Special Issue
n a i l l i v e z n o r B e th
nt Suppleme A newsletter from the An electronic newsletter from the Department of African African American American and and African African Studies Studies Community Extension Extension Center Center Community
The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: In Observance By: Judson L. Jeffries, Ph.D.
W
e here at the Department of African American and African Studies Community Extension Center observe the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. On an unexpectedly warm sunny afternoon on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 1:00 pm CST President John F. Kennedy died from gunshot wounds to the head and neck. With a reelection year looming, Kennedy had gone to Dallas to stump or as one analyst put “to do a little pre-election fence mending.” Despite the fact that Kennedy’s vice president Lyndon Baines Johnson was a native Texan, who had been a former congressman and U.S. Senator much to the chagrin of the Democrats, the Lone Star state was still very much up for grabs. The impending reelection would, in part, hinge on the states of Texas and Illinois. News of the murder of America’s 35th president rippled across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans like no other since the Japanese’s bombing of Pearl Harbor that set off World War II. Local reactions to the president’s assassination were as expected. Columbus City Attorney Rick Pfeiffer was a sophomore at Oberlin College at the time. Pfeiffer recalls, “I had just awakened from a nap when my roommate said that the president had been shot and was dead. A very empty feeling came over me. How could we be deprived of this young and energetic man? What is happening? How could this happen?” John B. Williams, a veteran of the U.S. Army and former Buffalo Soldier says “I was working at the main post office on Marconi Blvd. . . I was working on the rack . . . distributing mail . . . when all of a continued on page 3 Department of African American and African Studies Community Extension Center 905 Mount Vernon Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43203-1413
Phone: (614) 292-3922 Fax: (614) 292-3892 http://aaascec.osu.edu aaascec@osu.edu
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of the CEC 12Core Programs 6 T he Ohio State University’s AAAS Community Extension Center is the outreach component of the Department of African American and African Studies. The CEC is one of the few off-campus facilities of its kind in the nation. Originally housed at two different locations on Ohio Avenue, the CEC moved to its current location in 1986. The CEC plays an integral role in enhancing the life chances of those who live in and around the Mount Vernon Avenue Area. Toward that end, the CEC offers an array of programs at no or nominal cost to the public. Programs include, but are not limited to, the following: conferences, symposia, computer classes, credit and noncredit courses, summer programs, lecture series, and film series. People from all walks of life have participated in these programs. Based on evaluations of our programs and personal testimonies, the CEC is having an impact on residents living in and around the Bronzeville Neighborhood.
1 Black Veterans Day Salute During the salute, Black men and women from Ohio who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces are publicly recognized. Since the salute’s inception in 2006, the CEC has honored the Tuskegee Airmen (2006), Vietnam War veterans (2007), Korean War veterans (2008), African-American servicewomen (2009), World War II veterans (2010), Gulf War Era veterans (2011) and Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans (2012).
2 Ray Miller Institute for Change & Leadership This 10-week long leadership course trains young Black professionals from the Columbus community in various areas of leadership. The Institute was founded in 2006 by former State Senator and Minority Whip Ray Miller. Miller has built a reputation as a strong advocate for those who have historically not had access to power. Admission to the Institute is highly competitive. The Institute is offered during OSU’s autumn and spring semesters with the support of OSU’s Office of Continuing Education. Participants who complete the course receive three CEU credits.
3 Senior Citizens Movie Matinee The movie matinee is a chance for senior citizens to watch a film that otherwise might be cost prohibitive in an accommodating environment. A discussion, usually led by an OSU professor or administrator, is held at the end of the film.
4 Computer Literacy Program Throughout the academic year, the CEC offers free and reduced-cost computer technology courses. The program is geared toward seniors but open to everyone. Courses include the following: Senior Computer Orientation, Internet, Email, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Publisher.
5 Lecture Series Presentations given by OSU faculty, students and/or community members about topics pertinent to the Black community.
Math and Science Program
The Math and Science Program was established in partnership with the OSU Medical Center in 2003. The Math and Science Program exposes students in grades 4 through 12 to the wonders of math and science using hands-on activities. The purpose of the program is three-fold: 1) To increase competency in math and science among students of color; 2) To expose students of color to math and science related careers; and 3) To encourage students of color to major in math or science. The program meets on the fourth Monday of each month from October to May.
7 Summer Residential Program The Summer Residential Program (SRP) was established in 1999 and is designed to provide students with both an appreciation for and an understanding of African-American and African culture and history. The SRP also helps students strengthen their computer literacy skills. Past themes include: “The Underground Railroad” (2012), “All Eyez On Me: Deconstructing Images of African-American Women in Hip Hop” (2011), “letz b down: Social Justice Advocacy for Blacks During the American Revolutionary War Era” (2010), “The Low Country: Black Culture, Literacy and History in Charleston, South Carolina” (2009), and “Hip Hop Literacies” (2008). The program is held every June and is for rising 11th and 12th graders. Students live on OSU’s campus.
8 African Affairs Symposium This one-day symposium brings members of the African American and African communities together to discuss issues of particular interest to Africa. The inaugural symposium in 2007 examined the life of South African civil rights activist Steve Biko. “Africa in the Age of Globalization” was the theme of the 2008 symposium. The 2009 symposium examined the life of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, West Africa. In 2010, the focus was on Pan-Africanism and the Diaspora. The Democratic Republic of the Congo was the theme of the 2011 symposium.
9 Summer Enrichment Program This week-long, non-residential day program is designed to help rising 9th and 10th graders improve their reading and writing skills. The program, which was founded in 2009, is hosted annually in June and accepts approximately 15 students.
10 History of Black Columbus Conference This one-day conference celebrates the rich history of African Americans in Columbus and increases awareness of the significant contributions African Americans have made in all areas of city life. This annual conference is held in the spring.
11 Black History Month Forum The forum is in its fourth year and is focused on celebrating African descended peoples from all over the world. This year, documentaries about the following influential Black historical figures were shown: John Henrik Clarke, Kwame Nkrumah, Fannie Lou Hamer, James Baldwin, Minister Elijah Muhummad.
12 Enemies of the State The annual event features activists from America’s most notorious radical organizations, people who pressured America to live up to its highest ideals. In past years, activists from The Us Organization (2012), The Black Panther Party (2011) and the Young Lords Organization (2010) were invited to speak.
About Bronzeville During the 1930s, African-American leaders in Columbus named the predominately African-American neighborhood between the boundaries of Woodland Avenue (East), Cleveland Avenue (West), Broad Street (South) and the railroad tracks (North) “Bronzeville.” The population was approximately 40,000 residents. In 1937, the same African-American leaders elected a mayor of Bronzeville and created an eight member Cabinet to address social, political and economic issues in the neighborhood. Now, as a result of the establishment of several Neighborhood Civic Associations such as the Woodland Civic Association (East) and the Discovery District (West), Bronzeville was reduced to its current boundaries: Taylor Avenue (East), Jefferson Avenue (West), Broad Street (South), and I-670 (North). The Bronzevillian is inspired by this rich history.
CEC Advisory Board Paul Cook Wanda Dillard Francisca Figueroa-Jackson Mark S. Froehlich Ray Miller, former State Senator Lupenga Mphande, Ph.D. William E. Nelson, Jr., Ph.D. (Deceased) *Ike Newsum, Ph.D. and Chair Rick Pfeiffer, City Attorney Thomas Simpson, Ph.D. Reita Smith Charleta Tavares, State Senator Nana Watson
CEC Director *Judson L. Jeffries, Ph.D.
CEC Staff Sarah Twitty Senior Program Coordinator & Fiscal Officer Kevin L. Brooks, Ph.D. Program Coordinator Alecia Shipe Technology Program Coordinator
Address Department of African American and African Studies Community Extension Center 905 Mount Vernon Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43203-1413 *Ex officio members.
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sudden the music over the loud speaker was interrupted by a voice that informed us that the president had been shot and killed. At first, I thought I misheard what was being said, but after it settled in I couldn’t believe it . . . I couldn’t believe something like that could happen in my lifetime.” Reita Smith has a vivid memory of that day, “I was working at City National Bank on East Long Street . . . it was closing time, and I was sitting at the counter balancing out the day’s work when I got the news . . . I felt sick, total disbelief that something like that could happen, and a sense of great loss. My mind was flooded with so many questions . . . Who would do such a thing and what did it mean for the country?” Stan Dixon, one of the early groups of Blacks to join the United States Marine Corps was a member of the Columbus Police Department at the time. Dixon, who would serve the department for twenty five years before retiring as a sergeant exclaimed, “When I heard the news, I did not for one minute believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone . . . I thought this must be a conspiracy.” In the ensuing years, Dixon’s position would gain traction among millions of Americans. Movie director Oliver Stone did little to assuage those sentiments with his 1991 political thriller titled JFK. Indeed, a poll conducted just last year found that nearly 60 percent of Americans believed that more than one person was involved in JFK’s assassination.
correspondent Dan Rather in Dallas . . . that President Kennedy is dead,” said Cronkite. In the days that followed, controversy swirled around the National Football League when Commissioner Pete Rozell decided that Sunday’s games would continue as scheduled. Some thought Rozell’s decision was prudent, that the country needed to return to some sense of normalcy, if indeed that was possible. Others, however, lambasted Rozell for it. It would take years before Rozell would be able to earn back the goodwill that was lost due to that decision. With Kennedy’s death LBJ was thrust into the presidency, which ironically led to the passage of some of the boldest and most progressive civil rights legislation ever enacted. That these measures were pushed along by a southerner and a Texan no less, was even more astonishing. Today we not only observe the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination, but we reflect on how that heinous act impacted not only the country, but also the world.
Photo courtesy of blog.triblive.com
Photo courtesy of www.whitehousemuseum.org
The months leading up to Kennedy’s assassination had been wrecked with violence, both home and abroad. Kennedy’s murder came less than three weeks after the assassination of another political leader, Ngo Dinh Diem, the first president of South Vietnam, two months after the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama and five months after the assassination of NAACP leader Medger Evers of Jackson, Mississippi. Struggling to compose himself, a teary-eyed, choked up Walter Cronkite of CBS interrupted the network’s regularly scheduled programming to deliver the news to the American people first. “We have a report from our
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Photo courtesy of www.pophistorydig.com