Sylvester Walkeris shown in front of his proposed African-American flag. Each component of the flag represents a part of the African-American heritage, Walker said. (The Vicksburg Post/MELANIE DUNCAN)

[03/04/02]A Vicksburg wallpaper contractor said God gave him a vision that led him to create an African-American flag that he hopes will help unite blacks and whites.

“He gave me a vision of that flag and he told me that flag would represent freedom to the African-American people,” said Sylvester Walker.

He’s been showing the banner to local and state leaders and said they’ve been supportive.

The idea is not to be divisive, Walker said, but to emphasize the strong identity of black people as Americans and as people from Africa.

The vision of the black, red, gold and green banner with an American flag in the center came a year ago. He took a drawing to a neighbor who sewed the first of what he hopes will be many flags.

Walker said that someday he hopes to see the flag flying at the Olympics, for example, for black Americans.

“The intention of it was to let people know that African-Americans are proud to be in America, but that we don’t have an identity,” Walker said.

Walker, a 41-year-old father of three, said he is proud to be the son of a U.S. veteran of World War II and an American citizen, but like many blacks, he feels that the symbols of America don’t completely represent his heritage.

One of those, he said, is the American flag that is mounted on the wall behind his desk.

“The American flag was made by white people and it represents white people, but this flag represents both,” Walker said.

The symbolic meaning behind the flag represents blacks in America today and the colors of the banner represent the experience of his ancestors coming from Africa on slave ships, Walker said.

The black represents the black people of America, the red represents the blood they shed in Africa and the United States, the yellow represents the gold and other riches of the African continent and the green represents the land of Africa.

“America is in the center because I am an American and I am proud to be and I’m proud to be both,” Walker said. “I’m not trying to replace the American flag or the rebel flag; I’m just trying to add something,” he said.

Yolande Robbins, whose family donated the Jacqueline House to the Vicksburg African-American Historical Preservation Foundation as a museum for black history, described the flag as a beautiful symbol for African-American people.

“I thought it was a perfect graphic symbol of the linguistic concept,” Robbins said.

Robbins also said she believes the flag would be embraced by black organizations and museums.

“Certainly this will never take the place of the American flag, nor should it,” she said.

Walker said that he hopes to begin manufacturing the flag and is looking to take it on some national talk shows. With a patent pending on the design, he admits that he could make a profit from the sale of the flag, but said that’s not why he is doing it.

“This is something that black people and white people can endorse together,” Walker said.

Last April, Mississippi became the focus of national attention over the state flag when residents voted nearly a 2-1 margin to keep the traditional state flag, rejecting a proposed alternative that would have replaced the Confederate emblem in its upper left corner with a cluster of 20 stars on a field of blue.

“I’m not trying to replace the American flag or the rebel flag,” Walker said. “I’m just trying to add something to it.”

Last year, Walker ran for the North Ward Alderman seat against incumbent Gertrude Young. Young won with 60 percent of the vote.

He’s shown the flag around City Hall and the courthouse, among other locations. Once he explains the idea, people like it, he said.