davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
anne BROWN


In 1884, George Gershwin had letter from student at
New Yorks Jullard School of Music begging him audi
her for bit part opera he had written called
Porgy Gershwin listened raptly to oiveskinned Anne
Brown not only offered her the feminine lead but renamed
the composition in her honor: "Porgy and Bess.
Today serious concert singer. Anne took time off this
spring make movie. Warmers Rhapsody In Blue" 1t
the story of Gershwns life. and Anne is herself
enactng the large part she played in Gershwin under
standing OF Negro music.
Daughter OF Baltimore doctor. with musical talent in
heried from grandmother who took the violin when
she fifty, Anne has welknit educational background:
Morgan college in Baltimore Coumbias Teachers college
New York; Juard She has graduated from stage roles
In "Mambas Daughters and Lew Lesies "Blackbirds to
soot with the MIC Symphony Orchestra under Stokowsk
appearances with New Yorks Philharmonic and
uants with all the aspects of triumphal tours.
Critics bask in Miss Browns warm. fu-throated voice but
admit that much Of her overwhelming box office draw is due
to her provocative beauty and her acting which has injected
lively whf Of Broadway into the stale air Of halls
Recently. despite Holywoodsize offers she refused
revive "Bess accept the title role in Carmen Jones'.
Reason: she is waiting the chance bring her Broadway
talents to grand opera LOOK
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
'YANk' BLASTS WHITES EGO
, Reprinted from Pep)

Advocates O. white supremacy
were gwen severe jol; when the
army news weekly "Iank' recently
ch.ded tvs white non-comnlisSioncd
officers for Their dream Il post
war world IN which NeToes will
not De gwen equality b viii "oe
taken care Of by white peorS.
The two men. SGT; Nolan and
a Cpl H.tner," addr 'ssed a letter
20 the editors az the army paper
which read as follows:
Dear Yank. We would like 20
get your ideas or he race problem
after the war. The Negroes will
think they are equsl 10 the whites
because they have Tough; IN this
war, and some white people will
fec. the same way about Il. u Is
our op!riou ;hsi ;hey should not be
given equality. but should be re-
warded. perhaps. With some portion
~ some country for ;he.r own use,
where they Will De governed by
white people. IL order ;ha; they VII
bc taken care 81 ard sill have a
chance 10 make a good l.vIng.
"Yark" ed tors replied 10 The let
,er in the Dcc. Il Ssue II The paoli-
cation Il !eads.
"Yank takes Is views oN The post
war race problem from he found
ers OF the United States. who be-
lieved that all aen ~ere created
equal. No man should talk about
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13

action" (such as throwing bombs at oficals), had
little merit and that such behavior only resulted
in greater persecution. They learned that the best
way to fight oppression was through organized
mass action. Thus lot of little personal persecu-
tons were piled up into powerful organization
which could act effectively with power possessed
by no one individual
This type of action Is seen in the pressures
exerted by organized union workers upon employ
ers Individual pressures by workers against en-
ployers in the form Of fights with foremen, threats
to quit, sabotage, and the like, got nowhere. The
individual alone, was like one drop of water out
OF the ocean. But when the resentments against
injustice were funneled into union organization,
effective changes resulted. These are well recog-
nized as higher wages, human working conditions,
and what Is equally important, feeling OF i'm
portance and worthwhileness on the part OF the
worker.
The same constructive approach through the
NAACP has greatly altered the legal and social
position Of the Negro during the past thirty years
Here too, the lesson urges fighting for justice
through supporting and stimulating mass organ
ization.
Some people, however, say they always feel
militant at the wrong times. They don't, they say,
feel militant on Sunday afternoon while attend
ing lecture or an NAACP meeting. When they
feel most like being militant is when someone
pushes them on a crowded streetcar, when an Off
Ger contemptuously orders them to break it up"
Wnen they Try 10 ma decent mouse 10 i've III, OF
when they are unjustly refused promotion on
the job.
These are the times when people see red, when
they forget to count ten. and when the precept of
brotherly love is the farthest from their minds.
This, though, is the kind Of anger that can most
fruitfuy be turned into constructvely militant di
rections. That bitter anger is the very stun out OF
which a new world is born if it is channeled into
mass organizations.
A lot Of thoughtful people Of both races know
this. The NAACP and the UAW.CIO are examples
close to home Both Of these recognize the strength
growing out of solidarity. Other persons who are
not pro-labor pro-equality also recognize this.
Hence, those who want to keep the Negro Tin his
place" condemn the NAACP in the same way that
snti-abor forces still fight unions. That these shall
not win requires action through organization on
the part Of all of US.
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
More Little Willie

sammy lighted . lucifer match.
And with IL set fire to . farmers
thatch:
The farmers house 10 the ground
Was brought;
20. SAM" said the farmer. you
didn't ought"
x X X
Baby sat on the window-seat:
Mary pushed her into the street.
Baby's brains were dashed out I'm
the area:
And mamma held up her forefinger
at Mary.
X y -
Willie saw q buIz-saw hum
Like . bike. and thought Il was
Now his corpse Il full Of hicks
Amt he cute: He's only six.
* X y
Little Willie hung his sister.
She was dead before We missed her.
Willies always up to tricks.
Amt he cute: Hes only six.
Saturday Review Of Literature
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
Negroes Under Fire


once on shore. our supplies for
the Anrio beachhead are taken over
by the QuzrtermAster Corps food
and clothingl and the Ordnance
Department (ammunition).
The Quartermaster Corps Is ira
ditionally seldom In great danger.
Up here on the beschhead they
are blowing that tradition all to hell.
The Quartermaster Corps has
been under fire ever since the
beachhead was established. and still
Is. Its casualties from enemy action
has been relatively high.
Around 20 per cent Of the Quar-
tsrmaSter troops on the beachhead
are colored soldiers. They help un-
load ships right ut the dock. They
drive trucks They man the supply
dumps. Hardly . day goes by with
out casualties among them. But
they take this bombing and Smelling
brzvely. They make an awful lot
Of funny remarks about II. but they
take u.
Ernie Pyle In Detroit Free Press
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
What The Northern Negro Thinks About Democracy
in their efforts TO achieve full

same basic pattern in their efforts 10 achieve full
status.
WHAT THE NEGRO WANTS
IN THE NORTH
seem to center abou, the questions OF employment
housing civil rights. democracy in the armed
forces. and racial SANDER. Here the goals are:
]. Equal access 10 employment opportunities.
2. Equal access TO adequate housing.
,. Full civil liberty
4. An end TO Jim-Crow in the armed forces.
S. An end 10 anti Negro propaganda and ridieule.
NEGRO HISTORY IN SCHOOL
IMPORTANT FOR CHANGE
More than ever. the northern Negro seems 10
be realizing that the minds of the American people
must be changed before he will ever secure his
rights. The resistance 10 the advancement OF the
Negro" which has been bull. up in the public mind
through stereotype and propaganda will have TO
be dissolved by education and counter propaganda.
This 10 why the fight against racial SANDER is Of
such importance and why the Introduction OF Ne.
gro history and culture into the course OF study for
Chicago public schools has received such praise
and emulation in other communities. There are
more than two dozen courses on Negro life and
history or race relations in northern schools and
colleges Some Of these taught by Negro
teachers. OF equal Importance is the fact that in
a few communities Negro teachers are assigned as
teachers not as Negro teachers, and actually in
struCt classes which contain few, IL any, Negro
pupils
summarilY il may Be commended that the north
srn Negro in his social thought reveals himself A.
an American and potential citizen Of the world
American in the that his dream and his state
msni of his blueprint for realizing Utopia are
typicsllY American in content and form. A. .
rather sophisticated citizen. the urbanissd Negro
with his eyes on world events and deep idsnfi
Rcsiion with struggling humanity everywhere may
yet lead the American nation TO broader and
deeper approach TO human relations.
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
THE WATCHTOWER 3, ROY WILKINS


Even when confronted with the government Off
Gals, stubborn Old Man Avery refused to bulge
and had to be carried out bodily. This column
believes the government was night. II believes
that when any man or company deheS the United
States, and in time OF war. the government ought
20 move in and toss them out All the nicetes
had been observed before the troops arrived. The
time to act had come and the government acted
The aspect that intrigues Negroes is: il the gov
eminent can act so efficiently in other matters,
why can't II bulge little bit when 1t comes to
Negro citizenship rights? Attorney General
Biddle, for example, had the Department OF jus
tics intervene in the Classic case in Louisiana,
where q white man claimed his primary vote had
been thrown out. Biddle helped this man win
his case. But when Biddle was asked to inter-
vene in the case Of Smith in the Texas primary
case, where the man had been refused chance
10 vote in the primary, Bidde refused to act.
There is, OF course the railroad case where these
vital carriers have refused to hire Negroes and
in effect, told the government 10 90 to hell Biddle
did not appear, Troops did not appear. Nor did
they appear in the Los Angeles Railway case, or
the Philadelphia Transit case, to say nothing Of
the Capital Transit case right in Washington un-
industries. They refuse TO hire Negroes although
they have acute manpower trouble which is i'm
pedng the war effort.
SO the shrl cries about dictatorship in the
Montgomery Ward give Negroes laugh.
Avery got what he deserved. and everyone who
acts as he did should get the same treatment
everyone including those who defy the govern
ment on Negro rights.
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
REPRESENTS EAST
HARLEM IN CONGRESS

Marcantonio represents the Twen-
tieth Congressional District known
in New York as East Harlem. East
Harlem Is huge and verminous
Stun area that runs from the edge
OF the Negro district 10 the wharves
Of the East River It's largest racial
group Is Italian. Next come Puerto
Ricans. then small settlements Of
Negroes and Jews. This is the dis
trice' which, in years gone by,
Fiorello La Gusrdia represented In
Washington.
The preser. congressman has
been able 10 offer something 10
each racial group. To the Italians IL
was enough, for a beginning at
least. that his name was Marcan-
tonic and that he had been blessed
by the Little Flower, He ingratiated
himself with the Puerto Ricans,
who harbor no love for Romans, by
championing their nationalism. by
flying 10 their island TO defend some
rebels beleaguered by the law. and
by writing bill 20 grant Puerto
Rico immediate independence with
staggering indemnities. Both the
Italians and the Puerto Ricsns are
Roman Catholics. an d Mother
church plays an important part in
politics. On certain feast days Marc
antonio can be seen. Lighted
taper in hand. walking barefoot
through the district with the pious.
He seldom fails 20 put in an APP
pearance a; the annual celebration
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13

declared war on the United States government.
They hated organized labor. They thought II was
all right for the government to pass laws 10 pro-
tect and benefit big business, but they thought 1t
all wrong for the government 10 pass laws which
give measure Of security and protection TO the
plain working people. So, the National Labor
Relations Act although il passed by the Con-
Rress and is the law Of land. is NOT the law for
Montgomery Ward and Scwell Avery. The War
Labor Disputes Act is also the law for the rest
Of America but not for Montgomery Ward, and
its instrument. the War Labor Board is not
something TO which Montgomery Ward feels II
has 10 pay attention
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13

Some of those whites the bus probably felt
sorry for the abused driver. Maybe they felt
something ought to be done about prejudiced white
Southerners. But they didn't do anything then
Other whites who complmented the driver on his
good behavior" did so, perhaps, out OF bad con-
scence-a conscience that prcked them because
they regularly sit back and do nothing to end dis
elimination in their race against their darker
skinned brothers. But I'm wandering of this
weeks subject
Those whites probably thought that our clear
thinking bus driver was meek Uncle Tom No
doubt they thought il was just more incident in
his life What they didn't know was that their
bus driver is really fghter-a fighter, who, how
ever, uses twentieth century methods to strike
back. They didn't know that he would 60 out after
his evening meal TO push for memberships in the
NAACP with more energy than he ever had before.
This man, think you will agree. had sufficient
reason for feeling militant You know, too, that
he has many other reasons not mentioned here.
That these resentments will express themselves in
one way or another was examined two weeks ago
in this column. The question then arises as to how
10 be militant in manner that will break down
rather than build up the barriers that separate
brothers from different groups.
To this question wish had all the answers
One answer, certainly, is organization. Agitators
for social change learned long ago that direct
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
HOW TO CLICK At THE USO

Many pretty and amcable wondering Why they fall
sick with the In uniform USOs servicemen
Here are ten cardinal laws 81 good behavior when tripping ne
light fantastic.
First never ALPHABETICALLY the large front porch kind
that forces partner lean
Second don't be nestler The ballroom not the place
cudde You look silly invariably partner
Third don't be show OF teach the soldier
sailor tricky stepdo Il In privae-snd not where
him conspicuous
Four. avoid being wooden nirn.e" Dance though you
enjoy i-snd II you DON: then don't dance
Five don't ht with else your partners shoulder
is rude.
Six never hum sing while gliding around the neer.
don't be unoader'mske hl
such things compact, purse and gloves
Eght-whieh applies 20 well wonen-dont be
door hos Never take the hall
1--WE
Ninth. dancing somebody else %
IL extremely impoite. and embarrassing.
Ten don't refuse dance You there to
entertainment and not yours
-Atro-Amercan
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
ROSES
By Other Names

Names actually given 10 Tennessee
CHI idreu recently include Okla
Homer. LOWE Charity. Needom
Love. Little BIZ. August Mystery.
Molden Wrath, Chocolate. Panic and
Jimmie Classification.
The New York Times
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13

giving any American that which
he already has by ira.!euso.e II CHIT.
"On Aug. 81, 1913 ;here we're
140l3 Negroes serving n The Navy
and 3s2.S6l in the Army of whom
$4,000 were overseas There is a
Negro general in the L. $. Army.
TIE Navy recently named an air.
field after a Negro who gave his life
for The service Yank believes i Is
folly 10 propose that Negroes be
governed by whites wheu Negroes
in the Army and Navy are Ash;ng
for our country's rights, wheu Ne
sroes in our state and national .es-
islstures are helping make cur
country's laws and when there are
Negroes in our courts interpreting
our laws"
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13

nevertheless. an additional
revelation OF their myopia TO
hear and see their outbursts
over the Bill OF Rights. the
Constitution. dictatorship, etc,
etc.
The facts are very simple
and il this were not an election
year In which everyone In
power 10 trying 70 get That
Man In the White House" We
should hear very little about
Montgomery Ward and S. l..
Avery, the chairman OF its
board OF directors.
The facts are that Avery and
NfnD,oov,ery Ward long AGO
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13

had your good times and
you've known lots of girls.
Is that right7 You And II hard TO re-
call the names of some because you
knew them for such a short time.
But do you recall a young girl
you met several months ago7 Her
name isn't important. You met her
light across from the canteen.
What attracted your attention
was her plaid skirt two inches above
her knees Not tina. the legs were
Betty CRADLES. Even bright-col-
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13

down where he Came from they
didn't have Negro bus drivers.
(No, he didn't say Negro.) He
didn't think much of the idea.
But why tell it all. You have
heard it.
Now, what did the driver do?
Stop and sock the drunken
white in the eye? No, he went
right on with his business. BY
some miracle he controlled him
self. He won the hearts of
every decent white person on
that bus, as some of them told
him when they got off at their
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
Sad News For XXX

Shades sf Tom Watson. The erst-
while Georgia leader Of anti Catholic
bigots. The former imperial palace
Of the chief mogul Of the Khan for
some time has served - the rectery
for the Catholic pro-cathedral. Now
Trappist monks from Kentucky Are
establishing . monastery In Georgia.
and the press Of the state rave them
. cordial welcome. That's enough -
make poor Tom turn In his grave.
Michigan Catholic
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
MARvA vows BOSTON

Sgt Joe Louis beautiful. Dusty wife, Marva after being
panned lots for starting singing hit
and may please Joe who told her. You good
the Boston Mayfair she made George Clark
Globe drool follows: She has lovely voice. distinguished
air. and undoubtedly will be great stars Of her
comparable to Ethel Waters Lena Horne" etc. The
champion gets her first crack the New
York saloon editors Wednesday night when opens
Greenwich Village Inn. NEW YORK POST
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
Hi||biIb Romance

A Tennessee hnl-billy had been
calling on his girl for more than q
year when pappy finally cornered
him one night and asked:
Tell me. you been SEEM Nellie
for nigh onto . year and . hsR.
What are yer intentions--honorable
or dishonorable:-
The hill-biily's eyes sparkled.
You mean I got = choice:"
The Union Reporter
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13

ford street with . new petticoat or
pair Of corsets fully exposed I'm
openwork string shopping bags.
Even more embarrassing Is the
predicament In which many an
Office worker has found herself
when. pausing 10 buy a herring on
her wav Ia work In the morning.
she has had the unwrapped Ash laid
on her astonished hand.
American Outpost In Britain
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
So Sorry!

Editors Note-rwo items APP
peared last week on the Digest
Page without proper credit lines.
The item telling Of Walter whites
squeich Of Lady Aston was from
Nell Dodson Russelis column In
The Peoples Voice and the one
headed Unfair To Whites" WAS
from The Call
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
BY cLARENce ANDERSON

TT HAPPENED on bus The driver was colored.
- white man got on. The latter was drunk.
He hadn't been in Detroit very long One could
tell that by his speech. He felt out of place, and
he showed it by aggressive talk Sitting right
beh:Ed the driver, he let everybody know that
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
Patriotic Cows

According 10 the Polish Telegraph
Agency last week. Germans In Cen
trail and Eastern Poland were COM
planning that the cows were not
giving enough milk for the nour-
lshment Of Germans. Times.
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
Rat Poison

Three soldiers in German uni
forms ordered coffee at small res
taurant in CzechoSlovakia. The
waiter shouted 10 the kitchen, in
Czech, Three coffees with rat
poison" One 81 the sold .ers stood
up and corrected the order. shout
ING 10 the kitchen. IN Czech. Only
two cofiees with rat poison. please
am sn Austrian"
The Nation
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
By L. D. REDDICK

,R.n,n,.d from The Journal Of Education Sociology
sSXXIHEN IT comes 10 the way the Negro is
w treated. the only difference between the
North and the South Is the weather These are
the words of southern born Negro clergyman OF
BROOKLYN. New York This view. usually less
colorfully expressed is frequently often surprised
and shocked by the manifestations OF race pre)u-
dice in the North
Anti Negro prejudice is considerable in the
northern States but II is inaccurate 10 conclude
that the position OF the Negro and his struggle Tor
rights are identical in all sections OF the Amer
lean nation ON this point there are ut least four
basic differences between the North and the
South" using these terms in a general and loose
fashion In the North:
l. The law is on the Negroes side in his fight for
equal rights.
T. The Negro is not disfranchised.
g. There is no pro slavery. lost cause terrible
Reconstruction days" tradition.
4. The general social and intellectual develop
menf is comparatively higher.
POWERFUL INSTRUMENTS
FOR NORTHERN NEGRO
These four social forccS-the law. the ballot,
tradition and cultural liberalism condition the
environment in which relations take place IN
the North Moreover. these are powerful lnstru-
ments which the Negro finds useful IN his advance
ment They make il possible for the Negro strug-
gle to take the form Of all of the other classic
struggles ior democracy in this country. There is
oppositon-often bitter and terrible Nevertheless,
there remain. always, the direct appeals to the
Declaration of independence, the Constitution OF
the United States Including the Fourteenth and
Fifteenth AmcndmentS), Lincon'S Gettysburg Ad-
oress and existing laws The fight for equality is
legal; ie il is within the law. The weapons are
those used by any other dsadvantaged group with
In the society The Negro struggle is not isolated;
II is part of the general ferment. Labor, women,
the foreign born, and the Negro-al follow the
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
Groan And Bear It

The paper shortage In Britain Is
still a frequent source Of embarrass-
ment Dowagers who before the
war would have blushed with shame
n caught carrying an unwrapped
can Of peas now march down Ok
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13

TT is little funny, but much more bitter, for
Negroes to read all this raving over the Mont
gomery Ward case. Even though we know that the
vast majority of white folk think about America
and American institutions as though the country
did not have thirteen million black citizens il Is
The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-13
Corporal Blames Service Men
For Young Girls Delinquency

(The following which Is reprinted
from the New York Herald Tribune
II q condensation Of an article which
appeared In "Americas Alertman,"
. tabloid edited weekly by an for
the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Command,
Fort Totten.)
BY CPL. ROBERT J. LEVIN
No one calls you Super-Wolf
and you don't consider your
self a Casanova, but you've