Janet Lugo-Tafur is the former Director of Business Development for DCCH (The Development Corporation of Columbia Heights.) She has sent me a very damning statement that Sinclair Skinner admitted to her that he opposed Temperance Hall because he felt that the Club U closing was racist and that he was going to oppose any white owned business as retaliation! She also confirms once again that Sinclair Skinner had full knowledge and involvement in the "Gramzilla" cartoons.
But I thought that Sinclair Skinner was against Temperance Hall because it was an evil bar?
Read Janet's statement to me below.
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If I remember the conversation correctly regarding Temperance Hall, Sinclair
was upset because this came upon the closing down of Club U ( the club at the Reeves Bldg). The inference was to the
effect that Sinclair was going to do everything in his power so that
Temperance Hall could not get their liquor license since so many black businesses were having their licenses taken away, then, no new businesses,
particularly white-owned businesses should get their liquor licenses. In
other words, it was a matter of color...
Sinclair came into the office, showed me the publication with "graamzilla" and told myself and a colleague that he had hired the artist (a student from Howard) to do the cartoon. He seemed quite proud of himself.
This is all that I remember. Hope this helps.
Janet Lugo-Tafur
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