Black Power & Race

Black power and race

Certainly the most difficult and divisive issue that President Donnelly had to face was the issue of race. As the desire for black power grew out of the civil rights movement in the late 1960s the college faced the American dilemma of race relations dramatically in 1969.

The response of the college to minority concerns often reflected the changes taking place in the whole society. The 1932 yearbook includes no more than four black students in both the freshman and sophomore classes. One of them was Ruth Van Zandt who was one of the first black teachers in Flint. The first black classroom teacher in Flint was Marion Coates-Williams who was hired in 1943 at Fairview Elementary School. She graduated from the junior college in 1941 and went on to earn her teaching certificate at Michigan State Normal School in Ypsilanti, now Eastern Michigan University. In a 1996 interview Williams said that her years at the junior college were “very pleasant and rewarding.” In particular she said that she received a good education and “really learned how to study,” which prepared her well for further education. When she went on to complete her teaching degree she said, “It was just like a snap. I had no problems because I learned how to study at the junior college.” She remembers Stan Powley as her political science instructor, who founded the teacher’s credit union in 1934 and said that her history teacher, Margaret Maddox, was “so hard, but I learned a great deal.” Williams also recalls being very flattered when she was told by her French Teacher that she “spoke French like a native.” That comment stirred her to minor in the language. It was also at the junior college that Williams’ career goals were defined. At first she wanted to go into social work, but her counselor advised her that jobs would be easier to find if she pursued a teaching career. In retrospect she had no regrets about her decision.

She was one of about four black students at the college at the time and there were no black faculty. In spite of that, she said that she felt no obvious discrimination but that “we kept to ourselves” and were too busy studying to worry about it. She found the atmosphere to be supportive and has “warm memories of her times there.” Like many others who recall the old Oak Grove Campus, she remembers the “pretty campus” and had “good memories of walking through the tunnels” of the old sanitarium.

One of Coates-Williams’ students at Fairview School was Ulus T. Silk who attended the junior college over a more than 40 year time span. Silk was a track star from Central High School who was admitted to the African American Hall of Fame in 1994 for his record-breaking time in the quarter-mile run. Just out of high school, Silk began to attend the junior college in 1953, giving some thought to a career in pharmacy. In 1957 he entered the U. S. Army and served two years. In 1961 he returned pursuing a skilled trades apprenticeship program in metallurgy and tool making while working at GM. In 1975 he completed his degree at the college. He retired from AC in 1988 only to return to the college again in 1997, to begin work on a degree in criminal justice with program coordinator Avon Burns. Silk recalls “the tunnels” that were part of the Oak Grove Campus and remembers that his education made him “very disciplined.” In particular he credits faculty members Bill Bednar, biology; Ed “Doc” Rogers, psychology; Mary Roof, math; and English instructor, Lena Johnson for helping him along the way. He said he felt little discrimination in Flint and said that his reputation as a Central High School athlete helped him.

The first black graduate of Flint Junior College was Mel Banner who received his degree in 1936. Other blacks had attended earlier but had gone on without earning a degree at the college. Banner taught junior high and at the Schools of Choice in Flint and became a writer and historian of the black experience in Michigan. A Short Negro History of Flint and The Black Pioneer in Michigan. He also wrote for and edited several black newspapers, including the Flint Mirror, the Bronze Reporter and the Flint Spokesman. He also edited the first editions of The Circle, a Flint Urban League publication. In several 1996 letters, Banner recalls that his history teacher at the junior college was William Shattuck and that Margaret Maddox was his counselor. Of his experience at the college in the 1930s he wrote, “There were no Black faculty. Blacks were welcome but they had no money to pay tuition costs. Segregation was not an issue. I saw no other forms of discrimination. I was too busy trying to keep my own work and studies going to pass my classes.”

Rhonda Sanders, in her recent book Bronze Pillars: An Oral History of African Americans in Flint, recorded some of the black experience at the junior college when she wrote, “Now black women in Flint are dentists, doctors, lawyers, accountants, bankers, engineers and just about any occupation you can name. Quite a few started at Flint Junior College (now MCC).”

Sanders writes of Ruth Scott who attended in the late 1940s but almost gave it up for the good wages in the factory. She gave serious thought to taking a third shift job and going to school at the same time and was quoted in Sanders’ book, “Luckily, I didn’t get hired,” said Scott, a retired teacher. A lot of girls who went to Flint Junior College with me were going to school days and working nights and finally they quit and went to the shop (full time) and never finished school.”

William Picard has been described as the college’s first black millionaire. Picard who attended the college in the early 1960s found his business success with a chain of fast food restaurants, among other ventures. He was a commencement speaker in the early 1990s.

(Webmaster’s note: Dr. William Picard was one of my teachers at Wayne State University in the School of Social Work. He was by far the best teacher and the most amazing man I have ever met. Over the years, I have thought of him often and appreciated his influence on my thinking and attitudes. This “white woman” owes Dr. Picard so very much. Geraldine K. Waite, EdS, LLP)

Over the years the college, like the society, did respond to the changing face of America. Among the first black faculty were Dr. Edelbert (Doc) Rogers, psychology; and Jim Randall, sociology, who joined the college in 1956 and James Odom, English, who began teaching in 1961. The first black administrator probably was Bud Edwards, whose wife, Ginger (Goldie) later headed the Social Work program. Both Rogers and Randall were present in 1963 when Martin Luther King gave his famous “I have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C.

Bill Johnson, political science instructor, was one of the first to teach Black History at the college. In 1971, Johnson became the assistant director of the Urban League in Flint and then headed the Rochester, NY branch. He was later elected mayor of Rochester in the 1993 and reelected in 1997. At about the same time one of his former students, Woodrow Stanley, was elected mayor of Flint. Stanley recalls that his years at the college, 1969-71 were a time of a “tremendous amount of awareness of national and international politics, from Vietnam to a heightened sense of black awareness.” Yet even with the increased sense of black pride and black power he recalls that there was a “great deal of cooperation between groups on campus” and that while the campus was large, it was possible for an active student to get to know a lot of students, faculty and administrators.” Stanley did just that as a member of the student government, the Black Student Union and the Volunteer Corps that served as mentors for other students.

Though he always had an interest in politics, Stanley said that one class at the junior college led to his first campaign experience. He was a student in Alice Wallace’s political science class when Mattie Fordham, who was running for the city council seat in the 5^th Ward in Flint, spoke to the class. After a post-class discussion Stanley ended up as the manager for Forham’s primary campaign, his first foray into local politics. She won the primary and then, for the general election recruited Bill Johnson to manage the campaign. Johnson and Stanley worked together on Fordham’s campaign only to see her lose by 57 votes. As a student of Johnson’s, Stanley said that “Johnson always impressed me with his understanding of politics” and that he liked to debate issues with him after class. He recalls that Johnson was “always suggesting readings about politics” to him. They formed a “fast friendship” that continues today. Stanley and Johnson serve as mayors of major industrial cities and see each other several times a year when they share their respective cities’ concerns and problems.

Over the years the number of black students, faculty and staff, increased. By 1995-96 about 16.6% of the college’s students were African-American, as were 9.8% of its faculty. The first black to be elected to the college’s Board of Trustees was Edwynna Anderson in 1975. Others elected since that time have been Jesse Thompson (1980), Lenore Croudy (1987) and Dr. Marion Dunn (1993).

In the 1960s the student activism and anger of the anti-war movement fused with the civil rights movement and led to the demand for “Black Power” in many parts of society. Many campuses faced the challenge raised by angry black voices and Flint Junior College was not exempt. In early 1969 the Black Student Union began to present a series of “irrevocable and non-negotiable” demands to President Donnelly. These demands focused on several areas. First, the student newspaper, The College Clamor, was to include more black staff members who would be in charge of two pages (of six) in the college paper. Second, the college choir, a part of the Fine Arts Division, was to “be reorganized so as to be more responsive and representative of Black Folk…by incorporating more Black-contributed musical compositions in the program…” Third, “that the Black History course be expanded so as to allow more enrollment by the Black Student Body… we order the addition of proportionate Black Instructors to accommodate these additional classes.” Other demands for a team of black professionals to study the campus, removal of all police and more black instructors, followed that semester. These demands from the Black Student Union, and the events that followed also sparked counter-demands from a small group of students who formed what was called White Student Union, who also pressed their demands on President Donnelly.

The tension exploded on May 1, 1969 when members of the Black Student Union met to discuss their grievances among themselves. According to their attorney, Milton Henry, during the discussion one student stood up and read the part of the Declaration of Independence that encourages overthrowing unjust governments. The group then went to the DeWaters Art Center to seek out college officials. When they arrived and found the office door locked, someone yelled “that’s it” and the group began to vandalize the Art Center. During the incident, glass was broken and works of art badly damaged. About $4,000 of damage was done. Police arrested 18 and 14 were bound over to Circuit Court for trial on riot and conspiracy charges. In the end they all pleaded guilty to the charges and made restitution for the damages. Each of the defendants individually made a statement of guilt and offered support for the overall goals of the Black Student Union. One of them said in a Flint Journal story, “I still feel all the BSU goals were proper. To help black people is a good idea.” Another defendant said, “I know we did wrong. I would never take again the steps we took at that time because I’ve learned that it was wrong.”

Henry, one of the attorneys for the group, read a prepared statement to the court for the group that said in part: “We realize what we did was wrong and we regret the great difficulty that our conduct has caused to this community and to law enforcement. We urge others in our community who dissent to do so in a legal, non-violent manner.”

Later Henry was quoted by the Flint Journal court reporter Gary Taylor. “I’ve been a long time representing persons in the civil rights movement – people dedicated to the intensity of their convictions. I’ve been deeply affected by this case because I’ve never had a group of clients as moral in their approach. We’ve got some fine kids here who mad a mistake when they were very young.”

Some of the demands were met; others were not. In the early 1970s the College Clamor regularly published articles on Black Power and black pride by Harrison Jones, Charles Winfrey and Charles Sherrod, among others.

Reflecting on the whole era of racial protest Donnelly wrote in 1996:

            “The extent of the racial unrest bothered me greatly. We had information that our college had been picked by the SDS, a militant national student group, for disturbances. It was difficult not to worry about the safety of the college community. It was difficult for my family as people drove by our house saying that this is the house we are going to burn down tonight. It was difficult to live with telephone threats, with police protection, with bodyguards. It was difficult to have former friends turn against you. But the amazing thing was that no lives were lost.”

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Extracted and transcribed by Geraldine Waite from a book by Paul Rozycki, A Clearer Image The 75 Year History of Mott Community College (Paul Rozycki: Flint, MI, January 1998)

Does anyone know where the fourteen students are today? How about Dr. Pickard? Last I heard he was a "gentleman farmer" in Holly, MI. I think that follow-up information would be very interesting. If anyone has information contact me.
 

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