June 7, 2020
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
Vol. 25, Issue 20
“Our vote and our money are the two most powerful things we have. Be careful who you give them to.” - Roy Douglas Malonson By: N.L. Preston HOUSTON- Burn, baby burn. March, baby march. Cry, baby cry. Die … baby … die! That’s the reality of the Black man in America. On May 25, Houston native George Floyd pleaded for mercy as he gasped for air and cried out for his mama as a racist cop, Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck. The former Yates High School Lion laid helplessly on a Minneapolis pavement, already handcuffed and not resisting, as four officers on top of him waited patiently for him to die. It took eight long, agonizing minutes and 46 seconds but finally, he stopped breathing. Much, many believe, to the satisfaction of Chauvin, who proudly glared into the cameras of bystanders recording the entire incident while begging him to stop. Now “Big Floyd,” as he was affectionately called by family and friends, is dead, Chauvin is facing charges and the American “justice” system is under attack by angry protesters who are all “sick and tired of being sick and tired,” as Fannie Lou Hamer famously said. “We’ve got to tear down that whole system. The whole system is corrupt,” Rapper and activist Trae the Truth said, encouraging a peaceful protest in Chauvin’s hometown. “We are going to do this for George Floyd and for Houston, Texas. We are going to show the whole world and the nation what we stand for.” In the biggest mass protest the country has ever seen, tens of thousands have banded together in cities across the nation demanding justice “by any means necessary,” as the late, great Malcolm X called for. President Donald Trump, instead of calling for calm, has been speaking out against the protesters, even threatening to release dogs on any ‘thug’ who approached the White House. How did we get to a point when, in 2020, Blacks remain vulnerable
CRIMINAL -FOR US JUSTICE -FOR THEM SYSTEM -FOR CHANGE to blatant racism – many claim is being incited by our own president? “I don’t have to chronicle the long history of our nightmare from 1619 because it’s too well understood to be the subject of any serious debate about how we got to our current state. But at the same time, spaceships don’t come equipped
with rearview mirrors,” the Hon. Craig Washington said. “I’ve always maintained that the biggest single thing that led us to where we are today is that, at the end of reconstruction when the Union soldiers pulled out of the South, they left us here without any way to defend ourselves. We didn’t have any weapons nor any law enforcement
to protect us. Do you think if we were armed the White Knights and Klu Klux Klan would have felt so free to drag us out of our homes and burn crosses in our yards? Now we have come to a place where the rubber has met the road. We are tired of seeing the Eric Garners and Trayvon Martins being killed. I even had a relative, Jesse Washington, who was lynched in Waco, Texas in 1919.” And what can we say to our youth who are fighting to live the “American Dream” which was never designed for them? “The most powerful weapons the Black man have are his money and the power to vote,” African-American News&Issues publisher Roy Douglas Malonson said. “Control the black dollar, you can control ‘the man’ and use your right to vote to put the right people in office, which can help you control your neighborhoods.” History proves withholding the black dollar has power. After Rosa Parks was jailed on Dec. 1, 1955 for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus, negroes refused to further patronize the public transportation system, in which they heavily relied upon, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott was born. Approximately 40,000 negro bus riders—the majority of the city’s bus riders—boycotted the system on December 5 and, later that afternoon, negro leaders met to form the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). The group elected Martin Luther King, Jr., the 26-year-oldpastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, as its president. King, along with Ralph Abernathy and other community leaders, decided to continue the boycott until the city met its demands. Montgomery City Lines lost between 30,000 and 40,000 bus fares each day during the boycott, suffering great financial loss, and after 381 days, the city ended its previous policies and open seating was initiated for all passengers. “My soul has been tired for a long
Justice on page 2
‘THE SHEPHERD’ MANSON JOHNSON II 10/14/48 – 5/31/20
“STAY ON TOP!”
By: Omowale Luthuli- Allen
A good soldier stays on the battlefield until he receives orders from the Commander to come home. No matter how challenging the circumstances on the battlefield, the good soldier fights and perseveres to the very end. Houston’s beloved “Shepherd” Manson B. Johnson died after suffering complications due to COVID-19. He put up a good fight, now it’s time for him to rest. During the turbulent 1960’s Holman Street Baptist Church was under the dynamic leadership of Pastor Douglas. This was a church that could be counted on to stand in the gap during the time of transformation. Hope had declared that a change is gonna come. This change would involve a man child in the promised land. Pastor Manson B. Johnson lived in the black belt community of Starkville, Mississippi as a child. Starkville was home to several colleges and was a bastion of the Old South. In the 20’s, black men had been lynched and Klan Rallies were commonplace. Blood was in the Mississippi fields. Johnson’s family possessed a deep pedigree in that they were distinguished educators. Before he was Pastor Johnson, he understood that he had a mission to fulfill, to reap because others had sowed. The gift of Texas Southern University and Prairie View extended the educational pedigree for Johnson. He was moved to be the Mathematics chairperson at the challenging Cullen Middle School in the near Foster Place Community. Johnson was in the process of being gifted with the attributes to lead a flock. Moses had no idea of the mission that he was prepared for. We are not measuring Johnson by the Moses or Abraham yardstick, only by the charge and mission that was given to him. As he was living an exemplary life, he was rewarded and put in the vise grip and shaken. The evil forces attempted to sift him as wheat and chase him off the path. Indeed, God does not call the qualified, he qualifies the called. Johnson served honorably as Pastor of the Holman Street flock for 43 long years. His community stood a few blocks from a black tar heroin distribution site and crushing poverty in the bottoms. The vestiges of slavery and Jim Crow slapped him in the face almost daily. Johnson, while a student at TSU, endured an invasion of the police at TSU in 1967. He was strip search and forcibly detained. Johnson knew that the Christian fight was not an easy fight. His scripture had taught him that Paul said to Timothy, “Thou therefore endure suffering as a good soldier.” This riveting experience only steadied and increased his
Manson on page 2
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Manson, cont’d
resolve to serve. Johnson preached and taught living holy to get the reward of Heaven in the next life, however, he built programs to establish the good life on this side of the Jordan. Religion was not opium nor an escape for him. Eastside Village, one of the many ministries was an ancillary project to increase the competency and fighting ability of his congregation and community members. Many residents are fluent in Spanish and pursuing higher education through the unique partnerships and symbiotic relationships that he participated in. Johnson was the prototype of the kind of pastor that was distressed by witnessing his people wandering in the desert as the University of Houston and other commercial forces were devouring the available land west of I-45 and Holman Street. Because he knew who he was working for, he set loose many ministries for uplift, singles, boys, economic development ministries. Rabbi Kushner captures the essence of the MAN SON. We quote from the book that Johnson loved, Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. Chapter 13 of the book of Leviticus tells the community how
Justice, cont’d
time. Now my feet are tired, and my soul is resting,” one elderly negro woman said. Back then, peaceful demonstrators turned the other cheeks when racists threw stones and smashed bricks across their backs, spat in their faces, and released dogs and fire hoses on the youth. Oh, but this is a new generation of young #BlackLivesMatter protesters who, while always beginning peacefully, won’t go down without a fight; and physically, if need be. “I call this a microwave generation. They don’t know the meaning of crawl before you walk. They want it now, as they should,” Washington said. “But you don’t give your adversary a distraction with looting and rioting, they killed him (Floyd) in worse ways than you kill a dog! That’s the issue.” As seen on TV and social media, protesters angry over what happened to Floyd have snatched drivers out of vehicles, smashed windows, flipped over cop cars, burned down a Minneapolis police station and are standing toe-to-toe
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
REST IN PEACE, MY FRIEND
By: Gene Locke
MANSON JOHNSON AMONG to deal with the case of a STUDENTS IN 1967 TSU/HPD RIOT man who is quarantined the whole person. after contracting a highlyThere is no way that you can pascontagious skin disease. We tor an urban church for 43 years if read in Leviticus 13:3-4 that you do not see people with both twice a week the village priest eyes. Seeing the Holman Street who was also the medical authorcommunity and the people that he ity, was to examine the person to served with both eyes reinforces see if the skin lesions were superto the good shepherd why he loves ficial or if they extended deep into them. There is no way that you can the skin, and to evaluate whether have 40 plus years of service and the person was ready to be reintemarriage to a soulmate unless you grated into society. That prompts love them. the commentator to remark that It is Nobler to be a MAN SON to estimate accurately the depth than a cabinet member at 1600 of the wound, both of Kohen’s Pennsylvania, Washington D C. eyes would have to be functioning African-American News&Issues properly. He was able to see the believes that Pastor MAN SON’s infection but also the healthy flesh life was well-lived, and his existence around it. made all of our live ‘s better as a Thus, Kushner concludes that a good father, good husband and narrow-minded or one-eyed mingood shepherd. Stay on top! ister cannot judge cases of impurity. He would see the sore and not
against law enforcement officers, many whom had the previous privilege of hiding behind a badge and a gun. They are calling them out, but are the protesters going about it the wrong way? An emotional Terence Floyd, the victim’s brother, visited the site in Minneapolis where his brother took his last breath. He made a plea to protesters, asking them to stop looting and rioting in their own neighborhoods, which is only hurting themselves. What’s making matters worse is groups of anarchists and racial extremists have secretly “hijacked” the protests, causing more violence and helping to destroy Black neighborhoods. “I understand y’all are upset, but I doubt y’all are half as upset as I am,” Terence Floyd said. “So if I’m not over here wilding out, if I’m not over here blowing up stuff, if I’m not over here messing up my community, then what are y’all doing? Let’s start doing this another way. Let’s stop thinking that our voice doesn’t matter— and vote!”
- AANI
Barack Obama is echoing the same sentiments. “So, if we want to bring about real change, the choice isn’t between protest and politics––we have to do both. We have to mobilize to raise awareness, and we have to organize and cast our ballots to make sure that we elect candidates who will act on reform,” the former president tweeted. Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather is paying for Floyd’s funeral, which will be held in southwest Houston. A public viewing will be held from noon to 6 p.m. Monday, June 8, at Fountains of Praise church on Hillcroft Avenue, followed by a homegoing celebration the next day, beginning at 11 a.m. How long will we have to keep burying our Black men? Which method will you use to fight to keep them alive? #BlackLivesMatter
- AANI
To know Manson Johnson was to love Manson Johnson. That was how I felt in the late 1960’s when we met. That was also how I felt this week when I learned of his death. His engulfing spirit, his broad smile, his commitment to character and values -all of these traits made y o u want to be his friend. H i s death is a loss to so many of us. During the 1960’s, many African American youth were fed up with racism and America’s empty proclamation of “equality for all.” (Does this sound familiar?) In Houston, students at the University of Houston and Texas Southern University organized, protested, marched, demonstrated and challenged blatant and systemic racism. I was at the University of Houston. Manson Johnson was at Texas Southern University. We first met at a protest march and immediately bonded. Back then, you could sense his deep love for people and his deeper love for righteousness. Over the next 50 plus years, he and I worked together on various issues and projects, ranging from police brutality to affordable housing to economic development. He served long term as a board member for the Sports Authority, helping with creation of various local sports venues. I served as the attorney for the Sports Authority. This enabled us to get even closer as friends.
Rev. Johnson lived a life that teaches us that following the basics can bless so many. In essence, he was about faith, family and community. These three things truly are the basics. His devotion to his faith was evident to all who encountered him and exemplified in his work at Holman Street Baptist Church. His family was his heart. I admired the way he spoke so lovingly and pridefully of all of them. His commitment to his community was shown by the countless hours he gave to help improve opportunities for others. He didn’t shy away from issues because they were difficult or controversial. But he did try to focus his energy on things that would be impactful on the lives of people. We have suffered a loss. It hurts. I have lost a friend. He will be missed. Rest in Peace my friend. Stay on top! - AANI
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