Q&A with Sandra Evers-ManlyIn February 1998, Sandra Evers-Manly received a certificate of recognition from the California State Assembly for her work in bringing together a group of African American Seamen who served in Port Chicago, California during World War II. She has been leading a national write-in campaign and movement to have the President of the United States recognize the men who served in Port Chicago and expunge the record of those unjustly convicted of mutiny and/or who received less than honorable discharges.
In addition to her job as corporate director for Northrop Grumman Corporation, she is the President and Founder of the Black Hollywood Education and Resources Center based in Los Angeles.
When did you first hear about the events surrounding Port Chicago?
I first learned about Port Chicago in 1990 through my neighbor. Every Saturday, I would go down to his home to get to know him and talk about how life was in the past. I found out that he was a seaman during WWII in Port Chicago. Every Saturday, I became more intrigued about this place called Port Chicago because I found out that I grew up about 10 miles from there. I knew about the town of Port Chicago, but I didn't know it was a military base during WWII nor did I know about the major blast that took place and that it was a major ammunition port for black seamen during the 1940s.
I will never forget one of the stories that he told me. He said he felt it was honorable to drop out of school to help fight in World War II. He said when he got to Port Chicago, His first reaction was "Oh my God! I won't be killed at war. I will be killed right here in Port Chicago." He said the racism and treatment of black seamen were so frightening.
You first learned of this in 1990, but at what point did you actually get involved?
Over the years I had thought about doing something and never did. I went home to Pittsburg, California, where I grew up, which is close to Port Chicago and began to find out more about it. I read the book by Dr. Robert Allen, "The Port Chicago Mutiny." In 1997, while planning what we would do for 1998 with the Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center for black history month, I thought "wow, wouldn't this be an ideal time to recognize the men that served in Port Chicago."
So I set out to try to find as many of the blast survivors. I tried the Navy but got no help there. My neighbor, Bud, had lost contact with a lot of the remaining survivors. And then I contacted Dr. Robert Allen who teaches at UC Berkeley and he gave me the names of three survivors and said to start there. I sent out letters to a number of individuals and was able to get two answers -- Mr. Robinson living in Los Angeles and Robert Routh, both who had been in a documentary that had been done by an NBC affiliate out of Northern California. They basically did not have any contact with any other survivors.
Dr. Allen called me again with a list of 30 men, the majority from Oakland he said I might want to call. So, I started writing 30 individuals, and a lot of letters came back. Half of them said, "deceased, deceased, deceased." I was discouraged and thought, "Oh, my God, a lot of these men have passed away without any recognition." Then, I came across a man by the name of Morris Soublet out of Oakland, I had found out that he had been stationed at Port Chicago for a number of years, and he gave me a list of individuals to call. I reached a total of 12 survivors.
First of all, a number of the men were shocked about wanting to do something about Port Chicago. These men were fearful in that no one ever wanted to recognize the contributions of black seaman who served in Port Chicago. They had always been treated, whether they were convicted of mutiny or not, as criminals. So a number of men were really apprehensive to talk to me. Some refused the first time. I sent them each a letter about the Black Hollywood Research Center, what we do, and how we wanted to bring them to Southern California to honor them during Black History Month. Eventually, after talking to them and their family members -- about ten times each to finally get them on board -- all 12 agreed to come in February 1998 to be honored.
So we brought them along with their spouses or family members to Southern California to the California Science center. We worked in conjunction with Assemblyman Rod Wright who is the assemblyman for that district. He allowed us to use one of the facilities to honor the men. We flew each of the men in. The bulk of them were here in California, two came in from Cincinnati, and one came in from Oklahoma.
And then we also brought in Mrs. Joseph Small from New Jersey. Her husband was considered the "ring leader" of the individuals who were convicted of mutiny. We wanted to pay tribute to him. He was one of the first individuals who wrote a book and had been willing to talk to Dr. Allen when he started research for his book. A number of the men, when Dr. Allen wrote his book did not want to be listed on record or refused to talk. They would not allow Dr. Allen to record them or interview them. But, Mr. Small did and we wanted to honor him because he was a beacon of light during a dark, dark, era. I had no idea he had died until I contacted his wife about the program.
After you had all of these men assembled, and you honored them in Los Angeles, what was the next step?
Several things happened. Have you ever got yourself involved with something that has become a part of you that keeps growing bigger than what you even imagined? After we got Assemblyman Rod Wright involved, he said, "Wow, I think it's time to see if we could recognize these men in the State Capitol." We honored the men, and the next day, following the Los Angeles tribute, we flew them up to Sacramento, where for the first time, they were recognized at the State Capitol in a very moving tribute.
Some of the men had never gone to the blast sight in 54 years, so we took them to Port Chicago following the Sacramento ceremony. It was a real emotional return for many of the men because some of them hadn't been there since the blast -- not for 54 years.
After that, we felt that we needed to start a national write-in campaign to try to get the President of the United States to recognize the contributions of these men. We strongly believe that this is a group of unsung American heroes who served their country with honor and distinction, but this county hasn't recognized them.
We contacted Congressman George Miller the Congressman in Northern California to get the president of the United States to expunge their records. In 1994, he started a major effort with Congressman Pete Stark and former congressman Ron Dellums, both of Northern California, who had asked the Navy to review the convictions, and overturn them based on what they felt was racial prejudice. In January of 1994, the navy refused to overturn the conviction and as a result, that effort was stalled, but during that process, Congressman Miller was able to get a memorial established in Port Chicago for all the men who lost their lives.
Many of the men who were a part of the original 258 who refused to load ammunition after the July 17, 1944 blast, received negative marks on their discharges, but there were a group of 50 men who were convicted of mutiny. We want to see their records expunged. All that the 258 men who refused to go back to work ever wanted was information on how the blasts occurred and change so that another blast wouldn't happen again. They had been working under unsafe conditions.
We are advocating for all the men who received convictions and negative marks on their discharges to receive honorable discharges and recognition for their honorable service, which helped win the war.
What is the status of your advocacy?
A couple of things have happened. Certainly, we have the aggressive letter writing campaign going on, and as a result, Congressman George Miller feels that we have gotten additional congressional people who have signed on to join with him to get the records expunged. Also, he noted because of the grass roots efforts this time, the issue has gotten the attention of the White House. In addition, we were able to get a joint resolution out of the state California assembly and senate, which went to President Clinton asking him to intervene on behalf of the men. So through the efforts of Assemblyman Rod Wright, this was the first time in California a joint resolution was presented and passed with both Democrats and Republicans.
Is this now sitting in President Clinton's hands?
This is now at the White House. What has happened since that time is that meetings have taken place with members of the White House who received a copy of the joint resolution and another letter from Congressman Miller, I can say that members of the White House staff are now looking at this case once again. In addition to that, we had a meeting with a law firm in Washington D.C. which is now looking at working with us from a pro-bono standpoint. We now want to take a legal route. That's kind of where it stands right now.
I can say that it's certainly at the White House, and that they are very knowledgeable about it. Members of his staff have met with individuals who are trying to get their records expunged. But we don't know when there will be any kind of answer on it.
Why did this story, which certainly has dramatic possibilities, take so long to get made into a television movie?
You can also ask, "Why it is not in our history books?" Why is it that it took my adult life almost to learn about this incident? I didn't know about this story, and I grew up right near Port Chicago. I think that has to do with basically the history of our country. When it comes to race relations, when it comes to things that have happened in the past, America has done a poor job in documenting the history of black people and other people of color in our country, and I think that this is no exception. Do you realize this is the largest Military disaster on American soil? Bottom line, race.
How did you feel watching this film being made?
I think one of the things that is so wonderful about this story is director Kevin Hooks. One of the first individuals who wanted to do this story was his father, actor Robert Hooks, but because of Hollywood's lack of interest, it wasn't done, and a number of other people over the years have tried unsuccessfully to get Dr. Allen's book made into a movie, as well. Now it's a reality. So I think it's great that this story is finally being told after 54 years. It's close to the 55th anniversary. It's an unbelievable story. It's a story that deals with some great men who served their country. So it was remarkable to be on the set and finally know the story was going to be told. Revelations Entertainment and NBC should be commended.
What do you hope this movie accomplishes after it's been shown on NBC?
These heroes should be recognized. A great injustice was done in 1944, and we need to overturn that and bring about justice. I think it was Dr. King who once said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to freedom everywhere." I think the men of Port Chicago are victims of injustice and it's our responsibility, as a society, to make that wrong a right.
Is there anything else you want to add?
One of the points is we talk a lot in this country about race relations. This year we've heard a lot about the President's panel on race and the President's initiative. Well, here's a story that definitely fits into that initiative. I think in order for us to deal with our future we've got to deal with the past. This incident is one of the greatest injustices of our past.
From an educational standpoint our children need to know about these men and that they are very honorable and amazing individuals if you meet them. Everyone in our country also needs to know these men's contributions to World War II. They helped that victory. Lastly, I think everyone has a responsibility to make sure we recognize the diverse fabric of this country and I think that's what this is all about. That's what our movement and Port Chicago is about: that we recognize our amazing history and make sure that everyone's counted.
Lastly, July 17 1999 will mark the 55th anniversary of the blast. We lost one of the men who had cancer. He told me all he wanted was to be recognized by his country for his work in Port Chicago, and service to this country. He wanted his records expunged. I do not want to lose anymore of these precious men before they receive recognition. After all, they joined the Navy more that 55 years ago. All they wanted was to serve our country by going to the war. Instead they were denied that because of their skin color, black. America must correct its wrong to that we can bring about some of the healing and unity which is greatly needed in our county today.
