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  Photo Illustration by CLAIRE ZUGMEYER and MICHAEL FALCONE/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Humanitarian and former United Nations undersecretary Ralph J. Bunche, UCLA alumnus ('27) will be featured in a documentary airing Friday on PBS.

By Dexter Gauntlett

Daily Bruin Contributor

Ralph Johnson Bunche, a Watts native orphaned at the age of 12 who became the valedictorian of his UCLA graduating class and later an international conflict resolution specialist, was honored in a documentary at Korn Convocation Hall on Monday.

The West Coast screening of the documentary on the 1927 UCLA alumnus and 1950 Nobel Peace Prize winner premiered four days before its national airing on PBS Friday.

The documentary, titled “Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey,” was produced by the Emmy award winning filmmaker William Greaves. The film chronicles Bunche’s contributions as a civil rights leader and international peace keeper.

“(Students) should look at his life of commitment to society, the world and his academic excellence,” Greaves said. “His education is more than just intellectual and celebrity understanding, it’s his compassion for humanity and use of his intellectual gifts. He was a doer, a scholar- activist.”

Bunche was second in command as undersecretary general of the United Nations after World War II and helped write its charter in 1945. His experience in the Middle East eventually led him to extend his peace keeping efforts to the newly formed state of Israel and its four Arab neighbors.

“Bunche was very critical of decolonization, imperialism, fascism and was very much for inter-group harmony. He developed the strategy for peacekeeping that is still used today. He was called the ‘U.N. troubleshooter’ or ‘Mr. U.N.,’” Greaves said.

It was his role in negotiating the Arab-Israeli armistice agreement of 1949 that won him the Nobel Peace Prize half a century ago. Even though it was the first time an African American had won the prestigious international honor, Bunche almost declined the award.

Such a gesture was typical of Bunche, who made it a point to work from behind the scenes and never forgot where he came from. While researching for the documentary, Greaves recounted how Bunche’s international expertise affected two notorious gangs in Bunche’s hometown of Watts.

“The Crypts and Bloods used (Bunche’s) tactics from the Arab-Israeli armistice in an attempt to settle their problems, without even knowing that Bunche was a black man or that he was from Watts,” Greaves said.

Approximately 200 alumni, faculty and several branches of the Bunche family tree heard speeches that preceded the two-hour documentary. The event was hosted by the Center for African American Studies.

Acting director for the center, Richard Yarborough, said Bunche was “one of the most, if not the most distinguished member of UCLA.”

“Bunche is an example of how conflicts can be resolved and how we can live together as citizens of this world,” Yarborough added.

The documentary described Bunche as an “extremely competitive” person. Excelling in debate, writing as a Daily Bruin columnist and fulfilling a basketball scholarship, he graduated summa cum laude in 1927 as valedictorian.

His undergraduate success landed Bunche an Ivy League scholarship, and he became the first African American to receive a doctorate in government and international relations at Harvard University.

Bunche attributed much of his sense of perspective to his experiences at UCLA.

“In those college years of maturing, I came to know broader perspectives and horizons,” he said at the dedication of Bunche Hall in 1969.

Chancellor Albert Carnesale described Bunche as a shining star in the legacy of UCLA. He used a quote from Bunche to explain his relationship to the university and his professional life:

“UCLA was the catalyst and the genesis for all that followed.”

Even 74 years after his graduation, UCLA is seeking to honor “his enduring image as a peacemaker, and bringing us together,” said professor in chair of the Political Science Department, Michael Lofchie.

“We’re trying to create a professorship in his name in order to commemorate his international efforts,” Lofchie added.

Furthermore, the Ralph Bunche Scholarship Fund is the school’s second-largest source of grants, doling out $53,760 to 53 students from historically underrepresented groups.

In a statement, Greaves said that since Bunche, there has been nobody to fill his shoes.

“This man was one of humanity’s greatest servants. Boy, do we need him today.”