Record heat and humidity in the District did not stop friends and family members of Washington Informer founder Dr. Calvin Rolark from being present at a commemorative plaque unveiling ceremony that took place on June 24.
“When I think of Calvin Rolark, I think of him as a griot, as a warrior,” said Eurica Huggins Axum. “We began to remember the legacy that he left us.”
Axum was joined by 40 people who talked about Rolark’s contributions to Ward 8, the District and the African Americans living in the city. The plaque, unveiled the same year The Informer has been celebrating its 60th anniversary, sits at the front of The Clara at MLK, an apartment, retail and future museum complex located on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE.
Axum said the plaque is a timely and appropriate recognition of Rolark.
“Through this plaque,” she said, “we will never, ever forget him.”
The Life of Calvin Rolark
Rolark was a native of Texarkana, Texas, who made his way to the District in the early 1950s.
During his life as a Washingtonian, Rolark founded The Washington Informer in 1964, and, with his wife Wilhelmina Rolark, co-founded the United Black Fund, an organization supporting charities that focused on meeting the needs of people of color.
Rolark was involved in the District’s civil rights movement and often interacted with such people as Marion S. Barry— who would go on to serve on the school board, the D.C. Council as an at-large and Ward 8 representative, and as the District’s mayor— and the Rev. Walter Fauntroy, the first Washingtonian to serve as a member of Congress as a delegate since Reconstruction.
The Rev. Anthony Motley, an anti-violence leader in the District, talked about how he got to know Rolark as a young man due to the action of the police department.
“I met Calvin Rolark in the 1960s,” said Motley, 73. “The police had done something to our young people. People from all over Southeast neighborhoods marched to station No. 11 on Chicago Street. There were a whole lot of us there marching. When we got to the station, we were ready to tear the place up, but some voices in the crowd said we were not going to do that. Those voices came from Walter Fauntroy, Marion Barry and Calvin Rolark.”
Motley said Rolark was a “freedom fighter” in the true sense of the phrase and cynically noted that type of individual was not common presently. He said Rolark urged the school board to authorize the teaching of Black history in the education system and came up with an idea of an academic competition to stimulate young minds.
“I remember when he said, ‘we need to have a spelling bee,’” said Motley.
Rolark’s wish became a reality when 43 years ago, The Informer became the official Spelling Bee outlet in the District for the national competition, the only Black newspaper to hold that distinction.
Former D.C. Council member William Lightfoot, Ward 8 entrepreneur Phinis Jones and Warner Sessions, the chair of the University of the District of Columbia Board of Trustees, said that while Rolark played a role in their lives, his wife was instrumental in the development of their professional lives.
“To me, you have to talk about Wilhelmina,” said Lightfoot, 75. “I graduated from ‘Rolark University.’ I got my first job from Wilhelmina.”
Nevertheless, Lightfoot reminded the audience of some of Rolark’s wise words such as: “If people won’t do it, it won’t be done” and “We need institutions that outlive us.”
Jones emphasized Rolark, whose famous phrase was “If it is to be, it is up to me,” was a force to be reckoned with, whether in journalism or in the community.
“He was just a powerhouse across the city,” Jones said.
The Libation Ceremony
Lafayette Barnes III, the son-in-law of Rolark and the husband of his daughter Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes, supervised the libation ceremony that occurred on the outside of The Clara.
“I want to thank the two guys who hung up this plaque, Larry Freeman and Derrick Johnson,” said Barnes. “This is a living plaque. This is a living institution. That’s what this plaque is about today.”
Members of the Rolark family present included Rolark Barnes, her mother Vera Abbott, and son Desmond Barnes.
Barnes unveiled the plaque and immediately afterwards African drummer Joseph Ngwa banged a beat to the words “We Fight.”
Priest Mona Cheri Pollard blessed the plaque and Rolark’s family members touched it, as a part of a ritual.
While the Rolark family participated in the ceremony, Concha Johnson, former executive director of the Senior Citizen Counseling and Delivery Service, stood by quietly and watched. Johnson knew Rolark well for many years and thinks the plaque is a fitting tribute to him.
“Calvin Rolark helped those who were vulnerable,” she said. “Whenever we needed him, he was there for us.”