St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1962-04-06
Negro And White
Actors Seek Beffer
Break For Performers

- YIN ~ SuuShbuSI =
New York, NY. March 16-Ac-
tor playwright Ossie Davis told an
overflow audience of $50 white
and Negro performers, artists and
lay people that I'VE must rely
on the economic strength of twen-
ty million black people as a means
of bringing about a more demo-
cratic representation of the Amer
lean Negro in our mass entertain
ment media"
Speaking before a meeting spon-
sored by the Committee for the
Employment of Negro Performers
at the Judson Memorial Church
at midnight meeting last night,
Mr.. Davis also said that I'VE must
call upon our own communities to
insist that they withhold their
buying, and we must show them
how to use it."
Segregation is institutional, 1"
he continued. ut exists because
it puts money into the pockets of
the powers that be. The men in
control do not want us to be DIFF
ferent than what we are in their
prejudiced view of the American
scene and we must embarrass
them before the eyes of the
world"
The persons gathered at the
meeting were informed of ways in
which they could become actively
involved in the Committees ac-
tivities and adopted a resolution
which stated:
"In the last decade, we have
seen countries of Africa and Asia
unleash the bonds of colonialism
and oppression to become free
and independent nations. We have
witnessed a valiant chorus of
young Negro and white Ameri-
cans bringing about change in
one of the most horrendous injus-
tees known to man: the jim
crow system Of our beloved Amer
lea. We have circled our men
around the globe in the terrains
of outer space. We appear to live
in a world and a nation with I'M
mitigated substances for progress
and a more noble future for man.
kind.
yet, in the high offices of our
television, motion picture and
Broadway producers, it would APP
pear that we sit very much alone
in another ancient and historic
time, as if the world, the real
world, did not exist beyond the
sight of their cameras, the pros
cenium of their stages.
Upon the American scene, Ne
gro and white must meet at some
given place, as friend, enemy,
colleague by chance or accident,
The world moves fast, slow, swift
still, but it moves! But our theat-
rical entrepreneurs remain stead
fast in their lonely prehistoric
silence, often numbling phrases
that the Negro performer can't
play a lawyer in an all white film,
can't play a doctor in an all white
video drama, can't play a waiter
in an all white play, can't play
an elevator operator in the gar
ment district, and walks home
when the buses of New York are
on strike, for it has been verified
on the Broadway stage that he
doesn't ride subways.
They inevitably suggest that
he return to the long psychology
cal deathwatch between "Porgy
and Bess" and "a Raisin in the
Sum-.
$50 be it, that we, as actors,
actresses, directors, singers, dane
ers, other professionals and lay
people, declare that we have no
intention of waiting any longer
and, gathered en- masse at Jud-
son Memorial Church, 55 Wash
ington Square South, New York
City, this 10th day Of March,
1862, hereby resolve with honor,
grace and care, to actively and
spiritually support the Committee
for the Employment of Negro
Performers in its efforts to effect
a cumulative and qualitative
change in the hiring practices of
Negroes on and off Broadway and
in television and the motion pic
ture industry by direct action and
such methods and techniques
which will lead to a positive
change based on education, mag
nation and negotiation with all
parties involved"