Post by Freehold Resident on Aug 30, 2006 11:54:02 GMT -5
Freehold woman was born for activism
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 02/5/06
BY JOSEPH CACCHIOLI
MANAHAWKIN BUREAU
FREEHOLD — Norma Lewis Randolph believes she was destined to be an activist, to fight for equality for African-Americans.
"I believe in what I'm doing," she said. "The things that happened were supposed to happen. That was what I was born to do."
A longtime advocate for African-Americans in the region, Randolph has accrued a long, formidable list of accomplishments in the pursuit for equality.
Randolph helped form several groups, including the United Black Women's Organization, in Freehold and in Monmouth County, and the Concerned Citizens of Freehold. She was secretary of New Jersey's National Welfare Rights Organization and a member of the Monmouth County Mental Health Board.
In the 1960s, Randolph helped start the Liberty and Prosperity Party, which touted an all-black slate of candidates, including for governor. She also was the president of the Freehold branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and a member of the state delegation to the Democratic Convention in 1988.
The Rev. Andre McGuire, 44, of the New Beginnings Agape Christian Center in Freehold, of which Randolph is a member, contends Randolph has "a way of taking things to the establishment," dealing with different agencies and cutting through the red tape.
"She's a strong African-American advocate, and she's committed to helping people in need," he said.
Randolph traces her destiny to a story she tells about her maternal great-great-grandmother, Katie Parker, who was a child slave on a Georgia plantation.
Parker was fetching water from a spring, as Randolph tells it, "and this tall man on a horse surrounded by soldiers appeared."
"He said, "Little girl, you are free,' " Randolph recounts. "And she ran, saying, "We are free, we are free."
According to Randolph's family lore, Parker later believed it was Abraham Lincoln.
"It's inspiring to me," she said. "It set the tone for the kind of inheritance I would have."
Randolph said her history is clear: She comes from a "family of firsts."
Randolph's cousin is Arthur Hardwick, who in 1962 was the first African-American from western New York to serve in the New York State Assembly. Hardwick later married Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress and who in 1972 was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Her brother, Daniel Lewis, who played for the Detroit Lions from 1958 to 1964, was the first black player drafted from Freehold to play in the National Football League. Her father, Augustus "Guggy" Lewis, was the first black sergeant who headed security at the Freehold Raceway. Her grandmother, Sadie Lewis, was the first black matron at the Monmouth County Jail.
"That all comes together that we are people who jump out there," she said. "We're inspired, but not only for self."
Randolph was a first, too.
In third grade, teachers at the Court Street School in Freehold, an all-black kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school, began grooming her to break barriers in high school.
"I was singled out," she said. "I was afraid, but I knew I had to do it."
Randolph was instructed in etiquette, speech, character and patience. Her mission was to integrate the majorette squad at Freehold High School, which she did. She was the first black girl on the squad and was part of the last class to graduate from the Court Street School in 1948.
Randolph's social awareness and community activism developed further as she attended community functions and government meetings, at first with her father.
"I saw people all my life that the law was not in their favor," she said.
Randolph fought her own legal battle to keep her job as a court aide for Monmouth County. State officials argued that Randolph's affiliation with Bethel AME church, the NAACP and a taxpayers and homeowners association "compromised the image of the court," she said. She fought for three years but ultimately lost her case in the U.S. Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote.
"I get letters now from lawyers about the case," she said.
For Randolph, the struggle continues today, and people who know her well say she's still sought for guidance and aid. She is now organizing a tenants association at the Rug Mill Towers, where she lives. Randolph also cares for 90-year-old Willie Booker, a former Negro League baseball player, and she's writing her memoirs, which she hopes to call "What is in a Voice: My Train, Your Train."
At 72, Randolph still has the spirit of a fighter and a desire to help others.
"The lady does not take it easy," said lifelong friend Albert White, who grew up with Randolph in Freehold. "She motivates people to get involved in issues because it is socially correct."
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 02/5/06
BY JOSEPH CACCHIOLI
MANAHAWKIN BUREAU
FREEHOLD — Norma Lewis Randolph believes she was destined to be an activist, to fight for equality for African-Americans.
"I believe in what I'm doing," she said. "The things that happened were supposed to happen. That was what I was born to do."
A longtime advocate for African-Americans in the region, Randolph has accrued a long, formidable list of accomplishments in the pursuit for equality.
Randolph helped form several groups, including the United Black Women's Organization, in Freehold and in Monmouth County, and the Concerned Citizens of Freehold. She was secretary of New Jersey's National Welfare Rights Organization and a member of the Monmouth County Mental Health Board.
In the 1960s, Randolph helped start the Liberty and Prosperity Party, which touted an all-black slate of candidates, including for governor. She also was the president of the Freehold branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and a member of the state delegation to the Democratic Convention in 1988.
The Rev. Andre McGuire, 44, of the New Beginnings Agape Christian Center in Freehold, of which Randolph is a member, contends Randolph has "a way of taking things to the establishment," dealing with different agencies and cutting through the red tape.
"She's a strong African-American advocate, and she's committed to helping people in need," he said.
Randolph traces her destiny to a story she tells about her maternal great-great-grandmother, Katie Parker, who was a child slave on a Georgia plantation.
Parker was fetching water from a spring, as Randolph tells it, "and this tall man on a horse surrounded by soldiers appeared."
"He said, "Little girl, you are free,' " Randolph recounts. "And she ran, saying, "We are free, we are free."
According to Randolph's family lore, Parker later believed it was Abraham Lincoln.
"It's inspiring to me," she said. "It set the tone for the kind of inheritance I would have."
Randolph said her history is clear: She comes from a "family of firsts."
Randolph's cousin is Arthur Hardwick, who in 1962 was the first African-American from western New York to serve in the New York State Assembly. Hardwick later married Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress and who in 1972 was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Her brother, Daniel Lewis, who played for the Detroit Lions from 1958 to 1964, was the first black player drafted from Freehold to play in the National Football League. Her father, Augustus "Guggy" Lewis, was the first black sergeant who headed security at the Freehold Raceway. Her grandmother, Sadie Lewis, was the first black matron at the Monmouth County Jail.
"That all comes together that we are people who jump out there," she said. "We're inspired, but not only for self."
Randolph was a first, too.
In third grade, teachers at the Court Street School in Freehold, an all-black kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school, began grooming her to break barriers in high school.
"I was singled out," she said. "I was afraid, but I knew I had to do it."
Randolph was instructed in etiquette, speech, character and patience. Her mission was to integrate the majorette squad at Freehold High School, which she did. She was the first black girl on the squad and was part of the last class to graduate from the Court Street School in 1948.
Randolph's social awareness and community activism developed further as she attended community functions and government meetings, at first with her father.
"I saw people all my life that the law was not in their favor," she said.
Randolph fought her own legal battle to keep her job as a court aide for Monmouth County. State officials argued that Randolph's affiliation with Bethel AME church, the NAACP and a taxpayers and homeowners association "compromised the image of the court," she said. She fought for three years but ultimately lost her case in the U.S. Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote.
"I get letters now from lawyers about the case," she said.
For Randolph, the struggle continues today, and people who know her well say she's still sought for guidance and aid. She is now organizing a tenants association at the Rug Mill Towers, where she lives. Randolph also cares for 90-year-old Willie Booker, a former Negro League baseball player, and she's writing her memoirs, which she hopes to call "What is in a Voice: My Train, Your Train."
At 72, Randolph still has the spirit of a fighter and a desire to help others.
"The lady does not take it easy," said lifelong friend Albert White, who grew up with Randolph in Freehold. "She motivates people to get involved in issues because it is socially correct."