FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1984
THE BENNETT BANNER
PAGE THREE
Walker advocates traditional view
by Dee Evans
“The black woman today is
better equipped to fight for
freedom and human rights,”
says the acclaimed author of
Jubilee, Margaret Walker
Alexander.
This scholar impressed her
audience with words of wis
dom during her presentation,
“Black Women: A Historical
and Sociological Overview,”
Oct. 17 as part of the “Socio-
Cultural History of Black
Women in America” Confer
ence. She created a vision
that her listeners could relate
to. The audience shared her
feelings of what the black
woman stands for.
Alexander used her schol
arly knowledge and personal
experience in comparing the
woman of the past to the
woman of the future.
“The black woman is the
strong survivor,” said Alex
ander. “She is the mother, the
worker, the churchgoer, the
homemaker, the cook, the
field worker, who was ex
ploited for her sex and race,
beaten, seduced and raped.”
The question at hand was
how did the black woman sur
vive all this torment. The an
swer was evident. The black
woman survived the middle
passage on the ship and the
harsh system of slavery;
therefore, she could survive
all that was in store for her
in the coming years such as
the fight for freedom and the
struggle for human rights.
“Black women want a life
without fear ... a chance of
simple human dignity . . . and
a right to die in dignity,”
stressed Alexander.
She supported her state
ment by citing the struggle
of Harriet Tubman and Sou-
journer Truth who were the
first freedom fighters. These
women fought for education
and the right to vote. They
also fought for the “right to
be human and not machines.”
Ida B. Wells and Mary Beth-
une Cookman were also
among the list of survivors.
Alexander said that the
black woman has entered a
new age with new challenges,
so now how can she survive
the struggles that she may
encounter in this “post
industrial society.”
“No matter how strong our
people are, we cannot survive
a nuclear holocaust,” the nov
elist said. Therefore the black
woman, as well as her coun
terpart, has come to a prob
lem that has no easy solution.
“We certainly cannot sur
vive neo-facist judges ap
pointed by a neo-facist gov
ernment,” said Alexander,
giving an example of a pro
gram demanding a unified
response. As a result, black
women in America must join
the “democratic decision
making process and take ad
vantage of the strong power
that they have as being part
of a 51 percent electorate
which is female.”
Alexander concentrated on
the black woman of today,
saying “she along with other
individuals is weak and
strong . . . but through net
working, she is powerful; she
is to lead and achieve, to work
for the liberation of her peo
ple.” The black woman has
goals and dreams she wishes
to accomplish for the better
ment of her kind: “She looks
on the moving of the 20th
century for hope and for
goodness of the future . . . We
[blacks] strive for realms of
destiny in our hands.”
The organization in the
black homes is weak because
the family unit is disintegrat
ing according to Walker.
Blacks are still poor and very
much underemployed. Schools,
in a sense, still are segregated
because the communities
where the neighborhood chil
dren attend school are divided
by race. This is where the
Rainbow Coalition plays a
part—to unite all segregated
areas, says Alexander.
But the black woman is
progressing, Walker feels.
She is better educated and
makes more money than her
mother and grandmother. She
is part of a growing middle
class with better opportuni
ties. “She has always been and
will be, an artist — creative,
innovative and courageous—
creating beauty wherever she
goes,” said Alexander.
“The traditional black
woman is strong on tradi
tion,” emphasized Alexander,
and that tradition is the abil
ity to survive “and fight for
the right to be human.”
Career day
(From page 1)
on campus because the Belles
get a chance to see other suc
cessful black people,” she
said.
A senior business adminis
tration major observed the
practical value of the dav. “I
think it was very beneficial
because I talked with several
people that were in the busi
ness field or working in the
field, which was very inspir
ing and encouraging to me,”
stated Rita Swinson.
Angela Warren also
stressed the practical. “As far
as learning more about my
career and my financial
status, the speakers as well
as Mrs. Vincent made me
more aware of a black wom
an’s career in psychology,”
the sophomore psychology
major said.
Getting the double reward
of fulfilling employment and
a decent salary is on every
student’s mind. Career
Awareness Day answers stu
dents’ questions on both
subjects. Vincent said the
event “is very beneficial be
cause students learn really
whether or not they want to
pursue a career in a particu
lar field of study.”
History in the making: (left to right) Angela Davis, Paula Giddings and Margaret Walker Alexander starred at the
October conference. They were joined by President Miller and Dr. Marshena Baird, director of the Bennett Scholars,
sponsors of the landmark event. (photo by Keith Miller)
Giddings’ purpose is to strengthen blacks’ identity
by Avanti Allen
She gives credit to all great
women of the past and com
mends all great women of the
present, but she doesn’t in
clude her own name.
Paula Giddings, author of
When and Where I Enter . .
presents herself as a soft-
spoken yet forceful woman.
Her height adds to her
strength and her majestic
attitude.
Giddings is a graduate of
Howard University, where
she involved herself in many
academic and extra-curricu
lar activities. She strongly
supported the civil rights pro
tests during her college days.
“Whenever there was a march
or a protest I was there sup
porting it wholeheartedly,”
she says. She was also edi
tor of many of the college
publications as well as a
member of Delta Sigma Theta
Sorority, Inc.
After graduation Giddings
established herself as an im
portant writer and editor. She
was an editor for Random
House. In 1984 she was ap
pointed editor for the book
review section of Essence
magazine. Giddings also
served as editor-at-large for
“Para Politics” of Essence.
Along with the publication
of When and Where I Enter
. . . , a leading seller on the
book market, Giddings has
published six poems and 73
articles in such places as
Encore Magazine, The Wash
ington Post and The Black
World.
“My works have one main
purpose,” she states. “The
purpose is to put us [black
people] in the center of our
own experience.”
Giddings stressed how
black women played a great
part in the formation of
American history from slav
ery to the present. She gives
many examples of famous
black women who paved the
way for the women of today.
“Black women had a great
influence on the suffrage
movement, Martin Luther
King, Jr. and politics of the
19th century,” she states.
“These facts are never re
vealed in the textbooks.”
Giddings viewed the theme
of the October conference as
an excellent idea. She states,
“Today we can’t find time to
share ideas of our history
which determines our future.”
“The three perspectives of
the conference: traditional,
feminist and ethnographic
are all inter-related,” she
adds.
Giddings states, “Young
black college students should
become active in politics be
cause you can make a differ
ence and a change in the sys
tem.” She believes in taking
a stand for issues that she
believes in.
Angela Davis: image changes, but commitment stays
by Evelyn Sims
Time may have changed
Angela Davis’ appearance,
but it hasn’t altered her
politics.
Gone are the trademark
Afro, goggle-like glasses,
whip-thin figure and strident
voice^—a familiar image dur
ing the turbulent late ’60s and
early ’70s.
Now Davis resembles the
career woman, and she speaks
in tones befitting her position
as professor of women’s and
ethnic studies at San Francis
co State University.
Her presentation may have
softened, but her ideas
haven’t. Veteran of many bat-
against the establishment,
Davis is still attacking the in
justices of the capitalistic
system, which she holds re
sponsible for racism, sexism
and class exploitation.
Ronald Reagan has become
the devil incarnate for Davis,
who is running as the vice-
presidential candidate for the
American Communist Party.
“If we can’t get rid of Rea
gan,” she warned during the
October conference, “the
clock will be turned back
many, many years.”
She equates the Republican
administration with fascism
— a one-party dictatorship
devoted to racism, militarism
and the enrichment of its
members.
“The most racist, sexist,
most bellicose forces in Amer
ica are now in control of our
society,” she insisted.
She has placed herself in
the ironic position of running
on one ticket but urging
audiences to vote for another.
She knows the American
Communist Party can’t win,
but she hopes the Democrats
can.
“I do think it’s more im
portant to elect Mondale-
Ferraro than to elect Reagan-
Bush,” she said.
Her own party’s role is to
raise issues that might arouse
enough popular support to
influence the ideas of the
Democrats.
She feels that racism
should be a violation of the
law. “We’re talking about
criminalizing racism,” she
explained. “There should be
laws against the Ku Klux
Klan, laws against the
Nazis.”
Her party, she hopes, will
serve as a conscience as it did
in 1932 when it campaigned
for the jobless.
Triad awaits Prince’s “Purple Rain’
by Ellesia McCracken
The event is in such popular
demand that some Belles, like
thousands of other Triad fans,
endured four-hour waits and
bought tickets costing $17.
Prince’s “Purple Rain” tour,
sold-out nationwide, reaches the
Greensboro Coliseum Nov. 14 and
15 with two 8 p.m. shows.
The tour, the biggest of the 25-
year-old recording artist’s career,
is being fueled by the movie of
the same name and the top-selling
album, which also serves as the
film’s sound track. At the theater,
“Purple Rain” netted over $7 mil
lion in its first week and received
some favorable reviews.
Despite his vast success, Prince
is a controversial figure, exciting
adoration and occasional scorn on
this campus.
Sophomore Beneda Carver rep
resents the views of Prince ad
vocates. “His creativity simply
astounds me ... if I could de
scribe Prince with just one word,
I think I would pick ‘evolution,’ ”
she said. “I mean a process in
which something or someone
changes into different and usually
more complex form.”
Another Belle, who requested
anonymity, said: “Prince is a man
who relates to my deepest inner
feelings. He’s my inspiration to
wake up to this rotten world in
the morning. I love him and
everything he is about.”
A detractor, listening to Prince’s
song, “Oh, Sister,” stated, “Prince
is sick.”
Another student, who asked not
to be named, seems to summarize
both views. “I listen to Prince
almost every day, but I believe
that he is the anti-Christ and that
all people who follow him and
worship him will indeed be laugh
ing in the purple rain, and they
will burn in hell along with the
rest of the demons,” she predicted.
The recipient of this heat,
Prince Rogers Nelson (each with
six letters), is from Minneapolis.
Bom to a black father and an
Italian mother, he had a very
troubled childhood and began
running away at 12. Often he
stayed with Morris Day, who has
also become a successful musician,
and his mother.
At 17, having mastered many
instruments. Prince produced, ar
ranged, mixed, composed and per
formed his first album, “For
You.” His next five albums —
“Prince by F^ince,” “Dirty Mind,”
“Controversy,” “1999” and “Pur
ple Rain” — came out regularly
with no more than a two-year
wait for his fans.
Appearing with Prince will be
his band Revolution; Appolonia 6,
who played his lover in the movie
and has a Warner Bros, album;
and special guest Sheila E., whose
album is “The Glamorous Life.”
There may be a flash appearance
by Prince’s close friend Morris
Day and his group The Time.
But people will be swarming
to see the man who has changed
the meaning of “revolution.”
Prince will mesmerize, hynotize
and send out that feeling of
freedom once again.