1981_10 The Daily Collegian October 1981

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UHURU NA UMOJA
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Black
Book Reviews
and
Miscellany
By Dr. James H. Rodger-
Associate Professor,
Ethnic Studies
Black Studies
It was an interesting inddent and I
was not in the least surprised. Last
week a blade Freshman student here at
CSUF, entered my office obviously irritated and ill at ease.
'What's the problem, Abric,* I
aslced.
•Well...I just came from this dass in
— and the professor said that since
Africans had no civilization and advanced societies it was easy to ensalve
them...and bring them to America. The
books that you told us about In the Black
Image dass proves that blacks did have
great civilizations. But, I couldn't remember all the titles. .
So, I again shared the major premises of Ivan Sertlma's They (Africans)
Came Before Columbus, Chancellor
Williams' The Past__t_n of Black
Crvil__.tio_.; C. Diop's Tile African
Origin of Ov-lzatlon and others.
Each of these well-documented, major
...since Africans had no civilization
and advanced societies
it was easy to enslave them.
slavers and exploiters In destroying
and devastating the natural wealth and
human cultures of the peoples of Africa.
Rodney's dialectical approach tb understanding the European's colonization of the world's 'richest continent
in natural resources* and human history; provides an easy understanding of
much of the contemporary problems-of
poverty and * underdevelopment* in
some areas which is a legacy of European encroachment and genocidal
treachery.
Rodney explores the European Slave
Trade; the negative character of the
social; religious; political and economic
consequences of European invasion of
the continent.
It is a brilliant study; and it is my
belief that young Abric and other black,
Hispanic; and white students at CSUF,
will not be provided an opportunity to
embrace the knowledge and ideas in
this remarkable work because of its awesome re-interpretation of the conven-
><Wji_1^i!W_>J_f^ii_W_i _Wj<'W_i_l^i_W_jL J
studies embody brilliantly researched
and conceptualized accounts of advanced
African societies and cultures which at
one time commanded most of the known
civilized world. And in spite of the fad
that the vast majority of white academicians continued to prattle ignor-
anttv their misguided nonsense of African barbarity and the racist myth of
European cultural superiority; additional
Important new works have recently been
published which authenticate the magnitude of the African diaspora.
One of these critical new works is
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa,
by the late sodal historian, W. Rodney,
who taught in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Dr. Rodney provides a dear and concise study of the role of European en-
tional "wisdom" of the history of peoples of African descent.
Dr. Rodney's objective is clearly
declared in trie preface: "The purpose
(of this book) has been to reach Africans who wish to explore further the nature of their exploitation, rather than to
satisfy the 'standards' set by our oppressors and their spokesmen in the academic world."
Amen. Paperback editions of How
Europe Underdeveloped Africa, may be
special ordered through the bookstore.
I suggest you purchase and read it immediately. It is more important than
much of your redundant, white studies
class assignments.
Next month: The Mmwni Mania:
The Changed Mood.
■» ♦ »  »_»■»»»■»»» »»_•_».■■>.•■._.»_»■<■>■■■-» ->-0~»~»-
PAIBSTOTAM PERSPECTIVE
OF SADAT'S DEATH
BY MICHELLE DAVIS
The General Union of Palestinian
Students is one of 76 chapters in the United
States. It has been established on this
campus for 2 years composed of 70 members. The basic goals and objectives of the
organization are: To maintain unity and
provide a support system for Palestinian
students; to maintain awareness of current
Palestinian issues for ALL students.
They are concerned with presenting
■ the Palestinian perspective which has always been ignored. ...
The following is an interview d ducted
with the president of the General Union or
Palestinian students, Omar Baddar. The
issue in question is the death of Egyptian
president Answar sadat.
DR. JAMB ROCBS
The Roving Reporter
Michael  Graham
HOW DO YOU HH. ABOUT SADATS /_SASSJNATIOM7
Dr. James Rogers-Professor in Ethnic
Studies
*lt saddens me to see anybody violently eliminated because of their political views. But Sadat was considered
to be a pawn of Western power interests by most of the militant leadership of the black African and Arabic
world. There was much rejoicing in
revolutionary socialist societies, quite in
contradistinction to what was reported
in the Western mass media. Sadat was
not seen as the champion of peace—but
rather an accommodationist for reactionary forces; that which to maintain
political and economic control of African
resources." "v
Sandra Jones—Home Ec. Senior
'Speaking from a Christian point of
view, I'm not in favor of killing. It
seems that people who try to create an
atmosphere of peace in the world never
last too long.'
John Wells—Biology. Senior
*l was shocked. He will be a loss to
the United States and his people because he was a promoter of peace.'
Sief    Hashemi—Agriculture.    Gradate
Student
*l fed sorry for myself because I
don't like assassination. I don't think
the political situation will change. If
there is a change it will get worse.'
Steve Moultrie—Business. Jr.
'I have sympathy for Egypt. America
will feel the effects through its middle
east policy. I think it has created a more
advantageous position for the Soviet
Union, and has made Egypt more vulnerable to their influence."
Phil Jackson—Business. Senior
'In reference to world politics, I think
he was a peacemaker. He was an asset to
the Western powers. America es-
pedally will miss him, even though
they're going to continue business as
usual.'
JCHN WH1S
Q;   Do you think Sadat was a man of   discuss the Palestinian Issue on Oct. 23
peace? in the CU. Lounge at 12:00 noon.   The
Of course not, that is what the media is Pu*P°*e '* JB provide the Fresno Com
trying to portray. If we are talking about munrty with an opjxxtunity to hear
Israeli peace only, then that is the peace Community with an opportunity to hear
the U.S. is talking about. This so-called "** othef $ide 0< the . story.
peace   has   excluded   the   Palestinians _    _ .
totally.   If you look at the Camp David °_   °°. VO" have anything to say to the
accords, you will find the Palestinians     Amenc*;ri People?
-JET n^ll^JZ!^^00-    Ye$- ** have to real™ *•• *•
___] Frf ytST_ii^iJ!2__SreJ5^S,C _C Rea«an administration is not working for
behalf  of the  Palestrmans except  tne ^ Amerkzn p^^     He js bui,"jj
Palestinians who are the central issue of ___ 2.1  *.«;' -*•''■      __ —_.      " "
tv_. ii c   _._. -__-_.„;,_. __. more and  rnor military weaponry to
The U.S. must recognize the ;„,______ __, _-._.___. „. ! t_.
intervene in other countries.    The new
peace
Palestinian     Liberation     Organization
(PLO)_s 120 other nations have done an I
come to realize that without the t___   ttB0ll:1_»_l_l» __
bans,    there    will    be    no.    peace
Q: Who do you think is behind Sadat's
assaslnation and why?
The people of egypt are bghtnd his
excution. although the U.S. media has
tried to place the blame on other governments, it was obvious that this man,
Sadat did not have the support of his
people. I'm not saying that the people of
military alliance with Israel is the best
indication of what the Reagan adminis-
Reagan accepted
a gift from Menachem Begin which was
a map of Israel which Included unoo-^sj.
cupied Southern Lebanon. Thlt gaature v^__.
further Indicates that the U.S. government Is supporting Israeli aggression
and expanding pol Idea.
0: laQ.U.P.S. affiliated with any other
organizations on or off campus
Wa are members of the coalition, CSUF
Egypt did not want peace, they do, but Alliance. Off campus we have member-
they felt that they were used to make ship In tha Central Valley Peace Network
Isreal stronger and i___ Egypt from the (a coalition of labor, church, community
Arab nation, and student organizations).
Q:   Do you see any shifts in people i attitudes towards the Palesfnian  issue?
Yes, and it's encouraging. The biggest
is in reaching the public. Our organization is trying to offset this problem by
providing information at tables in the free
speech area every from ttkOOam. to
1';00pm. Also we are bring-* a speaker,
Fawaz Turki, from Washington D.C. to
I
OCTOBER
UHURU NA UMOJA
BLACK GENIUS OMITTED
•Necessity is the mother of invention-
Is a familiar adage. Lack of formal education was not a sufficient deterrent to
discourage Black inventors. Their inventions, related to domestic, agricultural
and industrial production. Blade inventions ranged from simple household
items and agricultural tools to complex
electrical and mechanical devices.
The written record is Incomplete,
since there is no possible way to determine the actual number of inventions by
Blacks that were omitted.
Pre-Gvil War Inventor
Henry Blair is believed to be the first
Black man to be granted a U.S. patent.
In 1834, he received a patent for a seed
planter and in 1836 he received a second
patent for a com harvester. Blair was
evidently a free man, since the Commissioner of Patents refused to grant a
patent on any invention of a slave.
Thus, it is impossible to document the
contributions made by slaves.
It is reputed that Joe Anderson, a
slave on the plantation of Cyrus McCor-
mick, made a major contribution to the
McCormidc Grain Harvester, but the
official records acknowledge, him as
merely a handy man or helper.
In 1659, Benjamin Bradley, who constructed a working model of a steam J
engine at the Naval Academy, built an
engine large enough to drive the first
cutter of a sloop-of-war at the rate of
sixteen knots per hour.
Norbert Rilleux, a native of New Orleans, received a patent in 1845 for a
vacuum evaporating pan (a series of
condensing coils in the vacuum chamber) which reduced sugar refining industry dependence on gang labor and
helped manufacture a superior product
at a greatly reduced cost.
Lewis Temple of Richmond, Virginia
thrust the whaling industry in the New
England states into unprecedented
prosperity by inventing the boggle harpoon. He never patented his harpoon
and died destitute in 1854.
Post-Civil War Inventions
The Civil War in many ways was an
economic struggle between the industrial North and agricultural South.
North, after the war, reinstituted its
industrial push, while plans to reconstruct the South were underway. During
the next fifty years, Industrial expansion
throughout the nation was inevitable.
Henry Baker, who is responsible for
Identifying Black inventors during this
period, verified that approximately 800
patents had been granted to Blacks by
the him of the century' At least 20 of
these were women. These patents
covered a wide range of subjects, artistic, utilitarian and fanciful. Items such
as shoe hems, pencil sharpeners, refrigerators, driers, lemon squeezers,
cigarette rollers, fountain pens, elevators, fin extinguishers, nonrefillable
bottles, paper bag machines, combination milk bottle opener and cover, and
feather curlers were all a part of the
syndrome and were invented or improved by Blacks to the whims of the
nation.
in 1871, while A.B. Blackburn patented
a railway signal.
Granville T Woods not only played a
major role in communications but also
in the development of the railroad. He
invented the automatic airbrake, universally used by railroads. He patented
fifteen appliances which converted the
steam engine system into an electrical
one. In 1892, an electrical railway system invented by him was operated at
Coney Island, New York. He was responsible for a basic development of
the third rail for the electrical driven railroad.
T.J. Byrd and C.V. Rkhey made Improvements on the manual coupling system, but it was Andrew Beard who. eliminated the problem with an automatic
coupler. The impact of the invention
Bell relied upon Lewis Latimer
to design circuitry
for the telephone
Automation
In 1877, Jan Matzeliger, a native of
Ditch Guiana, found that the shoe industry had become big business, when
he came to Lynn Massachusetts. Matzeliger decided to invent a machine to
replace the hand lasting of shoes. By
1883, Matzeliger had devised a machine
which could produce an entire shoe in
one minute. Prior to his invention, one
shoe took hours to complete arid cost
twice as much
Despite his success he was mocked because of his color, and his machine was
called 'nigger head.' For some undetermined reason, patent rights for the device was delayed for six years. Matzeliger sold the rights to the patent to Sydney Winstow, who promptly founded
the United Shoe Company. In just a few
years, Winslow bought smaller companies and increased the value of his pro-
dud from a mere 220,000 to 242,631,000.
Still a poor, but ambitious man,
Matzeliger died at age 37, two years before the patent was stamped. Matzeli
Strairjhi Ua&
Financial aid funds exhausted?
Flat broke already? But it's hardly mid-
semester yetl That financial aid check
just doesn't go as far as it used to,
does it? ■--"■____
You are merely beginning to feel the
effects of the Reagan administration's
cuts in educational funding and the student aid budget of this institution,
which has been reduced, yet must serve
an ever-increasing number of students
heavily dependent upon financial aid.
Might I emphasize, th«t this is just
the beginning-and with steadily Increasing costs of books, food, clothing,
shelter and other student necessities,
I suggest that students of today and of
the future, vigorously plan and search
for alternative sources of educational
funding.     - . x
In what is trending toward an educational system for the wealthy and sodal
elite, your present awareness and efforts
may be your most valuable asset for the
control of your own destiny in our nation's educational system. It is a must
that you value the American dollar; no
matter how few you have or be pressured out of the system for a lack of
It.
For in this day and age, education
and knowledge ara rapidh/ becoming an
unaffordable commodity
served as the focal point of the Federal
Safety Appliance Ad which Congress
enacted at the turn of the century.
Elbert C. Robertson further advanced
the safety of the train by a very much
improved railroad car wheel, the chilled
groove wheel. Although it was patented,
he maintained it had been stolen by a
white man who sold it to the Chicago
Railway Company. After many years of
litigation with the company, in 1925,
the' U.S. Supreme Court decided in
his favor and granted him $13,000,000
in royalties.
In 1906, Richard Spikes invented railroad semaphore (signaling arms at railroad crossings).
Soloman Harper filed a patent in 1914
for a block system designed to prevent
rear and head-on collisions and to prevent trains from running onto open
switches.
William Hunter Dammond also invented a block system, the Diammond
ger" was .^tf-imous'ly 'granted~other arcurt which is basic to all safety signal-
patents he had filed. He was to footwear   mgdevices
what Edison was t. artificial light.
Elijah McCoy eliminated the obstacle
with automatic lubrication devices.
McCoy experimented and designed for
steam engines such as those on railway
trains. However, his most valuable design was the drip cup, a tin container
filled with oil whose flow to the essential
moving parts of heavy duty machinery
was regulated by means of a stop cock.
The same year Granville T. Woods'
electrical railway system was operated,
1892.
Although Ford and Wright brothers
for the gas auto and the airplant Black
men were prominent contributors. Black
men such as J.F. Pickering, W.C. Madison, and J.E. Wooter held patents on
airships as early as 1900,1912, and 1914,
respectively.
Richard Spikes created the auto direc-
This drip cup was invented In 1891
and is used in large industry today. Only   tional signal and automatic car wash
machines -quipped with the drip cup   1
were reared as the real thing .of 'Real
McCoy."
Hale received a patent for his version
of the automobile in 1928.
nica-ens and Transportation
At the age of fifteen Soloman Harper,
a free Black man, assisted Samuel
Morse in putting the first telegraphic
system in operation in 1844. Alexander
Craham Bell the inventor of the telephone, relied upon Lewis Latimer,
another free man, to design circuitry
and prepare the patent application for
the invention in 1176.
Years later Granville T Woods, one
of the greatest Black inventive geniuses,
made significant modifications to both
systems. He furthered the design to
the telegraph and adapted its use for
trains. He added several fundamental
features to the design of the telephone
Electric Light Industry
Lewis Latimer, who assisted Alexander Craham Bell with the telephone,
in 1876, directed his attention to Improving the light bub. He was employed
by the United States Electric Company.
By 1883, he had invented a more durable and longer lasting carbon filament
for the bulb.
The following year he joined the Edison Electric Company. White there, he
wrote the first technical book on lighting, 'Incandescent Electric Company. A
Practical Description of the Edison System."
Despite IDs company's size. Edison
did not have a monopoly on the light-
He patented the design and sold them to   ing industry. Granville T. Woods, the
Bell's compa
The
genius of the railroad, was one of his
.    railroad   Industry   benefitted  arch rivals. On at least two occasions,
Reginald Charles Davis' greatly by the sdentific work of Blacks.   Woods confronted Edison in the court-
• Bell patented a new locomotive stack,   room to settle patent disputes. On both
PAGE 3
occaiaions, Woods won. After the second
case, Edison offered him a position,
but Woods turned him down. He and Ms
brother established the Woods Electric Company.
Southern Industrial Boom
Despite rynchings, Jim Crow laws,
and increased efforts to disenfranchise
Black people, there were always Blacks
who aspired to develop their abilities and
pursued a better life.
Madame C.J. Walker, who was
orphaned at the age of 14 and widowed
and a mother by the age of 20, became
the first Blade woman millionaire and
philanthropist. She earned her fortune
by inventing cosmetic products, and a
hair straightening formula in 1905. In
1910, she built a research laboratory
to manufacture the hair preparation,
fadal creams and other products.
Carrett Morgan designed and patented a gas mask which was later used in
World War I by the Army. Morgan
initiated his own company to market
the device. He also invented the first
electric stop light to reduce traffic
congestion.
James Parson was an authority on
errosion resistant metal alloy, in 1927.
In 1935, William Holly formulated a
series of interior paints using titanium
as a basic pigment.
Ceorge Washington Carver was an
inventor as well as a scientist. He
developed products such as the insulation board, synthetic rubber, synthetic
marble, linoleum and wood filler.
Dr. Lloyd Hall, who patented and co-
patented approximately 105 patents In
the U.S. and Canada, developed processes to preserve t cod s and methods to
sterilize pharmaceutic^ supplies.
Harry Jackson of Pennsylvania
developed a device to catch and hold
bank robbers — an alarm which could be
heard several blocks away.
William Reed, in 1934, established the
Reed Cas Brake Inc., in New York
which employed many Black workers.
Steward Medley designed an improvement on a force draft blower with auto-
matic heat control, which when attached
to a heating plant not only guaranteed
even temperature in the home; but
enabled one to economize on the coal
bill.
Clement Clark inventor of the omi-
thopticaI monoplane.
John La Fielto, a mechanic, invented
an air compressor car.
Benjamin Thomas, free-lance chemist
and mechanic of Harlem, invented a
flame proofing compound.
In T942, James Cottrel, then the only
Black patent attorney in the U.S.,
claimed that by ratio there were more
Black than white inventors in the U.S.
Adolphys Samns developed the design
to eliminate the 2nd and 3rd stage
engine in multistage rockets.
Wilbert Dyer provided a means to
track satellites in orbit.
Vane March Banks assisted In the
design of space suits.
Solomon Harper developed many of
the basic concepts in thermostatic
control, air conditioning and pressuriza-
tion of clothing during the 1910s.
Thomas P. Jackson assisted in the
design of special temperature control
satellite lunar vehicles.
Louis Alexander invented the produced photoelectric all light controls,
electric cell light controls, electrical
burglar alarms and TV tubes.
Benjamin Hatty conducted research
on digital computer design and application in the late 19__b.
John Blanton, development ol the
preliminary assign of advanced propulsion systems for jet engines.
Otis Boykln produced a variable
resistor which b used In many guided
missies md IBM computers, radtos
and television sets. He also devised
the control unit used In the artificial
heart stimulators.
In conclusion. Blacks have significantly impacted the technical progress
of this nation through their inventions.
The record speaks for Itself and so do
their Inventions.