Tag Archives: William Coleman III

Bill, Edith and Rose: It’s the Fourth of July!🇺🇸

July 4, 2020 admin

I AM AN AMERICAN!!

By Edith Morgan

Edith!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

I am an American!! I can say that, not because I was born here (I was not), but because I have my citizenship papers to prove that I am legally an American citizen. For those who are born here and are granted that great privilege, this may not mean much; many take for granted what citizenship in America means. But for those few of us remaining who, like me, escaped Germany before World War II, having that recognition means a great deal!

One of the horrors visited upon those of us whose families fled Germany during or before Hitler took over was that he took away our citizenship, making us legally “non-persons” – unable to get visas and under the protection of no other government. We lived for decades in that state, and it was only by the greatest luck that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt established a special immigration group (called “political refugees”) that we were able to get out of Europe and come to America. Many of us are eternally grateful not only for our lives here, but also for all the opportunities we have enjoyed in America. And we always remember the debt we owe!

I write this in a time of upheaval in our country, of change, and of uncertainly for many. But on this Fourth of July I am more mindful than ever for what we have here and ought to treasure as Americans. We have so many freedoms! We can move about freely, think and believe pretty much what we please, live in all sorts of places and ways and styles … and we worship our gods or nature in a thousand different ways. In America, there are few limits on how we dress, how we talk, what we do with the 24-hours a day we all have.

We take a lot of these “inalienable rights” for granted because we exercise them daily.

But for those of us who were not born with all this, there is always the constant awareness of how easily it can be lost.

So my own greatest duty as an American is to daily exercise all the responsibilities that go with being an American: I treasure and take care of my home, appreciate my neighbors, read my local newspaper, keep an eye on our elected officials, and vote in every election. I try to be a positive addition to America – this land that has sustained me for over 75 years!

We Americans have a lot of freedoms and rights, but there seems to be too little attention to our responsibilities. Many of us who came here brought our special knowledge and culture with us and shared what was worth saving and adopted new ways as we learned. Being an American means constantly improving, being open to new ideas, while also holding on to those concepts that work.

The majority of us, young and old, still hold to the values that characterize the best of America. But we are going through what I believe is a bad spell, a wrong turn of the ship of state, which seems to be showing signs of slowly righting itself. As a retired school teacher, I look to our young people, many of whom are seeking a better way to steer the ship of state, more in line with the values expressed in our “Declaration of Independence” – but which need to be redefined and revived.

In an imperfect world, full of imperfect humans, we still have all kinds of opportunities to turn from the crass materialism, egotism, abuse of our planet and unfairness of our economic and social systems! We can create “a more perfect union,” with liberty and equality for all!

To me, that is what it means to call myself an American.

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OUR GREAT AMERICAN CHALLENGE

BY BILL COLEMAN

In his younger days, Bill painted American flags in public spaces all over Worcester! Here he is with a finished 🇺🇸

Our Declaration of Independence starts with a clear message to King George of Great Britain:

“When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds that separated them from another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of Nature’s God entitled them a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

When the framers of our Declaration of Independence wrote these words, they were sending a clear message that the people of the fledgling America were no longer going to take injustices any more, from King George on down, and that self-determination would be the law of our their new land.

Today the George Floyd-inspired protests and protest movements are saying the same thing, with new generations of Americans tired, exhausted and frustrated with the lack of progress to eliminate the injustices of systemic racism – in our communities, schools, work places and federal, state and local governments.

We have had it!

Racial injustice from Police Brutality will no longer be an acceptable norm.
Young people have no tolerance for it or the patience to sit back and wait for their turn.

In August of 1963, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, in his “I have a Dream” speech called on the American government to make things right for a previously enslaved people who were being denied voting rights, as well as accommodations in stores, restaurants, public transportation … access to good jobs, housing and quality education.

These issues are still here with us!

King George and his unfair orders and laws for the new Americans may have been the focal point for our American Revolution. Today it is racist attitudes and laws and images that make you feel that no progress has been made.

Black Lives Matter now more than ever! We can no longer and will no more accept the suggestions that “Things will change.” CHANGE MUST HAPPEN NOW.

Our prison system and the pipeline that feeds young lives to its institutions are broken and must be fixed. The waste of human brain power must be promoted and encouraged. For God’s sake, stop killing Black people in their homes for no reason!!

Worcester has had its George Floyd problems. Long standing prominent Black Worcester families can tell you their stories. Our Constitution gives us the right to assemble, protest, petition government and demand that we as a people change for the better. I believe: “Our greatest challenge is to open our hearts and our minds and stop the ugly growth of bigotry and hypocricy that continues to stop any progressive enhancements of our society.”

People of all races and ages: Keep on protesting! Keep on petitioning government at all levels … change laws, add new ones! A new and greater America, with all of its diverse people showing the way, can and will lead the world!

Worcester’s Birthday Cake 168 Years as a City. A city booster, Bill has helped coordinate lots of Worcester celebrations!

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On Trump’s July Fourth Mount Rushmore Speech😓😓

By Rosalie Tirella

The real Trump

I just watched President Donald Trump bloviating at the iconic Mount Rushmore. Gave his Big Fourth of July speech that was totally removed from the America we are living in NOW: the global COVID 19 epicenter where nurses go into the emergency room wearing garbage bags and there is no testing or contact tracing or science; the George Floyd “lynching,” Americans of all colors demanding the restructuring of our militaristic police departments. … WE ARE IN PAIN. TRUMP IS OBLIVIOUS TO OUR PAIN. A chimp out of time. … And where does such a small man get such an inflated ego?! To put himself on the same stage as TR, Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson. No! Make that: to make them his backdrop!! … Teddy Roosevelt was a voracious reader and wrote book after book. Lincoln is one of our greatest writers and visionaries. He’d be the first to admit: Trump is a moron. A dangerous demagogue.

It was a kooky, hateful speech. The usual Trump verbal sh*t show. Trump crowed: per his new executive order, anyone who throws a can of paint at a Confederate general statue (built not to honor the generals but to shore up the KKK, Jim Crow segregation …) gets 10 years in prison! And the Trumpster added: NO ONE WILL EVER TEAR DOWN MOUNT RUSHMORE!!! Thanks for reassuring us, Donald! …To which one of the hundreds of non-mask-wearing audience members replied: BUILD THE WALL! BUILD THE WALL!! And the one voice ballooned into a racist threat chanted by all. Scary.

Our moron in chief struggled to spit out “totalitarian,” “Ulysses” and pronounced mayhem “may-HAM.” Well, the ham in the White House ended his twisted American hoohah history lesson with Neil Young’s ROCKIN’ IN THE FREE WORLD. Not knowing that Young stands against everything Trump and his base are for. After all, Young wrote “Southern Man,” and the song Trump blared was meant to be a kick in the teeth to President Bush 1 with his “thousand points of light” platitudes in an America of homeless guys near garbage cans, unwed, drug-addicted mothers with babies in their arms who will never get to go to school, grow up cool: Trump’s dystopian America of carnage and wasted human potential.

InCity Voices

New recipe from Chef Joey … and Bill Coleman on COVID-19, love, history, hope … +more

April 10, 2020 admin

These Days

By William S. Coleman III

Bill Coleman, right, and James Bonds working to get the World War II Black Honor Roll monument re-erected! pic submitted

Strange and challenging times, these COVID-19 days, weeks, possibly months. I called upon my family to help me, to give me guidance, to let me know how they’re feeling as we are living in our communities and our country, the world … As we ALL experience the devastation of microbes killing Harmony – hospitalizing so many of us, killing thousands, too.

I asked my son, who lives in California, to tell me his feelings. I asked my daughter who told me a few weeks ago that this is something like none of us will have ever seen in our lifetimes. I asked her to share, to continue to share her thoughts with me. I asked my extended family to share with me their thoughts and their feelings about what’s going on in this world today. How they are DOING!

I believe that this is the time that we really need to look to our fellow humans and to reach out to each other – and to talk about what’s going on.

To know our history is to know our present and future. But today we have an opportunity not to judge what’s going on but to think about what we mean to each other. Life is so precious and so limited in time! We could be here today and gone tomorrow! What will we have learned?

If we look at our past histories … of things that have happened in this world: the swine flu, AIDS, the Bubonic Plague, the Influenza Virus of 1916 to 1920 … so many people died during those times. If we look at wars that we have participated in or by reading articles in the newspaper or listening to conversations on the radio or even following breaking news on the Internet … when do we get a chance to really express how we feel to people in our family or our close friends?

As I look back and read old newspapers and try to find newspaper articles to get the feelings of people years ago as they experienced these different pandemics, all the suffering, I find things have not changed all that much in the way people have reacted and interacted with each other. How many can remember the scourge of Polio? There are a lot of articles about polio and how families felt when one of their children was diagnosed with it. What were the feelings of FDR – President Franklin Delano Roosevelt – when, in his late 20s, he was diagnosed with Polio? What was that like? Did it make him a better, a GREAT, President? I think YES!

I remember what it was like during the 1980s when the AIDS epidemic was running rampant – people didn’t understand. They were accusatory of a certain gender of individuals, saying: Oh, this is God’s Wrath on Them. Then we found out it was a simple disease … Or how about people coming down with the swine flu, the bird flu – all these different types of illnesses that were affecting our society? Some of us stood in judgment. How can we stand in judgment? When we look at the Ebola crisis that happened in parts of Africa, when we look at the illnesses because of infected water that happens in our country … HOW CAN WE JUDGE????

When we look at people who are victims of constant War – 24 hours a day – in various countries. It is still going on, and there are cries to end the wars, but the bombs do not stop!

If we can learn anything from COVID 19, we realize that there are no borders that can stop us from getting sick or dying from some force greater than our inability to care. Every once in awhile it seems like we all need a wake-up call. Then maybe our society, the world, will change for the better.

Maybe during this holy time of Passover and Easter we can fight the ills of our society by kindness – not judgment. Maybe, just maybe, 100 years from now, people will look back and see what happened in our society and say: They did their best. They did what they had to do.

And they were kind to each other.

Bill Coleman today … at the Woo Sox stadium groundbreaking celebration.

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From Chef Joey:

ROMAN STYLE GNOCCHI♥️!

Missing our chef!

We all seem to keep using the same side starches: rice, noodles, pilaf, potato, mashed potato. How about polenta?

😊

Simple corn meal! Cook according to the package directions and add a bouillon cube – either vegetable or chicken.

If you want to add protein, as it is cooking, add 2 beaten eggs to the mix. Spread it out and let it chill. Cut into cubes and layer a pan. Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake for 20 minutes until heated through. Serve! Simple and delicious! It tastes great with pasta sauce, too! Even pesto!

👏👏👏👏👏

*********

FYI:

♥️♥️♥️:

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InCity Voices

February is Black History Month: The Worcester Citizens of Color Honor Roll Monument🇺🇸

February 29, 2020 admin

By William S. Colman lll

Longtime Worcester political and community activist Bill Coleman, seated right, today! Photo: Bill Coleman

Adding names to the Honor Roll … pic: B.C.

The Worcester Citizens of Color Honor Roll Monument that is at the intersection of Belmont Street and Lincoln Street, across from the Worcester Police Station, is there to honor the service of Worcester citizens of color, who in 1941, enlisted in the United States Military Services – Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines – to fight for our country at the beginning of World War II.

The establishment of this Honor Roll came after our citizen soldiers were not able to march both white and black to Union Station to go off to bootcamp to prepare for serving the United States of America back in the early 1940s. All armed services were segregated, and black soldiers were told they could not march with the white soldiers. That’s just the way it was, and they would have to wait another day or hours after the white soldiers hit march to go off to Union Station.

Worcester built and erected a new monument a few years ago. The ceremony … pics: Ron O.

The colored citizens of Worcester Honor Roll Momument stood from 1942 until 1958, when it was removed along with other monuments that were in the path of the construction of the Route 290 highway in Worcester.

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In 1958 it was promised that when Route 290 was completed, all monuments were going to be re-established and put up. All the monuments were – except for the one that honored the Worcester citizens of color. It was told to our black community that it was placed in storage in 1961.

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Some in the Worcester community remember seeing it be put into a dumpster and being hauled away, never to be seen again.

Bill Coleman’s cover story for us – many years ago!♥️♥️♥️

In 1976, I worked in Washington DC as a legislative aide to Mass United States Senator Edward W. Brooke, the first African American elected by popular vote to the United States Senate.

Being from Worcester and on an internship from my studies at Worcester State College, Senator Brooke gave me a letter of introduction and sent me to meet with Worcester city officials and clergy from Worcester’s Black churches to dicuss and report back on the status of the missing monument.

Bill and US Senator Brooke

Back in 1976 more than 70 members whose names were on the Honor Roll shared their storis of pride they felt for our communities of color.

There was never much of a rallying cry from the Black church and the community to find the Honor Roll. This was the 1960s, and around the country we had the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, the Women’s Movement and a City that did not see the issues of our Black community as a priority, as shared with me by church and black community leaders.

Reaching out to our vets. Pic: BC

I met with the then Worcester City Manager Francis R. McGrath and presented him with my letter of introduction from Senator Brooke requesting a formal investigation into the missing Colored Citizens Honor Roll. The city manager responded that he would look into it and get back to Senator Brooke … . My time as an aide to Senator Brooke ended in 1978, and I returned to Worcester to complete my studies at Worcester State College.

I would meet with World War II Black Veterans who would say to me: What ever happened to the Honor Roll? I would respond that the City of Worcester is still looking for it!

The ceremony: the NEW monument was designed and built by Worcester Technical High School students

Some of our military veterans lived to see the day when we rebuilt and rededicated the Honor Roll monument!

Through many City Councils and City Managers I would file petitions and speak in Black churches asking for help – over 40 years! – for the re-establishment of the Honor Roll.

It was not until I filed a petition in 2015 that the community and our present day city manager, Edward M. Agustus Jr., took note. Augustus said: I want to help. Along with City Councilor Morris “Moe” Bergman and the support of veterans from across Worcester County the monument was rebuilt – the story was told!

Bill and US VETERAN JAMES BOND at a City meeting to rebuild the Honor Roll Monument

The city celebrated!

Then the Central Mass AFL-CIO committed to funding the project for replacing what was once put up. The AFL-CIO conditioned that the students of Worcester Technical High School be a major part of this project. So, after nearly 60 years of the Colored Citizens of Worcester Honor Roll gone missing, the City of Worcester, on December 7, 2017, unvailed a new Worcester Citizens of Color Honor Roll. The ceremony is availible to see on the city’s video website.

Recently, a suggestion has been made to add the names of our Black Veterans who were not on the original Honor Roll – to give them the respect they deserve for their service to our Country.

I say YES to this idea!
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♥️🎵♥️🎶Chaka Khan🇺🇸🇺🇸:

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Fashion

VOTE today, Sept. 10! Worcester polls open until 8 p! … + … We forgot to endorse JOE and BILL 🇺🇸🇺🇸!

September 10, 2019 admin

Wow. How could we have forgotten about Bill Coleman and our very own mayor – Joseph Petty – when we posted our political endorsements yesterday?

This morning we woke up …

… and remembered! pic: R.T.

So:

VOTE FOR JOSEPH PETTY – our mayor and city healer: the politician who brings us all together, a man WHO IS FOR ALL OF US – Woo’s poor city kids, bike riders, school teachers, cops, environmentalists, small biz folks, the Paw Sox and their gentrifier boosters, the comfy, entitled middle class West Siders, the struggling Green Islanders …

The city is doing well on so many levels because we have a mayor that – unlike former Woo mayors Ray Mariano and Jordan Levy – doesn’t suck up all the oxygen in a room. Doesn’t have a big fat mouth like they did. Or a HUGE EGO. Or fight Konnie Luke’s proposals at every turn. Or hold grudges. Or get vindictive. Or stay provincial. Nope. Mayor Joseph Petty, who’s seeking re-election as councilor and mayor, just quietly brings people together – to build a better Worcester. And he’s not bizarrely ambitious like Tim Murray, now screwing the working guy and gal as executive director of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. Nope. Joe wants everyone to WORK TOGETHER. For the benefit of our youth, our homeless folks, our minority WPS students, our city parks …

Joe’s a good person. Thoughtful. Easy to talk with. And he follows through.

VOTE FOR JOSEPH PETTY – CITY COUNCILOR AT LARGE. Mayor in November.

Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty at Worcester’s WPD Night Out in Main South. file photo: Ron O’Clair

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VOTE FOR BILL COLEMAN!!

Yes, we know: This perennial city council candidate promised – like ol’ Gary Rosen – that he wouldn’t run for POLITICAL office again – that he’d hang up his VOTE BILL COLEMAN signs🇺🇸 for good. That he’d be the political elder statesman we hoped he’d become – advising young pols just coming up…

BUT NO…BILL, LIKE LEVY AND MARIANO, LOVES THE LIMELIGHT.

So, what the hell … VOTE FOR BILL COLEMAN, CITY COUNCILOR AT LARGE!

What has the City got to lose? Is D 3 City Councilor George Russell any more intelligent or impressive? What has LONGTIME political everything Gary Rosen done on our City Council these past two years? Not much. Kate Toomey? Loved by the WFD and WPD … but why???? Equally unimpressive.

William (Bill) Coleman IS A GOOD GUY WHO ACTUALLY DOES LOTS OF HANDS ON stuff for WORCESTER’S folks. He was a nutrition teacher for UMass Extension for many years – working with and running classes for our WPS students. And other city kids.

He’s painted American Flags 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 all over Worcester – and the East Coast.

He’s easy to talk with. He tries to help.

He gets involved with city projects, like our Lincoln Square monument to WORCESTER’S Fallen Black Soldiers …

He attends Worcester City Council meetings – often floating GREAT IDEAS. But sometimes there’s little follow through… Bill’s onto the next GRAND WORCESTER IDEA!

Billy knows all the Woo players. They’ve given him the cold shoulder for years! This is WRONG. Bill lives and loves WORCESTER, but our movers and shakers have frozen him out – like they have many Woo minorites through the years. Hopefully, city politics is changing – for the better.

Bill knows Worcester history. He is fascinated by our political past – not depressed like so many of us! He’s an optimist! That is a good thing!!

Here he is, years ago, putting up shelves in my first Woo apartment:

Billy!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 file pic: Rose T.

Billy worked hours that day – so nice to my dog Grace. So enthusiastic for the new InCity Times! He brought the 20 or so shelves and braces, and with his electric drill created a newspaper “morgue” in my spare bedroom.

I never forgot that – and his other favors through the years.

BILL HAS HELPED so many folks in Worcester! He deserves to be elected to city council to serve the City he loves!

VOTE 🇺🇸 WILLIAM COLEMAN III – CITY COUNCILOR AT LARGE!

– Rosalie Tirella

InCity Yum Yums

(Tweaked! Again! Sorry!) … Just one question for Worcester’s city council and city manager …

July 13, 2016 admin

There’s plenty of room on our Common for Worcester’s planned memorial to our city’s fallen African American W W II soldiers. Right here, for instance – the Franklin Street side of City Hall. pics: R.T.

By Rosalie Tirella

… Why is Worcester’s planned memorial to our fallen African American W W II soldiers being erected at the Worcester Police Station?

Why not put the statue honoring our Black soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice right where it belongs? On the Worcester Common, along with all the other statues honoring Worcester’s fallen heroes?

There’s a slew of them on our Common – in the middle of our soon-to-be revitalized downtown! Around and behind Worcester City Hall … they adorn the grass and trees that surround them even as we try (at least on holidays) to adorn them – lay wreaths braided with flowers or pine at their feet. We walk or drive by the stone and iron soldiers if we work in or visit the heart of our city. They make you think … put aside your work, dining, shopping obsessions for a few fleeting seconds to see something greater – a person’s life story, a city’s story, world history. The stone and iron soldiers come alive!

You can even build the new memorial to our Black WW II soldiers next to our John Power WW II monument that stands right outside our City Hall. The monument to our Black WW II heroes – it was called the “Colored Citizens World War II Honor Roll Memorial” – was once located in our African American Laurel-Clayton neighborhood but disappeared, along with the neighborhood!, when the interstate highway was built. John Power is STILL with us – standing guard by Worcester City Hall (see my photo, above). So, truth be told, we will be building a new monument because we lost, destroyed, the old one! How can you “lose” a monument? What does that “loss” say about our city a few decades ago? Back then, how sacred to our city fathers were the memories of these dead African American soldiers – Black men from Laurel-Clayton, from Worcester?

Not very sacred at all.

Hell! There’s room for a tank or a couple of Jeeps to the right of the John Power statue. There John stands as the hip students walk by to get to their recently built dorms on Franklin Street …

Soldier Power doesnt look hip at all! He looks like your average WW II grunt – ditch digger, mucking around in stinking trenches with penecillin pills, canned spam in his knap sack – but a KILLER too. Make no mistake! See the rifle slung over Power’s right shoulder and the long dagger in his left hand? He’s clutching the dagger ready for the fight – hand to hand combat – to the death probably. How can any city deprive a Black soldier, who fought the same fight, the honor we’ve bestowed on John Power? Power’s helmet is on askew cuz he’s in battle. He looks Irish – and a little cockey. Why can’t we humanize our dead African American soldiers this lovingly?

Why can’t Worcester’s Black community have the same thing? A touching yet tough depiction of men in war in stone?

Why stick our Black soldiers at the bottom of Bell Hill, at the Worcester police station, in the middle of a 20-way intersection, surrounded by ugly concrete (we’re talking the police station, too!) – a place where few will visit, stop to honor these men, think about them? A place where drug dealers, robbers, rapists and killers are flung?

Yes, the police station is a stone’s throw from the old Laurel-Clayton neighborhood, razed and replaced by the Plumley Village low-income public housing complex, home to many people of color – Blacks, included. Why not – I’m certain residents would be honored -put the monument there? It would be back at its real home. Placed before the entrance way to the buildings and high rise, lots of folks would stop and pay their respects.

Or is that the point? The intention (maybe subconscious) of Worcester City Leaders? To keep the monument to our fallen Black WW II Soldiers out of the public eye – especially out of reach of the African American community?

And something else…to stop it from being a focal point, a symbol, a place for Blacks to gather, to remember, to rally, to teach … to protest. So often people come to their city or town common to express views, speech-ify … Protest! It’s been happening as long as there have been places where people chose to live together. A kind of gathering at the communal fire place! In America we’ve been doing it ever since our forefathers and mothers sailed into Plymouth Rock!

It’s happening still. All over. Especially with Black Lives Matter and, before that, Occupy Wall Street. It’s happening in Worcester. Worcester City Manager Ed Augustus has come down brutally hard on the BLM movement/rallies here, just as his predecessor City Manager I HATE ALL POOR RESIDENTS Mike O’Brien was hard with Occupy Wall Street protesters – refusing to meet with them, making sure they were off THEIR Worcester Common!

Would city leaders want a Black Lives Matter march to end at the “Colored Citizens World War II Honor Roll Memorial” on the Worcester Common? Would they want to see anyone give witness to pain, anger, racial discrimination in Worcester, “a city on the move”? Would they want a large crowd of folks agitating for change? In the middle of downtown?

Nope.

Is this what John Power died for?

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(P.S. Don’t let this happen, Bill Coleman and James Bonds!)

InCity Letters

Did you know???

February 3, 2015 admin

By Bill Coleman, Worcester community activist

You cannot bring cell phones, cameras, tablets, pagers or any electronic devices into the Courthouse in downtown Worcester, north Main Street???

If you do, you will be directed to the Worcester County Sheriff’s office across the street where they will hold your gadgets for $1 per item!

So if you have to go to court, leave your stuff at home or hidden in your vehicle.

The Courthouse is a public building and the public is welcome to visit. There is a display in the entrance: African Americans and the Massachusetts Judicial System – from slavery to busing into the 1970s. The exhibit also showcases the Black Lawyer and Massachusetts history.

On the issue of school desegregation, Massachusetts had laws that supported separating students by race. In 1850, the law was challenged and the law was changed. Sadly, the law was revisited in the late 1960s and early 1970s when the city of Boston was found in violation of laws that banned discrimination in its public schools.

This exibit at the Worcester Courthouse has been up for more than a year. Please find the time to visit our history! The Courthouse is open 7 am – 5 pm, Monday – Friday.

InCity Voices

Remembering Edward William Brooke III, first – and only – Black US Senator from Massachusetts

January 19, 2015 admin

By Bill Coleman, Worcester Community Activist

US Senator Edward William Brooke III – 1919 – 2015

I had prayed the day would never come that I would announce the passing of United States Senator Edward W. Brooke III. In 1976 and forever after I have been a loyal aide to the Senator.

Our country has lost a political giant. A family has lost a father, a wife has lost a husband and we have lost a friend.
Edward William Brooke III, was a United States Senator serving the Commonwealth Massachusetts from his historic election on Tuesday, November 8, 1966 and taking office on January 3, 1967.

Prior to winning his Senate seat Senator Brooke was the Attorney General of Massachusetts from January 3, 1963 to January 3, 1967. He was the first Black American elected Attorney General in our country’s history. As Attorney General he was noted for training many top lawyers who were part of his office who would fight white collar crimes, political corruption along with ending the ravage of the Boston Strangler. The lawyers of Attorney General Brooke’s office became the most powerful and prominent in the nation.

Senator Brooke was a true trail blazer. He grew up in our Nation’s Capital of Washington the District of Columbia. A district reflective of our segregated nation and its segregated times.

The Senator would often say he was insulated from the harsh reality of racism because of the affluent black community he grew up in. He served his Episcopal Church as an altar boy and was a mischievous and very smart student at Paul Laurence Dunbar Public High School.

Senator Brooke was born on Sunday October 26, 1919 to his father, Edward W. Brooke Jr. a government lawyer and his Mother Helen (Seldon) Brooke a school teacher. Senator Brooke’s family was middle class which afforded them the opportunity to send him to the best schools available in the black community.

After graduation from High School Senator Brooke enrolled into Howard University and studied social and political science upon graduating in 1941 and after the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor he like many patriotic American’s enrolled into the United States Army.

Senator Brooke was assigned to the US 366th, a segregated infantry regiment. Senator Brooke served for five years in World War II as an American officer in Italy earning a Bronze star. The Senator told me he was wounded in a fight with German soldiers while fighting, a family took him in and nursed him back to health while hiding him from German Troops searching for American soldiers. This chance encounter let to the soldier meet his first wife, Remigia Ferrari-Sacco with whom he had two daughters: Remi Cynthia and Edwina Helen. When I worked for the Senator and Mrs. Brooke would call he would only speak to her in Italian.

After the service Senator Brooke went on to graduate from Boston University School of Law where he was editor of the Law Review. After starting a law practice in the black communities of Boston, Senator Brooke was encouraged to run for State Representative. The Senator growing up in Washington D. C where no one have the right to vote for any elective office welcomed the challenge. He took out papers for the Democratic and Republican parties.

Back in 1950 you could run in both primaries. Senator Brooke lost the Democratic primary and won the Republican but lost the general election. He would repeat his efforts in 1952 and not win. He won the Republican nomination for statewide office in 1960 for Massachusetts Secretary of State. He lost this election to future Boston Mayor and Democrat Kevin White who’s gave out bumper stickers saying, “Vote White”.

In spite of the blunt racists overtones of that election, the Senator caught the eye and respect of Republican Governor John Volpe who offered the Senator many judicial positions in his administration. Senator Brooke accepted the Chairmanship of the Boston Finance Commission and stopped the illegal disposal of public properties a common practice of its day.

In 1963 Senator Brooke won the Republican nomination for Attorney General defeating Elliot Richardson and Democrat Francis E. Kelly who was rumored to hire blacks to drive through white neighborhoods yelling they were moving in once Brooke was elected. The Senator would overcome many attacks that were racially motivated against him before he was elected to the United States Senate.

In 1964 Senator Brooke refused to endorse Republican Presidential nominee Barry Goldwater or have his picture taken with him for his lack of support of any civil rights legislation. As Attorney General Senator Brooke had one of the highest political approval ratings of any politician in Massachusetts history. Senator Brooke won reelection in 1964 as Attorney General with the highest vote plurality in the country for any Republican running for public office.

In 1966 Senator Brooke won the Republican nomination for United States Senate and went on to defeat a former Governor Democrat Endicott Peabody by with more than 400,000 votes.

There were times Senator Brooke would face criticism from many sides of the civil rights struggle. His election to public office in a state with a less than five present black population was unprecedented. Looking back to those times there were very few elected officials of color and we had yet to pass the voting rights act of 1964.
In 1976 as a student at Worcester State University I was awarded an appointment in the Washington office of Senator Edward W. Brooke.

I had gone to Washington in October of 1975 to interview with then Republican Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Hugh Scott. The meeting went well and Senator Scott asked if I had met Senator Brooke while attending college in Massachusetts. I had not I said but knew about his political star was on the rise. Then he recommended I seek an appointment in his office also.

After leaving the interview and while walking through the Capitol Rotunda before my eyes walking toward me was Senator Brooke. I froze in place and said to him Hello Senator Brooke I go to Worcester State College my name is William Coleman and I want to work for you here is my resume which I pulled out from my suit jacket. His smile put me at ease and off he went to cast a senate vote.

It would be months before I heard from the Senators Office. Then one day I was called to the President’s Office of Worcester State College. President Joseph Orze said, Bill you must call Senator Edward Brooke’s office. He sat me at his desk and gave me his phone and the number to call. The phone rang and I heard Senator’s Brooke’s Office staff state, how can I help you. I introduced myself and was transferred to the Senator’s private line and heard his deep booming voice as he said congratulations you have an appointment here in Washington. The phone call went on I was in a state of shock and joyful. I told President Orze and jumped for joy as he said Bill make us proud.

1976 was the country’s bicentennial year and Washington was abuzz with activity. We had a Queen’s visit, Gerald Ford was President and life was grand to work with Senator Edward W. Brooke III.

I am still in touch with many former staff members notably former State Representative Albert Gammal and Senator’s Brooke’s Chief Legislative Aide Ralph Neas.

Senator Brooke encouraged all of us to make our country better and get involved in our community. He believed in me which I will treasure for the rest of my life. For his Wife Anne his son Edward IV his daughters and grandchildren and our country, I say thank you for your service.

InCity Voices

Martin Luther King, Jr. and the story of a boycott that changed the world

January 31, 2011 admin Leave a comment

By William S. Coleman III

He never held a public office, he was never appointed ambassador to the United Nations, and he was not the bishop of his church. The world knew him as a Southern Baptist preacher who was thrust into the national limelight because he saw things that were wrong and he tried to make them right.
The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was an educated man who like his father preached the word of God as an ordained minister. He could have been assigned to a middle class neighborhood where he could have conducted weddings, baptisms, funerals and local fund raisers for its church and its congregations.

He could have lived a simple life, not challenging the local status quo or political leaders. He could have just preached tranquilize to his congregants and gradualism to those wanting to live in a community where people felt they had the right to live free. Dr. King, as he was known after he received his Doctorate of Philosophy degree from Boston University, was very happy enjoying family life with his wife Coretta and their children. Continue reading Martin Luther King, Jr. and the story of a boycott that changed the world →

InCity Feature, InCity Voices

Worcester’s first Black Families for Education conference is a success!

January 20, 2011 admin Leave a comment

By William S. Coleman, III, Parlee Jones-Thompson and Alicia Graham

On Saturday, August 21, Black Legacy, held Worcester’s first Black Families for Education Conference. Hosted at the Woodland Academy (formerly Woodland St. Elementary School), parents, children, community organizations and education leaders including Dr. Melinda Boone, Dr. Jeffery Mulqueen, and Dr. Johnson the president of Becker College came together to discuss challenges and strategies for improving academic outcomes for Black children, and all children.

“I am because we are”

It seems that the theme of the day was summed up by Joyce McNickles, Ed.D., when she recited the African proverb, ubuntu, which means “I am because we are.” Black Legacy understands that the health and wellbeing of individuals is the result of the commitment by the entire community to health and wellness. It is our responsibility as a caring, forward thinking community to assure that our youth have what they will need to lead themselves, their families, and our community. Continue reading Worcester’s first Black Families for Education conference is a success! →

InCity Voices, Uncategorized

Exercise your franchise!

November 1, 2010 admin Leave a comment

By William S. Coleman III

“How many marbles are in that jar over there, boy? What do you mean you don’t know? Well, boy, you cannot vote in this here election.”

“Good morning, Miss. Who was the first President of the United States? George Washington is correct. Please proceed and cast your ballot in this here election.”

At one time in America, in order to vote in an election, you had to be a white male who owned land. In 1920, women were given the right to vote throughout the country. But it wasn’t until 1964, when the Voting Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Baines Johnson, that voting became a civil right that was guaranteed to every U.S. citizen.

The Voting Rights Act gave every American citizen over the age of 21 the right to vote in local, state and federal elections. Continue reading Exercise your franchise! →

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