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Gov. Edwards Issues a State Apology for 1972 Fatal Shootings at Southern

NNPA NEWSWIRE — “To the extent that the state of Louisiana can try to make this right, that’s what we’re gonna try to do,” Edwards said at an event at the Old State Capitol building to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the shooting.
The post Gov. Edwards Issues a State Apology for 1972 Fatal Shootings at Southern first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

1 year ago

December 21, 2022

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By Drew Hawkins and Claire Sullivan, Contributing Writers | Louisiana Weekly

(LSU Manship School News Service) — Gov. John Bel Edwards apologized on behalf of the state to former Southern University protest leaders and the families of two Southern students who were killed by an unidentified sheriff’s deputy 50 years ago.

“To the extent that the state of Louisiana can try to make this right, that’s what we’re gonna try to do,” Edwards said at an event at the Old State Capitol building to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the shooting.

Edwards said that on the morning of the shooting, students “bravely and peacefully gathered to protest the disparities of educational opportunities in Louisiana.”

He said the nine protest leaders who were banned from Southern’s campus following the protests were “unjustly punished.” He said he wanted “to make amends to those who were victims to injustices perpetrated by the state,” including the families of Leonard Brown and Denver Smith, the two 20-year-old students who were shot and killed.

He said wished to “recognize the lost potential of the lives” of the two young men.

The governor then signed a proclamation formalizing the apology.

Southern President Dennis Shields also spoke at the event. “Today marks a significant and sorrowful day in the history of Southern University and A&M college,” he said.

“We sincerely welcome you back,” Shields said, referencing the recent decision by Southern’s board to lift bans on the protest leaders returning to the campus.

Some of the protest leaders also met with Shields privately right before the commemoration event.

Some of the former protest leaders echoed concerns they demonstrated for 50 years ago, including current funding disparities between Southern and other public universities, like LSU and Louisiana Tech, and called for the formation of a board of representatives at Southern that included student members to hear and address student concerns.

They also called for the Smith and Brown families to be compensated for the loss of their loved ones.

Some of them said Shields listened to their concerns and seemed sincere in his commitment to work with them to help find a resolution.

“It’s not the end of the conversation,” Shields said. “It’s the beginning of the conversation that will continue past today.”

Denver Smith was a junior from New Roads who was studying computer science, and Leonard Douglas Brown was an agricultural education major from Gilbert, Louisiana.

The commemoration was organized by Southern Law Center professor Angela Allen-Bell and the Louisiana State NAACP Conference.

A recent four-part series by the LSU Cold Case Project, that was featured in this newspaper, explored the events that led up to the shooting, the day of the shooting itself and the aftermath.

Referring to the stories, Gov. Edwards said in an interview that much of “what I knew about this came from you all. It wasn’t something that I knew very much about. I knew there had been unrest, and I knew there were some issues at Southern’s campus. I never knew the names. I never knew the specifics.”

“It’s the best we can do,” he said, referring to the apology. “It’s maybe not a whole lot, but it’s the best we can do.”

The shooting occurred after several weeks of protests in 1972 over what student leaders at Southern saw as poor funding, dilapidated buildings and little response to their concerns.

Smith and Brown had not been involved with the protest movement and were In a large gathering outside of the school’s administration office. Protest leaders were demanding that the university’s then-president, George Leon Netterville, assist with the release of four student protest leaders who had been arrested for disrupting classes.

Officers from the Louisiana State Police and the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office responded and ordered students to leave the building, deploying tear gas when the students refused. When the gas clouds cleared, Smith and Brown’s bodies lay on the sidewalk.

A commission appointed by then-Gov. Edwin Edwards found no evidence that any of the students was armed. The report also found that the fatal shot came from an area where sheriff’s deputies were positioned.

A state grand jury spent four months considering the shooting in 1973 but failed to identify the shooter. A federal grand jury also was unable to determine who fired the shot.

Students from LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication and the Southern Law Center studied nearly 2,700 pages of FBI documents and conducting dozens of interviews.

They found that Southern officials had frantically requested law enforcement assistance and that most of the sheriff’s deputies did not have any crowd control training.

The series also revealed how the FBI quickly narrowed its search for the shooter to a handful of deputies based on the angle from which the fatal shot came,

But given all the tear gas and that most of the deputies were wearing helmets with visors that obscured their faces, there was no eyewitness who could identify the shooter. The investigation also faced serious roadblocks when key deputies refused to take polygraph exams about what they knew.

This article originally appeared in The Louisiana Weekly.

The post Gov. Edwards Issues a State Apology for 1972 Fatal Shootings at Southern first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Born on September 4, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, activist Ramona Edelin’s early years were marked by a commitment to education and social justice. According to her HistoryMakers biography, after graduating from Fisk University with a Bachelor’s degree in 1967, she pursued further studies at the University of East Anglia in England. She earned her master’s degree before completing her Ph.D. at Boston University in 1981.
The post IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

3 weeks ago

April 3, 2024

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Once upon a time, Black Americans were simply known as colored people, or Negroes. That is until Ramona Edelin came along. The activist, renowned for her pivotal roles in advancing civil rights, education reform, and community empowerment, died at her D.C. residence last month at the age of 78. Her death, finally confirmed this week by Barnaby Towns, a communications strategist who collaborated with Dr. Edelin, was attributed to cancer.

Born on September 4, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, Edelin’s early years were marked by a commitment to education and social justice. According to her HistoryMakers biography, after graduating from Fisk University with a Bachelor’s degree in 1967, she pursued further studies at the University of East Anglia in England. She earned her master’s degree before completing her Ph.D. at Boston University in 1981.

Edelin’s contributions to academia and activism were manifold. She was pivotal in popularizing the term “African American” alongside Rev. Jesse L. Jackson in the late 1980s.

Jackson had announced the preference for “African American,” speaking for summit organizers that included Dr. Edelin. “Just as we were called Colored, but were not that, and then Negro, but not that, to be called Black is just as baseless,” he said, adding that “African American” “has cultural integrity” and “puts us in our proper historical context.”

Later, Edelin told Ebony magazine, “Calling ourselves African Americans is the first step in the cultural offensive,” while linking the name change to a “cultural renaissance” in which Black Americans reconnected with their history and heritage.

“Who are we if we don’t acknowledge our motherland?” she asked later. “When a child in a ghetto calls himself African American, immediately he’s international. You’ve taken him from the ghetto and put him on the globe.”

The HistoryMakers bio noted that Edelin’s academic pursuits led her to found and chair the Department of African American Studies at Northeastern University, where she established herself as a leading voice.

Transitioning from academia to advocacy, Edelin joined the National Urban Coalition in 1977, eventually ascending to president and CEO. During her tenure, she spearheaded initiatives such as the “Say Yes to a Youngster’s Future” program, which provided crucial support in math, science, and technology to youth and teachers of color in urban areas. Her biography noted that Edelin’s efforts extended nationwide through partnerships with organizations like the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Education.

President Bill Clinton recognized Edelin’s expertise by appointing her to the Presidential Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities in 1998. She also co-founded and served as treasurer of the Black Leadership Forum, solidifying her standing as a respected leader in African American communities.

Beyond her professional achievements, Edelin dedicated herself to numerous boards and committees, including chairing the District of Columbia Educational Goals 2000 Panel and contributing to the Federal Advisory Committee for the Black Community Crusade for Children.

Throughout her life, Edelin received widespread recognition for her contributions. Ebony magazine honored her as one of the 100 Most Influential Black Americans, and she received prestigious awards such as the Southern Christian Leadership Award for Progressive Leadership and the IBM Community Executive Program Award.

The post IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Recent legislative actions in Tennessee, such as repealing police reform measures enacted after the killing of Tyre Nichols, underscore a troubling trend of undermining local control and perpetuating racist agendas. The new law preventing local governments from restricting police officers’ authority disregards community efforts to address systemic issues of police violence and racial profiling.
The post Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

3 weeks ago

April 3, 2024

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Tennessee State University (TSU), the state’s only public historically Black college and university (HBCU), faces a tumultuous future as Gov. Bill Lee dissolved its board, a move supported by racist conservatives and MAGA Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly, who follow the lead of the twice-impeached, four-times indicted, alleged sexual predator former President Donald Trump. Educators and others have denounced the move as an attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) and a grave setback for higher education.

Critics argue that TSU’s purported financial mismanagement is a manufactured crisis rooted in decades of underinvestment by the state government. They’ve noted that it continues a trend by conservatives and the racist MAGA movement to eliminate opportunities for Blacks in education, corporate America, and the public sector.

Gevin Reynolds, a former speechwriter for Vice President Kamala Harris, emphasizes in an op-ed that TSU’s financial difficulties are not the result of university leadership because a recent audit found no evidence of fraud or malfeasance.

Reynolds noted that the disbanding of TSU’s board is not an isolated incident but part of a broader assault on DE&I initiatives nationwide. Ten states, including Tennessee, have enacted laws banning DE&I policies on college campuses, while governors appointing MAGA loyalists to university trustee positions further undermine efforts to promote inclusivity and equality.

Moreover, recent legislative actions in Tennessee, such as repealing police reform measures enacted after the killing of Tyre Nichols, underscore a troubling trend of undermining local control and perpetuating racist agendas. The new law preventing local governments from restricting police officers’ authority disregards community efforts to address systemic issues of police violence and racial profiling.

The actions echo historical efforts to suppress Black progress, reminiscent of the violent backlash against gains made during the Reconstruction era. President Joe Biden warned during an appearance in New York last month that Trump desires to bring the nation back to the 18th and 19th centuries – in other words, to see, among other things, African Americans back in the chains of slavery, women subservient to men without any say over their bodies, and all voting rights restricted to white men.

The parallels are stark, with white supremacist ideologies used to justify attacks on Black institutions and disenfranchise marginalized communities, Reynolds argued.

In response to these challenges, advocates stress the urgency of collective action to defend democracy and combat systemic racism. Understanding that attacks on institutions like TSU are symptomatic of broader threats to democratic norms, they call for increased civic engagement and voting at all levels of government.

The actions of people dedicated to upholding the principles of inclusivity, equity, and justice for all will determine the outcome of the ongoing fight for democracy, Reynolds noted. “We are in a war for our democracy, one whose outcome will be determined by every line on every ballot at every precinct,” he stated.

The post Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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Braxton Haulcy and the Expansion of Walker|West Music Academy

May 24, 2023 – Walker West Music Academy gets an early start on expansion. Join us for a Wednesday episode of The …
The post Braxton Haulcy and the Expansion of Walker|West Music Academy first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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