IRA J. BANKS

Mr. Banks was born in Rome, Mississippi on March 2,1921, He is married to Mary M. Banks and their anniversary is December 15th. He is a member of the Church of the Living God where Elder Shelton is the Pastor. Mr. Banks is ambitious, responsible, patient, honest, dependable, and cheerful. Mr. and Mrs. Banks are the parents of three sons, Ira, Jr., Luegene, and Maurice Banks and two daughters, Ida Mae and Daphine Banks.

My favorite TV programs are watching the News on Channels 4 and 5.

My favorite magazines are EBONY and JET. I enjoy reading about what our people have accomplished.

Incident of discrimination: During the late forties I witnessed a Black man getting beaten over an incident of no consequence in Sikeston, Mo. He was later dragged all over town behind a car and then lynched. This was horrifying to me and caused me to leave the area soon. They had a saying after that in Sikeston, which was "remember Pearl Harbor, but don't forget Sikeston". I believe that was the last recorded incident of a lynching in the United States.

Childhood punishment: The last bad deed that I recall occurred like this: I was reared by an aunt and her sister. My older aunt was sick. We had to pump for water and it was my job to bring in water. The pump was out of order, and I had to go quite a piece to get it. I was next door playing checkers-I loved to play checkers and was quite good at them. Well, my aunt called me two or three times and I heard her but was in the middle of a game each time, so I didn't answer. I finally decided to go on home and when I stepped into the kitchen she drew a shotgun on me and got me in close quarters and said, "You may as welI die today as tomorrow, if you can't do what you're supposed to do in this house". I weaseled out of that corner, grabbed the water buckets, and shot off like a jack rabbit after that water. I never let that water get low after that. I guess I was about 15 years old at the time.