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Black Power part 9
Calvin Frazier served as a vice chairman for the council and Mildred Scott was later a coordinator. Frazier, who had previously served time himself for burglary and attempted grand larceny, is an example of what Dr. Nishani Frazier refers to as the 'transformative power' of CORE.
Educational Legacy
Uhuru Sasa by this time had become just one part of a larger cultural and educational center known as the EAST which was dedicated to 'self determination, nation building and Black nationalist consciousness'. Operating out of 10 Claver Place, the East had multiple operations, among them a bookstore, restaurant, catering business, food co-op, a recording label, a legendary jazz venue and its own newspaper called Black News.
Several BK CORE members had also become part of the EAST, including Leroy Bowser, Dorothy Morrow, Ali Lamont, Sonny Carson, Jim 'Seitu' Dyson and both Maurice and Winnie Fredricks who changed their last names to 'Weusi', Swahili for Black. Les Campbell changed his name to Jitu Weusi, Swahili for 'Big Black'. Even the Bibuld children attended the Uhuru Sasa after school program and were involved in the AASA.
The EAST family were among the earliest promoters of Kwanzaa in NYC and their work was a precursor to the Afrocentric movement of the 1980's and 1990's. The EAST's legacy can also be seen in its annual African Street Festival, now known as the International African Arts Festival.
Jitu Weusi also played a major part in the creation of Medgar Evers which finally opened in September, 1971. He, Sonny Carson and future city councilman Al Vann were responsible for coming up with the idea and bringing it to the city's power brokers. On that team representing the city was Major Owens.
Owens had been the commissioner of the Community Development Agency which was responsible for watching over all the other NYC community corporations. Mary Phifer worked under him as a contract manager. Many of these organizations were being run at the time throughout the city by former CORE members, such as Harlem CORE's Gladys Harrington in the Bronx, Queens CORE's Gular Glover in South Jamaica and Harlem CORE's Marshall England in Harlem. Owens himself was the founder and former director of a community corporation in Brooklyn, the Brownsville Community Council. Mayor Lindsay named it as "one of the most successful anti-poverty agencies in the city".
Sonny Carson murder trails
Sonny Carson meanwhile had been riding a crest of popularity. His profile moved to the national level. At the beginning of 1972, his autobiography, The Education of Sonny Carson, was well received. It became a best seller and was turned into a movie. The School of Common Sense was still in operation.
Carson was also the coordinator for the NY State Black Political Assembly and worked directly under State Senator Waldaba Stewart, the head of the NY delegation to the National Black Political Convention. The most significant effort in American history to help Blacks gain political power, the convention sought to get Blacks elected to political office.
Things went bad for Carson on July 13, 1973 when he and seven others were arrested for thirty six different charges including murder and attempted murder, kidnapping, burglary, possession of dangerous weapons. The case involved two other men who had been accused of burglarizing several homes and stores in Bedford Stuyvesant. This included a hotel of a few thousand dollars, some expensive lamps and paintings. The hotel, which had been robbed by them twice was owned by Carson's mentor, Jim Cuffie.
Police charged Carson and the others went to one man's apartment, found the lamps, then shot one guy in the building who eventually died. The other guy was driven to Long Island, shot in the head and left for dead, but he survived. The reason given for the actions was revenge.
The arrests were not made until a month and a half after the incidents occurred. Among those arrested was Ali Lamont. Like Carson's hero, Al Hajj Malik Shabazz (the former Malcolm X) all seven were identified as Sunni muslims.
Carson, Lamont and the others immediately got support from many of NYC's Black political elite, including Percy Suton, Basil Patterson and Congresswoman Shirley Chisolm. One of Carson's lawyers was F. Lee Bailey, known nowadays as the lawyer for O.J. Simpson in his murder trial.