The Blackman Read Aloud Hour Project
Uncovering Our Black Experience: Elaine Arkansas Massacre
Hundreds of black citizens were killed in Elaine, Ark., a century ago this week.

By Nan Elizabeth Woodruff
Dr. Woodruff is a historian and the author of “American Congo: The African American Freedom Struggle in the Delta.”

In the year 1919 in this nation, multiple events of white mob violence occurred during that hate-enraged year of black oppression. The worst of the Red Summer acts occurred in the small town of Elaine, Arkansas in the Fall, 1919. Today, I will be reading from an article that appeared in the New York Times on September 30, 2019, which looks at this act of barbaric proportions a century later. This was by far the most vicious act of race induced rage inflicted on black African Americans after the Civil War. Listen closely to the details that Dr. Woodruff pieced together because it will outline how government forces solicited the aid of the white mob to silence the voices of blacks who were demanding​ simple human and civil rights.

Before there was Robert F. Williams advocating an armed struggle in North Carolina, before The Deacons for Defense were founded in Louisana to protect civil rights marchers and workers, Before The Black Panther Party For Self Defense was founded in Oakland, California on October 15, 1966, before Stokely Carmichael spoke to the crowd in Greenwood, Mississippi, in June of 1966 and advocated black power, before H Rap Brown spoke of the legacy of violence that was formulated against black people in this nation, before Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Paul Robeson, Booker T. Washington, Dubois, Trotter, there was John E. Bruce, better known as “Bruce Grit” to the
those in conscious in the black communities throughout this nation.

John E. Bruce was described in 1901 as the “prince of Negro newspaper correspondents.” He was the author of The Bloody Red Record, a compilation of lynchings in the United States published in 1901. This compilation of lynchings came before the advocacy of Ida Belle Wells-Barnett at a time when any Blackman speaking out against the tactics of white oppression was putting a target on his chest for physical retribution by the oppressors.

During the time Jim Crow was ramping up in the southern states of this nation and being adopted in many states of the north. They were very few black people who were aware of the organized efforts to fight the forces of white supremacy. They were very few blacks aware that a call for organized resistance was being formulated against lynching and white mob violence that was perpetrated against blacks in this nation.

In this speech, I am reading today John E. Bruce, Bruce Grit came before an audience of black Americans in an undisclosed location calling on African Americans to apply the principle of self-defense against the white terrorists who were seeking to harm them. He wanted a unification of black Americans to fight collectively against those forces of evil. The Blackman Who Reads Aloud brings to you the words of John E. Bruce as he spoke them on October 5, 1889, only 34 years after black Americans were freed from the shackles of slavery.

Today is the 118th birthday of Frederick Douglass Patterson one of the most impactful people in this nation's history. We celebrate Mr. Patterson this homecoming season at the 104 historically black colleges and universities for his work in founding The United Negro College Fund 75 years ago this year.

“I learned a lesson with regard to race that I never forgot: how people feel about you reflects the way you permit yourself to be treated. If you permit yourself to be treated differently, you are condemned to an unequal relationship.”
Frederick Douglass Patterson

On April 25, 1944, The United Negro College Fund was founded by Frederick Douglass Patterson. Since it's founding 75 years ago nearly a half a million students have been aiding by either matriculated at the numerous UNCF Historically Black Colleges and Universities or by directly receiving UNCF college scholarships. One of the initial brandings of UNCF was the phrase, " A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste". That phrase was a point of fact a powerful reality in the many black communities throughout this country. When Dr. Patterson founded UNCF many black students could only attend HBCU because of the segregation policies of primarily white universities in many southern states. In addition, many of our black ancestors coming from participating in fighting the Axis powers in World War II weren't getting the GI Bill College Federal Funding in those southern states without going through major hassles. In many cases monies that black GI's were qualified for simply never came to pass. That is why the United Negro College Fund was an essential vehicle for allowing those blacks entrance into the HBCU's at that time.

You have to wonder historically where our black communities would be if UNCF didn't exist? The overwhelming number of black degreed professionals matriculated at HBCU institutions. This is still the case today in this country. Historically Black Colleges and Universities funded by the now billions of dollars raised by the United Negro College Fund serve black communities in so many ways:

Here are 6 Important Reasons That HBCU's Provide Meaningful Support To Our Communities:

Dr. Michael Lomax 12/2015

1. Outsized Impact, Low-Cost = “Best Buy” in Education
2. HBCU's Meets the Needs of Low-income, First-generation Students
3. HBCU's Lower Costs Narrow the Racial Wealth Gap
4. HBCU's Campus Climate Fosters LIfe Success
5. HCBU's Addresses the Nation’s Under- and Unemployment Crisis
6. HBCUs offer a True Value/Values Proposition

So the importance of the United Negro College Fund's support of these HBCU's is extremely vital to the progress of our black communities, past, present, and future. So on this day April 25, 2019, The Blackman Who Reads Aloud celebrates the brilliance of Frederick Douglass Patterson whose insight and commitment to the uplift of our black communities should be placed at the highest level of appreciation. Even today as so many of our black communities suffer many major societal barriers and societal ills. Our HBCU's along with UNCF stands singular on the battlefield fighting against oppression. These institutions of higher learning hold the key to the advancement of our people. A mind still remains a terrible thing to waste and God knows our black communities still are losing far too many young black minds.

Frederick Douglass Patterson was indeed an individual who followed in the footsteps of his namesake Frederick Douglass who was committed in his life to bring the highest principles of education to our ancestors. I, myself, is a graduate of Morgan State University, a proud HBCU alumnus, as well as an individual committed to the educational uplift of our black communities. So today just for a moment remember the name Frederick Douglass Patterson who helped bridge the gap that leads to universal black educational excellence.​