-American cifizens. If is high fime we fook our righfful place. We Negroes mean fo fake our places as American cifizens, and fo claim our lawful herifage. As American cifizens, we are in fhe posifion of people who have a frusf fund leff fo fhem, a righfful, lawful herifage, and a very precious one foo-fhe herifage of equal righfs-polifical, economic and social. Now when heirs go fo fhe bank fo claim fheir inherifance, fhey simply claim if. The bank isn'f doing fhem any favor, or being liberal, or generous, or broadminded, when fhey pay off. They have fo, fhey musf pay off. Well, we Negroes are going fo fhe bank fo claim our inherifance. Buf, mind you, fhere are fwo sides fo fhis bank business. When we go fo fhe bank 'ro claim our inherifance, we musf, of course, prove our righf fo if. We musf, shall we say, fake our bankbook, our check wifh us fo be cashed. Now whal' musf fhaf check be? Since fhe cash is in fhe form of 'l'he righfs fo cifizenship, could nof fhe check be fhe proof of our righfs fo if? The bankbook, fhe check, could be, should be-our confribufion fo our counfry in fhe Armed Forces, in war indusfry, in civilian defense and in our own communify in general. And some working knowledge of how fo behave as cifizens, how fo vofe, and how fo behave foward ofher cifizens. We Negroes are working and fhinking abouf 'rhese fhings everywhere. You Wadleigh sfudenfs are, of course, coming along fo fhe bank wifh us all. l do hope you will gef your bankbooks and checks in order.