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Page 1: Interview with Mr - Blackbottom€¦ · Web viewInterview with Mr. Samuel London Evans. ... then a shoe company, he worked at Stark Piano Co. at 12th and Chestnut Streets. ... If

Interview with Mr. Samuel London Evans

Interviewer: Michelle Tiger, MSW candidate, University of Pennsylvania

Mr. Samuel London Evans was born on November 11, 1902. He was 100 years of age at the time of this interview. He founded the American Foundation of Negro Affairs (AFNA), which provides educational scholarships and promotes higher education and achievement of African Americans. Mr. Evans was born on a farm in Florida and moved to Philadelphia at age 17 looking for brighter opportunities. He is a self-educated man, having spent his entire life reading scholarly writings, including Aristotle, Bismarck, and Machiavelli, and having taught himself the music of Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms, among others. After working as a porter at a foundry, then a shoe company, he worked at Stark Piano Co. at 12th and Chestnut Streets. While working at the piano company, he noticed the player piano rolls being discarded and asked if he could take them home. At home, he put them in the player piano and listened and learned classical music. He later became a music impresario in Philadelphia, booking classical musicians and other artists at venues throughout the city.

He is also a powerful political figure in Philadelphia. He was an important participant in the “Buy Where You Work” picketing campaign, which involved hundreds of African Americans picketing on Columbia Avenue in north Philadelphia against businesses that would not hire African Americans. He later developed a Youth City that drew national publicity and a visit by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The Youth City was a self-governing entity in which youths were the mayors, lawyers, police, and judges responsible for making it run. It provided opportunities for youth for education and career development.

******************************************************************************Mr. Samuel London Evans provided “a brief sketch of Philadelphia history.”

Mr. Evans: If you go back 50 or 75 years, you find in Philadelphia that African Americans, Hispanics and the disadvantaged were struggling for equality across the board. In education, business, and politics. The African American who fought to gain freedom out slavery by the Republican Party. Who fought and supported Abe Lincoln while the Democratic Party fought against it. So they won. Up until the 1920s, 85% of African Americans were registered Republican. Republican after the 1929 Depression under Hoover. Bread lines. The poor got poorer. Roosevelt, out of his bed of infliction, he came with his shirt collar wide open and his face to the sun, and the best thing he done was knelt at the altar and prayed. He arose and with one stroke of his pen, he stopped the Depression in one day. So the Democratic Party was created at that time. African Americans, Jewish, neighbors…the Democratic Party was created. And Blacks took the party from the Southerners. So much so that the Southerners got mad and quit and left and went with the Republicans. We took the party from them.

Now, then you come with individuals and groups and equal representations. In Philadelphia, we helped elect the first black state legislators. This was in the 1930s. And then, we fought…I set up the movement and fought for equality and justice in economics. On Columbia Avenue in north Philadelphia, 50% of the business patronage was black. But they wouldn’t hire black people. So we picketed the stores on Columbia Avenue and 100 people got arrested, including

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myself. Picketing stores was against the law. There was a struggle between the Catholic and the Jews in controlling the business on Columbia Avenue. So we went to court. The merchants brought 3 carloads of witnesses. They bought them suits to look good. I brought 3 carloads of witnesses. So in the morning session, the judge asked the merchants’ witnesses, “what did you see?” They said, “I saw Mr. Evans threatening the merchants.” They pointed me out. I hadn’t threatened anybody. Then we adjourned for lunch. My witnesses said “Mr. Evans, don’t we get lunch?” I said “No, I don’t have money.” The witnesses said “No lunch, no testify.” So I said to my lawyer, Rhoades, a very weak lawyer, “I don’t want those witnesses to testify for me.” My lawyer said, “Well then you’re going to jail.” And I said, “Then I’m going to jail.” So I go before the judge and the judge say “Don’t you have any witnesses?” I said “Judge, my witnesses said no lunch, no testify. I couldn’t buy them all lunch. All we were doing was trying to get equality in employment for our people that patronize the vendors. “ Judge McDevitt said, “All you merchants come up here. You should be ashamed of yourself! Taking these people’s money and don’t hire them. I’m going to rule that they have the right to picket.” It was against the law to picket before that time. He made the first ruling giving the right to picket. That was a record for Philadelphia.

Now you come up to the election of magistrates and judges. We were allowed to participate in electing them. We had black magistrates and judges. The head of the police department, Herb Miller, the first black person appointed common pleas court judge. The point is that when they come up to all the political and economic levels, African Americans, Hispanics, poor whites, and underprivileged, they wind up still behind the eight ball. It’s because most of the effort to help these people has been exploited by hustlers. Many people have gotten rich on racism. And it did a great damage to our democratic government and to humanity as a whole. So I would say that the concept of integration has done more damage than good. Integration for a job, or sitting someone place and eating someplace, to integrate that which is separate…what we should be integrating to make American life grow is integrating commercial enterprise. Buying stock together, owning businesses together. We should integrate on that level, on getting things done together. So today we have to go out and save democracy, the church. We’ve got more hustlers in the church than ever…they say ‘give me the money.’ We’ve got to save and protect the church and not let it be taken over by hustlers. I appreciate the priests and the preachers who have not used the church for hustling. The point is we have to look at what is right and what’s wrong.

Interviewer: Give me an example of a church leader hustling.

Mr. Evans: When they get involved in lobbying for candidates. They shouldn’t mix church and politics. We need to expose the hustlers. We need to keep the church sacred.

Interviewer: If you were talking to people today…to the Philadelphia community at large…your position, if I understand it, is that all races, colors, creeds should work together to achieve common goals. They shouldn’t let race and other things divide them.

Mr. Evans: Yes, we should all work together, under one umbrella, to work together.

Interviewer: How do you address that from a two party standpoint? With two parties in power, Democrats and Republicans?

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Mr. Evans: The goal and objectives would be the same.

Interviewer: Should there be any parties?

Mr. Evans: Sure, you’ve got to have parties. Then people can pick the party that best supports the goals.

Interviewer: But don’t the two big parties force out other parties, like the Libertarians?

Mr. Evans: I’m saying democracy is the best answer. Use democracy. Look at where we are today, at war. A billion point two people in China, a billion in India, and almost a billion in Africa. Now over here there’s a small group, only 16% of the population saying, “They’re not a part of us so we have to get them.” That 16% of the world is living in fear against the others. Democracy does not seek to harm anyone and that, if we would sell that, it would be difficult for someone to defeat America. In our effort of self-protection, we may oppress some people.

Interviewer: So that’s ok?

Mr. Evans: Self-preservation is the first law of nature. Everyone, even the minority, has the right to fight for self-preservation. The 16% can not afford to have the 84% to stockpile weapons. If I were a student, I wouldn’t look at the past. What benefit do you get? You have to look at the future.

Interviewer: I agree. The times have changed so the same tactics and strategies may not work.