By Tamara Shiloh

Walter Francis White was one of the most important civil rights leaders of the first half of the 20th century. For more than three decades, he helped transform the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) into one of the nation’s most powerful organizations fighting racial discrimination, segregation, and violence against African Americans.

Walter White was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1893 and grew up in a middle-class African American family. His parents, George and Madeline White, had been born into slavery. Although Walter had blond hair, blue eyes, very light skin and could easily have passed as white, he firmly identified as Black. As a teenager, he witnessed the Atlanta Race Massacre of 1906, when white mobs attacked African Americans throughout the city. The experience strengthened his determination to fight racial hatred and injustice.

After graduating from Atlanta University in 1916, White worked in insurance and became active in the Atlanta branch of the NAACP. His abilities caught the attention of NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson, who recruited him to the organization’s national staff in 1918.

He soon became known for his extraordinarily dangerous investigations of lynchings. Because many white Southerners assumed he was white, he was able to enter communities where Black investigators would have faced immediate danger. He spoke with witnesses, law enforcement officials, and even members of lynch mobs, often pretending to share their racial attitudes so they would reveal information.

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White personally investigated 41 lynchings and eight race riots. On several occasions, his identity was discovered, forcing him to flee for his life. The evidence he collected helped the NAACP expose the brutality of lynching to Americans and strengthen its campaign for federal anti-lynching legislation. His experiences also influenced his 1929 book, “Rope and Faggot: A Biography of Judge Lynch.”

By the early 1930s, Walter had risen to the NAACP’s top administrative position. As executive secretary, he helped build the organization into a major national political and legal force. Under his leadership, the NAACP challenged discrimination in voting, employment, education, transportation, the military, and other areas of American life.

White also recruited attorney Charles Hamilton Houston to lead the NAACP’s legal strategy. Houston and his protégé, Thurgood Marshall, developed the courtroom campaign that eventually helped produce the Supreme Court’s historic 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, declaring racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

White used his relationships with national political leaders as another weapon against discrimination. He worked with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and President Harry S. Truman. He supported efforts to end employment discrimination and encouraged Truman to establish the President’s Committee on Civil Rights.

Walter White remained an NAACP leader until his death in 1955. His courage, political skill, investigative work, and relentless commitment to equality helped establish the foundation upon which the modern Civil Rights Movement would build.

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By Dr. Y’Anad Burrell

“Fashion vs. Fascism” (FVF) is a visually immersive evening of fashion, music and political theater exposing the rise of fascism in the U.S. and the need to resist. Democracy is under siege, and culture is one of our most potent defenses, organizers say.

Called a live “runway revolution,” FvF premieres Oct. 3 at The Rotunda, 300 Frank Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland.

A play that is part fashion show, part protest, part performance art, FvF stages five runway collections spotlighting the pillars of contemporary fascist politics and the urgent need to resist: the myth of a “glorious past,” the manufactured emergencies used to justify surveillance and crackdowns, and the oligarchs and grifters profiting from it all. Runway fashion shares the stage with political theater and live music, with a closing call to action.

“We need lawsuits, ballots and mass protests, but none of it lands if we’re not also fighting for people’s imagination,” says Linda Burnham, co-producer of the show. “People are exhausted and scared. FvF will expose the absurdities of fascist mythology and ideology in ways a news headline cannot and spark new ideas about how to resist.”

“Fascism doesn’t win by policy alone. It wins by telling a story. A myth about a ‘Golden Age.’ A permanent emergency that makes cruelty seem necessary. That’s not an accident, it’s a strategy, and it works on the same terrain as culture: image, spectacle, emotion,” says Aya De León, the show’s playwright.

“Every piece on this runway translates what is happening under fascism into a feeling,” explains Erica Furlong, the FVF creative director. “One designer’s trench coat is covered in pockets stamped ‘TRUTH,’ ‘MEMORY,’ ‘HOPE,’ ‘VOTE,’ ‘FUTURE,’ because that’s literally what gets seized first, pocket by pocket, under fascist decline. Fashion can hold grief and hope in the same silhouette, and that tension is exactly what this moment needs.”

At its best, fashion is about creativity, diversity, innovation, experimentation and the free exchange of ideas. Fascism, by contrast, demands conformity and control, while suppressing dissent.

FVF was created, organizers say, because democracy should always be in style.

Featured designers include Erica Varize, Rickie Lee, Tianna Charity, Julie Wong, and Maria Flores. The evening features a script by lead playwright Aya De León, musical performances by Mindeullae Project and DJ Emancipation, and other special guests.

FvF is designed to travel. Following the Oakland premiere, FvF will extend its reach through a documentary short, a curriculum on contemporary fascism in the U.S., and a full replication playbook — design templates, script, and curriculum — so organizers in other cities can stage their own version of the show.

Get more details at www.fashionvfascism.org.

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By Barbara Bauer, Special to The Post

Floating bubbles greeted families on arrival at the Bookout Block Party held on Sat. Sept. 12 at 39th and MLK Blvd. in Oakland.

Sponsored by Marcus Books and Storyland Collective, a wonderland of activity for children stretched to Longfellow School while live music filled the air, courtesy of KWC Complex Jazz Group.

Booths lined the street with arts and crafts, and children participated in hands-on art projects. A large display of books was on display and each child chose his/her free book to take home. Food and snacks were available, and free water was encouraged to keep all hydrated.

A large area of turf was filled with huge bean bags for jumping, rolling, and sitting to listen as families crowded close to listen to Oakland Mayor Barbara Mayor Barbara Lee read a book out loud.

Of the numerous booths present were, “Claim Your Scholarship,” a program for Oakland Public School students and “VOLUNTEER NOW,” a program encouraging volunteers to help boost reading proficiency. Individuals sold their art and products. Free gifts were at many tables and a raffle was held.

The event with Marcus books culminated a summer-long program organized by Storyland Collective, a literacy arts organization bringing children’s ‘storytime,’ local authors, and art activities to Bay Area neighborhoods. Marcus Books is the oldest, independent Black-owned book store in the U.S., featuring books by and about Black people here and abroad.

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