Unfinished Agenda: Urban Politics in the Era of Black Power

367 Pages·2014·3.33 MB·English

by  Junius Williams

Junius Williams in front of the building of his community organization, the Newark Area
Planning Association (NAPA), 1968.

Electronic Edition: ISBN 978-1-58394723-4
Copyright © 2014 by Junius Williams. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for
brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by
any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the written
permission of the publisher. For information contact North Atlantic Books.
Published by
North Atlantic Books
P.O. Box 12327
Berkeley, California 94712
Cover and book design by Brad Greene
Unfinished Agenda: Urban Politics in the Era of Black Power is sponsored by the Society for the
Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit educational corporation whose goals are to
develop an educational and cross-cultural perspective linking various scientific, social, and
artistic fields; to nurture a holistic view of arts, sciences, humanities, and healing; and to publish
and distribute literature on the relationship of mind, body, and nature.
North Atlantic Books’ publications are available through most bookstores. For further
information, visit our website at www.northatlanticbooks.com or call 800-733-3000.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows: Williams, Junius, 1943–
Unfinished agenda : urban politics in the era of Black Power / Junius Williams.
pages cm.
ISBN 978-1-58394-722-7
1. Williams, Junius, 1943-2. African Americans—Civil rights—History—20th century. 3. African
Americans—Politics and government—20th century. 4. Civil rights movements—United States—
History—20th century. 5. Black power—United States—History—20th century 6. Community
organization—New Jersey—Newark—20th century. 7. Newark (N.J.)—Politics and government
—20th century. 8. African American civil rights workers—Biography 9. African American
lawyers—Biography. I. Title.
E185.97.W728A3 2013
323.092—dc23
[B]
2013008255
v3.1
This book is dedicated to my parents, Maurice Lanxton and Bernyce White Williams, who started me
on my way. They nourished and supported me with ideas and opportunities, and in their own way saw
to it that I became successful. They have passed on to Glory, but their spirit is with me always.
This book is also dedicated to my younger brother Johnny (John Williams). We have always been there
for each other; certainly he is there for me today whenever I need brotherly love and support.
Acknowledgments
This book was bound to happen, but it took a long time. I wrote on
paper napkins, on church bulletins during church services, and on yellow
legal pads. I have about forty seventh-grade “Compositions” notebooks,
filled with notes and rough drafts. I wrote whenever and wherever I was
inspired. During that time, many people came into the life of my beloved
manuscript, and to some of them I feel grateful and indebted.
Diane Patrick, Deirdre Cross, and Jed Bickman edited the manuscript,
helping me to shape and refine my chapters. They gave me confidence
about the value of the book and helped me eventually attract the
publisher.
Unfinished Agenda is what I call in the Introduction “a historical
memoir,” and so I didn’t trust my memory and judgment alone. I
cultivated my own voice as I was instructed to do, but other people
helped provide the glue that holds my story together from chapter to
chapter. I interviewed many people to get their recollection and opinions
about the way things happened. I want to say thank you to the
following: Phil Hutchings, George Fontaine, Ray Trent, Don Melafronte,
Stanley Aronowitz, Louise Epperson, J. Harry Smith, Wyla McClain,
George Richardson, Mary Darden, Dudley Christie, Jim Walker, Tom
Parks, Alma Perry, Gus Heningburg, Juliet Grant, Roger Smith
(Newman), Derek Winans, Eulis “Honey” Ward, Terry Jefferson, Earline
Provit, “Ma” Jackson, Carl Sharif, Betty Morse, Sandy Gallanter, Rita
Williams, Joe White, Joe Scrimmager, Ramon Rivera, Alphonso Roman,
Jerry Chambers, Donald Harris, Verner Henry, Sally G. Carroll, Richard
Cammerieri, Wilhelmina Holder, Professor Michael Nash, and Charles
Geyer. (Stanley Aronowitz and Phil Hutchings gave me interviews as
early as 1989.)
Still others helped me when I read their books and other writing, or
when I listened to them speak at community forums or in my class when
I taught political science at Rutgers University–Newark as an adjunct
professor (1992), or at Abbott Leadership Institute classes between 2002
and 2012. Some people gave me little snippets of information or insight
in private conversations. Thank you to Amiri Baraka, Tom Hayden,
James Forman, Larrie Stalks, Calvin West, Carol Graves, Clem Price,
Claude Brown, Rev. Levin West, former mayor Ken Gibson, Senator Ron
Rice, Judge Clarence Faines, Bob Curvin, Kwame Ture (Stokely
Carmichael), “Tiny” Prince, Carol Glassman, Reuben Johnson, Jill
Hamberg, Steve Block, Corrina Fales, former mayor Sharpe James,
Marcia Brown, Kabili Tayari, Eugene Campbell, John Crump, Komozi
Woodard, and O.T. Wells.
I want to thank my friends in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC) for teaching me street survival skills and giving me
the Movement credentials I needed to move from the South to the North;
those in the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and in the Newark
Community Union Project (NCUP) for teaching me how to organize. I
want to thank my friends and comrades in the Newark Area Planning
Association (NAPA) for letting me be their leader, and backing my
“play” on so many occasions. I want to thank my friends in the National
Bar Association, who let me be their president at the age of thirty-four,
and have cheered for me in whatever endeavor I have undertaken after
that one year in office. And then there are the musicians and friends in
Return to the Source: Guys, you saved my life, turned me completely
around. I thank my classmates in Richmond, Virginia, from the class of
1961 at Armstrong High School who have supported me through the
years—and those of you who went to Maggie Walker as well! We started
on our way. Then there are the members of my church families at
Greater Abyssinian Baptist and Bethany Baptist Churches. And last but
not least, I want to thank my parents, community activists, teachers, and
students in the Abbott Leadership Institute (ALI) for letting me be myself
again and again and again. You get me ready and excited for the next
round. Without the people in these groups and organizations, there
would be no story worth telling.
During the writing stage, each month my manuscript kept growing
and growing, until my wife, Annie, a.k.a. Dr. Antoinette Ellis-Williams,
told me “You got more than enough for any one book, so why don’t you
just stop.” One day I took her advice and found out I had 1,100 pages
(double-spaced). She supported me with love that was full of humor and
compassion. I couldn’t have written the book in a home where there was
an absence of these vital ingredients. Thank you, and I love you.
And then there are my four children, who love me but enjoy roughing
me up with their jokes, challenges, and irreverence for the little excerpts
I gave them from time to time. I kept writing anyway, even when they
wouldn’t read the unfinished Unfinished Agenda that was left casually
strewn around the living room in the hope that I would get some
feedback and encouragement. Thank you and much love to Camille,
Junea, Junius, and Che.
Getting a publisher in today’s market is not for the faint of heart. But
eventually, I am a “published author” today because of the openness to
new ideas of Richard Grossinger and the folks at North Atlantic Books.
They took me in and made me a part of the family. I want to thank them
all. Much appreciation to my new editor, Jessica Sevey, who knows how
to move a project.
Finally, I want to acknowledge the people of Newark, New Jersey.
Sometimes you are the rock, and at other times the sinking sand, upon
which I stake my claim to manhood right here in this book and beyond. I
couldn’t have made it without you, one way or the other. And I wouldn’t
have it any other way.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Tom Hayden
Introduction: Why I Write This Book
1. Coming of Age in the ’60s
2. Amherst College
3. Montgomery and Beyond
4. NCUP: My First Summer in Newark
5. Black Power and Yale Law School
6. The Newark Rebellion
7. NAPA and the Medical School Fight
Photo Insert
8. NAPA and the Growth of Community Power
9. Real Power
10. Election of the First Black Mayor
11. The Ken Gibson Years
12. National Bar Association
13. Running for Mayor in 1982
14. PUBS and Legal Services
15. University Heights
16. The Abbott Leadership Institute
Postscript: Black Power and the Occupy Movement
About the Author