6
BLACK INK
November, 1972
Afro not cause
of bald ness
YOBU works
for Blacks
Epps
viable
By Deborah Austin
Staff Writer
One of the most talked about
issues relating to student
government since the election of
President Richard Epps last
spring, is the plan for student
government reorganization
which, ironically, still has his
name in the conversation.
This plan, which will dispose
of the fifty-five man student
legislature and replace it by a
twenty man governing council,
will obviously reduce the size of
the legislature and increase the
efficiency of student
government.
Many Black students did not
think twice about the
referendum with the impression
that no matter what, the only
representation for Blacks on this
campus is token representation.
Whether the new plan will put
Blacks in this position remains
to be seen.
Eleanor Graves, the only
Black student legislator until the
recent election of Deryl Davis,
feels that as far as Blacks are
concerned, chances for
representation are better under
the new system. According to
the amendment, the president
has the power to appoint two
members of any minority to the
council if they are not elected.
She also feels that the B.S.M.
budget would be considered
more fairly.
Warren Carson, President of
the B.S.M., feels that the new
council would be more
representative and .... more
effective. He referred)rto the
present legislators as ‘fpolitical
butterflies,” evading the real
issues and being too concerned
with the conservative or liberal
aspect of everything. Carson
feels that Black students will be
helped by the council since seats
are guaranteed to them.
Elliott Stephenson, Assistant
Director of Minority Affairs,
aggrees with Carson and Graves.
He also feels that much of this
conservative-liberal “see-sawing”
will disappear with the new
council. Each of them believes
that with districts being larger
and legislators more
representative. Black students
need not worry about a
conservative bloc running the
council.
We see now that the
referendum will have to be held
for a third time since last spring.
This plan must be of some merit.
Something of no value is not
worth the fight being put up. It’s
up to the student body to
decide. Its value remains to be
seen.
Can you believe in yourself?
It’s not enough to say “I’m
somebody”; we’ve always
known that. The question is
who/what? Are you a dead
raindrop, reborn in a used coal
mine now existing in an oblique
closet of your closed mind, only
to re-emerge singing “I’m Black
and I’m Proud” while
soft-peddling before the Jew
into the new self-cleaning ovens.
After all, it takes little or no
work to be significant, but lo
leave our print, our image on the
world, you’ll find that 24 hours
in a day is like seconds in a fast
minute.
- Don L. Lee
By Deborah Long
Staff Writer
For centuries Black women
have tried to conform with
cosmetic standards of
fashion-setting white groups by
straightening their hair ... by
having it “fixed” by oiling it and
applying a heated comb.
Now, with the advent of
Black pride and heightened
self-esteem. Black women (and
men) have abandoned the
pursuit of white beauty
standards and wear their hair in
the natural or “Afro” style.
Several myths or rumors have
been circulated about the
“Afro” style . . . including its
perpetuation of dryness,
hardness, splitting, breaking,
even baldness . . . and skin
rashes.
Dr. W.J. Griffin, a
dermatologist at the UNC
Student Health Service, refutes
claims that the “Afro” style
damages the hair. Dr. Griffin
says the hairstyle itself is not
damaging, “improper care is the
main thing.” He explained that
the Afro pick causes traction
hair loss from pulling hard,
ripping, and tearing the hair. He
added that careless combing of
the Afro breaks certain bonds
that hold the hair strands
together resulting in damage to
the protein.
As for the skin rash myth, Dr.
Griffin explained that the Afro
hair style does cause
dandruff . . . but only because of
improper or unthorough care
and washing. “It’s hard for
shampoo to penetrate the hair
and get to the scalp,” Griffin
said, “and this causes scaling
that sometimes spreads to the
face and other parts of the
body.” “But,” he continued,
“the scaling and dandruff can be
eliminated or at least controlled
by thorough washing and the use
of dandruff shampoos and scalp
conditioners.”
Griffin also pointed out that
the wearing of the Afro style is
no more damaging to hair than
the use of the “hot
comb”-possibly less—because
that “beautification” method
often resulted In hair loss and a
scalp disease known as “hot
comb Alopecia” (baldness). The
hair and scalp were damaged by
the hot comb and the hot
petroleum (grease). The melted
grease hitting the scalp caused
chronic inllammation around
hair strands which led to
degeneration and ultimate
destruction of the external root
sheath and the entire hair strand.
“So the Afro style is itself no
more damaging to hair than
‘straightening’,” Griffin
concluded, “but it has to be
properly taken care of.”
By James O. Cuthbertson, Jr.
Staff Writer
1 remember when I was but a
young lad of nine and my
grandfather used to come up
from Fort Mill to visit. My
friends ail rode me about haviiig
such a geech for a grandfather,
but I loved him just the same. 1
remember sitting on his lap and
listening to his talks until I
would fall asleep and wake up
lying on either the couch or the
bed.
My grandfather was over 100
years old. What Uttle hair he had
left was as frosty as newly fallen
snow, but he was as healthy and
spirited as a new born toddler.
It was in his lap one day that 1
realized more had happened in
this area than the Battle of the
Hornet’s Nest with Lord
Cornwallis and General Greene. I
also realized that an integral
portion of Charlotte’s history
had long since been swept under
the rugs.
My grandfather said to me as
I sat calmly on his lap, “Boy,
I’m gonna tell you the legend of
Sugar Creek.” I thought to
myself, “What can he tell me
about Sugar Creek that I don’t
already know? I knew that Sugar
Creek began in Mecklenburg
County and flowed south to
South Carolina en route to the
Catawba River where it was the
size of a small river by the time
it reached Fort Mill. I had
walked from my grandfather’s
house on highway 16 and fished
in Big Sugar many times.
He told a fantastic tale of the
area of the Big Sugar just below
the North Carolina line. It seems
that in 1625 an English slave
ship was shipwrecked on North
Carolina’s Outer Banks.
The slaves escaped and
massacred the crew, thus
becoming the first free blacks in
whal they called “NOURDKA-
VINIA”, or Ihc land ot Ihe
By Phil Geddie
and Larry Williams
On October twenty ninth,
BSM Central Committee
members, Phillip Geddie and
Larry Williams represented the
Black student population of
U.N.C. at a statewide Y.O.B.U.
conference in Greensboro, N.C.
Y.O.B.U. is a Fouth
Organization for Slack f/nity. It
was organized on September 13,
1971 in Fayetteville, N.C. On
this date a group of young
people and community leaders
met. These people were
dedicated Black people from'all
over the state and consisted of
college and high school students
as well as non-students. They
came together with the belief
that young Black people have
inherited the responsibility to
boldly, honestly, and
intelligently carry out programs
that will benefit all Black
people. Out of this meeting
emerged the N.C. Youth
Organization for Black Unity.
Williams and Geddie, at the
conference heard Y.O.B.U.’s
National Chairman — Nelson
Johnson talk about the building
forest, rolling plains, and high
hills. At first, they marveled at
the sights of the new world.
They set out at once to find a
place of settlement. A few
stayed with the Ocrakoke
Indians, but the majority
treked through the fierce
territory of the powerful
Tuscarora.
They traveled on until they
encountered a bunch of Scotch
missionaries headed by Peter
Laurin near Drowning Creek in
present day Scotland County.
Some stayed in Scotland with
the Laurins, but the majority
traveled on across a beautiful
area called “Anzon”, which
meant rolling forests in their
language,
John Wade, one of Laurins
followers had warned them of
the land to the west of the big
river; “The Land of the
Catawbas.” Three weeks later,
they settled on a beautiful small
By Mitzi Bond
Associate Editor
Once again the Student
Government reorganization has
suffered a setback. The results of
the referendum on the Epp’s
Plan, which passed, have been
declared invalid.
This was the ruling by the
Student Supreme Court which
decided the election was not
valid because the three-page text
of the proposed constitutional
amendment did not appear on
each ballot as required by law.
However, there is a question
about whether or not the law
RR 51-58 (which requires
constitutional amendment
referendum ballots to include
the full text of the proposed
amendments) was actually
passed by the student legislature.
of a strong and effective N.C.
Y.O.B.O. and some of the
immediate activities.
In speaking of the building of
a strong organization, Nelson
related that there are two basic
essentials: there must be a
feeling of sincerity, dedication
and belief on the part of the
members; and there must exist a
progressive step by step program
that will enable next year’s
Y.O.B.U. to be a stronger, more
active organizational program
that will only require the
replacing of those members
which have departed, rather than
leaving the task of reorganizing
or starting all over again.
Nelson related also that while
Y.O.B.U. is a Pan-African
organization, its primary
concern at this time is with local
happenings such as the recent
Ben Chavis case in Wilmington,
N.C. Y.O.B.U., Nelson stated,
through its dedicated and sincere
efforts is trying to unify the
youth of N.C.; to bring us
together as individuals linked
inseparably by our common
interest. The common insterest
is the STRUGGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lasima Tushende Mbilashaka
The legend of Sugar Creek
Anarchy in SG
river which they called
“Lankasta”, meaning homeland.
Here they built a beautiful city
on the banks of the Sugar.
The powerful Tuscarora
considered them demon Gods
because of their blackness and
stayed away except for visits to
bring food and clothing.
Their head chief, Meck-York,
was an intelligent leader. He lead
these Lankostans against
Charlotte which they captured
and held for a year until
smallpox practically devoured
them. Their dwindling number
made them merely slaves.
My grandfather concluded by
saying that we were descendants
of the great Meck-York. The
next day, 1 went to school and
as 1 sat there in a daze, the
teacher who was calUng the roll
called my name. “Mac York
Lancaster,” she said, as I realized
that the best history book is
grandfather.
All of this is merely an
indication of the character of
the student legislature as it is
now- a mass body that is so
filled with red tape and
gorilla-politico tactics that it has
been reduced to a state of
inefficiency and chaos.
And now the SL has once
again rid itself of any possible
remedy for its mediocre
situation. The Epps Plan was a
solution—to reduce the
legislature down to a workable
size and to ensure proportional
representation for women and
ethnic minorities.
When Student Body President
Richard Epps reintroduces the
referendum, perhaps there is still
hope to rid the student
legislature of the anarchy in
which it now exits.