NY Amsterdam News - December 16, 1950
1 2019-03-12T23:56:54+00:00 Stanford University Press af84c3e11fe030c51c61bbd190fa82a3a1a12824 1 1 NY Amsterdam News - December 16, 1950 plain published 2019-03-12T23:56:54+00:00 AnonymousThis page is referenced by:
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December - Archived Posts
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Click on date to view post:December 1, 1973: Pittsburgh Courier editors call on President Nixon to resign amidst Watergate scandal.December 2, 1933: World War I veteran Rufus Atwood featured in Baltimore Afro-American “Heroes of the World War” series.December 3, 1959: Los Angeles Sentinel columnist Stanley Robinson on “20th Century Slavery,” recruiting of black domestic workers to Los Angeles from South. Guest post by Chase Miller, History MA student at Arizona State University.December 4, 1930: Ad for black vaudeville troupe the Whitman Sisters in the Philadelphia Tribune.December 5, 1942: New York Amsterdam News encourages readers to vote for Duke Ellington in Downbeat Magazine poll. Guest post by Todd Daily, History MA student at Arizona State University.December 6, 1969: Whitney Young critiques Vice President Spiro Agnew’s speech on television news in Chicago Defender. Guest post by Keisha Smith, History MA student at Arizona State University.December 7, 1958: Orange Blossom Classic football game pits Florida A&M against Prairie View for Black National Championship, ad in Atlanta Daily World.December 8, 1926: Urban League employment campaign reported in New York Amsterdam News.December 9, 1948: House of Records advertisement in Los Angeles Sentinel.December 10, 1927: Chicago Defender on Marcus Garvey’s deportation to Jamaica. Guest post by Avi Buckles, History MA student at Arizona State University.December 11, 1959: President of Bennett College’s Student Senate asks classmates “Where do you stand?” in Bennet Banner. Guest post by Deidre B. Flowers, PhD Candidate at Teachers College, Columbia University.December 12, 1935: Josephine Baker in Ziegfeld Follies, covered in Philadelphia Tribune.December 13, 1953: Atlanta Daily World awaits Brown v. Board ruling. Guest post by Jeffrey Joynt, History MA student at Arizona State University.December 13, 1952: Philadelphia Tribune columnist Mamie Robinson on black Republican women. Guest post by Michael Embry, History MA student at Arizona State University.December 14, 1963: Pittsburgh Courier on Malcolm X and Nation of Islam. Guest post by Geoff Schumacher, History MA student at Arizona State University.December 15, 1923: Brown & Stevens Bank ad for “Christmas Club” savings accounts in Philadelphia Tribune.December 16, 1950: New York Amsterdam News praises life of Naval aviator Jesse L. Brown. Guest post by Stanley Bowling, Manager of Content Digitization at ProQuest and United States Navy veteran.December 16, 1971: Los Angeles Sentinel on the death of Dr. Ralph Bunche. Guest post by John Loll, History MA student at Arizona State University.December 17, 1955: Baltimore Afro-American on Rosa Parks, E.D. Nixon, and Montgomery Bus Boycott. Guest post by Adam Pinkerton, History MA student at Arizona State University.December 17, 1998: Los Angeles Sentinel columnist Larry Aubry on race and politics. Guest post by Tiffanie Butcher, History MA student at Arizona State University.December 18, 1986: Advertisement for Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland Call and Post.December 19, 1942: Racial barriers during WWII reported in Baltimore Afro-American. Guest post by Kristopher Boatman, History MA student at Arizona State University.December 20, 1930: Singer Alberta Hunter describes black performers being treated better in Europe than in United States, reported in Norfolk Journal and Guide.December 21, 1978: Origins and meaning of Kwanza discussed in Los Angeles Sentinel.December 22, 1978: Black Santa in the Pittsburgh Courier.December 23, 1934: Ex-Slave Association meeting reported in Atlanta Daily World.December 24, 1932: Chicago Defender on protests against Birth of a Nation.December 25, 1937: Harlem churches and civic organizations help needy families for Christmas, reported in New York Amsterdam News.December 26, 1957: Afro-Asian People’s Solidarity Conference covered in Los Angeles Sentinel.December 27, 1958: Leroy Crayton’s Southern Sausage Company runs ad praising Christ’s love in Cleveland Call and Post.December 28, 1957: New York Amsterdam News on the “Year Negroes Fought Back.”December 29, 1962: Professional football teams draft several black players, covered in Cleveland Call and Post. Guest post by Caryn Tijsseling, History MA student at Arizona State University.December 30, 1916: Philadelphia Tribune obituary for soprano Sarah Sedgewick Bowers-Bell.December 31, 1969: Chicago Defender on call for civilian inquiry into police abuse. Guest post by Rubin McMillan, History MA student at Arizona State University.December 31, 1957: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. accepts award from Philadelphia Cotillion Society, reported in Philadelphia Tribune. Guest post by Stephen Huff, History MA student at Arizona State University.December 31, 1940: NAACP asks US Attorney General to investigate racial terror in Memphis, reported in Atlanta Daily World. Guest post by Candace F. Bryson, History MA student at Arizona State University.
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December 16, 1950
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Guest post by Stanley Bowling, Manager of Content Digitization at ProQuest and United States Navy veteran.
“No honest man can question the value of the heroic service of this pioneer in the Naval Air Force. The life and work of this fine American stresses the fact that the response to the call of duty, heroism, and top performance at any level of service know no lines of race or color, creed or national origin,” said the New York Amsterdam News on December 16, 1950, lauding the life of Ensign Jesse L. Brown.
The entire life story of Jesse Brown, albeit only a short twenty-four years, is one that inspired others, and is also a story that should be touted today as a true example of courage in the face of adversity.
Jesse Brown grew up in the heart of Mississippi during the height of segregation, but he excelled in school, went on to graduate from Ohio State University, and joined the United States Navy in 1946 becoming a Naval Aviator. Being the first and only African American to serve as a fighter pilot in the Navy would have been a challenge for anyone in a service in which African Americans served mainly as mess attendants in the enlisted ranks; but Jesse was an officer, scholar, pilot and to me personally, a hero beyond just the battlefield.
From newspaper accounts of the time, it becomes clear that Jesse was respected by his fellow squadron mates as evidence by the fact that they risked their lives to save him during the Korean War. After Jesse’s plane was shot down and crashed during action in Korea, one fellow pilot intentionally crash landed his own plane to help Jesse, and a helicopter pilot risked ground fire to land close to Jesse’s wrecked plane and attempt to rescue him.
The story of Jesse L. Brown is not well-known today but, as coverage in the Amsterdam News, Detroit Free Press, Atlanta Daily World, and many others makes clear, he was a great leader who inspired others to follow him.
Too often our doom is to forget or lose sight of such leaders as Ensign Brown, but I learned about him and his courage while serving on his namesake Navy ship, the USS Jesse L. Brown (FF-1089).
Although the ship is no longer in the naval service, the story of Jesse Brown’s actions on that cold day, December 4, 1950, near the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War stand out and should truly inspire others.
