photo of Jitu Weusi, Brooklyn CORE
Dublin Core
Title
photo of Jitu Weusi, Brooklyn CORE
Description
This is a photo of Brooklyn CORE member Jitu Weusi.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, he was originally known as Leslie Campbell. He was a member of Brooklyn CORE from its earliest days, partially due to his father's friendship with chairman Ollie Leeds, both of whom were Marxists.
After attending Long Island University on a basketball scholarship, he became a teacher in Brooklyn's junior high schools. Upset over the United Federation of Teachers' (UFT) decision not to support the 1964 Citywide School Boycott, he and other Black teachers (including now city councilman Al Vann) formed the Negro Teachers Association. Renamed the African American Teachers Association, the organization played a leading role in the Ocean Hill-Brownsville controversy of 1968.
Changing his name to Jitu Weusi, he went on to become a founder and headmaster of the Uhuru Sasa School, one of the most well known of the Black Liberation schools in New York City during the 1970's.
'Uhuru Sasa' is Kiswahili for 'Freedom Now', which interestingly was a slogan heavily used by CORE during the 1960's at its demonstrations. Jitu Weusi 'also from Kiswahili' can be translated into 'Big Black' in English.
Weusi and the school's parent organization, the EAST, were primarily responsible for the promotion of Kwanzaa in New York perhaps more than anyone else.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, he was originally known as Leslie Campbell. He was a member of Brooklyn CORE from its earliest days, partially due to his father's friendship with chairman Ollie Leeds, both of whom were Marxists.
After attending Long Island University on a basketball scholarship, he became a teacher in Brooklyn's junior high schools. Upset over the United Federation of Teachers' (UFT) decision not to support the 1964 Citywide School Boycott, he and other Black teachers (including now city councilman Al Vann) formed the Negro Teachers Association. Renamed the African American Teachers Association, the organization played a leading role in the Ocean Hill-Brownsville controversy of 1968.
Changing his name to Jitu Weusi, he went on to become a founder and headmaster of the Uhuru Sasa School, one of the most well known of the Black Liberation schools in New York City during the 1970's.
'Uhuru Sasa' is Kiswahili for 'Freedom Now', which interestingly was a slogan heavily used by CORE during the 1960's at its demonstrations. Jitu Weusi 'also from Kiswahili' can be translated into 'Big Black' in English.
Weusi and the school's parent organization, the EAST, were primarily responsible for the promotion of Kwanzaa in New York perhaps more than anyone else.
Creator
Osei Terry Chandler
Source
A View from the East
Publisher
Syracuse University Press
Date
1970
Coverage
The East, Brooklyn, 1970
Collection
Citation
Osei Terry Chandler, “photo of Jitu Weusi, Brooklyn CORE,” corenyc.org, accessed April 24, 2024, http://corenyc.org/omeka/items/show/13.