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Friday, February 7, 1986
BENNETT COLLEGE, GREENSBORO, N. 0.
VoL XLVII, No. 4
Solving emergency: N.C. Representative Annie Brown Kennedy espouses
a resurgence of familial and racial pride. She’s been a legislator for 4Vi years.
(photo by Myra Davis)
Tributes to King
translate dream
to ‘now’ crowd
by Avanti Allen
The dream lives on. Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s
vision was remembered as
the nation observed for the
first time the Nobel Prize
winner’s birthday as a na
tional holiday.
Musical tributes were es
pecially popular celebrations.
They range from a rap song,
featuring the Fat Boys, Run
DMC, Kurtis Blow and other
top black performers, to
choral presentations and TV
specials.
The idea for the rap song
was developed by King’s son,
Dexter, who collaborated with
the rap artists to honor King.
Dexter wanted the song to be
different. It is unique be
cause of the diverse perform
ers who contributed.
According to Felicia Wil
liams, a sophomore from Cin
cinnati, “I particularly like
the song because so many
different groups took time to
get together to pay tribute to
Dr. King.”
The song is geared to young
people not born during King’s
lifetime. Many of the artists
were too young to remember
King, but they know him
through his dream.
Lynda Keith, a junior from
Charleston, S.C. states, “This
tribute was different. This
proves that the younger gen
eration who didn’t live when
he did are keeping his dream
alive.”
Another effort to help keep
the dream alive was a musical
celebration televised on the
holiday. The show was hosted
by Stevie Wonder and tele
vised from Atlanta and New
York.
The program was as unique
as the rap record. There were
participants from different
races. They united to honor
the man who fought for equa
lity among all people.
One Belle took a mixed
view of the tribute. Wanda
Albert, a sophomore from
Philadelphia, stated, “I en
joyed the program somewhat.
I didn’t like some of the songs
sung by some of the white
performers because they
didn’t relate to his dream.”
Shelly Ann Middleton, a
sophomore from Raleigh,
commented, “A lot of his
dreams are being remembered
but we still have a long way
to go. I often wonder where
this is all going to lead to.
Civil rights stems from rac
ism and you cannot change
people’s feelings.”
Speaker stresses roots
by Evelyn Sims
She grew up in a segregated
Atlanta neighborhood where
sharing was stressed. She
learned to play the piano at
the Reverend Martin Luther
King Sr.’s house. Her inspira
tion was a Sunday school sup
erintendent who became the
first black female lawyer in
Georgia.
It’s no wonder that the
Honorable Annie Brown Ken
nedy, D-Winston-Salem, the
first black woman to serve
as a representative in the
North Carolina General As
sembly, emphasized the im
portance of roots during the
Lyceum Convocation Jan. 28.
“Unless we go back to our
roots and the culture of the
family . . . we will continue
to disintegrate ... We must
look within our own commun
ity. We must feel good about
ourselves ... If we do not
love ourselves, how can we
love other people? I challenge
you to go back to your roots,”
said Kennedy, who came to
North Carolina after she and
her husband received law de
grees at Howard University.
Addressing the question
“Who Am I?” she identified
herself as a black American
whose background includes
the reverence for the family
typifying North African cul
ture and the oral tradition of
the West Africans. Describ
ing herself as a wife, mother
of two sons, member of her
family’s law firm and legis
lator, she said that the co
operation of her family had
enabled her to achieve.
She also declared her inde
pendence. ‘In spite of every
thing else I am. I’m an indi
vidual first and foremost.
I’m a person whose health and
welfare depend a great deal
on how I feel about myself,”
she said.
Racial esteem is the key
to combat the loss of respect
for family values. “We as a
people must develop more
confidence in each other,”
she urged.
In a press conference at
Holgate Library, Kennedy
urged blacks to support their
own businesses as a means
of gaining economic power.
“Somehow blacks have got
to understand that we have
to keep the money in our own
community,” she said.
She also commented on
these subjects.
• Welfare: “I abhor wel
fare. I would do away with
it all” because it breeds de
pendency from one generation
to another.
• Abortion; “I support
funding of abortions for wom
en as a health aid. I’ve known
too many girls who have used
coathangers and died as a
result of trying to give them
selves abortions.”
• Black women’s strength:
“Racism and sexism are bar
riers you’ll still have to con
tend with. But somehow I feel
the black women is better able
to handle these things than
the black man” because black
women will file discrimina
tion suits.
• Running for office: “I
decided that I’m entitled to
that (opening in the General
Assembly). I’d been working
for 25 years for other candi
dates.”
• Preserving the family:
“Why is it that people will
take showers and get prettied
up for work, but won’t put
that same effort into the
home? . . . The family takes
eternal vigilance.”
In hard-hitting speech
President probes ills
by Cassandra Henderson
The speech was filled with
emotion, sensitivity and fear.
Admitting in his state-of-
the-college address that he is
“running scared,” President
Issac H. Miller Jr. called for
disciplined living as a solu
tion to the problems which
blacks inflict on themselves.
“Strengthen the posture of
your race by keeping strong
in you those attributes which
others most respect — inte
grity, honesty, intellect and
dependability,” he urged.
Troubled by the disinte
gration of the black family,
the mistreatment of women
by black men and drug and
alcohol abuse by black youth,
Miller described himself as
the concerned parent of the
500 women attending Ben
nett.
Black women must be pre
pared to control their own
destinies, Miller insisted.
“The majority of eligible
young men are unemployed or
in prison or on dope,” he said.
“And this is not (the result
of) racism necessarily. I’m
asking you to think about
these things and what we are
going to do. I’ll tell you I’m
frightened.”
“You may have to make
that good life and good living
either by choice or necessity
—alone,” he added.
Referring to a report which
listed 50 cases of gang rape
at American colleges last
year. Miller asked Belles to
“require that your young men
respect you.”
“You are ripe for exploita
tion by a child who grows up
in a family where there is no
respectable father image,” he
warned.
Discipline and self-enrich
ment are crucial to success.
Miller argued.
“Remember that you do
want to expand and broaden
your culture . . . Don’t just
automatically rule out coming
to chapel, vespers and classes.
In all things, be a lady. When
I look at the way some of
your colleagues dress, I think
they are trying to be more
like men,” he said.
Sororities will be held to
strict standards of “sister
hood, scholarship and ser
vice,” he said. A violation of
those values would result in
his banishing the offending
group from campus.
Summer school helped
Frosh attains 4.0
by Carla Bannister
Freshman Annette Hunter
is a success story. The 19-
year-old english Major from
Madison made all A’s first
semester.
Hunter states that going
through the Bennett summer
school program helped pre
pare her for a successful
semester.
“Summer school was an op
portunity for me to be on my
own for the first time,” she
says. “No longer do I have
someone to push me to study,
or do my homework or to
arrive home in time to pre
pare for the next day’s
school’s activities. I was able
to quickly adjust to college
thanks to the summer school
programs.”
Becoming better organized
was a key to Hunter’s success.
“Having a daily ‘to do’ list
helped me out a lot. Without
it I would have been lost.”
Hunter states that her
high school grades were not
as good as her college grades.
She believes that she is more
serious about her studies
now. Hunter states, “I work
more closely with my work
and put a lot of quality time
into my studies.”
Hunter’s positive attitude
has opened avenues of suc
cess for her, and she is an
example that hard work,
determination and self-con
fidence can take you places.
She believes that she has
grown more responsible and
mature while attending Ben
nett. Her motto is: “Continue
to believe in yourself.”
Hunter is the daughter of
Rev. Roger Hunter and his
wife. She has two sisters,
Michelle, 13, and Amy, 10.
Hunter likes to read novels,
write and play the piano. She
wants to pursue a career as
a college English professor.