Voice of action. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1933-1936, 1934-11-23

leans Times-P icayune. l was nj
most stunned when | saw flash
ed across the headlines: Nine
Black Brutes Attack Two White
Girls on Freight Train in Ala
Knowing the character OF the
Southern ruling class justice, l
was convinced that the whole
thing was frame-up and sig
nal for the unleashing OF whole
sale campaign of murderous
lynch terror against the Negro
people.
Every time | thought OF 1t
my blood would boil. And | want
ed to do something to help the
boys. But what could | do as an
individual? After the boys had
been rail-roaded to 6heir death
at Scottsboro on evidence con-
cocted by the state Of Alabama,
the International Labor Defense
stepped in and called a halt to
this legal lynching of nine inno-
cent Negro youths.
This being the thing that L
had always wanted to see, l
plunged into the fight with all
my heart and energy. Many
nights / have gone through
woods and mountains where Ne
groes were not allowed, to hold
protest meetings against the
ScottsborO frame-up. And | have
been arrested and threatened
with death If | didn't cease my
activities on behalf of the SCOTS
borO boys. The ScottsbOro case
means everything in the world
to me because it is bound up
with the whole struggle OF the
Negro people and of the working
class for freedom.
German Worker Murdered
Just as / have fought and
suffered for the Scottsboro boys
so have millions of Negro and
white workers. White workers
and all nationalities in every
country of the word modified I'M
der the banners of the LID and
the International Red Aid, have
been brutally beaten for raising
their voices of protest against
the Scottsboro lynch verdicts.
In Chemnitz, Germany, one
white worker was murdered and
scores of others severely wound
ed for demonstrating before the
American embassy demanding
the immediate unconditional
and safe release of the nine in
nOcent ScOttsbOrO boys.
For over three and half years
the LID has kept the workers of
the world on guard against any
attempt on the part of the
lynchers of Alabama to murder
these boys. And l as one who
have been in the clutches of the
Southern slave masters, can say
with appreciation, that it is only
through such struggles of the
working class that / have been
temporarily wrested from the
death traps of the fascist barbar-
ians of the state of Georgia.
A Challenge to Slavery
The fight to save the lives of
these innocent boys is a direct
challenge to the corrupt and
bloody rule of the southern slave
drivers. 1t is a scathing blow at
the damnable system of peonage
and debt slavery by which they
are able to grind super-profits
from the toiling masses and the
misery Of the Negro people and
crush them to the very bottom
level of society. Deceptive lies,
bribery, and trickery have been
used time and again by the
lynchers. When the LID raised
the question of the systematic eX-
clusion of Negroes from jury
service, the state of Alabama
went so far as to forge the names
of Negroes on the jury rolls.
And to go even deeper into
infamy, when the records of the
trials were not available for the
defense attorneys, Judge Gala
han granted extension of time.
Then just four days before the 80
days required by law in which
to file the appeals, he called
special session of court and re-
vOked these extensions of time,
leaving only four days in viii III
to appeal the cases. But the LID
was alert and on the job and the
appeals were filed within the
time limit.
Living Death
In Georgia 13 workers have
been arrested and charged with
"inciting to insurrection," the
same charge under which / have
been condemned to Is to 20 years
on the barbarous Georgia chain
gang. Anne feathers and Leah
Young, mother of five children,
will be placed on trial in NOvem-
Der, and the Rev. Solicitor will
demand that they be put to
death because they distributed
leaflets calling on striking textile
workers to fight for the improve
ment of their intolerable condi-
tions.
Just a few days ago Claude
Neal, a Negro worker, was kid