by Alton H. Maddox, Jr.
The Ku Klux Klan dynamited the home of Harry and Harriette Moore on Christmas Day 1951. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. These civil rights martyrs were asleep in their home. A .32 caliber pistol was found among their possessions.
Earlier, the KKK had sponsored a barbecue at a nearby lake. The Moores had been activists in Florida before anyone had heard of Rosa Parks, Martin L. King, Jr. or Medgar Evers.
Earlier, the KKK had sponsored a barbecue at a nearby lake. The Moores had been activists in Florida before anyone had heard of Rosa Parks, Martin L. King, Jr. or Medgar Evers. Among others, the hall of fame of the Southern Poverty Law Center had failed to recognize them.
Among their engagements was the "Groveland Four" which followed the Scottsboro Boys and which preceded Emmett Till and the "Central Park 7". The accuser in each case was a white woman. While transporting two of the handcuffed "Groveland Four" to a court hearing, Sheriff Willis V. McCall of Lake County, Florida fatally shot two of them. The Moores would pursue the case.
When Black, male teachers formed the Florida State Teachers Association during the Depression many of them would pay for it with their lives. Moore was principal of the Mims Colored Elementary School and president of FSTA's District 4. The agenda of FSTA was equal education notwithstanding the separation of races.
After the deaths of the Moores, Charles and Medgar Evers would pick up the torch which was now in Mississippi.
As a teacher, Moore had taken correspondence courses from the University of Florida in medieval history, American government, politics, education and history to upgrade his certificate. He was graduated from Florida Memorial College, a high school. This qualified him to teach "colored" children. His curriculum, as principal, included Black history and voter education. His teachings were violating Florida's censorship laws.
After the deaths of the Moores, Charles and Medgar Evers would pick up the torch which was now in Mississippi. This is called connecting the dots and thinking outside the box. We must look for the common thread. This explains a method of conduct. It will reveal a common philosophy.
It can be argued that Gil Noble shared the same philosophy as Marcus Garvey, Hon. Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, Cong. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. and Kwame Ture. The philosophy of "Like It Is" is exhibited in its graphics. "Like It Is" was taking Blacks in the right direction: self determination.
When most Blacks watched the "Tribute to Gil Noble", they failed to recognize a missing ingredient. I read a book like I watch a television program. This is the same winning formula that I employed in representing unpopular defendants. The process starts with the ending and move to the beginning.
The credits for the most important part of "Like It Is" are at the end of the program. Elombe Brath was the graphics artist. Graphics was the engine for "Like It Is". If WABC-TV did not own the graphics, Elombe Brath did own them. Elombe Brath was the architect. Gil Noble was its engineer. This was a deadly one-two punch. It cost them their lives.
There is a Biblical story of Moses and Aaron. Black people have been indoctrinated to look for and pay attention to Moses. This happens today. The emphasis is on Rosa Parks and not JoAnn Robinson. Similarly, the emphasis is on Dr. W.E.B. DuBois and not on attorney Frederick L. McGhee. The focus of the Birmingham Movement is on Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. and not on Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth.
If Dean Charles Hamilton Houston had a doctorate in legal education, Medgar Evers had a doctorate in the media with an emphasis in public affairs programming. He died for opposing censorship. Today, it is widely practiced in New York City especially on Black commercial radio on Sundays. Blacks are endorsing their own oppression.
Television started in New York City in honest soon after World War II. It would take a decade for NBC to air a public affairs program about the plight of Blacks in the South. Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. received the invitation to discuss this plight on "Meet the Press" in 1957.
Medgar Evers recognized that television would be critical for social change. Among other things, he envisioned Blacks enjoying full citizenship and civil rights. As a veteran of World War II, he vowed to fight for Black rights with the same intensity that he fought for in a foreign land in order for him to return home alive.
After being denied an admission to the law school of Ole Miss in 1954, he would become Mississippi NAACP field secretary in the same year. Television would arrive in Jackson, MS in 1953. Medgar Evers would jump on television like "white on rice". One of the television stations was also the headquarters for the KKK and for the White Citizen's Council which had a bookstore in it.
Medgar Evers started to build a record against WLBT-TV an affiliate of NBC which aired "Meet the Press". The NAACP would argue that many of these stations were working against the public interest. In 1957, NBC would invite Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. as a guest on "Meet the Press". Dr. King would only become the second Black to be a guest on this public affairs program.
Nearly a decade after Medgar Evers embarked on a struggle against apartheid in the media, he finally forced a Jackson television station to air his views against apartheid. This resulted from the record that he had compiled in the FCC. Three weeks, later he had been assassinated by the Klan. This is the price he paid for assaulting censorship and promoting the "fairness doctrine".
Because of Evers' work, the political landscape of television was altered. The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decided Office of Communications of the United Church of Christ v. Federal Communications Commission, 123 U.S. App. D.C. 328, 359 F.2d 994 (1966).
Prior to this landmark decision, individuals could not appear before the FCC to argue pro se or on behalf of anyone. Evers was simply allowed to file complaints. Only the FCC could make arguments on behalf of individuals or organizations.
As a result of this landmark decision, qualified, competent and zealous grassroots organizations could appear before the FCC and make arguments. These organizations had to enjoy a history and exhibit qualifications. Television stations also have to offer public affairs programming to promote debate on public policy issues.
At present, no organization in the tri-state area would survive a challenge to a claim of lack of standing. Television executives and stations would argue a lack of history in the public records. In the tri-state area, only two Black organizations and a person have ever filed a document regarding "Like It Is".
To build an organization, knowledge must be present throughout the membership. At my own expense, I am doing the necessary research and disseminating knowledge. If Blacks in the tri-state area had enjoyed a knowledge of media law four decades ago, there would already be six public affairs programs on six commercial television stations in the tri-state area.
Ignorance is a costly expense. I asked Rev. Al Sharpton and C. Vernon Mason to refrain from making a comment on Steven Pagones' involvement in the rape and kidnapping of Tawana. All of the cameras on me became overbearing. They had to get some attention for themselves even at the expense of Tawana Brawley.
We had to fight a defamation lawsuit. New York State, the white media and Steven Pagones suspected that none of us had done any homework. They guessed wrong. I had done extensive homework and I won on all counts. Saturday morning is another day to do homework.
Ignorance also breeds fear. This was the purpose of the slave codes and it is the purpose of censorship. "What you don't know can kill you". The Black media feeds on censorship. This is why only Ted Murray, United African Movement and "The Tri-State 'Like It Is' Support Coalition" with anonymous coalition members filed complaints.
No Black selected official in the tri-state area has filed a single support paper or document for "Like It Is". No leading Black including Rev. Al Sharpton has filed a single support note nor letter. Rev. Al Sharpton has a conflict-of-interest. Gil Noble told me that two Black selected officials had met with WABC-TV to demand his job.
Public affairs programming is rooted in politics. If "Meet the Press" were erased from television, white politicians themselves would march on NBC. When voting was a capital offense in Mississippi, Medgar Evers, nonetheless, was an adherent of politics. He had the intelligence to connect the dots between public affairs programming and politics.
If the Ku Klux Klan had planned to lynch a Negro on this Saturday morning but the weather forecast predicted snow, I can guarantee that the Klan would be parading a dead "Negro" through the streets. This would happen because the KKK embraces a philosophy which will not submit to inclement weather.
100 Friends of Like It Is must start forthwith. It is too expensive for me to continue sponsoring seminars at my expense. I know of no other person in the tri-state area who would expose himself or herself to a similar risk especially since the sponsor has been unemployed for the last 21 years. This should be the responsibility of Black selected officials.
Too honest for the White Press and too black for much of today's Black Press; bullet columnist Alton Maddox upsets the same people and status quo as he did as an uncompromising Defense Attorney. He is also a founding member of the Freedom Party. Please sign his Petition to save "Like It Is." Contact him at c/o UAM P.O. BOX 35 BRONX, NY 10471
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