3. Strain, Christopher Barry. “Civil Rights and ... - Freedom Archives

until November 4, when Judge Hampton Price found the boys guilty of assault, and
sentenced them to a reformatory, the Monrison Training School for Negroes, for
indeterminate terms: if they behaved well, the boys might be released before they turned
twenty-one.'
Williams was outraged . Enlisting the help of Conrad Lynn, a civil rights attorney
from New York, he mounted a campaign to free the boys . Traveling widely around the
United States, he publicized what became known as the "Kissing Case ." Despite
international pressure, the na'onal office of the NAACP, under Roy Wilkins' leadership,
hesitated to become involved . During his travels, Williams became known outside the
greater Charlotte area . His tireless crusading paid off when, three months after their
ordeal began, the boys came home.°
The following summer, in the midst of a nervous peace, Williams began
publishing his newsletter, The Crusader . The premiere issue was a hodge-podge
assortment of rants and news clips, including reflections on how far blacks had
progressed since slavery, on court bulletins, and on politics. One of the most interesting
passages from the inaugural issue explored the notion of black manhood :
Unless a man has some measure of pride, he is not worthy of the dignity to be
called MAN. A true man feels himself to be superior to no man and no man to be
superior to him . A true man will protect his women, children, and home . He will
not walk with a chip on his shoulder, nor will he allow himself to be subjected to
~ bJ~,¢' . See also Williams, Negroes With Guns , 21-24 .
3°For more on the "Kissing Case," see "Lesson of the Kissing Case," Afro-American
(February 28,1959) : 7 ; and `"tragic Plight of Negroes in Monroe, NC : Town of the
`Kissing Case' Involving a White Girl and 2 Negro Hoys,",ItI (February 12, 1959) : 12-
15 .
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