On Saturday, May 17, hundreds ofparticipantsconvenedforTheNewYork Life/Schomburg Center Ju-niorScholarsYouthSummit.Enti-tledFromViolence to Peace, the

all-day event for young people providedchildren ages eleven to seventeen with theopportunity to speak out on issues that con-cern them. The goal of the summit was toexamine violence in our culture and to ex-plore our collective roles in promotingpeace. Participants looked at discriminationand violence in their communities, dis-cussed community activism, considered re-lationships with counterparts around thecountry and the world, viewed documen-taries and student-made films on local is-sues, and presented spoken word, art,music,

and performance pieces. The summit devel-oped from the Schomburg Center’s JuniorScholars Program,which engages scholars indiscussions with religious leaders, politi-cians, artists, and business leaders on do-mestic and international concerns such asthe economy, politics, race, education, thearts, and other issues. Recognizing the topi-cal nature of From Violence to Peace, thescholars chose this issue of community, na-tional, and international importance as thetheme for the program’s closing day.

More than fifteenNewYork youth orga-nizations participated in the summit, in-cluding T.R.U.C.E., Art Start, UrbanWordNYC, Make the Road by Walking, The StayStrong Foundation, Shine, Tolerance.org,Global Kids, The Brotherhood/Sister Sol,The Active Element Foundation, and ThePoint.

The conference’s morning plenary in-

AFRICANA HERITAGEThe New York Pub l i c L ib ra ry • Vo lume 3, No . 2 , 2003 • Where Every Month Is B lack H is to ry Month

T H E S CHOMBURG C EN T E R FOR R E S E ARCH I N B L ACK CU LTUR E

In August, the Schomburg Center will recog-nize Ralph Johnson Bunche with an exhibi-tion and public program series, as 2003marks the centenary year of the achieve-ments, intellect, and vision of this remark-able scholar and statesman. Drawn from theSchomburg Center’s Ralph Bunche Papers,the exhibition will be on view through Octo-ber and will include photographs, docu-ments, and artifacts fromBunche’s extraordinary life.In recognition of this impor-tant event, Africana Her-itage pays tribute to Bunchein these pages with a briefbiography, a bibliography,and an overview of theManuscripts, Archives andRare Books Division’s RalphJ. Bunche Papers.

Born in 1903 to a workingclass family in Detroit,Michigan, Bunche lostboth his parents in his ear-ly teens. Raised by NanaJohnson, his maternalgrandmother, in Los Ange-les, California, Buncheshowed his intellectualabilities early, earning recognition for hisachievements as a young scholar in LosAngeles. He graduated from Jefferson High

Junior Scholars ConveneFrom Violence to Peace

Ralph Johnson Bunche:Nobel Laureate

A CENTENNIAL RETROSPECTIVE

Pull-out Program Calendar Inside

Because of enduring budget cuts, themonthly program calendar will beprinted quarterly and incorporatedinto the newsletter (see pull-out cal-endar between pages six and seven).

Hundreds AttendAll-Day Youth Summit

Continued on page 10

Continued on page 8

Ralph Bunche,ca. 1951.Ralph BuncheCollection,Photographsand PrintsDivision.

Maya Angelou addresses youth at the Junior Scholars Youth Summit in May.Junior Scholar Salisha Romain listens in.

2 Africana Heritage • Volume 3, No. 2, 2003 • Where Every Month Is Black History Month

FROM THE CHIEF

A s we come to the end of fiscal and programyear 2003, I am painfully aware of the fact thatthe Center is about to enter its worst fiscal year(2004) in my nineteen-year tenure here. The

NewYork City and State budget cuts that started in2002 continue to escalate.We anticipate more cuts in2004. Endowment funds that we raised over the lastfour years to replace these cuts are frozen because of thedecline in the market. In NewYork State, you cannotmake draws on endowments that have fallen belowtheir original market value.Most of ours have. Thesefactors have placed increased demands on the limitedfunds the Center has to support programs and services.

As a consequence, the Center will have to cutsome of the programs and services it offers in 2004.Some of the programs we have subsidized over theyears will either be eliminated or we will have to in-crease ticket prices.While the quality of programs andservices offered will not suffer in any dramatic way,the quantity of programs will be reduced.We will be

obliged to restructure some of our signature programsin order to make them self-supporting. And we will beobliged to restructure some services in order to makethem more cost-effective.

The most dramatic example of the latter is thatwe will be publishing a quarterly calendar of eventsrather than the monthly ones you have grown accus-tomed to receiving. This quarterly calendar of eventswill be incorporated into Africana Heritage, the Cen-ter’s quarterly newsletter, beginning with this edition.This measure will significantly reduce the cost of pro-viding you these two major member benefits. You willnot notice a change in quality, however. Members willcontinue to receive discounts on ticketed events and inthe gift shop. Finally, you have likely noticed that theCenter is closed on Mondays and has reduced hours insome Special Collection Divisions during the week.This started earlier this year and will continue for theforeseeable future.

The good news is that we have a lot of wonderfulthings in the pipeline that are self-funded and will beoffered during the coming year. Our Schomburg Cen-ter/New York Life Junior Scholars Program enters itsthird year this fall. A report on the Junior ScholarsYouth Summit, which closed out the 2002-2003 pro-gram year, is included in this issue of Africana Heritage.This year will mark the centennial of the birth of Nobellaureate, scholar, and diplomat, Ralph Bunche. TheCenter is the repository of the Ralph Bunche Collectionand will open a centennial exhibition commemoratinghis life on August 7, 2003. After more than a decade ofresearch and study at Howard University’s W.Mon-tague Cobb Laboratory, the 400-plus human remainsthat were discovered in NewYork City’s seventeenth- toeighteenth-century African Burial Ground are being re-turned to NewYork City for reinterment on the AfricanBurial Ground site. The Schomburg Center has beencontracted by the General Services Administration ofthe U.S. Government to organize and present a five-day

series of tribute programs. In re-sponse to the wonderful receptionwe received last year, the Center willagain presentNativity: A Life Story atthe United Palace Theatre. Ticketswill go on sale in July and the pro-duction will run from Thursdaythrough Saturday of the first twoweeks in December.

A new book from the Schom-burg Center, Standing in the Need ofPrayer, will be published by The Free

Press in October. A collection of photographs andprayer texts from the Center’s collections, the book fea-tures a foreword by Mrs. Coretta Scott King and an in-troduction by Howard Dodson. AWeb site version ofthe Lest We Forget: The Triumph Over Slavery exhibi-tion will be released later this year, as will the first in-stallment of The African-American Migration Experi-ence. Finally, Jessye Norman will present a benefit con-cert for the Center in March 2004, and a major exhibi-tion,Malcolm X: The Man, The Icon, will open in May2004. The exhibition will feature items from the re-cently acquired Malcolm X Archive.

I hope you will plan to participate in all of thesemajor events. I hope you will continue to use the Cen-ter for your research and information needs. I hope wecan continue to count on your financial and moralsupport as we continue to preserve, protect, and de-fend the history, heritage, and legends of African peo-ples around the globe.

I hope we can continue to count on your financialand moral support as we continue to preserve,protect, and defend the history, heritage, andlegends of African peoples around the globe.

– Howard Dodson, Schomburg Chief

The African Burial Ground

More than a decade ago inNewYork City, archeologistsexcavated one of the mostsignificant finds in Ameri-can history: the largest

known intact colonial African cemetery inAmerica, the African Burial Ground.Stretching more than five city blocks, fromBroadway beyond Lafayette Street to theeast and from Chambers beyond DuaneStreet to the north, the cemetery was dis-covered in 1991 during the constructionof a federal office building at 290 Broad-way. The remains of approximately 20,000enslaved Africans were buried in the Low-er Manhattan cemetery, which opened inthe late 1600s and closed in 1795, and atthat time represented the outskirts of thecity proper. The remains of more than 400men, women, and children were discov-ered carefully shrouded, buried mostly inhexagonal coffins, with coins and otherartifacts. Half of those discovered wereunder the age of twelve, and some 1.5 mil-lion artifacts—clothing, food, and othermaterials—were found at the burial groundand construction site. The discovery was astaggering one for anthropologists, histori-ans, and the community.More than evi-dence of the often concealed or overlookedcontributions of African Americans to NewYork City history, the remains are apoignant reminder of the inviolability ofthe family, community, and cultural tiesamong enslaved Africans living under themost oppressive of circumstances.

The burial ground, virtually disre-garded before 1991, was for nearly 200years concealed below city buildings, park-ing lots, and streets. Today it reflects a richAfrican history and culture in this city, ahistory that dates back more than 350years. This fall, after some ten years ofstudy, the ancestral remains from the bur-

ial ground will be returned to a permanentresting-place adjacent to 290 Broadway.

The commemorative ceremony, orga-nized by the Schomburg Center and theU.S. General Services Administration, willbegin September 30 inWashington, D.C.,and end in Lower Manhattan. The eventwill take place over five days, in five statesand the District of Columbia, ending withan arrival ceremony, vigil, tribute, andreinterment ceremony at the African Bur-ial Ground. The commemorative eventswill climax on October 4. For informationabout accommodations for commemora-tive events, call (212) 491-2229.

Rites of Ancestral ReturnSSeepptteemmbbeerr 3300 –– OOccttoobbeerr 44,, 22000033

Preview ScheduleThe African Burial Ground represents theimportant role and major contribution thatenslaved African men, women, and childrenmade to the economy, development, and cul-ture of America, both in the South andNorth. Common in the slave experience ofearly America was the use of slave labor tosupply daily labor needs but also to build theburgeoning colonies along the Atlantic coastand inland. Rites of Ancestral Return com-memorative ceremony will both document

Africana Heritage • Volume 3, No. 2, 2003 • Where Every Month Is Black History Month 3

H E R I TA G EWATCH

Rites of Ancestral ReturnCommemorating the Colonial African Heritage

The African Burial Ground was located outside the city limits, just north of a wall that was built along

Chambers Street in 1746. Laws prohibited more than twelve people from attending a slave funeral, and burials

could not be performed at night, the customary time for some African burial rituals. Artist: Charles Lilly.

Continued on page 4

4 Africana Heritage • Volume 3, No. 2, 2003 • Where Every Month Is Black History Month

H E R I TA G EWATCH

and celebrate the contribution of AfricanAmericans as the ancestral remains are re-turned. For nearly 400 years, enslavedAfricans shaped the growth and develop-ment of much of North America, SouthAmerica, and the Caribbean. To honor theirreturn to the African Burial Ground, eachparticipating city will commemorate thelives, culture, and invaluable role of Africansas colony builders in the northeastern Unit-ed States, from Washington, D.C., to NewYork City.

Tuesday, September 30 Washington, D.C.

EEvveenniinngg DDeeppaarrttuurree CCeerreemmoonnyy,, HHoowwaarrdd UUnniivveerrssiittyy

In 1792, plantation owners in Virginia andMaryland rented slaves to the region’s ma-jor work project—establishing a federaldistrict on the Potomac River. Slave labor-ers and newly arrived European immi-grants began clearing swamp and forest,which became the nation’s capitol. Work-ing as canal diggers, ax men, and loghaulers, the workers cut roads that fol-lowed a plan drawn by Benjamin Bannek-er, a free African-American engineer.Slaves were involved in all aspects of thedistrict’s construction. They were stone-cutters, masons, brick makers, painters,and carpenters.

Enslaved workers could be bought,sold, or rented at markets throughout thecity. Old City Hall, located at 451 Indiana

Avenue N.W., served as a slave market be-fore 1830. During its first fifty years, thedistrict became a center for abolitionist ac-tivities and for the development of busi-nesses, institutions, and schools, led by freeblacks. Slavery continued in the capitol un-til 1862, when slaves were freed six monthsbefore the Emancipation Proclamation.

Wednesday, October 1 Baltimore, Maryland

NNoooonn CCoommmmeemmoorraattiivvee CCeerreemmoonnyy

In the seventeenth century slave laborhelped to clear the Chesapeake Bay regionand much of Maryland for European colo-nization and agriculture. By the eighteenthcentury the slave population had grownprimarily with the development of tobaccoplantations. In the 1800s Baltimore had sev-eral trading operations that sent slaves tothe insatiable “southern market.” Bornslaves in Maryland, Harriet Tubman and

Frederick Douglass were two of America’smost famous fugitive slaves. Both becameimportant leaders in the Underground Rail-road. In Maryland, like other Union borderstates (including Delaware, Kentucky, andMissouri), slavery was protected by theConstitution throughout the Civil War.

Wednesday, October 1 Wilmington, Delaware

EEvveenniinngg CCoommmmeemmoorraattiivvee CCeerreemmoonnyy

Slave labor helped build the Delawarecolony in the seventeenth century. In 1655,New Amsterdam (later New York) Gover-nor Peter Stuyvesant sent slaves to serve asthe colony’s labor force. In the nineteenthcentury, Delaware had, proportionately,the largest free black population in theUnited States. In 1850, free blacks in thestate outnumbered enslaved blacks morethan five to one. However, Delaware re-mained a slave state through the Civil War.

The African BurialGround represents theimportant role and majorcontribution that enslavedAfrican men, women,and children made to theeconomy, development,and culture of America.

Wall Street Slave Market. Established in 1711, slaves were

sold at the corner of Wall Street and the East River.

Absalom Jones (1746–1818). Born a slave in Delaware in 1762,

Jones’s mother, five brothers, and sister were sold, and Jones was

taken to Philadelphia where he worked in a store and learned to

write. In 1784, he purchased his own freedom and worked as a

teacher and minister. In 1787, he joined Richard Allen in forming

the Free African Society. The founding pastor of the African Church

of Philadelphia (renamed in 1794 the Saint Thomas African

Episcopal Church) in 1808, he informally established January 1

(the date on which the U.S. slave trade ended) as a day of

thanksgiving and celebration, creating an alternate holiday to the

Fourth of July for African Americans.

BURIAL, continued from page 3

Africana Heritage • Volume 3, No. 2, 2003 • Where Every Month Is Black History Month 5

Thursday, October 2 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

NNoooonn CCoommmmeemmoorraattiivvee CCeerreemmoonnyy

Slavery thrived in Philadelphia andthroughout colonial Pennsylvania but wasabolished in the state after the Revolution-

ary War. Pennsylvania clergymen RichardAllen and Absalom Jones were founders ofblack churches and activists in the anti-slavery movement, and sail maker JamesForten became one of America’s most suc-cessful black entrepreneurs and a leadingabolitionist.

Thursday, October 2 • Newark, New JerseyEEvveenniinngg CCoommmmeemmoorraattiivvee CCeerreemmoonnyy

Slave ships docked regularly in Newark,Perth Amboy, and Camden in the eigh-teenth century, supplying enslavedAfricans for New Jersey’s many farms. Asin other urban areas along the Atlanticcoast, the slave population of New Jerseyalso served as labor battalions, clearing theland and building roads for new colonialsettlements. Reverend Thomas Oliver, anAfrican-American minister, was a leading“station master” on the Underground Rail-road in New Jersey.

Friday, October 3 • New York, New YorkMMoorrnniinngg AArrrriivvaall CCeerreemmoonnyy,, ffoooott ooff WWaallllSSttrreeeett ((NNeeww YYoorrkk’’ss ccoolloonniiaall ssllaavvee mmaarrkkeett))

11 pp..mm.. VViieewwiinngg aanndd CCoommmmeemmoorraattiivvee VViiggiill((uunnttiill 1100 aa..mm.. oonn OOccttoobbeerr 44)),, 229900 BBrrooaaddwwaayy

aanndd aaddjjaacceenntt AAffrriiccaann BBuurriiaall GGrroouunndd

Saturday, October 4 • New York, New York1111 aa..mm.. TTrriibbuuttee aanndd RReeiinntteerrmmeenntt CCeerreemmoonnyy,, FFoolleeyy SSqquuaarree PPllaazzaa

Founded in 1625, the early city, located onthe southern tip of Manhattan Island, reliedheavily on slave labor to build the newcolony. Serving as the colonies’ first munici-pal work force, the enslaved workers clearedshorelines for shipping and building roadsand for transporting people and goods andcleared land for homes and farms. By the1630s, the colony’s African work force livedand worked “uptown”—clearing the Haar-lem (Harlem) forest in northern Manhattan.

By the 1700s New York City had be-come the northern hub of slave trading ac-tivity. In 1711 a slave market opened on anEast River pier at Wall Street in Lower Man-hattan. Slave auctions and sales were heldweekly at the Wall Street market and atmany other venues in the city. Though NewYork City had a slave population of about15 to 20 percent during the colonial era,most slaves shipped to New York were re-directed to southern and Caribbean ports.Archeologists estimate that 20,000 enslavedAfrican men, women, and children wereburied at the African Burial Ground, whichonce covered more than five acres or aboutfive city blocks in Lower Manhattan.

Richard Allen (1760–1831). At twenty years old,

Allen purchased his freedom from a Delaware slave

owner. Co-founder of the Free African Society of

Philadelphia, Reverend Allen was founder and first

bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Benjamin Bannicker’s Almanack for 1792. Broad-

side for the first edition of the almanac published

by Benjamin Banneker (1731–1806), the self-

taught mathematician and astronomer born in Bal-

timore County, Maryland, the son of freed slaves.

Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division. Libation ceremony for the ancestors being removed from the African Burial Ground, 1992.

© Chester Higgins, Jr. All Rights Reserved.

A R O U N D T H ESCHOMBURG C EN T E R

RENTAL SERVICES AVAILABLE

In addition to our collections, the Schomburg Centerhas an active rental service. The beautiful facilities areprofessionally equipped and can accommodate a widerange of special events sponsored by organizations andinstitutions, from concerts, music, theater, and recep-tions to educational seminars and conferences at com-petitive market based rental rates. Call (212) 491-2257 for rates and information.

New York Public Library President Paul LeClerc, New York CityCouncil members Helen Foster, Charles Barron, and Gifford Miller,and Schomburg Center Chief Howard Dodson at a City Councilmeeting at the Schomburg Center.

Carmen de Lavallade performs at New YorkDance Divas in March. Dancers VirginiaJohnson, Dr. Glory Van Scott, Carmen deLavallade, and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar takequestions from the audience.

Young people gather around a Harlem Is... exhibition panel. Theexhibition, at the Schomburg Center through August, celebratesHarlem’s rich and diverse cultural legacy.

New York City Council Speaker Gifford Miller tours The Malcolm XCollection: A Preview at the Schomburg Center.

Marie Brooks’s Pan Caribbean Dance Theatre students perform at aCommunity Works reception and performance in honor of Women’sHistory Month.

6 Africana Heritage • Volume 3, No. 2, 2003 • Where Every Month Is Black History Month

Africana Heritage • Volume 3, No. 2, 2003 • Where Every Month Is Black History Month 7

N EW FROM THE SCHOMBURG CENTER

Standing in the Need of PrayerA Celebration of Black PrayerComing in November 2003 from the Schomburg Center and Free Press

Foreword by Coretta Scott KingThe Free Press, $27.50, 224 pp.

From the darkest days on slave ships to themost defiant moments of the Civil RightsMovement, prayer, more than any aspect ofreligion, has embodied the most intense ex-pression of traditional African and African-American spirituality. In this one-of-a-kindvolume, striking photographs and inspiringprayers drawnprimarily fromthe unparalleledcollections of theSchomburg Cen-ter span the broadspectrum of reli-gious traditionsduring the nine-teenth and twen-tieth centuries. Reflecting themes relevantto the black experience—including struggle,triumph, worship, family, and communi-ty—Standing in the Need of Prayer featuresexamples from diverse religious traditions,including Islam, Christianity, Yoruba, andVodou. The book also includes prayersfrom some of history’s most powerful voic-es, among them W.E.B. Du Bois, JamesBaldwin, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Jubilee: The Emergence ofAfrican-American CultureHoward Dodson, Amiri Baraka, JohnHope Franklin, Gail Buckley, Henry LouisGates, Jr., Annette Gordon-Reed, andGayraud S. WilmoreNational Geographic, $35, 224 pp.

This illustrated history documents thecourageous and innovative ways that en-slaved Africans developed their ownunique culture inthe midst of slav-ery and examineshow that culturedeveloped andflourishedthrough the yearsafter emancipa-tion to the turnof the century.

E X H I B I T I O NHarlem Is…Through August 2003

Community Works, in association with theNew Heritage Theatre Group and theSchomburg Center, presents a multimedia,intergenera-tional, livinghistory pro-gram that cel-ebrates thirtyHarlemites(ages fifty to100) whosecontributionsin the fields ofart, music, ed-ucation, poli-tics, commu-nity service,and sports de-fine Harlem’s rich and diverse cultural lega-cy. Harlem Is… honors such trailblazers asopera singer Betty Allen, historian Dr. Yosefben-Jachannan, Afro-Latin jazz musicianJoe Cuba, author Rosa Guy, and manymore. Community Works will present per-formances, symposiums, group tours,workshops, and tours of the community.

C O M I N GDDeecceemmbbeerr 22 –– 1133,, 22000033 ((tteenn sshhoowwss))!!Nativity: A Life Story“...a great addition to the holiday season inNew York. Spread the word.”

—The New York Times

Don’t miss the biggestNativity ever! Due tothe extraordinarydemand for last year’sNativity, theSchomburg Center, theUnited Palace Theatre,and James Stovall areplanning two weekends and tenperformances of Nativity 2003. Theholiday favorite will feature StephanieMills, Freddie Jackson, Lillias White, KeithDavid, Ebony Jo-Ann, Bettye F. Forbes andThe Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble, TheBroadway Inspirational Voices, and manymore. Tickets on sale July 1. For ticketcharge call (212) 491-2004.

The Harlem Book FairJJuullyy 1133 –– 1199,, 22000033Come to the fifth annual Harlem Book Fairand Arts Festival, a “celebration of books fora nationwide community of book lovers.”Featuring writers, booksellers, storytellers,musicians, and poets in a weeklong series ofeducational activities, panel discussions, lit-erary salons, and author brunches. For in-formation about the Harlem Book Fair, call(212) 348-1681 or visit www.qbr.com.

Schomburg Center programs and exhibitionsare supported in part by the City of NewYork, the State of New York, the Office of theBorough President of Manhattan, the NewYork State Black, Puerto Rican and HispanicLegislative Caucus, the Rockefeller Founda-tion Endowment for the Performing Arts, TheCoca-Cola Foundation, New York Life Foun-dation, Annie E. and Sarah L. Delaney Char-itable Trusts, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., andthe Edler Hawkins Foundation.

The Schomburg Center is a member of theHarlem Strategic Cultural Collaborative(HSCC).

Yes, it’s true…Unless you leave your IRA or pen-sion plan to a spouse, it can be taxedheavily in your estate. If your estateis over $1 million, these funds canbe subject to both estate and incometax, which may total over 80 per-cent. This leaves your family or oth-er heirs a mere 20 percent of a life-time of savings.

If you are not leaving your IRAor pension plan to a spouse, it maymake sense to name the SchomburgCenter as beneficiary of your plan.You can avoid completely incomeand estate taxes on these funds, thusenabling you to leave more of yourother assets to your heirs. And youcan make a meaningful gift to theSchomburg Center as part of yourlegacy. For more information, pleasecontact Randy V. Beranek, Managerof Planned Giving, (212) 930-0568.Email: plannedgifts@nypl.org.

8 Africana Heritage • Volume 3, No. 2, 2003 • Where Every Month Is Black History Month

cluded an opening performance by the Ju-nior Scholars Music Group and a presenta-tion by the Junior Scholars Video Group. Asurprise visit by Maya Angelou gave the dayan inspired beginning. Participants also lis-tened to remarks by Carlyle G. Leach, Di-rector of the Junior Scholars Program; Pe-ter Bushyeager, Director of The New YorkLife Foundation; and Howard Dodson,Chief of the Schomburg Center. Morningworkshops included “Fighting the GoodFight: Defeating Discrimination,” “Peace-building in Our Own Backyards,” and “Go-ing Global—Youth Activism Worldwide.”Afternoon workshops, which included thepowerful “Use Your Voice! UrbanWordNYC Spoken Word Workshop,” focused onpersonal power, black-on-black discrimi-nation, and social change. The afternoonworkshop on social change included a dy-namic spoken word presentation entitled“Undesirable Elements,” a production thatconfronts stereotypes and merges history,culture, and memory. The performancewas followed by excerpts from Amandla: ARevolution in Four-Part Harmony, a docu-mentary on black South African freedommusic and its role in the struggle againstapartheid. After the screening, SchomburgCenter Director Howard Dodson led youthin a discussion of the film.

The events continued late into the af-ternoon and included performances andpresentations by Active Element Founda-tion’s Digital Storytelling Project; the Ju-nior Scholars Theater Group; and Make theRoad by Walking’s Youth Power Project.The day culminated in a rousing collabora-tive finale performance by the Junior Schol-ars Music, Dance, and Spoken Word teams.Special thanks go to Carlyle G. Leach andDeirdre Hollman, Director and AssociateDirector of the Junior Scholars Program,for their hard work. They are already plan-ning a second summit in 2004. Stay tunedfor details. It is not to be missed!

A Growing Program Completes Year TwoThis year, some 150 young people becameNew York Life/Schomburg Center JuniorScholars, participants in an eight-monthprogram from October through May dedicat-ed to exposing young people ages eleven toseventeen to the history and culture of Africaand the African diaspora. In its second year,the program and its young scholars have wel-comed a cadre of policy makers, artists, edu-cators, intellectuals, legends, musicians, andentrepreneurs. From Maya Angelou and Dr.

Maulana Karenga to Russell Simmons, RubyDee, and Terrie Williams, the program bringsthe wealth of black knowledge and achieve-ment to its young people for twenty-sixweeks. Study and exploration begin everySaturday morning at the Schomburg Centerand go as far as a scholar’s imagination takeshim or her. This year Africana Heritage ispleased to publish excerpts of scholars’thoughts on the war with Iraq and to reprinttheir perspectives on the Junior Scholars Pro-gram’s second year. We are especially pleasedto present some of the scholars’ poetry, elicit-ed after a series of discussions about race thattook place during the program. Discussionsbegan with a comprehensive look at JimCrow utilizing The New York Life exhibitionRising Above Jim Crow: The Paintings ofJohnnie Lee Gray and ended with the con-temporary film “Two Towns of Jasper,” a doc-umentary about the brutal murder of JamesByrd by three white men. The scholars’ workcan be seen in its entirety in the second issueof The Schomburg Review, a publicationconceived and executed by the Junior Schol-ars Communications Special Projects Team.It is also available at www.juniorscholars.org.

Scholars on the JuniorScholars Program

Kweku SaundersonOn Saturdays, there was nothing for me todo. I would lie around, watch TV, talk onthe phone, and not learn. These were mySaturdays until I joined the Junior ScholarsProgram at the Schomburg Center, where Ilearn about famous and important AfricanAmericans who want improvement forAfrican Americans.

Besides meeting new people, we metDr. Charles Finch III, who talked aboutKemit and about how Africans developedscience and math. We met Howard Dodson,who talked about war. We met Haki R.Madhubuti. We met Dr. Maulana Karenga,who created Kwanzaa.

The Junior Scholars Program helps mebecause without it I wouldn’t know aboutany of these important black nationalistsand scholars. The program extends myknowledge for future learning. If these im-portant men ever come up in school, I willhave inside input.

The Junior Scholars Program puts con-fidence in your race, and you also meetstrong young scholars. I knew about Martin

JR. SCHOLARS, continued from page 1

Musician David Pleasant performs with The Junior Scholars Music Team.

Junior Scholars Program Director Carlyle G. Leach.

Kwanzaa founder and scholar Dr. MaulanaKarenga and wife give a moving presentation to the scholars.

Luther King, Jr., and MalcolmX, but what about Clifford L.Alexander, Jr., and A. PhilipRandolph?

Though sometimes I don’tfeel like attending the programin the morning, afterward Ihave no complaints. Eventhough I might not be in theprogram next year, I am still go-ing to miss it and the people, aswell as the knowledge.

******Tiara MoultrieThe Junior Scholars Programmeans growth—growth in mymental, intellectual, and psy-chological health. In this way,the Junior Scholars Programhas helped me to connect withmy inner self. By being giventhe opportunity to meet famousAfrican Americans, I can sethigh goals that others havepaved the way for. And so I havelearned how to learn at the Ju-nior Scholars Program.

******Siddeaah WalkerThe Junior Scholars Programgives me something that I don’tget in school. I learn aboutblack history and people whohave paved the way for blackpeople. This is an extracurricu-lar advantage that I have sowhen I am in school and we areworking on Black History, I willalready know a lot more.

Scholars on “TwoTowns of Jasper”

A documentary on the murder of James Byrd

QQuueessttiioonnssHayward Leach

A man. Two men. One man.One night. One year. A story

untoldTill nowThe one town ripped apartThe grief. Or is it?The sorrow. Or is it?View from the insideView from the deeperA cry for justice from a moth-

er’s lipsA scream from an unknown

visitorAmazingByrd’s bravery;AmazingTo hold back eternal griefMy view:SpeechlessWords reach my lips, yet pour

into my mind to debateSpeechlessAmazedConfusedWhich way are people going?SpeechlessAmazedConfusedWhich side?Angry? SadWhich sideWill you choose

For the killing of a father?

TThhee BBllaacckk TTrraaiill TTuurrnneedd RReeddGiovanni Milligan and DerekBratcher

James ByrdYou never heardBut sounds alive4 his life he strivedHe was tossed and turnedOn the street his skin burnedThis story you will learn

3 white men picked him upThey chained him to a truck By a pipe his head was struck Off came his headThe black trail turned redThat meant he was deadThe plan was not really thoughtSo they got caught 2 white men got death1 white man was leftHe got life in jail With no bail

JJaassppeerrLavada McDaniels

A Black man driven 3 milesaway.

Breathed his last breath on thathollow day.

Families and friends have losttheir loved one.

The war between white andblack has just begun.

Now the people are feeling sor-ry and wrong.

And the town does not want to

go on.We can see the unfriendly side

of Casper,In a little town called Jasper.

******TThhee BBeeaassttSalisha Romain

A wound flared openYielding to a blow of old power And new strength.Eyes once shut to the beast Opened up and cried.Tears that stained the ebony

skin, Draining hate into vibrant

blood beneath.Ears afar were in denialsOur past, our nightmareThe epitome of JasperWalked into our lives and

claimed it.Some cry and some don’tFeigning braveryYet all await for the inevitable

next blow.

Scholars on WarMarvin BlughThere is a complex relationshipbetween African Americans andwar. There are opportunitiesthat result from joining the mil-itary, and you can gain an edu-cation and see the world.

******Tiara MoultrieAfrican Americans, even withtheir contributions to war, wereconsidered lesser people. TheAfrican-American communityhas been heavily involved in allAmerican wars, and its contri-butions are overlooked. This isespecially evident in the case ofbrilliant soldiers such as CrispusAttucks who had to fight sotheir heroism could be recog-nized. It is atrocious that we as apeople are still looked downupon. I question when and ifour American society will everchange its biased views aboutAfrican-American people.

Africana Heritage • Volume 3, No. 2, 2003 • Where Every Month Is Black History Month 9

JuniorScholarspose with

living legendPercy Sutton

after theirinterviewwith him.

School in 1921 and went on to attendthe University of California at LosAngeles and the Harvard GraduateSchool, where his doctoral disserta-tion, “French Administration in To-goland and Dahomey,” received theprestigious Toppan Prize for theyear’s best dissertation in the field ofpolitical science. Bunche continuedhis scholarship with post-doctoralwork in anthropology and colonialpolicy at Northwestern University,the London School of Economics,and the University of Capetown,South Africa. He was a member ofPhi Beta Kappa.

Bunche began his career atHoward University, where he met andmarried Ruth Harris, a public schoolteacher. He joined the staff ofHoward University as a lecturer andlater as the chairman of the Depart-ment of Political Science. At Howard Uni-versity, Bunche dedicated himself to schol-arship and activism. His achievements dur-ing this time include organizing a series ofconferences on the problems of African-American communities in the UnitedStates, protesting discrimination by Wash-ington, D.C., department stores and the-aters, and organizing his students forprotest demonstrations in the city. After atrip in the early 1930s to West and NorthAfrica on a Rosenwald Fellowship to surveyFrench colonial administration, Bunchepublished “A World View of Peace” in 1936.

The same year, he began field and researchwork in Africa and Europe on a two-yearSocial Science Research Council Fellow-ship.

In 1939, on leave from Howard Uni-versity, Bunche joined a staff of scholarsand collaborators at the Carnegie Corpo-ration on a project that came to be knownas the “Carnegie-Myrdal Study,” under thedirection of well-known Swedish sociolo-gist Gunnar Myrdal. The study, a compre-hensive survey of the social, political, andeconomic status of blacks in the UnitedStates, and titled “The Negro in America,”

included fieldwork and extensive re-search memoranda. Bunche coordi-nated administrative aspects of theproject, conducted several field tripssouth, and authored four sizable re-search memoranda: “A Brief and Ten-tative Analysis of Negro Leadership”;“Conceptions and Ideologies of theNegro Problem”; “The Political Sta-

tus of the Negro”; and “The Programs, Ide-ologies, Tactics and Achievements of Ne-gro Betterment and Interracial Organiza-tions.” Myrdal quoted these works exten-sively in his American Dilemma.

After assignments at the State Depart-ment during World War II, Bunche be-came a member of the U.S. delegation atthe founding of the United Nations in1945. At the United Nations, Buncheserved as Acting Chief of the Division ofDependent Area Affairs, Commissioner ofthe Anglo-American Caribbean Commis-sion, and, in 1946, as Director of the Divi-

10 Africana Heritage • Volume 3, No. 2, 2003 • Where Every Month Is Black History Month

Ralph Bunche with lion cub. Photograph by Dag Hammarskjöld.Ralph Bunche Collection, Photographs and Prints Division.

BUNCHE, continued from page 1

In August the Centerwill celebrate the

achievements, intellect,and vision of a

remarkable scholarand statesman.

Ralph Bunche with the Nobel Prize,awarded to him in 1950. (AP Photo)

The words used by statesmen inour day no longer have a commonmeaning. Perhaps they never had.Freedom, democracy, humanrights, international morality,peace itself, mean different thingsto different men. Words, in a con-stant flow of propaganda—itselfan instrument of war—are em-ployed to confuse, mislead, and de-base the common man. Democracyis prostituted to dignify enslave-ment; freedom and equality areheld good for some men but with-held from others…. Truth and

morality are subverted by propa-ganda, on the cynical assumptionthat truth is whatever propagandacan induce people to believe. Truthand morality, therefore, becomegravely weakened as defensesagainst injustice and war. Withwhat great insight did Voltaire,hating war enormously, declare:“War is the greatest of all crimes;and yet there is no aggressor whodoes not color his crime with thepretext of justice.”

—Ralph BuncheNobel Lecture, December 11, 1950

Africana Heritage • Volume 3, No. 2, 2003 • Where Every Month Is Black History Month 11

AFRICANA HERITAGE2003 Volume 3, Number 2Africana Heritage is a quarterly publication of the Schom-burg Center for Research in Black Culture for members whocontribute $35 or more annually. The Schomburg Center isone of the Research Libraries of The New York Public Li-brary, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.

Africana Heritage, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard,New York, NY 10037Copyright © 2003 The New York PublicLibrary, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations

Howard Dodson Executive Editor

Roberta Yancy Managing Editor

Jacqueline Dowdell Editor

Christopher Moore Contributor

Kenneth McFarlin Graphic Designer

Schomburg SocietyConservators

The Schomburg Center ispleased to acknowledge the

following donors ofmembership gifts of $1,000or more from March through

May 2003.

Mr. Clarence Avant

Ms. Doralynne L. Bibby

Dr. Ebenezer Bush, Jr.

Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole

Ms. Rosemary F. Crockett

Mr. Larry Dais

Hughlyn F. Fierce

Joan W. & Jonathon H. Gillette

Dr. Denise L. Gordon

Ego & Cassianna Hayes

Mr. Quincy Jones

Mr. Alfred E. Knobler

Mr. William Francis Kuntz, III

Dr. Clement B.G. London

Dr. Thomas K. Minter & Dr.Rae Alexander Minter

Ms. Dolores Morris

Portia and Basil Paterson

Dr. Audrey Smedley

Mr. & Mrs. George Wein

sion of Trusteeship. In 1948, Bunchejoined the Permanent Secretariat of theUnited Nations and was awarded the titleof Principal Director of the TrusteeshipCouncil.

In 1950, Bunche won the Nobel PeacePrize and became the first black man to re-ceive the distinction. The prize is awardedannually to an individual who “shall havedone the most or the best work for frater-nity between nations, for the abolition orreduction of standing armies and for theholding of peace congresses.” He receivedthe award for his mediation of theArmistice Agreement between Israel andthe Arab states in 1948.

Bunche continued to serve the UnitedNations in the years after his Nobel PeacePrize. From 1955 to 1967, he was Under-secretary for Special Political Affairs, andin 1968 he became Undersecretary-Gener-al. He held difficult special assignmentsduring these years in the Congo, Cyprus,Kashmir, and Yemen. Bunche, who calledhimself a “professional optimist,” died in1971. He had dedicated his life to improv-ing the lives of peoples around the worldin service of the United Nations.

From the CollectionsTThhee RRaallpphh JJ.. BBuunncchhee PPaappeerrss,, 11992222 –– 11998888,,MMaannuussccrriippttss,, AArrcchhiivveess aanndd RRaarree BBooookkssDDiivviissiioonn

The Ralph Bunche Papers documentBunche’s personal life and professional ca-reer, from his enrollment at the Universityof California to his retirement in 1971. Thepapers have been divided into the follow-ing series: Family Papers, comprising per-sonal and biographical materials on Ralphand Ruth Bunche; Correspondence, bothfamily and general; Addresses, Articles, andEssays; the Howard University files, com-prising administrative and academic mate-rials; the South Africa Research Trip in1937; writings and research materials forthe Carnegie-Myrdal Study; working pa-pers, mimeographed reports, and printedmatter relating to the United Nations’Trusteeship Council; Awards, Memberships,and Tributes; Scrapbooks; and Printed Mat-ter and Clippings.

Selected Bibliography

An African American in South Africa: TheTravel Notes of Ralph J. Bunche, 1937-1938,edited by Robert R. Edgar, Ohio UniversityPress

Peace and the United Nations by Ralph J.Bunche, University of Leeds, 1952

A World View of Race by Ralph J. Bunche,The Associates in Negro Folk Education,1936.

Ralph Bunche: An American life by BrianUrquhart, W.W. Norton, 1993

The Work of Democracy: Ralph Bunche,Kenneth B. Clark, Lorraine Hansberry, andthe Cultural Politics of Race by Ben Keppel,Harvard University Press, 1995

Ralph Bunche, UN Peacemaker by PeggyMann, Coward, McCann & Geohegan,1975

Ralph Bunche as a child. Ralph BuncheCollection, Photographs and Prints Division.

Photography: Hugh Browne, James Gilbert, ManuSassoonian, Richard Termine, Lee White

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