Bro. Dr. John Cashin, Civil Rights Pioneer, dies.
 

(Written by Bro. Isaiah Robinson)

Memorial Services for Brother Dr. John L. Cashin, Jr. will be held on
Saturday, April 16, 2011 at 2pm at the First Missionary Baptist Church,
3509 Blue Springs Road NW, Huntsville, AL . The Omega Services will be
held at 1pm.

Dr. John L. Cashin, Jr.
(April 16, 1928 – March 21, 2011)


John L. Cashin, Jr., a dentist and founder of the National Democratic
Party of Alabama (NDPA), died on March 21, 2011 at SHW - Hadley Hospital
in Washington, DC. He was 82.

Dr. Cashin practiced dentistry in Huntsville, Alabama for decades but
his avocation and passion was black political enfranchisement in his
home state. He founded NDPA in 1967 at a time when the Alabama
Democratic Party was dominated by George Wallace and still operated
under its official slogan "White Supremacy for the Right."

Cashin led NDPA until it closed in 1976 and financed much of its
activity from his dental practice and personal savings. The party was
most influential in the 17 counties of the Black Belt, where, after
passage of the Voting Rights Act, registered black voters typically far
outnumbered registered whites.

In 1968, when the state of Alabama initially refused to place NDPA
candidates on the ballot, Cashin and the party filed suit and ultimately
brought an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. In Hadnott v.
Amos, the Court ordered the state to reverse course. When Greene
County, Alabama defied the Supreme Court's order and left NDPA
candidates off its local ballot in November 1968, Cashin and NDPA
returned to the Supreme Court and it ordered the county to hold a
special election on July 29, 1969. All six of NDPA's candidates
won, marking the first time in the twentieth century that African
Americans held every major office in a Deep South county.

Cashin ran for governor against Wallace in 1970 as head of an NDPA
ticket that again included candidates for local offices throughout the
state. Enabling semi-literate black sharecroppers to vote for the
entire slate of NDPA candidates by marking an X under the party's
easily discernable ballot symbol, an eagle, had been Cashin's
strategy. He garnered 125,491 votes most of which were cast in the
Black Belt and brought the total number of black elected officials in
the state to 107, then the highest of any southern state, and sending a
black man, Thomas Reed, to the Alabama legislature for the first time
since Reconstruction.

Although committed to black enfranchisement, Cashin intentionally
recruited whites to NDPA and conceptualized a bi-racial convention
delegation that unsuccessfully sought to be seated at the 1968 and 1972
Democratic National Conventions as alternatives to the then much less
inclusive delegation of the Alabama Democratic Party.

A private pilot who owned his own single-engine plane, Cashin became
known for giving plane rides and buzzing the Black Belt to drop campaign
literature in the NDPA years. "It was his way of showing affection
for the people of the Black Belt and for debunking stereotypes about
what a black person could do," said his daughter, Sheryll Cashin,
Professor of Law at Georgetown University. "He would give a ride to
anyone who could mark an X and encourage his passengers to steer the
plane and comprehend freedom."

John Logan Cashin was born in Huntsville, A.L., on April 16, 1928, the
younger of two sons of John Logan, Sr. and Grace Brandon Cashin. His
father was a dentist and his mother was a school principal. He grew up
hearing about the exploits of his paternal grandfather, Herschel V.
Cashin, a lawyer who served in the Alabama Legislature during
Reconstruction and co-wrote a minor classic, Under Fire with the Tenth
Calvary, about the "Buffalo Soldiers" contributions to the
Spanish American War.

Coming of age in the era of Jim Crow while hearing his father talk about
Reconstruction and the role his grandfather and other black legislators
played in creating public education radicalized Dr. Cashin. At the age
of 11 he made a formal pledge to his family to "finish Grandpa
Herschel's work." He attended Fisk and Tennessee State
Universities and graduated as the valedictorian of his class with a
D.D.S. from Meharry Medical College in 1952. He served as a captain in
the U.S. Dental Corps and was stationed in Fontainebleau, France from
1955 to 1957.

Upon returning home to Alabama, he resumed practicing dentistry
alongside his father and began to get involved in civil rights and
politics. A leader in Huntsville's successful sit-in movement, he
ran for mayor of Huntsville in 1964 with a slate of other black
candidates for city council, the beginning of his mission to expand
black voter participation and agitate for change. His life is
chronicled in the book, The Agitator's Daughter, written by his
daughter.

John received a B.S Degree from Fisk University and a B.S. Degree from
Tennessee State University. He was very active in the community as well
as the nation. He was actively involved in civil rights demonstrations
with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and played and active role in working
with NAACP, SCLC, AND Operation PUSH. In Huntsville he served as the
Program Director for Huntsville Based Operation PUSH and was
instrumental in working with Charles Ray, Jr. and The Reverend Isaiah
Robinson, Jr., Vice-President and the "Voice Of PUSH" in
bringing in top celebrities and civil rights leaders to Huntsville. John
met Rev. Isaiah Robinson, Jr. in 1961 through Professor Archie Stewart,
President of the Jackson County Voters League, mentored him and
involved him in many of the Civil Rights movements, including the March
in Birmingham, the March on Washington, and the Selma-Montgomery
Voter's Rights March, and introduced him to Omega Psi Phi
Fraternity, Inc. Cashin and Robinson was greatly involved in the NDPA
which Cashin founded. Robinson filed the qualifying papers for Dr.
Cashin in the earlier part of 80's in his final run for Governor for
the State of Alabama.

John entered the folds of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. in 1945, Eta
Psi Chapter at Fisk University. He was the line brother of the 30th
Grand Basileus, Dr. Edward J. Braynon, Jr. On May 30, 1948, John was
one of five graduate men( Herchel B. Cashin, Alfred G. Adams, Charles
Brandon, and Robert A. Carter) of Omega to give birth to Xi Omicron
Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. In 1964 the John L. Cashin,
Jr. Memorial Scholarship was established for graduating high school
seniors. In 1970-71, John was National Omega Man of the Year. He
pursued his dreams as he traveled through the various stages of his
life. He was MANHOOD, SCHOLARSHIP, PERSEVERANCE, and UPLIFT to the
highest degree. He was a friend to all, and he indeed made friendship an
essential element of his life.



Cashin is survived by his wife, Dr. Louise White Cashin, his daughter,
Sheryll, two sons, John M. Cashin and Carroll L. Cashin, and five
grandchildren. His first wife, Joan Carpenter Cashin predeceased him.