February, 1946 pie have been constantly reminded of the importance of the subject. Representative Chester H. Merrow had declared that improving the educational opportunities of peoples living in dependent areas is, in his opinion, one of the most important functions of UNESCO. The Constitution calls for the application of its functions without distinction based upon "race, lanige, sex or religion." Although there is no provision for the enforcement within any country of this stipulation, it provides a yardstick as does the Declaration of Independence by which we can measure the failure to live up to an ideal. Once more, the voice of Alpha Phi Alpha in international affairs has been recognized. Let it be observed in passing that we are the only organization that has assumed leadership in these specific respects. We have further demonstrated our leadership in international affairs by inviting the Honorable Norman W. Manley. leader of the People's Party in Jamaica, British West Indies, to be the principal speaker at our public meeting and Brother Hilyard Robinson, Technical Director of the Liberian Centennial Exposition, to be the speaker at our banquet. This is probably the first time that a fraternity or a sorority has featured a speaker from a foreign land at its public meeting. Certainly no other fraternity or sorority has so convincingly demonstrated its intellifient and sincere interest in our blood brothers in other parts of the world. The letters of commendation received after the publication of this part of the program of our Thirty-first General Convention have revealed a deep appreciation of this further evidence of Alpha's intellectual leadership. On the home front, our efforts have been equally effective. The reports of our General Counsel, Brother B. V. Lawson, Jr., and of the Chairman of the Committee on Public Opinion, Brother Howard H. Long, have kept us informed of these energetic activities. Our General Counsel has just won one of the most important legal victories in the history of American jurisprudence. As counsel for the plaintiff in the case of Henderson vs. The Southern Railway and the United States. he has obtained a decision from the Maryland Court of Appeals that the Railway can not put up the green curtain and reserve tables for Negro passengers in dining cars. I rejoice in this victory because I doubt that there is any more degrading form of humiliation to the dignity of the human personality than the damnable green curtain. As I stated to the convocation of the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in Fisk Chapel on December 7: "Every time I have to sit behind that green curtain. I regret that I am a historian and not a physicist." While we venture no opinion as to what the decision of the United States Supreme Court will be if there is an appeal, as of now we can point to this case as another vital Alpha victory—financed by Alpha money and decided by the cogent reasoning of our General Counsel. The inherent strength of our organization can not be doubted when we look at the record of the past five years of war. New chapters have been established; old chapters revived; some Brothers have
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'UNITE IN A COMMON BATTLE"
NORMAN W. MANLEY . . . . Militant Norman W. Manley, founder of the Jamaican anti-imperialistic National People's Party, demanded a national Negro home as the only hope for the world's darker races during his appearance as the main guest speaker at the public meeting of the Thirty-first General Convention, Chicago. The session was held Sunday, December 30th at Corpus Christi Auditorium. "American Negroes will strengthen their own cause if they make the cause of others in a like situation their own," Brother Manley (Mr. Manley was initiated into Alpha Phi Alpha at the Chicago Convention) declared, adding:— "Only if we fight unitedly can we gain our objectives within the near future." Brother Manley compared the American Negro's plight with that of his native West Indian, stating, "We are all the victims of an imperialist rut in favorable American public opinion." In his opening remarks, the fiery political leader asserted that only two significant outcomes resulted from World War II; the transfer of world leadership "From the hands of Europe into those of the United States and the Soviet Union." He struck at the "hypocrisy" inherent in such documents as the Atlantic Charter, asserting "we should be childish not to have learned that it is purely upon our own struggle that we must depend." In presenting Brother Manley as its guest speaker, Alpha Phi Alpha achieved another "first" in Greek-letter circles. It was the first time that an outstanding leader from a foreign country had ever been presented by a Negro fraternal organization to a public audience in America. Shown, seated, on the right, is Brother Attorney Bindley C. Cyrus, prominent Chicago barrister, one of the host brothers, and master of ceremonies at the public meeting. Brother Cyrus is a native of Jamaica.