By Garry Blanson
Known as “The Ouachita Parish Multi-Purpose Community Action Program” by a White senator named William D. Brown is a story that deserves attention
It’s disturbing to me that as we enter the celebration of Black History Month in Monroe, Louisiana, in February of a new year, the word “subversion” keeps coming up in conversations around the city. It’s often said, “History keeps on repeating itself!” As a matter of fact, acts of subversion against Blacks in Monroe have been recorded on several occasions in the past, and even continue to this day, in 2026.
One of the wildest acts of subversion took place in Monroe in 1969, when white politicians attempted to take control of the Negro-run organization.
Most people at the time believed that Senator Brown was attempting to convert the C.A.P. program into his own personal political power base. Swiftly, after the group of white men joined the board, they tried to run and take over the C.A.P. program. Some reports stated that they even tried to strip the program’s Negro director, P. Rayfield Brown, III, of several of his powers as program director. They were unsuccessful.
Finally, let me say that with all that P. Rayfield Brown, III, and other Negroes involved in the C.A.P. program had to endure, it is amazing that the program was able to survive back then. Nevertheless, I am happy to say not only did the C.A.P. program survive the 1969 takeover, but it still exists and operates in Monroe, Louisiana today, but it is no longer a Black community controlled organization.
In closing, I would like everyone to know that subversion is still going on in Monroe, Louisiana, and that unless Black elected officials, Black Monroe City Council members, and Black leaders unite and organize, deliberate subversion is likely to continue for another 57 years.
