The Executive Committee devoted itself to a very full discussion of the whole matter in all of its phases and decided that the work of the university would not unduly suffer as the work of these professors would otherwise be carried. An expression of appreciation on behalf of the Board of Trustees was voted those discontinued for the services they have rendered the university since they have been in its employ.

  Present Registration is 2,123 As Against 1,057 in 1919

  A faculty member in criticising the Administration said, “everything that Dr. Durkee has done was needed and will be justified in the further growth of the university. His mistakes are he does the thing suddenly and without enough explanation; so that motives other than the real ones can and are attributed to him. He is rather boyish in his attitude; he will stake all on the word of some one in whom he believes, and a hard vindicative fighter for the things he thinks right. Full of primitive, youthful zeal and deadly serious in his efforts to build up Howard, he has faith in himself and a stomach for hard work. How else could he have done the things he has?”

  What or who is behind the efforts to oust Dr. Durkee from the presidency at Howard? I do not know. But certainly this movement is on. In 1919–20 the “Spirituals” demonstration was pulled off. This singing was purely voluntary on the part of each student. Certainly not required of any one. But the President was blamed and denounced—for what?

  In this same year (1919–20) the socialistic book found its way into the hands of Senator Smoot, head of the Appropriations Committee, who must decide on funds for Howard. Why? The President’s efforts to placate the “watch dog of the treasury” were likewise denounced as “cringing.”

  A further rift in both teacher and student groups, and the year closed.

  The following year when school opened, the third day of Chapel, the President appeared on the platform of the Chapel rather diffidently. Some one began hand-clapping. Instantly the crammed Chapel took it up and gave the President a most stirring reception full of yells, rah! rahs! with “Durkee” on the end.

  Having the memory of those last bitter days of the preceding term, he was tremendously moved. He advanced to the pulpit and stood with flushed face and those steel-blue eyes swimming.

  “I see that the students realize what a tremendous strain the President has been laboring under for the past months. He—”

  He could get no further and bowed his head, signifying dismissal. The students were themselves touched and went forth very pro-Durkee.

  But in that same year came the Student Council fight, headed by Looby, George Brown and Fred Jordan. More bitter Chapel sessions, more divisions on the campus, more denunciations from the city for the President.

  Later also came the fight on compulsory Chapel attendance by students in the Engineering School led by Priestly, Hardwick and Goins.36

  This began a long struggle against Chapel attendance by compulsion. I believe few persons exist who do not object to forced spiritual life. The President’s contention was that it was his only chance to meet the students. He wanted to keep in touch, to maintain a personal bond, feeling perhaps the need of this in his position. For in the services, he always told of any new acquisitions, any new conquest, our athletes were called up and lauded, in general the life of the university was synchronized there. Then too, he had a chance to “tell his side of things.”

  In this same year or early in the next there was the dining room strike. The students paid $18.50 per month for board. Some said the food was poor, others more conservative said that the price was too high. The politicians of which there was no dearth accused the Administration and Mr. Scott in particular of gouging. The outcome of it all was that they were given permission to board in the city. But after a brief trial every one was again boarding on the Hill.

  The next year, 1921–22, the general protest against Chapel attendance won and no one but freshmen were required to go.

  But other strikes have come and gone, more distracting of student attention from class room to problems of administration. Where will it end? We shrug.

  No attempt has been made, nor will be made to show that the Administration is perfect or infallible. But their mistakes are made in an effort to arrive at something better than what they have to work with. Their efforts are constructive. That cannot be said of the harsh critics throughout the country who neither know what is being done nor wish to know in order that their unfavorable attitude may not change. Indeed, the facts in the case do not alter their opinion at all. Disintegration is the goal toward which they work for the university they profess to love. Never a dollar contributed, never a helpful word, never a constructive criticism from year to year. These are those who tear down in the name of love.

  The question arises: Is it best to lend a helping hand to Howard—imperfect as it is, it is our only university—to raise it to our ideal of a university, or by destructive internal warfare, level it to the earth again? This is a world of compromises. Katabolism is easy, growth is hard.

  The Emperor Effaces Himself*

  I

  Eight modest, unassuming brass bands blared away down Lenox Avenue. It was August 1, 1924, and the Emperor Marcus Garvey was sneaking down the Avenue in terrible dread lest he attract attention to himself.1 He succeeded nobly, for scarcely fifty thousand persons saw his parade file past trying to hide itself behind numerous banners of red, green, and black.2

  This self-effacement was typical of Mr. Garvey and his organization. He would have no fuss nor bluster—a few thousand pennants strung across the street overhead, eight or nine bands, a regiment or two, a few floats, a dozen or so of titled officials and he was ready for his annual parade. It was pointed out that the pennants were used solely to [indicate] the route as the “Royal African Guards” were mounted and the horses had to [be] shown which way to go.

  The uniforms worn by the paraders were so colorless that they gave strength to the rumor that Mr. Garvey’s visit to Col. Simmons of the K. K. K. had been successful and that he and all of his followers had become members of the “Invisible Empire.”3

  Mr. Garvey himself wore an Admiral’s hat hidden under a mass of red and green plumes. Not to appear too partial to the navy, he wore a General’s uniform set off by a few fat ropes of gold braid, a sash and a sabre. His men wore black suits with stripes of red braid running hither and yon. Perhaps under anyone else they would have been dressed entirely in scarlet, but Mr. Garvey said ‘no.’ He was very firm in the matter.

  Back in 1920 for his parade Garvey had worn a purple robe with a black hood lined with red and green silk. But he revolted against such gaudiness—hence the plumes.

  II

  As a military genius he had no faith in himself at all. Tho he was Admiralissimo of the “African Navy,” Generalissimo of the “African Legions,” he frequently expressed a fearful lack of confidence. But these expressions placed side by side with his mighty accomplishments are proof positive of the man’s overwhelming modesty.

  “When I get to Africa, with my invincible Black Army, I shall not ask Great Britain what she is doing there, I shall tell her to ‘get out!’ I shall not ask France what she is doing there, I shall tell her to ‘get out!’ I shall not ask Belgium what she is doing there, I shall tell her to ‘get out!’ And so on until I have kicked every white man out of Africa!”

  Perhaps he felt this charming reserve because he had never had a day of military experience in his life.

  On the walls of his living room in 129th Street, there hung a large picture of Napoleon. On the opposite wall hung one, still larger, of himself. It is evident that he wished no comparisons drawn. If he had, he would have caused them to be hung side by side.

  “You already have the governors of Europe trembling,” he announced a little further on. “Lloyd George has warned the other statesmen to look out for Marcus Garvey, and you can rest assured that Marcus Garvey is looking out for Lloyd George.”4

  III

  With his Negro contemporaries, whom lesser souls might have considered rivals and consequently felt the pangs of jealousy, he was never too busy to pause and pay them compliments. Of W. E. Burghardt Du Bois he said: “Fifty years from now, Du bois will still be sending petitions to Congress. Marcus will be coming up the Hudson Bay (river) with a flotilla of battleships, dreadnaughts, cruisers, submarines and aeroplanes to land the first African ambassador in the United States. The next day he will dine at the White House.”5

  The indolence of some of his race bretheren stirred his great spirit. He himself was willing to serve, was eager to save. They not only refrained from saving themselves, but actively objected to his saving so much. Tearfully he read them out—expelled them bodaciously from the race. Bleached and faded, they go mewing about the limbo of nothingness that borders the land of races. Thus passed Du Bois, James Weldon Johnson and William Pickens from among the Negro living, and are seen no more.6

  But with his officers and others who shared his zeal, he was most generous. Of his wealth of titles, he gave and gave till it hurt them to carry all that he gave them. Behold his “Duke of Uganda!” His “Knight Commander of the Sublime Order of the Nile!” “Supreme Deputy Potentates,” “High Chancellor,” “High Auditor” and “Lords” and “Ladies” aplenty.

  For himself he kept almost nothing. He was merely Managing Editor of the Negro World, Pres. of the Black Star Steamship and Navigation Line, Pres.-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, Supreme Ruler of the Sublime Order of the Nile, Provisional Pres. of Africa and Commander-in-Chief of the “African Legions.”

  IV

  With rare foresight, he saw that the redeeming of the entire continent of Africa would take time. It would be no easy task to make it safe for the black folk of the world. They must not be too optimistic he told them.

  “Ninety days from now (Aug. 1920) we will have an ambassador at the court of France; ninety days from now we will have an ambassador at the court of St. James; ninety days from now we will have an ambassador at the court of St. Petersburg; ninety days from now we will have an ambassador at the court of Moscow; ninety days from now we will have a Black House side by side with the White House in Washington.”

  He might have demanded the entire site on which the White House stands, but you see, he generously offers to share it. He will permit even the conquered whites to have an executive mansion side by side with his.

  V

  Democratic soul that he was, he frequently humored the whims of his subordinates. If the military men wished to call themselves “Royal African Guards” and trick themselves out in the uniform of the Jamaica Police, he could not find it in his heart to deny them so simple a pleasure. They probably derived great happiness from the parades in which they figured. He yielded also to the women who wished to call themselves “The Ladies of the Royal Court of Ethiopia.”

  Modest and reserved himself, he loved these qualities in others. He was most severe with those who endeavored in one way or another to thrust themselves into prominence unduly.

  For instance, a stockholder, coming to Garvey’s office one day while the guard was absent, actually entered the place unannounced! The President promptly threw him out again. Such methods of advancing one’s self in the world cannot be too vigorously squelched.

  E. L. Gaines, Capt. of the African Legions, to whom the organization owed a few hundred dollars, went to the office and brazenly demanded his pay.7 This flagrant example of selfish greed was put down ruthlessly. The Capt. was thrown out also. How else could Mr. Garvey preach to the world the high spiritual aims of the organization if his officers’ minds clung to thoughts of pay? Why, he himself would not accept more than five hundred or more dollars per month—scarcely enough to keep a millionaire alive!

  Even Sir William H. Ferris, K.C.S.O.N. (Knight Commander of the Sublime Order of the Nile), Vice Pres. of the U.N.I.A, Treasurer of the Negro Factory Corporation, Literary Ed. of the Negro World was so lacking in taste as to lead a group of factory workers seeking pay into the Imperial suite.8 He was severely rebuked.

  “How dare you bring anyone into my office without my consent?” Mr. Garvey asked him. Any amount of abuse heaped upon such vulgar social climbing would not be too much.

  One is not surprised to learn that he hated praise. One of his followers who continually shouted “God and Garvey” at every meeting, was silenced by being made Speaker of the Convention.

  VI

  Mr. Garvey hired several lawyers to advise him at various times. They were evidently men of small calibres. They purported to be lawyers, but invariably he knew more about legal processes than they. Furthermore, a more sensitive, touchy lot never lived. If Mr. Garvey playfully hinted that [they] were useless and need not clutter up the place any longer, they resigned. He was forced more than once to take cases out of their hands and go into court and conduct them himself. He knew no law, but ‘his not to reason why, his but to go and try.’ Once he was forced to be both lawyer and witness, to ask and answer his own questions.

  GARVEY, LAWYER: Do you know Capt. Gaines?

  GARVEY, WITNESS: Yes.

  GARVEY, LAWYER: How long have you known him?

  GARVEY, WITNESS: Four years.

  GARVEY, LAWYER: Was he ever employed by you?

  GARVEY, WITNESS: Yes.

  GARVEY, LAWYER: In what capacity?

  GARVEY, WITNESS: I appointed him Captain of the “African Legions.”

  Later on, he was forced to conduct his own defense before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Govt. either out of fear of Mr. Garvey, or envy of his great conquests, arrested him on the flimsy charge of using the mails to defraud. Fraud? Ridiculous! Of course, he had sold a few trifling thousand dollars worth of Black Star Line stock before he had a ship, he had sold a few passages to Africa on a ship that did not exist, but what’s a few little ships among emperors!9 But why the cry of fraud? He had taken the people’s money and he was keeping it. That was how he had become the greatest man of his race. Booker T. Washington had achieved some local notice for collecting monies and spending it on a Negro school.10 It had never occurred to him to keep it. Marcus Garvey was much in advance of the old school of thinkers. Hence he stood in places never dreamed of by Booker T. Washington. There have been some whisperings concerning W. E. B. Du Bois on account of his efforts to lower the violent mortality rate among his people, and advance their interests generally, but he never learned how to keep the people’s money and so missed true greatness.11

  Mr. Garvey sat up one night and learned law. The next day he bravely took the burden of the case upon himself. Even tho he realized he had not a chance in the world against the District Attorney, he assumed the responsibility.

  “When I get thru with that little Jew Dist. Atty., he will be so small you will have to hunt for him with a candle.”12

  These are some of the telling points he drove home for the defense in spite of the prosecution.

  Capt. Gaines, prosecution witness on the stand. (The same who had been dismissed without pay by Mr. Garvey, and thrown out of the office) GARVEY: What is your personal opinion of Marcus Garvey—is he honest and sincere?

  CAPT. [GAINES: No. He] spent the money you [sic] got by fraud on race horses and women.

  Sidney de Bourg: Prosecution witness.13 GARVEY: Did you ever have a conversation with “Lady” [Illegible] concerning Marcus Garvey?

  DE BOURG: Yes.

  GARVEY: What was said during this conversation about Marcus Garvey?

  DE BOURG: She said you were impossible and the only thing to do was to let you fall over a precipice and break your neck.

  Judge Julian Mack, before whom the case was being tried, asked both sides to rush because a Zionist convention was to be held soon in Chicago, and he wished to be present.14 With rare self-effacement Garvey asked, “Would you rush this case to attend a convention when the liberty of Marcus Garvey is at stake?”

  His unselfish desire to help is shown by a remark he made to one of his officers out of court.

  “I have preached and shown these preachers how to preach, and now I’ll show these lawyers how to practice law.”

  Very Touching! With only one night of law to his name, he was willing to share it with the benighted legal profession.

  Tho he had no college training, he was a thirster after knowledge. After his address to the jury, he decided to study law, and asked a law student about entrance requirements.

  GARVEY: Do you have to have a college degree?

  STUDENT: Yes.

  GARVEY: How about a man as famous as me—don’t they have any special provisions?

  The jury [endangered] his college career by finding him guilty, but Judge Mack was more sympathetic. He urged Mr. Garvey to take a five-year course in Practical Geology as being more helpful than the practice of law.

  That instance is not [illegible] of affection for the higher learning. He wanted to be a patron of Letters so he founded or rather created Booker T. Washington University out of a twenty-foot board and nailed it up where all might see. Of course, the alumnae of this university might be only splinters, but even so, it shows the lofty ambition of the man.

  VII

  He was a fearless seeker after truth. By scientific investigation, he discovered that The Virgin Mary was a black woman, and that Jesus Christ, a mulatto who has been “passing” these two thousand years. So, what could be fairer than showing them in their true colors? [What] could be darker? Nothing, according to the 1924 edition of his modest little parade.