Photograph will be placed here . . . .

Because of past experience and present circumstances, I was moved to try to make a difference in a world where segregation kept my people chained.

In 1939, I joined the Council for Community Integration (CCI), an interracial organization. Their goal was to persuade the community to value individuals on a personal basis and make no distinctions because of race, creed, or nationality.

The CCI met with personal managers of every establishment in the Twin Cities. Through their dedicated efforts, housing in many areas was opened, schools were integrated with changes in the school system, and programs working with underprivileged children were organized. I placed these children in such programs myself.

In 1958, I attempted to enroll my daughter in the Illinois Commercial College. I was told by the president that no Negroes had ever been allowed to attend the day sessions, but that night sessions were open. The reason they gave for this was a hard fact of those times. The college catered mostly to small towns and Negroes would hurt their business.

Many would have graciously accepted this crumb thrown our way. Education was, after all, a luxury to many Blacks at this time. But, as a mother and a Black woman, I could not settle for anything less than the best for my daughter. She was worth it.

After many conferences and pressure on my part, the Illinois Commercial College opened its doors to the Colored population, and my daughter was the first to enroll and graduate from it. In 1960, I co-founded what was then called the Champaign-Urbana Improvement Association. Headed by the Rev. J.E. Graves, the CUIA's basic purpose was to crumble the walls of segregation in employment, to seek a fair employment policy, and to open up new avenues for Blacks.

The first project of the council was to assemble pickets around a J.C. Penney's store that had not hired a single Black person. I organized a boycott, and after three weeks J.C. Penney opened its employment to Blacks. Several businesses followed.

These times were instrumental in a new birth for Champaign-Urbana. It gave our Negro boys and girls their first opportunities and the incentive to press for higher education. The cities have made progress, but there is still a great distance to go.

We talk about the Negro not being ready for this and that and not having the opportunity to make choices. The blame can be easily traced. How can a man be a man when he's forced to take only what's left? The historical line is laced with an unjust struggle.

So, I am aware that all Negroes are not first class citizens. Neither are all whites. I have lived with the deeply rooted need to take on the burden of the equality struggle. Though the future sometimes seems bleak, I have learned that each glimmer of hope that all people can make shine, brings us closer to that better place.

s Mary Alexander's achievements are numerous. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Urban League for eight years; she was appointed to the Champaign City Human Relations Commission; she served on the District Advisory Committee of Unit 4 Schools; she was a member of the Interfaith Council for Fair Housing. Currently Ms. Alexander serves on the East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging and is active in the Douglass Center Annex for Senior Citizens.

REMEMBER:
Today will be tomorrow's history – it is never too late or too early to start preserving our heritage.