''Being Black'': At the Sharp Point

By Charles W. Sharp Jr

My book is an autobiography of my
life. It shows the up and downs of the Black Man living in a society in which
he really has no great impact on his way of living, outside of getting an
education, and trying to be an upright man. There were some good and bad times
in my life, some of which I had no control over, some of which I regret making
the wrong choices.

I would like the young readers to
understand that there are many obstacles placed in your way on the road from
young man to adulthood. It is up to them to make the choices in their life that
will set them apart from the average Black Man in America
today. We have been stigmatized and harassed over the years, but we must be
able to stand tall and hold our heads high.

Bring your children up instilling
in them right from wrong, and let them know they can make a difference in this
world today.

The book shows the good times,
many bad times and the will I had to be a good American, and man overall.

Funny Sad Loveable

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 18, 2004
• ISBN: 9781414054285

Charles W. Sharp Jr

He is a US Army veteran who served in Vietnam receiving the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for combat actions. He is a 1973 graduate of the University of Maryland receiving a degree in Accounting. He is a Life Member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, and Disabled American Veterans, Life member of Veterans of Foreign Wars. Member of American Legion, Combat Infantry Association, 101st Airborne Association, Vietnam Veterans of America. He is a member of Iva Lodge 408 Prince Hall Affiliation of Free and Accepted Masons 32. Temple 84 of Shriners Prince Hall

Book preview

"Being Black’’

At The Sharp Point

By

Charles W. Sharp Jr

© 2004 by Charles W. Sharp Jr. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author.

ISBN: 1-4140-5428-9 (e-book)

ISBN: 1-4140-5427-0 (Paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-4140-5428-5 (ebook)

1st Books - rev. 02/06/04

Contents

DEDICATIONS

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

Councilman Sharp

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

REUNION IN THE SOUTH

CHAPTER 15

On The Road

CHAPTER 16

Retirement

IN CLOSING

DEDICATIONS

This book is dedicated to those who have passed on before us as follows:

Grandfather Sharp – Paternal Grandfather

Maggie Whiteside Sharp – Paternal Grandmother

John Andrews – Maternal Grandfather

Pattie Andrews – Maternal Grandmother

Charles W. Sharp Sr. – Father

Nellie M. Andrews – Mother

Richard M. Sharp – Uncle

Richard V. Sharp – Brother

Thanks to all for the wisdom and knowledge that I gained from them during their lifetime.

CHAPTER 1

I was born to a poor Black family on October 11, 1946. These were not good times for anyone in the United States. World War II had just ended in 1945 and was still strongly on the minds of every family in the United States. We had won the war, but the battle of the Black man in the United States of America was just beginning.

We lived in a middle-sized steel and aluminum industry city in Western Pennsylvania. Times had been good for those who worked the steel mills, coalmines and aluminum factory in the City of New Kensington. There were many weapons and fuel to be consumed over the past three years of the United States involvement in the war, and Western Pennsylvania supplied many of the raw materials and some finished goods for those weapons and fuel.

Although majority of the men, both black and white, had marched off to war, the factories and calmness continued to produce the badly needed materials for the war. My father, before going into the United States Navy in 1942, worked for the Alcoa Aluminum Company where he was expecting to return upon his discharge in 1945. Daddy loved his family and worked hard everyday to make sure that we had the things in life that he was unable to have when he was young.

He was a typical steelworker, who worked hard at his job, and enjoyed the fun and relaxation that could be found in the local bars. He drank almost everyday, but he would always be at work when scheduled. Some people said that if you saw him the morning after, you could not even tell that he had been drinking the night before.

As far back as I can remember he always worked two jobs. He would say that if a Black man wanted to make it in this world, he would have to work two jobs because the White man was not going to let him make enough to take care of his family with just one job.

New Kensington, PA is a small, but big town located in the Allegheny Valley fourteen miles north of Pittsburgh on the Allegheny River. Ninety percent of the working people in the city work for Alcoa Aluminum Company, Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company across the river, or Allegheny Ludlum Steel Company located in Brackenridge PA also on the opposite side of the Allegheny River.

My father was born in Tennessee to a Cherokee Indian mother, and a father, whose parents were sharecropping ex-slaves in the Tennessee Valley. They moved to Pennsylvania when he was a child and settled in the Pittsburgh area where menial labor jobs were easy to find for those who wanted to work long and hard for little wages. My grandfather was a Methodist preacher and one of the founding fathers of the NAACP in Western Pennsylvania.

Daddy did not have much education, because his father died while he was young and him being the oldest son of the family had to go to work to help support the other five children and his mother. He quit school in the eighth grade and started work doing anything he could to bring in a dollar for the family. Daddy was a very smart man who had a lot of street savvy and a desire to excel in whatever he chose to do. He was a boxer, swimmer, diver, judo expert, pool player, artist, piano player (self-taught), carpenter, draftsman, painter and chauffeur. These were just the things that I knew he was capable of doing. Daddy could pick up a book and read and understand it better than a lot of college graduates. On his job, he was asked many times to lay out a drafting design for different equipment and fixtures within the plant.

My father, without exaggeration loved life and lived it to the fullest extent possible. He worked diligently and took care of the five of us, and mom, but he also loved being out with the boys and having a good time.

Mom on the other hand was a college student before she met dad and lived away from home for a while before getting married in 1944. She was the daughter of a Methodist Deacon and very stout Christian mother who believed in doing the right thing and taking care of your family. Mom was a very strong-willed person. She was a small woman standing about 5’ 5" tall and weighing about 125 pounds. She had long black hair that she loved to comb and fix in different styles. I can remember the magazines that she kept under her bed with the many hairstyles she wore. Mom was very intelligent and had more patience than anyone I have ever known.

She could sit for hours and listen to someone talk about his or her problems. She would always have some good advice for you and if you listened to her, it seems like your troubles would always go away. I never saw mom get mad at anyone and raise her voice. She was always full of smiles and always had something good to say. I believe that being raised in a Christian family made her the woman she was. Mom believed in the Bible and its teachings. When we were young, she would read to us from the Bible and ask us questions about what she read to make sure we understood.

Grandma Andrews (mom’s mother) came from a southern family in Guthrie, Kentucky and was a very proud and beautiful person. I do not know of anyone who knew grandma that did not have a kind word to say about her. She was a very strong willed person who believed in telling you the truth at whatever cost. She was the kind of woman that you automatically took a liking to. He silver hair seemed to give her the look of distinction and everyone that knew her would tell you that she was a very wise woman. Her life was lived in a strict Christian manner and nobody could sway her from her beliefs about the bible. She was the best cook that I have ever known, and could make those dishes that children normally don’t eat taste like candy.

Granddad Andrews was a very big man, who stood about six feet five and weighed approximately 250 pounds with no fat until he got older. He was a no-nonsense Christian who believed in going to church every Sunday and telling the Lord all of your troubles and waiting for him to assist. He worked for forty-five years with the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company and everyone liked and respected him. My grandparents for over twenty years lived in a house that belonged to the company in Tarentum. It sat back off the road directly across the street from the plant. It did not have a toilet inside and I remember going outside to use the bathroom at night and wondering what kind of monster would come out of that big black hole.

Grandma Andrews always kept the house spotless and smelling like flowers. My father finally talked them into buying their own home across the river in Arnold. Granddad always believed in saving money and it was not a problem for him to put $300.00 down on a three-story three-bedroom brick home with a nice backyard and garage.

I was about nine years old when they finally moved and I can remember being very glad that I did not have to go outside to that big hole anymore at night. It gets very cold in the mountains of Pennsylvania in the winter. Of course the new house had running water and not one, but two bathrooms, one on each floor. At nine years old, I thought this was the best house in the world.

I believe that it was because of Granddad Sharp being a preacher and Granddad Andrews being a Deacon that it came to past that my mother and father met. They never told me about how they met or began dating, but I would take a strong bet that it was in church.

CHAPTER 2

O ne of the earliest things that I can remember in my life was daddy owning a big black Chrysler trying to teach mom how to drive. I guess I must have been about three years old, but I can remember like it was yesterday, daddy driving to the park and telling mom to get behind the wheel of the Chrysler. The next thing that I can recall is dad getting out of the car and telling mom that she had done it now. She had driven the car directly into the creek located in the park. I can see daddy now watching the wrecker pull his car out of the water and mud. Since that day I don’t ever remember mom getting behind the wheel of a car.

Whenever she wanted to go anywhere, she would either call a cab or ask a neighbor to take her. One of my favorite neighbors was my best friend’s mother, Mrs. Boyd. She and mom used to have coffee together everyday and talk about the different events in the news or talk with the children. Mom used to bake homemade bread and sweet rolls and everyone in the neighborhood from children to adults knew of her baking abilities.

The women on the block used to gather at our house around noon and watch Search for Tomorrow and the Guiding Light on our television. We were one of the first families in the neighborhood to have a television and our house was a gathering point for many women. I could always tell when it was time to go back to school after lunch because mom would tell me that Search For Tomorrow was coming on, that was my cue to head back to the playground.

There were five children in the family, living in a three-bedroom house in a predominately white neighborhood. My sister Joyce was the oldest, two years older than I was. She was the smartest of the children. We looked for her to give us direction and guidance whenever mom was not at home, or late at night when we had our talk sessions while lying in bed. Joyce was a very good student and like dad believed in doing the best she could at whatever she took on.

She was a very pretty little girl and everyone liked to talk to her. At the age of ten, she could discuss news articles and current events with most adults. This came from watching the news with daddy everyday and listening to him explains what it meant.

I was the second child and also the most mischievous one of us all. I would look for little things to do to get on everyone’s nerves. I liked watching the Little Rascals and doing the things they did.

My brother Van (Richard Van), named after my Uncle Richard (Daddy’s brother), was one year and two months younger than me and listened to whatever was told to him. He was always quiet and would do or say whatever you told him to do. He was my shadow and of course got into a lot of trouble following me around.

Rowena (Named by my Grandmother Sharp) had an Indian name. She was shy and very timid, but a fighter when stroked the wrong way.

John Thomas (Named after my Grandfather Andrews) was the youngest, and we all felt was mom’s pet. He always seemed to get everything he wanted.

Joyce and I were always getting into trouble. One thing that neither of us liked was daddy’s treatment of mom. He would go out on Friday and Saturday night, and on occasion bring his friend’s home early in the morning. When he did this he would get mom out of bed to make breakfast for he and his friends. Sometimes mom would not be feeling well but she never complained or said no.

To get even with dad, Joyce and I would wait until he went to sleep on the couch, then get something to hit him with and beat him up. Daddy was a sound sleeper and after drinking all night he would not wake up. The next day he couldn’t figure out why he felt so bad. We would never leave any marks or cuts.

We were all very close and everyone in the neighborhood knew that if they beat up one of us that they definitely had another fight coming. With dad being a boxer and judo expert, he taught Joyce and I how to take care of ourselves, and our brothers and sisters.

The Sharp family on 12th Street was known throughout the neighborhood as a family you did not want to mess with. Joyce had a reputation in the neighborhood as being one of the prettiest and deadliest children on the block. She could, and would fight like a man and box anyone who wanted to put on gloves. Many of the boys in her high school wanted to date her, but were afraid to ask her out.

She also had one of the best soprano voices in New Kensington Senior High School. She and a few friends were known as the 12th Street Supremes, and could have been discovered if they had been in a big city, with someone to sponsor them. They sang in churches and at school in many programs. I think they were definitely record label quality. Everywhere they performed, people would say they should be on the radio.