2020-07-11 Illinois: Kewanee Bitches About Events in 1994

[Rev.Cambeul]

In 1994, Matt Hale was not a Creator. At that time he was attempting to form some sort of political group that soon failed. It would take the death of Creativity's Founder, Ben Klassen and another two years before Hale stepped for from the shadows to declare himself the leader and saviour of Creativity as The Great Promoter.

However, 1994 was TWENTY-SIX YEARS ago. These anti-Whites are so starved for attention, that they still need to bitch about events from all those years ago, to prove themselves woke, today? Is their town that dead? Or sufficiently Black that there are no Whites left to blame for Black crime? Talk about attention seeking, do nothing, oxygen thieves!


White supremacist reawakens call for minority voice

Dave Clarke | The Star Courier (Illinois - USA) | 11 July 2020

https://www.starcourier.com/news/20200711/white-supremacist-reawakens-call-for-minority-voice

KEWANEE — White supremacist leader Matthew Hale came to Kewanee in the spring of 1994. He deemed the city "ripe for his cause" and held meetings in an effort to set up an organization here.

Based in East Peoria, Hale had spent years pumping out violent and aggressive propaganda, particularly once he became "Pontifex Maximus" of the World Church of the Creator which, for a time, was one of the largest neo-Nazi groups in America, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Admin Note: Hale did not join the Church. In 1996, he started his own Creator group and used threats and bullying to force Creators under his own control or shut down all rival Creators. Hale didn't care how, just as long as he was in charge.

Local residents, both Black and white, were angry and afraid, as told in a story written several months later by Star Courier reporter Martha Szalo.

The problem was, local people had nowhere to turn. According to the story, both the Kewanee Human Relations Commission and the Kewanee Branch of the NAACP had faded away in the early 1980s. It was stated that between 1984 and 1994 there was no organized process for handling interracial problems.

That need lead to the formation of a community group called the Kewanee Alliance for Peace and Justice.

"There was a real fear in the community. It had been nice and quiet for a long time, and a lot of people were afraid (Hale) would have a following here," said James Culver, Jr., president of the Alliance.

Several meetings were held and Hale was eventually deterred from organizing a branch in Kewanee. Culver said that, in part it was the united front presented by the community and, that Hale had a smaller, weaker base here than he anticipated.

Culver discussed the history of social movement organizations in Kewanee with the assistance of Gwen Harvey, Nell Harvey and Octavia Powell, three African-American women who had been involved for many years in both the Human Relations Commission and local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"There has been a trend for people to band together in the face of a problem, and once that problem has been solved, they just kind of drift away, said Gwen Harvey.

The women said that by the 1940s, a chapter of the NAACP was established here boasting members from both races, including some prominent white Kewaneeans. It remained fairly active until the 1980s when national requirements and membership fees increased, Gwen Harvey said.

By the 1960s, things were beginning to change. Alta Brinker broke a 20-year ban on Blacks swimming at the Northeast Park pool and the NAACP interceded when the first baby of the year was denied the traditional gifts and publicity because the parents were Black.

"When they finally gave in to her, she (the mother) gave it all back. She wouldn't take it," Harvey recalled.

She said Mayor Lindbeck formed the Human Relations Commission in the 1960s in order to bring better understanding between the races.

"You could take your problems there — housing, employment, all kinds of problems. It was a strong organization created through the city but tied to the state. People from Springfield attended most of the meetings," she said. "it just kind of fizzled out under Mayor (Edward) Goetzman (Lindbeck's successor). (Mayor) Al Hill was supposed to bring it back, but it never got going until now (March of 1995). Mayor (Dewey) Colter has appointed someone to serve on it again," Harvey stated. Stories found in the early 80s also indicated the Commission had problems getting enough members together to hold meetings.

"That (1984-1994 gap) had a very bad effect because we had no group to represent the people," said Culver. "Banding together to overcome something negative, as Matt Hale's intrusion into the city, is only a short-term answer. Once the negative is overcome, the ballgame's over and everybody walks away. When there's no common enemy, attendance drops off. It's a lot easier to battle with your fists or a gun. It's a lot harder to battle ideas," said Culver.

Eventually, the Alliance for Peace and Justice also faded away.

Other highlights and accomplishments of the Kewanee Human Relations Commission include the formation in 1970 of the first youth advisory board in the state, made up of students from Kewanee and Wethersfield high schools and Black Hawk College East Campus, and Green Circle, an anti-discrimination program started in 1972 by Commission member Jeana Petersen, and presented in local classrooms by volunteers.

In 1974, the Commission requested that Stephanie Dixon, the first Black clerical worker at Kewanee City Hall, be allowed to take the Civil Service test. Chairman Sam Henson said "Black people in the community are proud of her accomplishment and would like to see her have the opportunity to make her position a permanent one by competing for it through a Civil Service test."

In recent decades, Kewnee's African-Americans have made their mark. James Jackson was the first African-American elected to the Kewanee School Board and the Kewanee Park Board. Floyd Blanks was a highly decorated Illinois State Trooper. Dannie Culver was named to the Black Hawk College East Foundation's Wall of Fame. Tyron Baker is the first African-American elected to and is now vice-president of the Wethersfield School Board; Marshall Jones is the first African-American elected to the Henry County Board and is now its chairman; and education advocate Etta LaFlora has been named Kewanee's Outstanding Citizen for 2020.

Mayor Gary Moore said he doesn't want the spirit of unity displayed at last month's Black Lives Matter march fade away. He wants to revive the Human Relations Commission to address the lack of understanding that creates many differences in the community.