1997 Ad

Ebony, Feb, 1998 by Kelly Starling

From the confirmation of two new Cabinet officers to attacks on affirmative action, from the glory of the Million Woman March to the trauma of the death of Betty Shabazz, the happenings of 1997 tugged Black America between success and sadness. It was a time of struggle in which African-Americans made historic inroads in politics, the corporate world and entertainment only to have a rash of hate crimes and police brutality rekindle centuries of anger.

It seemed that for every three steps we advanced toward victory in 1997, something pushed us two steps back. Here is a glimpse at some of the triumph and tragedies of last year:

Political gains led the headlines for Black Americans in 1997. Along with the landmark appointments of Alexis Herman as Secretary of Labor and Rodney Slater as Secretary of Transportation, the U.S. Senate confirmed Eric Holder as United States deputy attorney general, the first Black to hold the No. 2 position. Other political firsts included the election of Harvey Johnson as mayor of Jackson, Miss., and the appointment of William E. Kennard as the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Harold E. Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.) was sworn in at age 26, making him the youngest member of the 105th Congress and the second-youngest congressman in history.

President Clinton also made some overdue gestures toward racial healing. In two emotional ceremonies, he apologized to the survivors and family of deceased victims of the infamous Tuskegee syphilis experiment and awarded the nation's highest award for bravery, the Medal of World War II.

But in the every year Clinton formed an advisory committee, healed by historian John Hope Franklin, to open a national dialogue on race, America faced an unprecedented wave of attacks against affirmative action. Admissions members fell at the University of Texas and other colleges and universities. Probably the biggest war raged in California, where the Rev. Jesse Jackson led a protest against Proposition 209, a statewide initiative that in effect banned affirmative action in education, contracting and hiring practices

A reign of hate also shadowed the good news of 1997. The alleged beating of a Black teen by White youths in Chicago, the murder of a West African immigrant, according to police, by a skinhead in Denver and the reported sodomizing of a Haitian immigrant by New York police signaled the resurgence of more overt displays of racism. As if on cue, the Klan raised its white-hooded head again -- this time in pittsburgh. In April, the American Knights of the KKK rallied at the courthouse.

In international news, Kofi Annan of Ghana was appointed United Nations Secretary, and South Africa adopted a new constitution, marking its transition from majority-White rule to a democracy. Nelson Mandela emerged as an international pioneer, paving the way for the country to become one of the world's top powers.

International losses came in the African nation of Zaire, renamed the Congo, as news of massacres of citizens by Rwandan soldiers made the headlines and President Sese Seko Mobutu stepped down and died months later.

Back in America, Blacks scored major victories in sports, the entertainment world and corporate Amrica. Tiger Woods became the first Black and youngest golfer to win the Masters. The Chicago Bulls. led by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, won its fifth NBA title. And Venus Williams exploded onto the tennis scene when she made it to the finals in the U.S. Open.

In the boardroom, Kenneth Chenault took the helm as president and CEO of American Express, and Merrill Lynch's Stanley O'Neal became the highest-ranking senior Black executive on Wall Street.

And who can forget the awesome power of seeing throngs of Sisters show their strength at the Million Woman March in Philadelphia? Some might call 1997 the year of the Black woman as Sisters also scored as producers and directors with important projects by Debbie Allen (Amistad), Lemmons (Eve's Bayou) and Tracey Edmonds (Soul Food).

Black men also made important contributions to film and entertainment -- Spike Lee' Four Little Girls, Theodore Witcher's love jones and George Tillman Jr.'s Soul Food -- changing the way people think about Black cinema. Other entertainment coups included Cuba Gooding Jr.'s Academy Award and Wynton Marsalis becoming the first jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize of music.

Finally, 1997 was the year African-Americans mourned the passing of some of the nation's greats -- Dr. Betty Shabazz, the courageous widow of Malcolm X; rap icon Christopher Wallace (Notorious B.I.G.); Bill and Camille Cosby's son, Ennis; publisher John Sengstacke of the Chicago Defender; singer Arthur Prysock; novelist Leon Forrest; baseball pioneer Curt Flood; former Ambassador at Large and U.S. Coordinator for Refugee Affairs Jewel Lafontant Mankarious; former congressman and judge George W. Crocket Jr.; Albert Manley, former Spelman College president; Lawrence Payton of the Four Tops; veteran civil rights leader and former Mississippi legislator Aaron Henry; historian and religous leader Sue Bailey Thurman; and the charismatic former mayor of Detroit, Coleman Young.