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Walter Lincoln Hawkins, A Modern-Day Inventor

Walter Lincoln Hawkins earned his degree in chemical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., a master’s in chemistry at Howard University and a doctoral at McGill University in Montreal. His specialization was cellulose chemistry. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University, he would become the first African American scientist on staff at AT&T’s Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J. (1942). His career there spanned 34 years

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Walter Lincoln Hawkins. Photo courtesy of invent.org/inductees
Walter Lincoln Hawkins. Photo courtesy of invent.org/inductees

By Tamara Shiloh

During his early years, Walter Lincoln Hawkins (1911–1992) would disassemble and then reassemble several toys to create new ones. He built spring-driven toy boats to sail in the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial and a radio so he could listen to the Washington Senators baseball games.

No one knew then that young Walter’s fascination with how things worked would catapult this grandson of a slave into a notable career in chemical engineering.

Born in Wash., D.C., Hawkins’ father was a lawyer for the U.S. Census Bureau and his mother was a science teacher in the District of Columbia school system. According to sources, Hawkins was orphaned as a young child and then raised by his sister.

Not much is known about this timeline of these events, only that his upbringing was “in a world where it was difficult for African Americans to find adequate encouragement in education and at work.”

A physics teacher in Hawkins’ Wash., D.C. high school purchased a new car every year. Hawkins being curious, found out that the teacher had invented a self-starter mechanism to replace automobile hand cranks, and the new cars were partial payment from the company that purchased the mechanism.

Discovering that a person could make a living tinkering with mechanics was all he needed to know. He’d already shown promise in math and science and developed a sense of self-confidence. Confirming that his passion could be a career ignited his dreams.

Hawkins went on to earn his degree in chemical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., a master’s in chemistry at Howard University and a doctoral at McGill University in Montreal. His specialization was cellulose chemistry. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University, he would become the first African American scientist on staff at AT&T’s Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J. (1942). His career there spanned 34 years.

At Bell Labs, Hawkins developed a reputation for adding years to the life of plastics, enabling universal telephone service, making it economical to service providers. He conducted research on polymers, specifically thermal and oxidative stabilization of polymers for telecommunications.

Telephone cables, until 1950, were coated with a costly and toxic lead-based material. This was replaced with polyethylene, which quickly became brittle and breakable in sunlight. Hawkins, along with a partner, invented a polymer (1956) as a replacement. The new material, today known as plastic cable sheath, went into production in the 1960s. It was widely used as an inexpensive, durable, and safe coating for telecommunications wire. It remains in use today, protecting fiber optic cable.

In addition to his numerous achievements at Bell Labs, Hawkins contributed to the development of techniques for recycling and reusing plastics. After retiring from Bell Labs (1976), he remained active as a mentor, educator, and industrial visionary for many years. Before his death in 1992, Hawkins was honored with a National Medal of Technology.

Read and discuss with the youth ways Black American inventors have impacted our everyday lives in Doresa A. Jennings “The STEAM Chasers.”

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Oakland Post: Week of March 13 – 19, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 13 – 19, 2024

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Oakland Post: Week of March 6 – 12, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 6 – 12, 2024

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Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌

Advocates Weigh in on Calif. Black Caucus Reparations Package

On Feb. 21, the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) held a press conference at the state Capitol to introduce a package of reparations legislation the lawmakers call “a starting point” to atone for the state’s legacy of discrimination. All 12 members of the CLBC were present to explain their efforts to rectify the damages caused by systemic discrimination against Black Californians detailed in the 1,100-page report by the first-in-the-nation California reparations task force.

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Assemblymember Lori Wilson (D- Suisun City) speaks at the press conference with all CLBC members in attendance discussing their 2024 Reparations legislative priority bills. Photo by Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media.
Assemblymember Lori Wilson (D- Suisun City) speaks at the press conference with all CLBC members in attendance discussing their 2024 Reparations legislative priority bills. Photo by Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media.

By Antonio Ray Harvey

California Black Media 

On Feb. 21, the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) held a press conference at the state Capitol to introduce a package of reparations legislation the lawmakers call “a starting point” to atone for the state’s legacy of discrimination.

All 12 members of the CLBC were present to explain their efforts to rectify the damages caused by systemic discrimination against Black Californians detailed in the 1,100-page report by the first-in-the-nation California reparations task force.

The nine-member panel submitted the recommendations on June 28, 2023.

CLBC chairperson Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City) said it may take three to seven years to pass legislation aimed at implementing the task force’s recommendations.

The package the CLBC members presented consists of 14 legislative proposals, each designed to address different aspects of systemic racism and inequality.

One proposal, Senate Bill (SB) 490, put forth by CLBC Vice Chair Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood), calls for the establishment of the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency (CAFAA).

This agency would administer reparations programs and aid Black families researching their family lineage. The cost of implementing such an agency has not yet been estimated, but reparations advocates say its creation signifies a step toward acknowledging and rectifying past injustices.

Another proposal by Assemblymember Cory Jackson (D-Riverside), ACA 7, seeks to amend Prop 209, the initiative passed by voters in 1996 that prohibits considering race, color, sex, or nationality in public employment, education, and contracting decisions.

This amendment would allow the governor to approve exceptions to the law in order to address poverty and improve educational outcomes for African Americans and other marginalized groups.

Bradford also discussed proposal legislation aimed at compensating families whose properties were seized through eminent domain as a result of racism and discrimination.

The package of bills includes a measure proposed by Assemblymember Reggie Jones Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), Assembly Bill (AB) 3089 to formally acknowledge California’s history of slavery and discrimination, requiring lawmakers to issue a formal apology.

Additionally, a proposed constitutional amendment, ACA 8, sponsored by Wilson aims to ban involuntary servitude, particularly within the state’s prison system.

Reparations advocates and social justice groups from statewide organizations shared their support and criticism of the 14-bill reparations package with California Black Media (CBM).

A Coalition for a Just and Equitable California (CJEC) stated that the CLBC’s package does not address direct-cash payment, which, for that group’s leadership, is a non-negotiable component of any proposed compensation package.

“Our coalition’s unwavering commitment has been to pursue lineage-based reparations, encompassing direct monetary payments/compensation, state recognition of descendants as a protected class, and the establishment of the California American Freedman Affairs Agency through Senate Bill (SB) 490,” CJEC member Chris Lodgson outlined in a statement.

Lodgson continued, “We believe these vital components are imperative and a necessary first step toward true reparations. As we’ve communicated to elected officials directly for some time, we believe any reparations package must be targeted explicitly and exclusively to California’s 2 million Black American descendants of persons enslaved in the U.S. (American Freedmen).”

Media present at the news briefing persistently questioned Wilson and other CLBC members about direct payments.

Wilson mentioned that the budget deficit California is currently facing is being considered in discussions about compensation. A Legislative Analyst’s Office report released  Feb. 20, estimates that the state’s budget shortfall could expand to $73 billion by May.

“In regard to direct-cash payments to individuals, we will continue to have that discussion as we navigate the next few years,” Wilson said. “As noted, we’re halfway through a legislative session. We have about three months of the legislative process in each house (Senate and Assembly) to work through these existing bills.

“In the next session, we have two years, and during that two-year session, we will consider including additional payments whether they are direct-cash payments or direct payments to communities,” Wilson said.

The Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation, and Truth (ARRT), a collaboration of California’s leading Black power-building and justice groups, supports seven of CLBC’s 14 reparations bills with proposals that include the restoration of property, establishing the property tax assistance for Descendants of Enslaved Persons program, a formal apology for human rights violations and crimes against humanity, amending the California Constitution to prohibit involuntary servitude for incarcerated persons, and prohibiting discrimination based on natural and protective hairstyles.

“The California Legislative Black Caucus reparations package marks a historic and meaningful moment in time. ARRT encourages lawmakers to pursue an even more expansive and definitive action to fulfill the reparations principles as recognized by the United Nations,” stated James Woodson, AART co-founder and executive director of the California Black Power Network. “Reparative justice must be impactful, transformative, and enduring, thus paving the way toward atoning for the wrongdoings deeply imprinted in the state’s history and healing this democracy.”

ARRT is a collaboration between the Black Equity Collective, the California Black Power Network, Catalyst California, Equal Justice Society, and Live Free USA, Live Free California.

Former members of the California reparations task force have partnered with AART: Loyola-Marymount clinical psychologist professor Dr. Cheryl Grills; Oakland-based civil rights attorney Lisa Holder; Dr. Jovan Scott Lewis, chair of the Department of Geography at the University of California Berkeley and Oakland-based attorney Donald Tamaki.

“We absolutely are (in support of direct-cash payments),” Woodson told California Black Media. “I think we got to have it all. There were multiple harms that were caused and one of them was financial and that needs to be compensated for with cash payments. And there are also systemic harms that were created. We need to change laws. We need to change how rules work because a lot of it flows out of anti-Black racism. We have to have everything because if you leave anything out it’s not for reparations.”

CBM also learned that there will be a series of listening sessions with the CLBC to help educate Californians about the reparation bills and the workings of the legislative process.

The members of the CLBC are Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City); Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood); Assemblymember Akilah Weber (D-La Mesa); Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles); Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Alameda); Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena); Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D-Carson); Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Riverside); Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D- Los Angeles); Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood); and Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles).

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