Owed to Paul Moore - Peace Be Unto Him

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All:

It's been a little over three weeks since I learned that my friend and classmate, Paul Moore, made his transition in July.  It was such a shock I have spent days going over all the wonderful things I remembered about him from Black in the day at Lincoln University, and fast forwarding to my return to New York City after having lived in California for 9 years.

Paul Moore, Sam Anderson, Julian Ellison and Tony Monteiro were tight friends, and four of the most powerful movers and shakers on the campus of Lincoln University, when I arrived there in September of 1965 - two weeks after the school year had started.

They were the militant arm of a school that had somewhat developed a convenient form of amnesia, during a time when Black people were just at the cusp of the Civil Rights Era and the Black Power Era.  While Sam Anderson was always all over the place, in your face with his Blackness, Paul was more of a quiet riot - a militant from bone to bone, but well contained.

He had a restrained smile and a wry sense of humor, but when he was determined to do something, or accomplish something - you'd best move aside, because Paul was going to get it done.

I remember when Sam and Paul and a small crew of protesters were going to the UN to protest the whites in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) who had declared UDI (Unilateral Declaration of Independence) against allowing the African brothers and sisters to have their own land that had been illegally colonized by them for over 100 years.  It was freezing cold.  We had tried to get the campus to rally with us, but no one - even our African brothers - was interested.  

So we piled in the car - Paul was driving - and we drove to New York City, and stood in front of the UN with home made protest signs.  There was six of  us freezing our butts off - no one else showed up - but us.  We stood out there, symbolically for two hours!!! My teeth were chattering - but stood we did!  Then we drove back to Lincoln, freezing cold, sadder, wiser, but triumphant in the knowledge that we had at least done our part for our people.

There were only 16 female coeds on Lincoln's campus at the time - I was one of them.  We were the first to be housed on the campus - but Lincoln was opening the campus up to female students after having been an all male campus for over 100 years - primarily because they needed the money - and VietNam was pulling the brightest and best male students into an illegal, undeclared war.

It took me a minute to realize the male/female ratio at Lincoln - at that time it was 20::600 - four of the female students lived with instructors, off campus, but attended full time.   I guess I was destined to be with the more militant/activist of the group, because I had been expelled from Hampton for my activism.  My reputation obviously preceded me - but whatever the reason, I was blessed to be part of the best of Lincoln's rabble.

There was no end to their activism - and almost from the beginning, Paul and Sam were on my case about my going natural and not straightening my hair.  They would lecture me - and Maxine Stewart, my best friend - about the natural hair, about how beautiful Black women looked; about our African heritage.  During breaks, Paul would literally corner me and produce books with pictures of Black women with Natural hair styles - Odetta, Miriam Makeba, etc.  

Sam and Paul used to come to the African museum, where I did my college work study under Dr. H.D. Gunn, and try to get me to "liberate" African masques and other items, because they really "belonged to us" not the museum.  Thank goodness I didn't listen to those two. 

But there were so many more things that I am so grateful for in knowing Paul Moore - I remember when he told me he was from Aliquippa, PA.  I ribbed him to no end about the name of his home town.   

When he, Sam, Julian and Tony brought the first Natural wearing Black models to Lincoln's campus, the Grandassa Models, and Cecil Braithwaite (Elombe Brath), as well as Gus Dinizulu and his dancers, in an effort to instill African Pride in those who had lost their way, and engender it in those who never had it, I began to pay more attention to what they were saying about wearing my hair Natural.  

I can unequivocally say that it was due to Sam Anderson and Paul Moore that I have worn my hair in a natural since October, 1966 - and never reverted to processed hair styles.  I wasn't the first - Maxine Stewart was - but we two were the only coeds at the time to wear our hair Natural (or in an Afro, for those who are new to the name).  Maxine was the first campus queen of any HBCU with a Natural Hair Style - but no one was paying attention Black then.

Paul, Sam and I continued to be constant friends and companions after graduating from Lincoln.  Paul settled in Brooklyn, Sam in Harlem, and for the first year, I lived in Philadelphia.  That is, until they began to entice me to move to New York City.  I would make New York runs on the week ends.  We would party all over the city - and then I'd take the train back to Philly in time to get to work on Monday.  

I eventually moved to New York - that's another story for another day, folks - and got caught up in the current movements and issues of the day.  

As life would have it, I spent some considerable time out of the country, in Haiti, Martinique, Guadaloupe, St. Croix, St. Thomas, etc. And when I returned to New York, things had shifted considerably.  I had lost communication with Paul, who I later learned, had gone to graduate school.  

I relocated to California with my husband and family, and was "off planet" for nine years, living in Altadena, CA - my answer to the culture shock of Los Angeles.  When I returned to New York in 1984, of course the first thing I did was look up my classmates - Sam Anderson was always a constant, and the conduit for all information about who was where and what they were doing.

The first thing I wanted to do when I got back to New York was hit the clubs - California's night life was abysmal and I missed being able to go from club to club to club until the sun came up.  So, I parked my children in Oklahoma City (temporarily) with my parents, while I got a job and an apartment, contacted Sam and asked where was everybody and what were they doing?

He said he had a surprise for me; picked me up and took me to this fantastic little jazz club in Harlem on the corner of 145th and St. Nicholas Ave, called SUTTONS.  And who should be there, owner, manager, and aficianado, but Paul Moore, and Yvonne Hampton (my first time meeting Yvonne)!!!

I was flabbergasted - Paul had to be first Lincoln grad I knew of that actually owned and ran his own business.  I was so glad to see him - it took a minute to soak it all in.  There was live entertainment furnished by Olu Dara, Greg Bandy, and others.  In fact, Olu Dara and Greg and I became friends as a result of Suttons.  They served the best Chicken and Waffles; held fashion shows featuring local Black designes;  hosted civic community programs.  I could even have my kids meet me there after coming from Harlem School of the Arts, which was right down the hill, if I was running late coming home from work!   This was a real culture nerve center -  all emanating from that wonderful little place on the corner, and my friend Paul Moore owned it!  I remember his telling me that he had always wanted to own a club of his own - where you could get good entertainment; not just a bar or a hang out spot; but a place of quality where people would be proud to come and bring their friends and relatives.  Well he and Yvonne did it! 

Wow!  

Many a night I spent hanging there - the club was very popular - and generally had standing room audiences for the shows.  The problem was that the building owner was a slumlord and did little to keep the building up.  And then, once he found that the property had such a large draw, he began trying to push the club out and put something else in there.  Paul, who was a lawyer, was still no match for the kinds of chicanery this landlord could cook up, and eventually closed the doors.  

He later became and administrative law judge, and we saw very little of each other.  He was ensconced in Brooklyn, and most of my activities were in Harlem/Manhattan.  I would reach out to him sporadically as I became more and more active with Lincoln's Alumni relations - especially during our reunion years.  

The last time we actually spent great quality time together was when we drove down together for our 35 Class Reunion in 1997.  We talked about everything under the sun - our kids were grown and gone - well, except for my youngest, who was still in high school at the time.  He had contracted a chronic ailment that had caused him to step down from his position - one that would not allow him to metabolize fat - Paul was already always slim - so this ailment had him so thin, frail and emaciated that it appeared that he would surely break at the slightest bump.  

The last time I saw him was at the funeral of our dear friend St. Clair Bourne at the Riverside Church.  He and Yvonne were sitting a few seats behind me - I was so happy to see him - but didn't have a chance to speak.

From time to time I would reach out to him to come to an event at Lincoln or attend a reunion, but no response.

I am so happy to know that he and Yvonne were still together through this prolonged challenge to his health.  He and my other Lincoln friend and confidante, Ja Jahannes, made their transitions within two days of each other - and I presume that's why I was not aware that Paul had joined the Ancestor/Angels of Fine Black Lincoln Men.  

I will always treasure those great days at Lincoln and NY City - and the quiet, but intense love that Paul held for his culture, and his people.  I can just see him with Gil Scott Heron, Randy Kane, Ja Jahannes and the rest of the Rabble, kicking around some new concept.

Peace be unto him - 

My Condolences to Yvonne, Waida, and his other family and friends - and to those of us of the Lincoln University family from Black in the day who had the privilege and pleasure of getting to know this Fine Black Man.

Stay Blessed & 
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria LU '67

Thanks to the good offices of brother Ernst Perodin, some of his NYC friends and colleagues will hold an informal get-together/memorial for him on Wednesday, October 14, 2015 beginning at 6:15 p.m. over dinner at Ponty Bistro Restaurant, 2375 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd. and 139^th Street, Harlem, NY to celebrate Paul’s life through remembrances of him.

Ponty Bistro’s website is www.pontybistroharlem.com.  You can get more information about them there, including their menu.  You can also view a July 17, 2015 WABC TV newscast about them at http://abc7ny.com/food/eats-poisson-yassa-from-ponty-bistro/856736/.  Ponty Bistro will provide an individual bill to each diner at the memorial for which he/she will be responsible.  He chose Ponty Bistro because of its ambiance, cuisine, reasonable prices, African ownership and convenient Harlem location.

Please circulate this message to any of Paul’s friends whom you are in contact with who might want to attend, and please RSVP me at ernstperodin@optonlinel.net by October 8, 2015 so that we can confirm our reservation for the number of people we expect to attend. 

Feel free to call me at (718) 287-8113 if you have any questions about the above.

Best regards,

Ernst Perodin

On Sunday, October, Rev. Frances Paul will hold Memorial Services for Paul Moore at Mary Dodd Brown Chapel at Lincoln University, at 11:00 AM.  All LU Alumni, family and friends are invited to participate and pay homage to this wonderful brother. 

Conversation opened. 4 messages. All messages read.

ANOTHER LINCOLN LION HAS GONE HOME - STAY BLESSED -GLORIA

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Our Dear Brother Elombe Brath is now an African Ancestor Angel Activist

by Gloria Dulan-Wilson



It is with great sadness that I announce the transition of our dear, valiant, courageous, creative, talented, brother Elombe Brath, who made his transition earlier today, May 20, 2014.

Elombe Brath Champion of Beauty, Justice, Independence for Black People The World Over

I have nothing but praise and admiration for this wonderful brother and his family, whom I have known since 1966.  And yes, I'm crying - but these are as much tears of gratitude as they are of sorrow, because that was such a long, wonderful, beautiful, blessed friendship.



I think, spiritually, Elombe had already moved forward - but has just finally released himself from his physicality -  He was always, always so far ahead of us in so many ways. The strokes he had begun to suffer in 2009 necessitated his being in a nursing home where he could receive contiuum of care. During that time, his wife and mother of their seven children, the lovely Nomsa Brath, was likewise facing challenges of her own. She has, however, managed to rally and was a participant at the recently held 2013 tribute to his life and times in Harlem.

Kwame Brathwaite, Elombe's Brother at 2013 ELOMBE TRIBUTE

Nomsa Brath, Elombe's Wife and Lifemate at 2013 ELOMBE TRIBUTE

My knowledge of, and friendship with,  Elombe might not ever have happened had it not been for Sam Anderson, my Lincoln University Classmate, who brought Elombe (then Cecil Brathwaite) and the Grandassa Models to Lincoln, at a time when we were all wallowing in our "negative negroness."  Elombe was the first ever to assemble Black female models with natural hair, modeling beautiful rich African colors and designs, and walking to African music.  This was at a time when you'd rather be caught dead than to have nappy hair. This was Spring, 1966!!  Along with Elombe was his brother, Kwame, then future wife, Nomsa, producer Frank Adu of AJASS (African Jazz and Art Society Studios), and a host of African (American) drummers and dancers under the personage of Gus Dinizulu!

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY ARCH

We were thrilled.  Elombe was the master of ceremonies.  He taught us our heritage and love for our natural beauty and Blackness.  And if you have ever heard Elombe give you a standing lesson on Black people, you know it's long, detailed, animated and unforgettable.



At the time Naturally 66 came to Lincoln University, in spring 1966, there had been a horrible schism between African and African American students on Lincoln's campus. The friction led to arguments, disrespect, and bordered on physical confrontations. This and more were issues that were healed and rectified as a result of that one program!  It helped form a bond between Black African and African American that probably had not existed since the mid to late forties.  Lincoln University has always had a large African population - but prior to Naturally 66, AJASS and Black power, there had been very little real positive, cohesive interaction between African and African American students.



I have to smile when I think about the fact that there were only 16 coeds at Lincoln U on a campus of 600 males at the time, and all our male classmates were falling all over themselves as they watched those beautiful Black sisters - the Grandassas - (deep dark chocolate as opposed to the almost pass for white variety that had heretofore been the standard), walk - no, undulate - across the stage.
Elombe's words of wisdom that day to this have never been forgotten, and were the catalysts for so many of us who on that very evening were reborn from being "negro" into being Black and Beautiful.



Then, later in the year, Fall, 1966, Stokely Carmichael came and made us Black and Proud as he enunciated the principles of BLACK POWER.  As a result of those two catalysts, and the prodding of Sam Anderson, Tony Montiero, and Paul Moore, I and a classmate, Maxine Steward (deceased) became the first two coeds at Lincoln University, to wear naturals.  Maxine was subsequently named Homecoming Queen, and was the first Homecoming Queen in the US to have an “Afro.”

Stokely Carmicahel of SNCC Enunciating the Principles of BLACK POWER

Of course, subsequent to that time, the majority of coeds on Lincoln's campus wear some form of natural hair style.  But back in the days when it was better to be found walking down the street naked, than to have "nappy" hair, it considered was a bold move.  One that almost had me exiled from my family.  And, proudly, I've never processed (straightened) my hair since.



The pride Elombe engendered among my fellow classmates, was replicated world wide as his Grandassa Models became the new standard for Black beauty.  And as we began to embrace and appreciate our African heritage, it opened up the flood gates for contemporary studies on all that had been held away from us for hundreds of years about our ancestry.  Elombe spawned such an outpouring of self love and unity, that magazine covers of Ebony, Jet, Tan and other Black publications began to be reflective of the teachings.  It spawned beauty and hair care products especially designed for natural hair, as well as a fashion industry trying to outdo one another in the design of then popular African clothing styles.  Black studies flourished in the classrooms and churches; Black people began to greet each other as "brother" and "sister" - something that I continue to do til this day. Ajass, Grandassas, and Naturally 66 (67, 68, 69, etc., became the standard bearer of things Black and Beautiful).

This was all thanks to the vision of Elombe Brath, who dared to break a tradition founded on the brainwashing Blacks had suffered as a result of enslavement and hostile self destructive messages.



Throughout the decades following, Elombe has been friend, educator, activist, creator.  A graphic artist by trade, he was the light behind brother Gil Noble, who had been tagged by ABC-TV in NYC, to do a lightweight TV show geared to us then emerging Black revolutionaries.  The show later emerged to become LIKE IT IS, and was the greatest source of Black information and issues ever.  Elombe not only served as the graphic artist, he was the behind the scenes conduit for those great interviews that Noble was able to bring to the forefront.  I used to run into Elombe, and he would give me an earful of how ABC had been trying to control, and/or eliminate him from the show.  They had had no intention of LIKE IT IS becoming such a seminal success, and when they found that Elombe had been the conduit for many of the guests, as well as many of the on location programs, they first sought to curtail it by removing him from the show and putting him in another department.  When that didn't work, they eventually found a way to terminate him completely.

The Late, Great Gil Noble of Like It Is

When I asked him what he was going to do, he just said "What I always do, my sister.   I needed the job, but they can't stop me from spreading the truth. Gil and I will be alright."  It was following that that Elombe formed the Patrice Lumumba Coalition and began holding forums at the Harriet Tubman School in Harlem.  And, while he never looked back, and never went after ABC for wrongful termination, his relationship with Gil Noble remained as strong as ever.



Always in the background, but ever at his side, was his brother/partner, Kwame Brathwaite - photographer and quiet activist in his own right.  It was Kwame who quietly chronicled all that happened via his ever ready camera, preserving history for posterity.

Kwame Brathwaite, in a tribute to his brother that appeared in the Black Star News, 11-16-09, writes:

"Elombe was one of the founders, and the lifetime president of the African Jazz-Arts Society & Studios, (AJASS) a cultural group which had been founded during the summer of 1956 in the South Bronx but moved to Harlem in 1961. The group was a collective of Black artists, photographers, performers, and students (including Kwame Brathwaite, Robert Gumbs, Chris Acemendeces Hall, Frank Adu, Jimmy Abu and others) who gathered to promote Black Arts and Culture. This was the beginning of what became “The Black Arts Movement” which many believe started in 1965, nine years later.

"Influenced by the ANPMs Garvey Day celebration and their “Miss Natural Standard of Beauty” contests formed to install pride and confidence in Black women, who at the time were looked upon as less than beautiful by the mass media, the fashion world and by Black people themselves. After the 1961 contest, AJASS formed the nucleus of a group of models to explicitly promote the African standard of beauty, The Grandassa Models under the direction of Elombe. The image of darker women had been long overlooked by such magazines as Ebony, Jet, Tan, contradicting their very names.

"Thus the “Naturally” series of “cultural extravaganzas designed to restore our racial pride and standards” was born, beginning with the production of “Naturally ‘62” on January, of that year."

Last year, in May of 2013, New York State Senator, Bill Perkins hosted a statewide tribute to Elombe Brath at the Harriet Tubman School.  There were so many who came to honor him, that even the driving rain  and high winds could not deter them.  The program was filled with so many tributes, including the now late Amiri Baraka, Congressman Charles Rangel, and so many others, it literally ran two hours over the alotted time.  So much outpouring of love for Elombe and his wife and family, the auditorium was literally standing room only. 

New York State Senator Bill Perkins at the 2013 ELOMBE BRATH TRIBUTE

RandyWeston performing in honor of Elombe at the 2013 ELOMBE BRATH TRIBUTE

ANOTHER SAD NOTE: Dear Friends: I originally started writing this article on May 20, the day after Malcolm X's Birthday, after having learned about the transition of Elombe to the realm of Ancestor/Angel.  In the midst of my writing this article, I received the news that my friend Sam Greenlee, author of THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR, had also passed.  I was/am in a complete state of shock that I could possibly lose two friends practically on the same day!  It's taken me a while to process it and get back to paying homage to my friend, Elombe - which will be followed by an homage to Sam Greenlee as well.



Though I am a journalist, losing friends that I've known nearly a lifetime, such as Elombe, is a terrible personal blow. Notice, I did not say loss – because I have too many things to be grateful for during our long friendship to feel as I could count it as a loss. So I am expressing what is I am sure a heartfelt thank you from all the Black community – Nationally and Internationally – for the long life of love and service we've received as a result of the heart, hand, and love of Elombe. He has gone on to take his place along with the pantheon of other Black ancestor/angels who constantly, continuously and consistently watch over and guide us.


Contemporaries such as the late Amiri Baraka and his wife, Amina performed at the ceremony in tribute to Elombe in May 2013 as well.  Now these two great warriors are among our ancestors and are fondly looking down on us as we try to cope, recoup, regroup, and begin to see our way forward.

The Late Poet Laureat Activist Amiri Baraka Performing at ELOMBE BRATH TRIBUTE 2013  

Poet, Writer, Entertainer, Amina Baraka Singing at ELOMBE BRATH TRIBUTE 2013

Journalists Bernard White (L) and Herb Boyd (R) at ELOMBE BRATH TRIBUTE 2013

Producer Woodie King, Jr., and Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce  Lloyd Williams at ELOMBE BRATH TRIBUTE 2013

I have nothing but high praise and congratulations to us all, amidst the sorrow for having been blessed with having Elombe among us for a wonderful, positive, empowering, creative, productive 77 years.

As you can see, I'm doing this blog in real time.  I just received such a wonderful from brother Dawad Philip -  former managing editor of the Daily Challenge (the only Black Daily Newspaper in the US) on my FaceBook page, and I wanted to include it in this blog in tribute to Brother Elombe:

"Gloria, It is with deep sadness that I receive the news of Brother Elombe Brath's transition. A soldier and revolutionary of the highest order, educator, scholar, writer, Pan Africanist and friend, his was a life of full service. We Africans the world over owe much to Elombe in ways that we may not collectively or fairly measure, from Harlem to Bed-Stuy, the Spanish and French Caribbean, from Cuba to Namibia, Angola, Mozambique, to Grenada and South Africa, this son of Barbadian heritage personified the creed: Serve the People! I cannot help but smile as I picture him stepping into The Daily Challenge to deliver his regular columns and engaging all with the latest victory from the Front, of Fidel Castro snubbing the luxuries of Midtown choosing instead to stay in Harlem, or Brother Maurice Bishop and his NJM executive visiting the United Nations and Elombe ensuring that Fordham University had a full house to receive Maurice, to Nelson and Winnie Mandela visiting Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant, to his weekly revolution behind the cameras of Gil Noble's Like It Is, to Kwame Ture and at the end the African community's celebration of Ture's life with a Harlem send-off. He was our man with his ear to the global African drum. Elombe Brath walked among giants and led the struggle from the front so that generations today and onward may walk proud. I have just come back from Cuba and I have seen the vision that Elombe articulated for African youth, in music, in science, in the arts. Your dream is Alive, Elombe. Walk Good!"  - Dawad Philip May 23, 2014

Homegoing Services for Elombe will held at Abyssinian Baptist Church on Saturday, May 31, 2014

Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson



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Lincoln University Class of 67 Celebrates Our 45th Graduation Anniversary

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by Gloria Dulan-Wilson

I am so proud of being a proud graduate of Lincoln University, the first Black College in the US. It is now over 158 years, and was originally founded as Ashmun Institute in 1854. The name was changed to Lincoln University in honor of Abraham Lincoln after he was assassinated. The school was placed just north of the Pennsylvania/Maryland State Border, away from the slave monsters who had made it illegal to educate Blacks, during slavery.

I love bragging about being a Lincoln grad – the Alma Mater of such greats as Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, Langston Hughes,Roscoe Lee Browne, actor, Rev. Dr. James H. Robinson, founder of Crossroads Africa, among so many others. We are the only Black college to have given Africa two dynamic presidents: Kwame Nkrumah, first President of Ghana and Nnamde Azikewe, first President of Nigeria. We conferred dual doctorates on President Jerry John Rawlings, former President of Ghana, and his wife, first lady Nana Rawlings.

But now I'm really going to kick it up a notch or two, because we, the Class of '67 are celebrating our 45th Anniversary of graduating from the hallowed halls of Lincoln University!! It's such a momentous, ausicious occasion, of such magnitude, that I'm now in the “who woulda thunk that we had come so far and done so much, and are still standing?? mode.

As I talk with my classmates, I can't help but go back in my mind's eye to what we were up to and what we were involved in during those heady times. We were the agents of change that jump started what the current generation now considers common every day occurrences. But believe me, when we started college in 1963, there was no such thing as integration. In fact, there were many who did not believe that we would achieve it in our lifetime. There was definitely no such thing as the right to vote in the south. Poll taxes ruled the day. By the time 1963 had come along, many of us, including yours truly, had been participating in sit-ins by that time since we were 10 years old, that was 8 years of being on the front line of civil rights. In 1965, Lincoln University sent a busload of students down to Selma, AL to march across the Edmund Pettis Bridge.

By the time I was 18, though, I was no longer disposed to be “civil” and neither were many of my peers. In 1966 Stokely Carmichael enunciated the tenets of BLACK POWER at Mary Dodd Brown Chapel, and it was “on!!” It was at Lincoln University that we first heard the phrase BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL. What a thrill. As Stokely stood before us, with that smooth, almost whispery voice of his, I can still see the look on the faces of my fellow classmates. A new day, a new ethos, a new consciousness – a whole paradigm shift - was born on the campus of Lincoln University, and spread throughout the Black college campuses of the US. Freedom, liberation, autonomy, Afrocentricity was in the air. We were reclaiming our African heritage, getting in touch with our African roots, and making no apologies about it.

Of course, for the most of us at Lincoln, being the iconoclasts that we were, the closest we came to in terms of a church was Mary Dodd Brown Chapel, which served as our theatre and auditorium. It's where we went for talent shows, roasting our professors, Black Power meetings, panel discussions, movies, etc. Our other favorite gathering place was The Grill, where we solved all the problems of the world. It also housed the cafeteria, with some of the worst food on the planet. Everything was managed (dictated) by Ma Renwick, who walked around with a cigarette hanging out of the side of her mouth, and an ash at least an inch and a half long before it finally dropped to the floor. She kept the guys in line, but we all loved her. However, when it came to real food, we would just as soon sneak over the fence and make midnight runs to Sissie's home of the best cheesesteak hoagie on the planet. It was also where we could hang out after long hours of fighting material.

We were one of the few Black colleges to have an official center for African students from Non-independent African countries: Angola, Mozambique, the Congo, South Africa, Southwest Africa (Namibia), Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Besutoland (Lesotho) Swaziland, Rwanda, Burundi, etc. African refugees would come and attend on a full scholarship and (hopefully) take what they had learned back home to teach their people. I was peer counselor to those students and made lifelong friends as a result. Many of them have returned home and are working in behalf of their own governments. Sadly, many also returned home to fight for liberation and have since joined the ancestors.

Lincoln University was one of the few, if not the only, Black school to have a Pan-African Student Union, where African and African American, African Caribbean students came together to plot, plan and discuss liberation issues - especially as it pertained to South Africa. For the most part, however were very much about the reunification of African nations, now that Africa was slowly being released from their colonial monsters. Sometimes there was total congruency at those meetings; other times our brothers, a/k/a “Homeboys” argued about such insipid issues as the correct pronunciation of a word, or the proper manners (which by the way were remnants of colonial brainwashing). Many of our brothers came to the US knowing more about country and western music than they did about Soul Music. By the time we got through with them, they knew James Brown, the Temptations and Four Tops, chapter and verse.

Black in the day Lincoln University had a varsity soccer team, instead of a football team, because the campus had a large African and Caribbean population – nearly 1/3 the student body. Our team actually participated in the national soccer tournament, and missed being champion by a hair, coming in second in the nation. At one match, on campus, our center forward, Paul Moonyane from Lesotho, broke the leg of a rival white South African player after he had the audacity to call him a “dirty kefir” – a break that was heard throughout the campus as they carried him off the field on a stretcher. The rest of the demoralized team lost to Lincoln by a huge margin. Needless to say, future white soccer teams who went up against Lincoln were very careful to mind their manners.

Lincoln had some of the greatest international parties comprised of a mix of soul music, calypso, African, and other intra-African music. I personally never lacked for a dance partner – at least during the first two years of being among the first co-eds on the campus (personally, my idea of heaven). We actually had our own live steel band, with Gene Harvey, Tony Roberts from Bermuda and other parts of the Caribbean, who would rehearse on a regular basis.

It was in 1965, when I transferred to Lincoln University it had been an all male college known as the Black Princeton. You had to be super smart to attend there. When they began to actively recruit females to live on campus, they had the same stiff criteria they exacted for the male students. At the time there were only 600 hundred students – All Male! I was one of the first 16 female co-eds to reside on the campus. The guys had to give up their dorms, and their caveman ways. Having had things pretty much their way, they were very happy about our invasion.

The additional lights on the campus they felt was a violation of their ability to tough it out under rigorous circumstances and still be able to “fight material”. Being required to wear ties on Sunday, and being urged to watch their language was an invasion of their sanctity (they would always challenge the rule, and we co-eds, would give them our scarves as pretend ties to keep them from having to go back to the barracks to re-dress.

Lincoln was also the place we learned to tell the difference between mere males (players) and real men - and we had a representative number of each, across cultural lines. (Some of the older alumns, such as actor Roscoe Lee Browne never, ever acknowledged us co-eds as Lincoln grads, and was pretty testy when I introduced myself as one years later, when I met him on location in Hollywood).

Lincoln University was the first Black college to have an all Black Natural fashion show with natural hairstyles and afrocentric fashions – 1966 – the Grandassa Models, founded by Elombe Brath and Kwame Brathwaite. Thanks to Sam Anderson and Paul Moore, who were seeking to bring unity between African and African American students. There was a rift borne of colonialism on their part, and post-traumatic slave syndrome on ours. Thank goodness, it worked, and Lincoln students began to understand that, as Malcolm X had said on several occasions, no matter where that boat landed, we were all ONE PEOPLE.

Lincoln was first Black college to have its own African Museum, and receive regular contributions from President Nkrumah, Azikewe, and other African leaders and former students – including Kente Cloth, Ashanti Goldweights, and 14 karat gold jewelry, masques, and as well as artifacts from all over Africa. It was curated by H.D. Gunn, a refuge from Dachau; and co-curated by yours truly, as part of my college work study program.

Lincoln University was also the first Black college to offer a full complement of African studies, as well as Swahili language classes; African cosmology classes, and movies originating from Africa written and produced by Africans. We read Franz Fanon, Cheik Anta Diop, Chinua Achebe, Leopold Sedor Senghor, Kwame Nkrumah's principles; along with WEB DuBois, Carter G. Woodson, Lerone Bennett, E. Franklin Frazier. You name it we had it at the Vail Memorial Library. If it was Black we had read it, were reading it, discussing it, throwing in our own theories to boot. You could actually get a degree in African studies long before it was popular in the rest of the Black schools. Even Albert Einstein loved Lincoln University, and left a legacy to our campus (that was long before we arrived, of course).

Lincoln University's Sociology Department, headed by Lawrence“Shabby” Foster, was the only Black college that relied primarily on texts written by Black sociologists Goode and Hat. It was the mainstay of our department. From it we learned the socio-psychological effects of racism, and how it impacted our child rearing practices.

In 1966, Lincoln University was the first Black college to have a Homecoming Queen with natural hair: Maxine Stewart LU'69.

In 1966, we were the students who fought off the KKK with real guns when they burned a cross across from our campus. We posted guards at every entry, and made it known that they could come at their own risk. They threatened but never crossed onto Lincoln Soil. In the 150+ years of our existence, they have not yet laid set foot on our campus.

We were the students who had none other than the great Charles V. Hamilton, head of our Political Science Department, as our mentor. He was legal counsel for SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee). Students would cut classes and sit in on his class to learn of their latest status and exploits. We were the campus where Stokely Carmichael and H. Rap Brown and other Black leaders would come to formulate strategies for liberation. Dr. Hamilton co-authored “Black Power” along with Stokely Carmichael, on our campus.

We were the students who dared to take a bus to the UN on a cold November day, along with the classmates from the Class of 1966, to protest Rhodesia's unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) formulated by despot Ian Smith, when they fought for liberation and independence. It was freezing cold, and we were the only students who showed up for the protest – but we stayed and made our symbolic point.

We were privileged to have had Langston Hughes visit as Poet in Residence for 6 weeks, and his protege, playwright Ron Milner as writers in residence. We had the honor of having had the great, powerful, dynamic Adam Clayton Powell Jr. come to our campus after he had been “sanctioned by Congress for being too powerful.” He had just recorded his famous album “Keep the Faith, Baby!” I remember how candid and self assured he was. He kept a cigar on him at all times.

It was at Lincoln University that I started wearing my hair natural, and have done so ever since – thanks to my upper class brothers, Sam Anderson, and my classmates Paul Moore and Tony Montiero. I remember coming up with all the usual negrified excuses of the day: I had Indian in my family so my hair wouldn't get kinky; I had Irish in my family, so my hair wouldn't get kinky; I had German in my family, so my hair wouldn't get kinky – stop me when you've heard enough bogus excuses. I had a million of them!!

Sam would tell me that what I called a “permanent” was really temporary, since I had to complete process over and over. He dared me to wear my natural for my senior class picture. After having seen how beautiful the Grandassa Models looked with their natural hair, I took him up on it, and that photo in the yearbook was the day after I got it done. However, my entire family in Oklahoma were in a state of shock when I came home with “nappy” hair! Now, not so much.

Lincoln used to operate on a tri-mester basis, and allowed students to drop in and drop out at will. We had many students who returned to complete their classes after having served in Viet Nam; or who had “washed out” because of poor grades. It was at Lincoln that our classmate, John Huggins, who had returned after having spent four years fighting in Viet Nam, decided that he needed to deal with America's racism; and so joined the Panthers in San Francisco. He lost his life as a result, and set off a fire storm of consequences.

At Lincoln we were such iconoclasts, even our grading system was different: our grades were A through E – E being a a flunking grade; A being superior; there was no F grade. At Lincoln, “1” meant being tops, and a passing grade; while “5” or a nickel, meant flunking, and all of the worse possible things. By the way, if you were “ugly” by Lincoln male standards, they would throw nickels at you. If you picked them up, you were double ugly.

We were also known for our “Rabble” names, and Rabble phrases. Everyone coming onto the campus was tagged with a nickname that stuck with them for life. In many instances, to this day, you have to know the person's rabble name in order to identify them, and many of us are still not familiar with their given names.

At Lincoln, we were taught to challenge everything, and not take it as true just because they said it was (“they” being whites, and the Uncle Toms who loved them). At Lincoln you went around quoting the likes of Kwame Nkrumah, Frederick Douglass, Frantz Fanon, Chinua Achbe, Jomo Kenyatta, Nelson Mandela (while he was still in prison); Stephen Biko, African proverbs, Stokely Carmichael, and any and all Black heroes, s/heroes past, present and future.

It was to Lincoln that the famous Mitchell family of Baltimore sent Mike to follow in the footsteps of dynamic family members, Clarence and Parren, who had already made lifetime contributions to the Black community.

We, the Class of 67 are the “Change Agents.” We launched new programs to educate and empower our people. We precipitated and participated in the liberation of our people via action and education, challenging the status quo, standing for our rights, regardless of the consequences. We have contributed through our writing, speaking out; our professional development and leadership; through the advancement of the lessons learned vis a vis a devoted and loyal faculty who nurtured our minds, making sure that when we moved forward into the world, that we were always Black and proud of it.

If, by the time you had graduated from Lincoln in 1967, you didn't get that one understanding – that you are Black and Proud and have a contribution to make to the world - you had completely missed the point of the whole reason for being at Lincoln. While academics were, of course, an important component of being a Lincoln Lion and Lioness, it was even more of a paramount importance that we emerge, in all our glory, as Black men and women ready to take our place in a world where our ancestors had sacrificed so much to make it possible for us to go forward; and be the change we wanted to see. We the Class of '67, have done that and then some - with more yet to be. Our contributions are still being made. We are the paradigm shift!

Hail! Hail! Lincoln!!!
Hail The Class of 1967!!!

Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson



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