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144 THE CRISIS
do to-day. Negros were esteemed for their talents and respected for their industry and integrity. Many Cuban Negroes curse the dawn of the Republic. Negroes were welcomed in the time of oppression, in the time of hardship, during the days of the revolution, but in the days of peace and of white immigration they are deprived of positions, ostracized and made political outcast. The Negro has done much for Cuba; Cuba has done nothing for the Negro.
The black men of Cuba have taken to the woods because conditions are intolerable, because, as my friend, the late Jose Marti, the apostle of Cuban freedom, said: "So long as there remains one injustice to repair in Cuba the revolutionary redemption has not finished its work."

PROTECTION
"Must you surely leave the place, mother?"
The questioner was a Negro sailor. He and his mother stood before the fireplace in the one-room cabin in which he had been born. Above the fireplace was a picture of Lincoln and an American flag. "Ef day means ter turn me out, dey will, son," the woman answered. "Lord knows I'se paid fo' de place. We has worked here, chillen an' all, you knows dat, an' I'se give money fo' de cabin an' de lan' bit by bit. Dey gib me bits ob papers, but hey say now de trouble is I ain't got a deed.  Der trouble is all dis lan' roun' about is sol', an' I ain't wanted here."
"But that isn't law.  You ought to go to the justice of the peace."
"The justice ob de peace, son, were my landlord, an' be sol' de lan'."
"I wish I could help you in this trouble, mother," the sailor said, "but I must hurry to my ship.  We sail in two days."
"Whar to?" the woman asked.
"Why, to Cuba, mother; I told you that.  We're ordered to Cuba at once."
"What you goin' dar fo'!"
"To protect American interests."  The man strutted across the room to where his bag lay.  "We've got a heap of money in Cuba.  I tell you, our navy'll blow the Cubans off the earth if they touch American property.  It's a great thing to be an American.  Wherever you go the flag follows you and protects you in your rights."
The old woman turned to the mantelpiece, and taking the flag from its place dropped it into the flames.
"You go about yer duty, an' serve yer country," she said, "but that flag ain't fo' me.  They can steal from my kin', an' there ain't a judge down here, or a man up in Washington, or one ob dem delegates dat goes screamin' up and' down de country about human rights, as tad gib a moment ter pertectin' me.  Me an' my kin' ain't wanted, unless it's fo' slaves."
She turned back to the mantel and laid her hand tenderly upon the picture of the great emancipator.
"Thank der Lord you ain't live ter see it," she said.
M.W.O.  

A SOCIAL CENTER AT HAMPTON, VA.
By A. W. Hunton.
In many cities and towns clubs of colored women are making successful efforts for social betterment. In some instances these clubs have not yet realized the fact that they, too, are being influenced by the great spirit of social service which is revealing itself to the hearts of men in a more positive and practical way then ever before. 
[[picture]] Mrs. Janie Porter Barrett
These clubs have realized the need of things being done; and, for want of trained leadership, have taken the initiative in doing them. There has been much experimentation and some blunders, but results have been certain and valuable; the more so, perhaps, because although lacking in a severely systematic jurisdiction, this effort for social betterment among colored club women has ever had an overflow of loving sacrifice and enthusiasm to encourage it.
The Social Center, at Hampton, Va., probably takes first rank among our clubs in this line of endeavor. This is not true because it is one of the oldest efforts, but for the reason that Mrs. Janie Porter Barrett, the able woman to whom was given the vision of the work for Hampton, has given twenty years of personal supervision to its development and has studied and traveled meanwhile to learn the best there is in this new movement for social betterment.
The object and growth of the work are best told in Mrs. Barrett's own words. She says: "The center was begun twenty years ago in the hoe of the present head worker, with the definite aim of improving the homes and the moral and social life of that community. The aim has not changed through the years. This work began with a few girls of the immediate neighborhood, has reached out in every section of the community, and now there are clubs and classes every afternoon and evening in the week, eight months of the year. These clubs and classes include boys, girls, mothers and grandmothers, classified according to age and needs, and through these many other people are reached. The work grew too large for the house in which it was started nearly ten years ago, and now has a clubhouse, which it has already outgrown, but which is still the center of all the activities of the settlement.
"The Woman's Club, known as the Home Makers' Club, has several departments, all of which work for some phase of home improvement. Each woman works in the line in which she has greatest interest. All come together at intervals to work out and discuss common problems."
Visiting the center at Hampton, one would hardly believe that such a variety of work, by so large a number of people, could