The Omaha guide., 1939-08-12
By Ben Davis
( Associate Editor, CNA)

courage and determination, Sam
ucl B. Solomon, IS year old Ne
gro leader of Miami, Fla, told
the amazing story of how he led
1 500 of his people to the polls in
Miami last May ?, despite Ku Klux
terros.
II don't know how It was done,
and I can hardly tell it. But |
know it was dcne. | never would
be able to STAY in the city now if
the Negroes hadn't supported me
b. voting. and if a lot Of white
people hadn's helped me-" he said
modestly.
Solomon told his story in a
special interview with the Crusa-
der News Agency at 105 W. Leigh
St, Richmond, Va, where he was
stopping while attending the 30th
Conference of the National AS
soeiaticn for the Advancement of
Colored People, held recently in
that city.
"0no thing | do know, the Ne
groes IRE going to vote from now
on in Miami, Khan or no klan. The
days Of frightening us out of our
rights by the use of white sheets
arc long gone" he went on.
Solomon is about five feet, seven
in height, slender. and weighs
about 1875 pounds He speaks
scarcely above a whisper, and is
very retiring in n He talks
deliberately, is shy about making
speeches, but "willing to tell my
story and over again if it will
help ether Negroes to vote"
He has a stubborn, fearless
poker face which lights up occas-
sionally when he engages, almost
unwittingly, in biting sarcasm ana
humor. He is a printer by trade,
but is now an undertaken in
Miami.
Action Gains Results
aSince we voted, the grand jury
has condemned 10 blocks of slums
in the Negro districts. | left the
city surveying the Negro section
fer pavements, never before in the
town. And with THE assistance
Of the Federal Government, we are
going to have some low-rent |
houses" Solomon said, recounting |
some of the achievements which
have already begun since the his.
tcric vote of May 2.
The young leader told a story
of sitting in his home with his
creased Winchester in his lap,
awaiting the Klan, and how $50
Negroes, equipped for thing
stood determined to del nd their
homes if necessary.
"Socne of the newspapers said
that the Reds were behind US. But
there was no connection betweenI
us and any other organization.
Many organizations supported US,
including the longshoremen," Solo
mo explained.
"This was such a setback to the
Khan, that they quit wearing their
robes, broke off from the parent
organization. The robes we saw
them wear just made us grit our
teeth with determination to vote.
eve told Miami we had decided
TO challenge the Klan for our
lawful democratic rights" he went
on.
The history making vote of
Miami Negroes was flashed all
over the country last May 2, when
1,500 Negroes walked by all sorts
of Khan terror to vote for the
first time in 20 years. Reactionary
officials had gone unchallenged in
their brazen notification of the
18th Amendment to the Constitu-
ton. There were city ordinances
to the effect that Negroes were
not allowed in the white section OF
thu jim-crow city after dark, I'M
less employed there, or had special
passes. Other democratic rights
were wantonly violated.
The night before the election the
Ku Klux Khan distributed in the
Negro neighborhoods throwaways
which said the following:
Respectable Negro citizens are
not voting Tomorrow-Niggers
stay away from the polls. XXX
"But that didn't scare us any,"
Solomon said, "when the Negroes
read that they knew they had to
vote. They knew they'd have to
put people in office who wouldn't
stand for such hooded tactics.
aThen eonethinp else happened.