Lura Armstrong and her mother came to the Black People’s Convention because, Lura says, “we want to get a sense of where the black community is going. We’re not politically active, we’re not affiliated with any community organization, but we try to keep abreast of what’s going on. If my understanding is right, out of this convention and out of the plebiscite next month will come one candidate that black people can stand behind. If my understanding is right, Sawyer and Evans aren’t coming today because they’re afraid of what white people will say if they do. That’s an insult to me as a black voter. They should come down here and find out what we want. If you want my vote, first you have to come to me.”
Delegates were registered from 151 organizations–24 churches, including Tabor Evangelical Lutheran, Beautiful Zion Missionary Baptist, Christ United Methodist, and Greater Love Baptist; 46 block clubs; 13 ward-level political organizations (four of them run by politicians presently in office); and a host of community and political organizations, including Citizens for Self, People of Purpose, the Anti-colonialism Movement, the Black Health Organization, Concerned Black Fire Fighters, the Afro-American Police League, Alpha Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority–Omega Chapter, the Black Designers’ Association, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, the Nation of Islam, and Women for Evans.
Sampson said, “This convention only becomes the first of many conventions, so white folks and crazy Negroes, get ready, ’cause we’re going to have some more conventions where we talk to each other, like it or not.”
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Sampson’s words went off like firecrackers, but they weren’t nearly as radical–or as reasoned–as the words of attorney Thomas N. Todd, whose speech is quoted at length below. Todd is the recipient of a CONDUCT reprimand himself, and he wears it like the notch in a gunslinger’s belt. He gave one of the most memorable speeches of this political season, summing up the meaning and the message of the convention. His words, thick with emotion, with defiance and pride, rose and dropped like waves onto the willing ears, onto the hundreds of waiting faces.
“Black people are in a box,” he says. “You can’t have but one black candidate and expect to win. The question becomes, who is that candidate? And how do you arrive at the point where there is only one black candidate? Can the black vote be drawn back together? Will the base be solid enough in the black community?
To organize this year’s event, Palmer says he sent out letters to “I don’t know how many organizations and churches–hundreds, just taken at random. I sent the word out to as many community organizations, churches, and block clubs as I knew of on all sides of town. I talked about it on the radio and in the newspapers. I got the word out, telling people we were going to hold a plebiscite and inviting them to be a part of the planning committee.
Won’t this plebiscite just aggravate the city’s racial tensions? “We are socially and politically aware enough to know that a black candidate must win votes from the broader community in order to emerge victorious in a special election for mayor. The intent is, and the hope is, that only one black candidate will emerge from our efforts, and that this one will have enough going for him not only to attract votes from all other ethnic groups, but to make us proud again. But we must put our own house in order before we seek the help of others. ”
