Welcome to the Ebony Journal online

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:32:59 +0100

Welcome to the

Ebony Journal online

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Ebony Journal in online form! This is going to be an effort to bring the 20 year service of our publisher and editor Ms. Elaine Campbell into the 21^st Century with the use of the World Wide Web.

But before we can start with this online edition, we must give props to Ms. Elaine and all of the people who have assisted her through her years of service whether they are here or gone to God’s reward. So to all of you thank you.

In any community, a free press is a vital necessity. For a prospering Black community, the Black press is the life blood of the body of the African-American people here in the Teche area. Ms. Elaine has done this community well by creating and publishing this newspaper for the past 20 years for the community -- which, of course, is YOU!!!!

Now you may be asking who are you to exploit something that Ms. Elaine has worked so hard to keep up. Well, I am one of you. I am Francis C. (F.C.) Dominique. I am the son of John and Myrtle Dominique of Bank St. fame. I have returned to my ancestral home after spending 23 years married and with children in Arizona. I am now divorced which is my reason for returning home.

I have 35 years of media experience (yes I started when I was 15) working in both the print media and radio. Both of my rookie jobs were here in New Iberia at the Daily Iberian in 1975 and at KANE-AM in 1976. My last work in the media was for a pillar of the Black Press -- The Arizona Informant newspaper in Phoenix. I worked there for the last 14 years. The first two were as a general assignment reporter covering general stories. The last 12 as an investigative journalist for the Maricopa County NAACP, investigating charges of racism brought before the civil rights organization. That work was performed under the watchful eye and support of Rev. Oscar Tillman, president of the branch.

In moving back home, I can see the potential for this newspaper to serve as a voice for Iberia’s African-American community. Do you realize that at this moment in time there are 14 Black people serving you here in Iberia? There are four people each on the Iberia Parish Council and the Iberia Parish School Board and there are three people each on the City Councils of New Iberia and Jeanerette.

The significance of that point hits home when you realize how far the Black community of Iberia Parish has come. There may be a few people reading this who remember this or know about this incident which shows clearly how far.

It goes back to 1944 and the fact that a total of 8 Black leaders were run out of town by racist Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Deputies under the service of Sheriff Gilbert Ozenne. They were forcibly removed from New Iberia for supporting a welding school for Black young men. These people need to be remembered by everyone Black in this city and actually they need to be remembered by all the citizens of Iberia Parish.

The people, whose names need to be burned in our brains, included New Iberia NAACP branch President J. Leo Hardy; Herman Faulk, educator; Octave Lilly, insurance executive; Frenzella Volter, educator; and Doctors E.L. Dorsey, Luins H. Williams, H.C. Scroggins and Ima Pierson. The significance of the doctors being told to leave town is that this left the Black population of New Iberia without healthcare for several months. Because of this harassment and beating, Mr. Hardy, who had the greatest number of injuries after the incident died a few months later. The New Iberia branch of the NAACP carried his name for decades afterward.

Its history like this that needs to be taught to our children and our children’s children so that, just like the Jews worldwide, we can say “NEVER AGAIN” and mean it with faith and determination that events like that will never happen again.

This is the true purpose of the African-American media. Yes it is our voice to the wider community. Yes it’s a chance for the common man, woman and child to have his or her “15 minutes of fame.” “My name was in the paper!” is the one response about newspapers that everyone loves to say – except when you are up to no good.

And yes, we are here to point out wrongs and injustices, especially when we do it to ourselves. It would be nice to have a newspaper with nothing but good news, but you know that the world isn’t that way and if someone did you wrong you would want the world to know and you would want justice. We will try to be that forum for you.

Please be patient with this webpage as I am learning this new site, but let all your family and friends with computers know about this. In the meantime, if you have any questions, suggestions, comments or rants, please send them to EbonyJournal@yahoo.com.

Thank you for visiting.

F.C. Dominique

Online Editor – Ebony Journal

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Welcome to the Ebony Journal online