Northwest Defender_1963-08-29

Sen. Morse, Rep. Green at Freedom March Mahalia Focuses SI'ATEMENT BY SENATOR MORSE ON THE MARCH FOR FREEDOM AUGUSI' 27, 1963 On Other Stars The whole movement for fulf1llment of Constitutional rights has been brought to its present head by demonstra– tions, sit-ins, freedom rides and all the other exercises of the right of petition. This peaceful march on Washington cannot help but im– press Congress with the necessity of adopting the pending, civil rights bilL "justice delayed is justice denied," says the old legal adage. In this case, the political and economic justice promised by the Constitution has been delayed and denied to colored Americans for 100 years. The March, and the demonstrations that have preceded it, are fair warning to .Congress. If we do not act, the struggle for equality will be taken out of the halls of Congress and put back in the streets, where not all demonstrations will be peaceful and where force and violence will prevail. GOSPEL SINGER Mahalia Jackson, whose swinging ren– ditions of spirituals had the thousands of Marchers sway– ing and clapping along yes– terday at the Lincoln Me– morial was on the lookout foJ' celebreties herself. As she waited to go on, Miss Jackson operated a mo– tion pictu~e camera. Sitting in the VIP section on the Memorial steps, she focused her camera on the other stands below and, at one Delegations Represent Many Areas of Nation ·. W·E SHALL OVERCOME 0----.----------------- l do b... --u"..----------------- \J ~ 1 J_ ) 0! -=="_d___ P I ~ -e- l---1 Wo •hall ~-Ter ca.o----·-saa..----- day, ·------ olay ------· point, broke off her enthusi– astic comments on the March to say, "Wait a minute-r have to get Sammy Davis Jr." as.she spotted the actor through her camera, MEMBERS of the enter· tainment world who flew in from all parts of the United States yesterday to lend their support to the March for Jobs and Freedom made it clear that they came as citizens, not as performers. "The actors in town, this week," said Charlton Hes– ton, "are members of Con– gress. The play is 'Democ– racy.'" Heston also read a state– ment from all entertainers. It was written by Negro author James Baldwin, and Heston said, "It represents the way we feel." Freedom is not licensed, read Heston, and no one i~ licensed to depress or de– moralize another. He men– tioned several ways in which the Negro is depressed, say– ing that it "varies in degree, but never in intent." The stars of stage, screen, TV, radio and night cluos came here, Heston said, to protest this evil. He added that the "en– ergies of these people to whom we have so long denied" equality and free– dom are needed. "The American Negro has endured for many years, in this country which he helped to build, terrible injustices ... In cutting ourselves off from them, we are punish– ing and diminishing our– selves." Harry Belafonte repeated the group statement later in the day at the March pro– gram at the Lincoln Me– morial. Josephine Baker, the St. Louis Negro singer who helped bring the jazz age to Paris, was among the celebrities who came. "Why am I here? There are so many reasons," said the blues singer who in the past has bitterly critized America's t r e a t m e n t of members of her race. "Say I am here because I believe in the rights of man .. in the dignity of human be– ings." Miss Baker flew in from Paris Tuesday evening, i& returning this mornin&. "I am here just for the March," she said. "This is the happiest day of my life," the 60-year-old Miss Baker later . -told the Lincoln Memorial throng. Referring to the White and Negro crowd -as "tb· gether as salt and peppe1, just as you should be," she said, "You are a united peo– ple at last. FROM THE OFFICE OF REPRESENTATIVE EDITH GREEN (Democrat-Oregon) When Americans of all races and creeds travel together thousands of miles - it• s demonstrably clear that we have reached the place where neither a wall of bricks and stones nor a Congressional wall of complacency will stop the march to freedom. I regard today' s demonstration as a commendable. logi– cal and traditional avenue of protest. The demonstration would not be taking place here today if White America were treating Negro Americans in the work-a-day world in the same manner it expects and demands that it be treated, Congress has before it meaningful Civil Rights legislation which should be passed. After that first but important step, we then must try the even more difficult task of applying the Golden Rule in America to Negro Americans just as we expect Black Africa to apply the Golden Rule to its white minority. And in step with this obligation, we must continue our fight to achieve real freedom and jobs for all. "I'm glad that in my walk to the Memorial in such homeland this day 'has come to pass. Today you are on the eve of compl1:!te victory. Tomorrow time will do the rest. The world is behind you." Going to France as a mem– ber of a Negro revue soon after World War I, Miss Baker soared quickly to popularity, and during her many years in France was known affectionately as "La Josephine." During World War II, she served in the French army and in the Free French forces. Yesterday, while she and other celebrities were being inlNviewed at the 1\IATS terminal, she wore the blue uniform of · the Free French, along with five decorations including one to show that she was a knight of the Legion of Honor. She took flying lessons during the War, and said yesterday, th::tt she still flies. Her adopted children now number 12, added l\I iss Baker who started adopting <"hildren of different races some years ago as an inter– racial experiment. The~· all live with her at a chateau near Paris. Sammy Da1·is Jr. flew in ftom Detroit wh :> re he has a night cluh f'ngGgement and said he planned to go back 1 as t night to "do two shows." "We all paid our own way to come here," Davis said. "And we are not here as eel· ebrities. We are .Negroes and we have a stake i1~ this." I!\ ANSWER to a re– porter's question, "What do you think the March will ac– complish?" the tall, beauti· ful singer Diahann Carroll saicl. "It is almost accom– lished already by the res– !JOnse. People want to come here to show how proud they are to be part of the Civil Rights movement." Miss Carroll wore a print linen suit designed by Bill Blass and a trim pair of beige pumps-the kind she wears every day. Could she fra~ile shoes? "If I can't," stated Miss Carroll, "I'll get there barefoot." Burt Lancaster flew in from Paris with a freedom proclamation bearing t h c signatures of some 1500 per– sons overseas. The actor, who is making a French film, read the proclamation later to the audience at the Lincoln Memorial. He will fly back to Paris today. "It is unthinkable that all these rights are for us and not for them," said the movie star. '"There is great sympathy in Paris for the march." Marchers Asked To Make Pledge Each individual who partici– pates in the March on Wash– ington for Jobs and Freedom will be asked to pledge his per– sonal commitment to the civil rights strug;l'le. This is the pledge they will take: "Standing before the Lincoln Memorial on the 28th of Au– gust, in the Centennial Year of Emancipation, I affirm my complete personal commitment to the struggle for Jobs and Freedom for all Americans. "To fulfill that commitment, I pledge that I will not relax until victory !s won. "I pledge that I wm join and support all actions undertaken in good faith in accord with the time-honored demccratic Lraditlon of non-violent protest, of peaceful assembly and peti– tion, and of redress through the courts and the legislative process. "I pledge to CalTY the message of the march to my friencUI and neighbors back home and to arouse them to an equal effort. I w!ll march and I will write letters. I will demonstrate and I will vote. I will work to make sure that my voice and those of my brothers ring clear and deter– mined from every corner of our land. "I pledge my heart and my mind and my body,_ unequivo– cally and without regard to personal sacrifice, to t h e achievement .of soc1al peace through social justice."