https://gloria-dulan-wilson.
THE
FOLLOWING ARE NOTES AND STATEMENTS FROM A VARIETY OF ARTICLES I'VE
WRITTEN OVER THE YEARS WHERE I MENTION DOC HAMILTON AND HIS HISTORICAL
SIGNIFICANCE
The
60s was the Civil Rights Era, but, more importantly, it was the
beginning of BLACK POWER - and our class of 1967 was the Black Power
Class - thanks to Doc Hamilton and Carmichael.
We are the BLACK POWER CLASS - Before the world even knew what BLACK POWER was about!!!
We are the beginning of the wearing of naturals and African clothes. We are the ones who met with Stokeley Carmichael and Doc Hamilton as they planned the next SNCC strategies. We gave asylum to our African freedom fighting brothers from South Africa, Mozambique, Angola, the Congo, as well as classmates to those brothers from newly liberated African countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Tanzania, Uganda - as you can see, I love bragging about Lincoln University.
I have always felt that I was in a
privileged space at Lincoln. Especially having the opportunity to
study political science under Dr. Charles V. Hamilton - legal counsel
for SNCC, and one of the finest and most dynamic Black men on the planet
- then and now. He was not only the most dynamic personage on the
campus, but he walked his talk - often having to go to Mississippi and
other areas to rescue members of SNCC from white racists - a bold move
when you consider that this Black man routinely laid his life on the
line to cross into the south to defend our Black heroes from racist
white judges, jailers and policemen. The entire campus would turn out
for the "Hamilton Report," when he returned, updating us on the things
that happened during his foray into the belly of the beast.
 |
| THE GREAT DR CHARLES V. HAMILTON |
| STOKELY CARMICHAEL - KWAME TOURE` |
The other highpoint of my Lincoln life was Stokely Carmichael and H. Rapp Brown coming to Lincoln to consult and collaborate with Doc Hamilton on strategies during the high point of the Civil Rights Movement. But the icing on the cake was when Stokely came to Lincoln in October, 1966 to enunciate the tenets of BLACK POWER at Mary Dodd Brown Chapel - to a packed audience. It was the first time we had heard the statement 'BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL!" and the statement BLACK POWER! We left that assemblage feeling totally empowered.
The following summer Dr. Hamilton and Stokely Carmichael wrote and published the definitive book BLACK POWER. All the research was conducted on Lincoln's campus, utilizing Lincoln University students as interns to help with the research, BLACK POWER was the first ever book of its kind to do a definitive, in depth analysis of Black power and its impact and meaning to Black people - this is the 50th anniversary of it's publication and the book has been translated into at least 50 languages and circulated around the world. More importantly, it's even more relevant today as the day it was published.
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). Hamilton was
familiar with and conversant on their philosophies and integrated it
into his Political Science curriculum - so that we had the full spectrum
of what it meant to wield political power in a positive, pragmatic
manner.
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.
Hamilton is also a hero - he stood for the students on campus when the KKK had the audacity to threaten to burn it down - to the point of securing the perimeter of the campus with a few, well armed and valiant classmates. 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. Hamilton patroled the campus and checked in with students to make sure they were safe.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.
Dr. Charles V. Hamilton - Legal Council for SNCC, Chair of the Political Science Department, and later head of Columbia University's International Politics division, was both my mentor and my idol (yes, you guessed it, I have a thing for Smart Fine Black Men). SNCC used to have strategy meetings at the campus - wow, sitting with Stokely Carmichael and H. Rapp Brown in person!!! We were the only Black college to offer asylum to African refugees from non-independent African countries - such as South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia (Southwest Africa) Congo Brazzaville and Kinshasha, Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), Angola and Mozambique - as well as attending classes with brothers from all over the continent of Africa - Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania (Tanganiyika and Madagascar), Senegal, Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Liberia, Algeria, Guinea Bissau, Sudan, as well as the Caribbean - Bermuda, Barbados, Trinidad, the Bahamas, and Jamaica; one student from China, and several Jewish classmates as well. (c)gloriadulanwilson
Charles V. Hamilton and Stokely Carmichael were the first to use the term "institutional racism" :
"Institutional racism (also known as systemic racism) is a form of racism expressed in the practice of social and political institutions. It is reflected in disparities regarding wealth, income, criminal justice, employment, housing, health care, political power and education, among other factors.
The term "institutional racism" was coined and first used in 1967 by Stokely Carmichael (later known as Kwame Ture) and Charles V. Hamilton in Black Power: The Politics of Liberation.[1]
Carmichael and Hamilton wrote that while individual racism is often
identifiable because of its overt nature, institutional racism is less
perceptible because of its "less overt, far more subtle" nature.
Institutional racism "originates in the operation of established and
respected forces in the society, and thus receives far less public
condemnation than [individual racism]".[2] They gave examples." WIKIPEDIA
Congratulations on your latest citation:
Charles Vernon Hamilton
Charles V. Hamilton is the Wallace S. Sayre Professor Emeritus of Government at Columbia University. One of the first African Americans to hold an endowed chair at an Ivy League university, Hamilton focused his research on urban politics and the Civil Rights movement. His most famous book, which was a best-seller, was co-authored with Stokely Carmichael-Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America (1967). This book transformed Hamilton into a high-profile public intellectual. Another important book was his Adam Clayton Powell Jr.: The Political Biography of an American Dilemma (1991). Hamilton is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
NOW THAT YOU KNOW
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
 |
| Gloria DULAN-Wilson |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank YOU For Visiting Gloria Dulan-Wilson Eclectic Black People VIP Blog. We Would Like Your Views, Interests And Perspectives. Please Leave A Comment Below.