User talk:Ddubois33/sandbox

Julian Mayfield, an African American male, was born on June 6th, 1928 in Greer, South Carolina. Starting at a very young age, Mayfield had a special linguistic and theatre talents that would later lead into his career path. However, following World War II, the Cold War began in 1947 in which Mayfield was required to take part in. According to an FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) document, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He soon realized violence wasn’t the answer to the problems around the world and in the United States. When he returned from War, Mayfield attended one of the first degree-granting black universities in the country, Lincoln University. While attending the university he began to get involved in writing and theater that fought for equal rights movement for African Americans in the United States. In his first acting role, he played Absalom Kumalo in the musical Lost in the Stars during 1949 and 1950, which had mixed reviews.

In 1951, Julian Mayfield, now twenty-three years old, produced his own play called Fire. In the next year, 1952, directed another play by Ossie Davis called Alice in Wonder. However, due to racial issues occurring in the United States, by 1954 he had moved to Puerto Rico with his wife, Ana Livia Cordero. This didn’t stop Mayfield’s passions for writing. While in Puerto Rico he published three novels, The Hit in 1957, The Long Night in 1958, and The Grand Parade in 1961. All three of these books gave a clear insight on Mayfield’s life and what he has been through as a African American in the United States at the time. He also tried to exemplify that everyone was created equally. After being in Puerto Rico for a few years, Julian returned back to the States were he then became a part of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and was introduced to Robert F. Williams, the chapter leader in North Carolina. Mayfield was always compassionate when it came to his race and equal opportunities for future generations.

Meanwhile as Mayfield fought for civil rights, at the end of August 1961 there was an incident in which white folks attacked Freedom Riders. In this clash between races, Julian Mayfield and Robert Williams abducted a white couple and were wanted by the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation). According to the FBI, “Mayfield, a free-lance writer, has been described as being a communist party (CP) synthesizer and to have been a CP member possibly as late as 1955. He has been connected in the past with other organizations which have been designated pursuant to Executive Order 10450” (FBI, p.1). Once Mayfield and William’s knew they were being tracked down, they both fled the country, but never once slowed down on the civil rights movement. Julian went to the country of Ghana where he became the writer-in-office for president Kwame Nkrumah in 1961. Also, during his time in Ghana he edited the African Review, which people read to learn about political and economical views on blacks.

After fleeing the United States, Mayfield stayed in Ghana for many years before visiting Spain and eventually coming back to America. In his later life, when being on the run was over, Julian began produce and act in various films. One in which he is recognized for was, Up Tight! In 1968, “The film opens with documentary footage of the funeral procession of Martin Luther King, Jr., which is used as a backdrop for the film's fictional narrative” (Wiki, Up Tight). During his life he visited and lectured universities such as, NYU (New York University), University of Maryland and Cornell. Julian Mayfield’s inspiring journey ended when he passed away on October 20th, 1984.

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Ddubois33 (talk) 17:28, 19 November 2015 (UTC)