Brother Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall was born and raised in Baltimore. He
graduated from Lincoln University in 1930 where he pledged
Nu Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and studied
law at Howard University. Shortly after graduation from law
school, Marshall became associated with the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
and later became the head of the organization's Legal
Defense and Education Fund.
Marshall was a key strategist in the legal effort to
dismantle racial segregation in housing, voting, and
education. He was chief counsel in the historic cases known
as Brown v. Board of Education.
President John F. Kennedy appointed Marshall to the United
States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Four years
later, President Lyndon Johnson appointed him as solicitor
general. Johnson turned to Marshall in 1967 to fill a
vacancy on the Supreme Court.
Marshall was the first black to serve on the Court. He was
an unrepentant liberal whose commitment to equality only
expanded during his years of service. He remained true to
the values of freedom and equality despite the erosion of
the liberal majority that he helped sustain when he was
first appointed. In one of his last opinions (Dissenting
from a conservative majority), Marshall declared that
"[p]ower, not reason, is the new currency of this Court's
decision making." He retired in 1991 when his health
deteriorated. Marshall died of heart failure in January
1993.
Alpha Phi Alpha Pledges at Lincoln
University. Thurgood Marshall (middle row, second from the
right)
would go on to become the first Black justice to
serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Brother Paul Robeson
After graduation from Rutgers, Robeson entered Columbia Law
School. He helped pay his way through law
school by working as an athlete and a performer. He played
professional football in the American Professional Football
Association (later called the National Football League).
He served as assistant football coach at Lincoln
University in Pennsylvania, where he was initiated into the
Nu Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha.
Robeson an actor of film and stage, All-American and
professional athlete, writer, multi-lingual orator, lawyer,
and basso profondo concert singer who was also
noted for his wide-ranging social justice activism.
A forerunner of the civil rights movement, Robeson
was a trades union activist, peace activist, Phi Beta Kappa
Society laureate, and a recipient of the Spingarn Medal and
Stalin Peace Prize. Robeson
achieved worldwide fame and recognition during his life for
his artistic accomplishments, and his outspoken, radical
beliefs which largely clashed with the colonial powers of
Western Europe and the Jim Crow climate of pre-civil rights
America.
Paul Robeson was the first major concert star to popularize
the performance of Negro spirituals and was the first black
actor of the 20th century to portray William Shakespeare's
Othello. His 1943-44 Broadway
run of Othello still holds the record for the
longest running Shakespeare play. In line
with Robeson's vocal dissatisfaction with movie stereotypes,
his roles in both the American and British film industry
were some of the first parts ever created that displayed
dignity and respect for the African American film actor,
paving the way for Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte.
At the height of his fame, Paul Robeson decided to become a
primarily political artist, speaking out against fascism and
racism in the US and abroad as white America failed
post-World War II to stand up for the rights of people of
color. Robeson thus became a prime target
of the Red Scare during the late 1940s through to the late
1950s. His passport was revoked from 1950
to 1958 under the McCarran Act and he was under surveillance
by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central
Intelligence Agency and by British MI5 for well over three
decades until his death in 1976. The
reasoning behind his persecution centered not only on his
beliefs in socialism and friendship with the peoples of the
Soviet Union but also his tireless work towards the
liberation of the colonial peoples of Africa, the Caribbean
and Asia, his support of the International Brigades, his
ardent efforts to push for anti-lynching legislation and the
integration of major league baseball among many other causes
that challenged worldwide white supremacy.
Condemnation of Robeson and his beliefs came swiftly,
from both the white establishment of the US, including the
United States Congress, and many mainstream black
organizations including the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
This mass vilification by the American establishment
blacklisted and isolated Robeson for the latter part of his
career. Despite the fact that Paul
Robeson was one of the most internationally famous cultural
figures of his era, the persecution virtually erased him
from mainstream culture and subsequent interpretations of
20th century history, including civil rights and black
history.
To this day, Paul Robeson's FBI file is one of the largest
of any entertainer ever investigated by the United States
Intelligence Community, requiring its own internal index and
unique status of health file.
Despite persecution and limited activity resulting from
ailing health in his later years, Paul Robeson remained,
throughout his life, committed to world peace and
anti-fascism and was unapologetic about his political views.
Present day advocates and historians of Paul
Robeson's legacy have worked successfully to restore his
name to history books and sports records, while honoring his
memory globally with celebrations, festivals and posthumous
awards and recognitions.
Brother Harold E. Pierce Jr.
Brigadier General (USAF, PANG, ret.)(April 4, 1922 -
October 25, 2006), was an internationally renowned
American Dermatologist and Cosmetic Surgeon who
practiced in Philadelphia, PA for over 48 years. Brother
Pierce attended Lincoln University in 1942 with a B.S.
degree and pledged Alpha Phi Alpha. In 1946, he
graduated from Howard University College of Medicine
with an MD degree. Brother Pierce later studied under
famed Charles Drew while at Howard University. Pierce
completed an internship at Harlem Hospital in New York
City, a residency in dermatology at the Philadelphia
General Hospital and Fellowship in dermatology at the
University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of
Medicine.
Brother Herb J. Wesson, Jr.
Brother Wesson is a California politician. He currently
serves as a Los Angeles Councilman, representing the
10th district. He served in the State Assembly
representing the 47th district from 1998 until 2004. He
served as Speaker of the California State Assembly from
2002 until 2004. Brother Wesson received his
undergraduate degree from Lincoln University, PA, where
he pledged Alpha Phi Alpha.
Brother Franklin Williams (Diplomat)
Brother Williams, was a lawyer and civil rights leader.
As an assistant to Brother Thurgood Marshall, he
represented the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People [NAACP] before courts in criminal
cases throughout the South. Brother Williams graduated
from Lincoln University in 1941, where he pledged Alpha
Phi Alpha. In 1959, Brother Williams became Assistant
Attorney General in California and in 1961 the Kennedy
Administration appointed him to assist Sargent Shriver
in organizing the Peace Corps. As a delegate to UNESCO
he championed establishment of an international
counterpart to the Corps. Under President Johnson,
Brother Williams became the first black representative
to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and
later was appointed Ambassador to Ghana, Africa. Brother
Williams held many other honorable positions in his
esteemed career. Brother Williams joined Omega Chapter
in 1990 at the age of 72.
Brother Horace Greeley Dawson, Jr.
Brother Dawson was born in
Augusta, Georgia. He was a diplomat, and served as
the United States
Ambassador to
Botswana.
After graduation from high school, Brother Dawson
attended
Lincoln University in
Pennsylvania for two years before being drafted into
the
U.S. Army, serving a two-year tour of duty in
Europe
and the
Philippines. Brother Dawson then returned to
Lincoln University to finish his studies, earning a
B.A. in English in 1949. Brother Dawson went on to
study
English and
comparative literature at
Columbia University and received his
M.A. the following year. During his tenure at
Lincoln University, Brother Dawson pledged Alpha Phi
Alpha. Brother Dawson began his career as an
English teacher at
Southern University in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he remained three
years after earning his
M.A.. He then went on to teach at
North Carolina Central University, where he worked
as an
associate professor of
English and director of public relations. He also
received his
Ph.D.
from the
University of Iowa in 1961. In 1962, Brother
Dawson entered the
Foreign Service, working as a cultural affairs
officer in
Uganda and
Nigeria,
and then as the United States Information Agency
Director in
Liberia.
From 1973 to 1977, Brother Dawson held a prominent
position as the director of all American information and
cultural programs in
Africa.
Subsequently, Brother Dawson became the counselor of
embassy for public affairs and the director of American
information and cultural programs in the
Philippines, where he remained until 1979. That
year, he was named
ambassador to
Botswana
by President
Jimmy Carter. As
ambassador, he worked to end
apartheid in South Africa. Returning to the
United States in 1983, Brother Dawson remained with
the State Department until his retirement in 1989. He
then joined the faculty at
Howard University and was appointed director of the
public affairs program. In 1993, Brother Dawson
established the Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs
Center at Howard, and in 1997 became the director of
that program as well. Brother Dawson is a member
of the
Peace
Corps Advisory Board, chairman of the Selection
Committee for the Franklin H. Williams Memorial
Internship Program of the Council on Foreign Relations,
and recently ended his term as chairman of the
Association of Black American Ambassadors. Listed in
mass media and international affairs. His wife, Lula
Cole Dawson, a
sociologist and employment specialist, died in 2004.
They have two children. Brother Dawson is a
member of
Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate
Greek-letter
fraternity established for African Americans. [1]
He is the chairman the fraternity's World Policy
Council, a
think
tank whose purpose is to expand Alpha Phi Alpha's
involvement in politics, and social and current policy
to encompass international concerns.
Brother Robert L. Carter
Brother Robert Lee Carter was born on
March 11,
1917, in
Careyville,
Florida. While still very young, his mother moved
north to
Newark, New Jersey, where he was raised. Judge
Carter graduated from high school at sixteen and
attended
Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) on a scholarship
and earned his
bachelor's degree in
political science, and pledged Alpha Phi Alpha. He
attended
Howard University School of Law on a scholarship.
Brother Carter graduated from
Howard University School of Law in 1940. Brother
Carter earned his LL.M. from
Columbia Law School in 1941, after writing an
influential master's thesis that would later define the
NAACP's legal strategy on the right to freedom of
association under the
First Amendment to the
United States Constitution. Brother Carter was a
co-founder of the
National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL). He has
served as a member of innumerable committees of the bar
and the court, and has been associated with a very wide
array of educational institutions, organizations, and
foundations. He has written extensively about
discrimination in the United States, particularly school
segregation, and of his longtime friends and colleagues,
Thurgood Marshall and
Charles Hamilton Houston.
Brother Bruce M. Wright
Brother Bruce M. Wright ( September
28,
1918 –
March 24,
2005) was an
American
jurist and served on the New York State Supreme
Court. Judge Wright is also the father of
Keith L.T. Wright a member of the
New York State Assembly in
New York,
United States. He was born in
Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, and raised in
Harlem, New York. Brother Bruce McMarion Wright's
father was Black and his mother was white. He was
awarded a scholarship to attend
Princeton University in 1939, but denied admission
when the university learned that he was Black. Wright
was denied admission to
Notre Dame on the same grounds. Wright had no
trouble entering a
U.S. Army, Infantry Division. After
World War II, he went AWOL, making his way to Paris,
where he was befriended by
Senegalese poet
Leopold Senghor, who later became his country's
first president. Wright’s early ambition was to become a
poet and was introduced and later became a friend of
Langston Hughes. Wright's first book of poetry,
"From the Shaken Tower," was edited by Hughes and
published in 1944. He then graduated from
Lincoln University, PA (where he pledged Alpha Phi
Alpha), attended
Fordham University Law School, and obtained his law
degree from
New York University Law School.
Mayor
John V. Lindsay named him to the bench in 1970.
Judge Wright was critical of the judicial system and
believed that race and class all too frequently
determined the outcome of a trial. Appointed as the
General Counsel for the Human Resources Administration
in New York City, Wright served as a judge in New York's
civil and criminal courts. He was elected to the New
York State Supreme Court in 1982 and retired on Dec. 31,
1994. Justice Wright spent 25 years on the bench
in both criminal and civil cases, gaining a reputation
as a scholarly and provocative jurist who sprinkled his
opinions with literary quotations. He was the author of
a 1987 book, “Black Robes, White Justice,” about the
role of race in the judicial system. Wright suffered a
heart attack in March 2000 and was made an honorary
member of Princeton's 2001 class 65 years after being
denied a scholarship because of his race. Judge
Bruce M. Wright, who denounced what he called racism in
the criminal justice system and created a furor in the
1970s by setting low bail for many poor and minority
suspects, died in his sleep on March 24, 2005, at his
home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut at the age of 86. His
wife, Elizabeth Davidson-Wright, announced his death
|
