The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-11-13
SEE YOU IN CHICAGO!
By BEN FIELD

EORMAN is the only Negro farmer
who came from the North as
delegate to the first farm conference
in Washington. He delivered fight
ing speech before the farmers that
set them hammering with their
hands and drumming with their feet.
His quickness at Plastercrs' Hall,
when one Of the Negro CHOPPERS from
Alabama tainted dead away in tell
ing of the terror, helped save the
meeting. 1t was he and two white
farmers who gave up their warm
cabin to the Negro troopers and slept
in cabin where the breath froze on
your moustache. Ali through the first
conference with It's long hours and
exciting work he had his shoulders
up against the collar. I can still
remember him sitting on the edge
of his chair or fitting about In his
thin coat, his spats, and his clean
black derby.
AT the important Michigan state
conference, held in August In Grand
Rapids, Forman is again delegate.
He is as neat as 8 pin. He Is fretting
to get back to work In his village.
The village is about 150 miles from
Grand Rapids. Population about $50.
The farming is mostly truck and
poultry. There are two large" farms
One so acres, the other 80. The rest
of the farms average five acres. You
can rent land for 81 an acre. There
are 80 small Negro farmers. They
pick cherries for half cent pound
and SO average 10 or 30 cents a day.
Road works been cut down to s1.80
for and 10 hours. Used to be $2.25.
F'orman gives us all these figures
as we stand in the little pit the
horseshoe throwerS had made at the
picnic grounds few miles away from
Grand Rapids. I'VE get some OF this
work once in four months. Then we
work In suh-zero weather not fit for
ducks, digging up stumps frozen one
foot in the ground. Crops for the
past few years amt been no mans
comfort in our village. Cabbage a
cent a pound, navy beans from so
to 70 cents hundred pound hand
picked. Eggs 8 to II cents o dozen,
and creams hung around % cents"
Has there been any discrimination
in handing out relief2
Forman's lower lip thrusts out,
There's been lot of this catpaw-
ing between white and black. And
my peoples gotten the hard end.
First, in the handing out of relief.
The f1our's like gluco. We don't get
speck OF lard, And no wood. We
got to go scratched round for chips
when it's cold snap The road COM
missioner wanted to haul wood for
us, but the supervisor and the super
intendent, they jingle themselves in
to team, and they hawed back to
our demands No. So 1 went uptown
with an axe. I cut down a tree for
myself.
WHATEVER we do get we got to
w contend for hard. The relief
commission moved into the Superin-
tendent's home to keep us from
coming round. They stopped flour.
They gave it only to our old and
those with children. But the white
folks still got what flour was coming
them. They'd pussy it around and
go down by the blind side of the
railroad so no one would see."
He emphasizes his story with peck
OF his pared nail. I'm kind of poison
to the relief. The colored folks look
to me for strength. I sent them back
again and again with demands. So
when one Of our women asked for
piece of cloth, they turned her
down fiat. No, they had none. They
had nothing. But I've been In the
Office and seem them hand out q suit
of underwear size 10 to white man.
They Smuggled 1t under a piece of