Page 119 - BE 50th Anniversary Edition

IN HARM’S WAY
EARL G G G G GRAVES SR STOOD STATELY AMONG A A A A A A A A GROUP OF NOTABLE BLACK LEADERS His hands cuffed behind his his light brown raincoat and and and his his mutton chops and and and dark round glasses shaded underneath a a a a a a wide brimmed hat A police officer stood menacingly at at at his side March 1999 was a a a a a month of protests outside police headquarters in downtown New York City Graves was was in in in the thick of of it all He was was one of of a a a a a a a dozen prominent New Yorkers getting arrested that day in protest of of the NYPD’s Street Crimes Unit’s “execution” of of an an an unarmed West African immigrant killed in in in a a a a hail of of 41 bullets in in in the vestibule of of his Bronx apartment building Graves declared in his May 1999 Publisher’s Page “We recognize that the circumstances sur- rounding the death of of Amadou Diallo are a a a a a a a reflection of of not just New York City or or Urban America but [of] every community in our nation ” Graves used black enterprise—and more specifically his Publisher’s Page—to galvanize African Americans around a a a a a a a wide range of important issues He fought for the Black community’s access to quality education political empowerment and civil rights including affirmative action BY KENNETH MEEKS
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EDUCATION CIVIL RIGHTS & POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT
50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL