Minneapolis spokesman. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1941-05-02
LISTEN
TO
THIS
The Glory of Man
By Hobart T. Mitchell

After saying our nightly prayer
of "Our Father who art in heaven"
and ending with "YOu are the Pot
ter, am the clay" we retired for
the night
Previous to our retiring we had
had a lengthy, but interesting dis
eussiOn on the Negro and the black
man at large. We were Of the Opin-
ion, and we think rightfully 50,
that the Negro made in the image
and likeness Of God has his place
in the world of affairs and that the
Father of all men would not suffer
him to be otherwise That each
person regardless Of his or her ma
tiOnality has an equal chance to
succeed along with the other fell
low. Yes, the Negro has obstacles;
and yet, obstacles are blessings in
disguise. The more obstacles you
overcome, the easier your victory
over the next, and the next, and
the next. Emerson says, He who
thinks success has turned his back
on failure" The Negro must say
to himself, Il will succeed" and
the starting point of all success is
as Booker T. Washington said, Let
down your buckets where you are"
Success and happiness depend on
finding your place in the plan OF
God. 1t is your business to find
your place. Know yourself.
So with this thought on our mind
we went to sleep. But our sleep
was to be marred by dreams =
dreams of a movie-hke appearance
flashed on the screen of life. We
visited various historical buildings,
travelled to foreign countries and
talked to famous characters of the
world.
We stood at the grave of Eugene
Clemenceau, the Tiger of France"
The trees that surrounded his tomb
seemed to be bowed low in deep re-
spect to that great man who in his
day had carried the weight of
France on his shoulders. Standing
with head tilted forward, tears in
our eyes, and a prayer on our lips,
we were glad we were French.
We roamed the province of Shan
tung, China, the birthplace of the
Chinese philosopher, Confucius, so
that we might more easily absorb
the teachings of this man who had
given so much to his country and
the world. AS we walked we were
glad we were Chinese.
We conversed with the librarian
in the Library of Congress and
were presented with a book on the
life of Saint Patrick, the apostle
of Ireland, who in his lifetime
founded over $50 churches and bap-
tiled with his own hands more than
$4,000 people. When we closed the
book we were glad we were Irish.
We listened to the words of
Disraei making one of his famous
speeches in the House of Commons
and we were glad to be a Jew.
We gazed into the face of Abra-
ham Lincoln when he was making
his Gettysburg address. When he
said, The government of the peO-
pie, for the people, by the people,
shall not perish from the earth"
we were glad to be a NOrtherner.
We passed through Stratford,
Westmoreland County, Virginia,
where Robert E. Lee first saw the
light of day. Benjamin Hill told US
of him in these words: HE is
Caesar without ambition, Frederick
without his tyranny, Napoleon
without his selfishness, and Wash
ington without his reward" We
were glad to be a Southerner.
We entered the workshop Of
George Washington Carver, Diree-
tor of Agricultural Research and
Professor of Chemistry at Tuske-
gee Institute, Alabama, recipient
of the Spingarn Medal, Fellow Of
the Royal Society of Arts of Great
Britain, and were met at the door
by the great genius himself. Shak-
ing his hand we were glad we were
a Negro.
Our dream ended with the COM
ing Of a new day but in our con-
scious mind we laid the corner