Letters to the Editor

In honor of this decade of change we have asked readers to

tell us about changes they’ve seen. These two readers really

capture the essence of the 20’s and the change that has come

for all of us.

Dear Frank, I know firsthand how the culture is changing here in Harlem. I grew up here and have always called it home. For years I have seen crime and

poverty rip our community apart. It seemed like we were on the brink of complete destruction. The Apollo Theatre has gone from a shamble of a

building to a truly wonderful place that has united the community. Jazz has become is not just a genre of music but a way of life. I gained much from

men like Louis Armstrong and their passion for the music. Men like him

have led our community out of the slum we had been sitting in for years. Paintings and drawings have become apparent and we love to support our

artists and the things they stand for. I have heard that this cultural movement has even affected colored people as far as

France and I am so proud to be a part of the movement. Harlem will continue to move in a

positive direction and be the hope for Negros

everywhere.

With Regards,

Pierce Richards

Dear Frank,

In the past decade our culture in the United States has changed drastically. The change in music, art, and entertainment have been

prevalent as their stars are on the cover of newspaper and magazines

from shore to shore. Children look up to them and adults want to be

them. Babe Ruth swept the country off their feet and

has made base ball the American pastime of the decade.

Mary Pickford has been in numerous movies and

women everywhere are constantly trying to look just

like her. Ella Armstrong and Louis Armstrong have

changed music forever and created this genre that all

walks of life can enjoy. This decade has brought many

changes in culture for us and I can speak for the whole nation in saying we are curious to see what the thirty’s

will bring.

Sincerely,

George Jacobs

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LIFE MAGAZINE

Page 10

ACROSS

2. The white supremist group that

killed thousands of innocent Ne-

groes across the south.

8. One of the Italian radicals that

was convicted and executed.

9. A drink produced since 1886

that began using new advertising

techniques like slogans and logos. 11. The period between 1919 and

1920 when there was a general

fear of communism.

12. The other Italian radical.

14. This made items that had been

previously too expensive available

to middle class families.

15. Famous bootlegger and mob-

ster

16. Last name of the 29th presi-

dent of the U.S. 17. City in New York that saw a

change in culture throughout the

twenties.

DOWN

1. The baseball players born in 1895

that led the New York Yankees to three

world series titles in the past decade.

3. The theatre in Harlem, New York

that became a center for performing

arts.

4. Women that wore short dresses and

cut their hair short. 5. The movie directed by Alfred Hitch-

cock released October 6th.

6. The car that began being produced in

1908 and revolutionized the assembly

line.

7. The man that was tried for teaching

Evolution in the classroom

10. Last name: Armstrong

12. The right that women fought to get.

13. Last name of the man that made the

first non-stop transatlantic by himself in

the Spirit of St. Louis..

12 Down

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Cartoons of the Decade By Alex Levine & Sloane Ansell

A Slight Change in Role Models

LIFE MAGAZINE

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Table of Contents

Letters to Editor Page 1

Table of Contents Page 2

Racial Prejudice/Prohibition Page 3

Scandals of the 20’s Page 4

Labor Unions Pages 5-6

Trials of the 20’s Page 8

Political Cartoons Page 9

Crossword Puzzle Page 10

Coming soon to a theatre near you!

Set in London, Annie Ondra and John Logden play wonderful roles displaying their sheer acting abili-ties in the best way. Released on October 6, this movie will keep you on the edge of your seat with all of it’s suspense, betrayal, and murder. It is a great picture that will keep you guessing and please your senses. Come and see one of the best motion pic-tures of the decade in “Blackmail”, directed wonderfully by Alfred Hitchcock.

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Racial Prejudice Rips the Country Apart

By Stephanie Bonilla

Incidents have broken out over the nation with blacks and whites joining and causing violence. Due to that, nine years ago fifty three blacks and eight whites were lynched. In April 1920 two Italian immigrants, Sacco and Vanzetti, were unfairly prosecuted, the judge said himself that they were “anarchist bastards” and “Damn them, they ought to hang anyway” without actual evi-

dence of them committing the crime, in fact they were chosen as the ones because they were subscribed to an anarchist newspaper. The KKK is torturing and lynch-ing blacks and anyone else that do not believe in what they believe in and they stop at nothing. It wasn’t until 1925 when David Stephenson was sentenced for murder. Will there ever be racial peace in this nation? We will most likely never know, our grand children and great grandchildren may see the day that we can get along with the different colored people, but as of now, none of us stand for it.

Was Prohibition the right thing for this country?

By Alex Levine

Ten years ago prohibition was approved by 36 states and the 18th Amendment sealed the deal when it was signed on January 16, 1919. The Women's Christian Temperance Union has played a major role in nationalizing Prohibition in Amer-ica. The objective of prohibition is to help protect families and women from the violence of alcoholism. The idea of Prohibition itself is excellent, but unfortu-nately unrealistic. Since Prohibition has been implanted, crime rates have only gone up.

New gangs and mobs are constantly forming. Not only has the number of serious crimes increased, but crime is now being organized. The contributing factor to the sudden increase of felonies is the organization of crime. Since liquor is no longer legally available, the public is now turning to mobs that are taken on the bootlegging industry and supplying the public with liquor. Gangs such as Al Capone, Bugs Moran, Johnny Torrio, The Purple Gang, and Peter Licavoli have rose to power due to the illegal money-making business. As a result of the money involved in the bootlegging industry, there has been a lot of rivalry between

gangs. There has been several agents hired under the Prohibition act to raid and arrest these gangs, but the agents are not only under-qualified, but also underpaid and unprepared for this kind of work. These agents however are easily influenced by brides, which then leads to corruption. Prohibition at the time was good idea but it’s outlived its usefulness. Now all prohibition does, is hurt America more than ever. If America were to uplift the 18th amendment today, it would prove to be more benefi-cial for both the Government and people. Alcohol produc-

tion will lead to more job openings and more sales tax for the Government. This Act was not very carefully drafted, which therefore has led to its poor enactment.

LIFE MAGAZINE

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Trials of the 20’s By Sloane Ansell

Sacco-Venzetti

The Sacco-Venzetti trial

was one to stir up the country

and question the judicial system. Ferdenando Nicola Sacco and

Bortolomeo Venzetti were con-

victed for a robbery and murder back in 1920. Almost a decade

later people across the nation

still question the outcome of the

trials. There was very little physical evidence. The two

men’s names were taken off a

subscription list to an Italian Radical Newspaper and labeled

as suspects.

As a result of the guilty

verdict they were sentenced to

death and were executed two

years ago on August 23, 1927.

To this day people still have

think about those men. Maybe

they were guilty but were they

given a fair trial? Our nation

will be

t h i n k i n g

about it for

the years

to come.

The Scopes Trial

It has long been an ar-

gument, should our kids be

taught Evolution? Just four years ago the question was

brought to a head. It began with

the passing of the Butler Act, outlawing the teaching of Evo-

lution in schools across the na-

tion. Later in the year a man

names John Scopes brought the newly passed act to a head.

In a very public trial Scopes as

found guilty, technically. He was never brought back for sen-

tencing and never served time.

Since then the country

has seen more censorship. Text-books that contained Evolution

material saw drops in sales, until

that material was removed.

California and Arizona

have leaned towards teaching

evolutionists views, and thirteen

states have begun the process of

passing anti-evolution laws. The

past five years have been full of

ups in down in the argument of

Evolution versus Creationism

and who knows what will hap-

pen in the next.

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Only $650!

This is the least expensive car on the market. It will get you from one place to another in a timely fashion. You can visit your family across the city or across the country. Commuting to work won’t be a long process and you can live in the part of the city you want to! This price is un-beatable and won’t be available for long so get your before they’re all gone!

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LIFE MAGAZINE

SCANDALS! SCANDALS! SCANDALS!

By Sloane Ansell Almost seven years ago our president, Warren G. Harding, the man the country thought they could trust did the unthinkable. He betrayed people across the country. Could he be the worst president ever? Secretary of the Interior Alfred B. Fall was leasing our Navy’s oil reserves to big companies. These companies benefitted from the low prices they could buy the money and Fall benefitted by getting that money. The worst part of the entire scandal is that President Harding knew about the whole time, and did nothing about it. What became known as the Teapot Dome Scandal has been a learning process for citizens everywhere but also a wake up call. Is it possible that the president has too much power in the U.S. Only time will tell

SCANDALS! SCANDALS! SCANDALS!

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Labor Unions (And how they changed us forever)

By Stephanie Bonilla

A long ten years ago

we witnessed close to four

million workers hold about

thirty-six hundred protests

against wage cuts and long

hours with no overtime pay.

Their voice loud in protest for

what they believed was right,

pacing back in forth of the

held protest. Those workers

faced violent opposition from

not only the companies but

from our own government

and the public as a whole for

sharing their point of views

and desires. Our government

sent our police after them to

end the strikes, allowing them

do to what they wanted with

the protesters. After that

many of the workers got out

of the unions and took the

lower paying jobs. The union

memberships have declined

from five million to about

three million after that.

Our factories, compa-

nies, businesses owners and

our government see the or-

ganized labor as a threat to

the stability of our country

and economy. They are wor-

ried just as we should be what

these people in the labor un-

ions could do. One day they

could be working in the com-

panies as usual, without an

issue and the next morning

we could see them on the

door steps of the companies

protesting against low wages,

and refuse to work.

If the workers refused

to work our economy would

spiral down, we could lose

jobs, companies could shut

down and our nation could go

into complete turmoil. Fami-

lies would be doing every

odd job possible to provide

Page 6

selves and their children. Our

children could be found in

factories doing jobs that

grown men could not do be-

cause of their size. They

would be doing hard, danger-

ous jobs to just help provide

for the family. All of this

would happen because forty

workers protested and refused

to work.

We have seen what

they are capable of with the

1919 and 1920 bombings

around our political officials’

homes and offices all over

our nation. It killed thirty

three people and injured two

hundred others on Wall

Street. In fact General A.

Mitchell Palmer’s house was

bombed, which led him to

lead raids in which four thou-

sand to ten thousand radicals

were arrested. Six hundred of

them were deported, and two

hundred and forty nine people

were sent to Russia.

We were all scared by

LIFE MAGAZINE

the labor unions, and some

of us still are. They are run

by the foreigners from Rus-

sia and Europe, so who

knows if they are planning

to turn us into a communist

nation. In fact, exactly ten

years ago the American

Communist Party came to

be, and we have no clue

what their plans are. They

say they aren’t but can we

trust them? Can we allow

them to stay in our nation,

that we have fought so

much for, which many of

our families have been torn

apart for, in order to gain

our freedom and keep it?