B.        Employment

Lee's trial and the lynching protests fostered a sense of community among Baltimore
blacks, sparking an eagerness to join together to act against the specter of prejudice that hung
over the state. Ades' role in the Lee case was an obstacle to effective action, for it gave credence
to the charge that attacks on segregation were communist inspired. But concern for racial justice
had a strong history outside the radical tradition. Even before the lynching and trials on the
Eastern Shore, the Young Peoples Forum was created in 1931 to hold weekly talks and
discussions on racial issues in the black churches.112 Combining tradition with a deliberate
intention to disarm such charges, black protest groups made the church their home base.

In August of 1933, Kiowa Costonie, also known as Tony Green, came to Baltimore.
Costonie was a faith healer, but he also gave lectures on economics and on race pride. He led a
group of over four hundred prospective black voters in Baltimore to the registration office to
declare their intention to vote. He established classes to teach pride in race and he gave out
prizes for essays on great negroes. Fourteen hundred children and adolescents enrolled in these
classes. In October, just two months after his arrival, Costonie led a group of young people in
requesting that the American Grocery Stores, which operated in black neighborhoods, employ
black workers. The store agreed, and ultimately employed twenty two black clerks. Costonie
and his supporters then approached the A & P with the same request. Eight black clerks were
hired, but within a few weeks all were fired for alleged inefficiency. White clerks were hired in
their place. Costonie responded by submitting a list of demands on the A & P store.

November 2, 1933
Demands:

n       Every store operated in colored neighborhoods to have all colored
employees except manager. Calls for thirty-four men.

2.       By January 1st - in three stores we want colored managers.

3.       All boys who were hired Saturday by A. & P. stores must be dismissed,

entirely.
I can be reached at Lafayette 1208 when you are ready to give us definite action.

Citizens Committee
Kiowa Costonie

To encourage a swift response to these demands, the black clerks who had been
discharged picketed the store. The ensuing withdrawal of black patronage brought compliance
with the demands within a week or two. Costonie then joined with Lillie C. Jackson and Elvira
Bond113, the Housewives League and the Young Peoples Forum to picket other stores in the black
neighborhood on Pennsylvania Avenue with signs saying "Don't buy where we can't work." The
picketing led to an almost total boycott of the merchants named. The merchants obtained a

130