fate 2
I his may ^park controvefiV.
and'or ill IrelinR, bol il is an inforfnative
look into the way some Blacks think of
themselves today
Often KIdcks have come to look *l
Whites as "furop>eans." A very perspeclivt
observation I'm sore, but haven't we alway*
known where these immigrants came from
We rveed to reali/e where we came from
Vet, some of us seem to be disturbed by the
term Hlatk If that indeed is true, then
we ve only been observing Furopeans That
IS a very sad thought
I am ar>d always will be proud of myself
for being black, a black man and of African
descent How sad that through all the years
o sweat, blood, and many tears, we can
begin to deny our identAy
Maybe some of us are |ust ashamed
because we don ( know enough about our
histcKy, culture or the struggle that has been
going in this country (or almost four hun
dred years now But that canrtol be the pro
blem. can rtf Sure we know of such great
bla kmen and women as Crispus Anack.
Denmark Vessey. Ricard Allen. George
Washington Carver, harriet Tubamn, So-
louner Irulh. Iredruk Douglas, Beniamin
HaneVer. W t B Dubois. Nat lurner. Sterl
ing Brown or Richard Wright I know, that's
easy ■
There is not way you can get by me
without knowing some of them We are too
aware of our heritage not to know of their
contributions to our culture and fre«*dom
I hen again, we shoul know about the
stimated 20 million blacks that died, were
killed trying to escape this unwanted bon
dage or thrown overboard the ships used to
transport them from their homeland to the
land of the free, by men of greed and cunn
ing whose only purpose was to reap
capitahstic gain thru the selling of human
ll.-sif
We must all question our krvowledge at
some point and time Can you really im
agine working from sun-op to sun-down, in
torrid heat, everyday of your life? But we all
INK •
SPOT
knew about this Our parents and grand
parents told us of this Our parents Or did
theyf Do we really know that black women
would kill their female children at times to
avoid them having to suffer the indignity of
white rape during this period of transgres
sion? That there was a route called The
Urulerground Railroad", used to help slaves
escape to freedom, tunneled by free blacks,
former slaves and white abolitionists. The
fact that there was a large cash reward for
iredrick Douglas's death because of his
outspoken views on sfavery in his paper
The North Star" That lohn Brown was
killed at Harper’s ferry for inciting blacks to
rebell against their masters, much like Nat
Turner had some thirty years before him, to
gam what was promised everyone in this
country by the U S Constitution freedom
A word that has tremendous potential, but
was not readily available to the poor black
folk, who were subjected to some of the
most inhuman conditions brought out since
the dawn of history
These, our ancestors, balled, fough in
wars, died in the fields, hung by angry
whites, all for their right to freedom De-
culturi/ed and swept under the rug at the
hands of white people, excuse me, Furo-
peans, for the privilege of being called a
IDI^SDI
Ancestral voice
dey talks bout dis ting in de head, what dis dey call
It' ( Intellect, whispered someone near.J DaCs il, honey
What dal got to do wid womin s rights or nigge/ s rights' If
my cup won t hold but a pint, and yourp holds a quart,
wouldn t ye be mean not to let me have my little half-
measure fulW
Den dal little man in black dar, he say women can't have
a> much rights as men. 'cause Christ wan t a woman! Whar
did your Christ come from? . from (jod and a woman!
Man had nothing to do wid Him'
If de fust woman God ever made was strong enough to
turn de world upside down all alone dese women togedder ought to be able to turn it
hack and get it right side up again' And now dey is asking to do it. de men better let em
Soiourner Iruth (17‘I7-1WU). formally Isabella Truth, was born a slave in New York and
Ireed in 1827 The The York Globe declares that Soiourner Truth stands preeminently as
the only colored woman who gained a national reputation on the lecture platform in the
dav^ bi-fore the war
This quote reproduced in the dialect in which it was recorded, is an exerpt from the
%p«*«H h she made at the Woman s Rights ( onvention in 18S1 (in Akron, Ohio) Her remarks
are directed against the previous speaker, a clergyman who had ridiculed the weakness
and helpU-NNness of women, who should, therefore, not be entrusted with the vote.
BLACK INK
"The essence of freedom is understanding.
Soiourner T ruth
mean m^n. Anything would have been
more acceptable than "boy" as a greeting.
But. get these other names since I'm on th
subject. Coon. Spook. Darky, Spear-
(hucker, lungle Bunny. Tar Babby, and the
favorite. Nigger. All of this and our people
still haven't gained respect freedom nor
equality in a country whose very\exl5tence
was spurred by the word "freedom .
But the fight for freedom has done been
neither won or lost. It is the very nature of
our living, to do as much as we can. fr the
little brothers and sisters growing up in a
society that would just as soon, look the
other way. than act in their behalf. I appeal
to all of you. Black, Bilaian or Other, as I've
noted some Brothers select, re-evaluate
your thinking abd perspective and lift your
heads up high and teach the children to be
proud to say that I'm Black and Proud '.
We all need the inner strength and faith to
keep on moving forward to that "Dream.
We all really deserve it. for the Wack folk
who died be(ore they heard it.
»
' * 'a'Brother to the tnd.
■* ' I B. McAfee
FCI inmate
I
r
jp
Our history ignored it doomed to repeated
Lets wake up people*! John F. Dupree>
■ lA
IM office complains
Office-Room 261, Suite B-Carolina Union
Chapel HUl.N.C. 27514
Printed by the Chapel Hill Newspaper
Lawrence Turner
Managing Editor
Donna D Whitaker
[ditor-in-Chief
It is never more apparent than during the
IM basketball season at Carolina. Black
students come in prior to the season's
beginning, asking for more black officials
(referees) and asking why there are not
more Black players come in to protest or
complain about unfair officiating by an "all
white ' fereree trio during a game. Some
black students have even suggested that the
publicity articles are sighted. Well, these
complaints, though welcomed, are not
valid
Black students are not the only players to
complain about officiating, nor are they the
only students to complain about not being
published But Carolina's IM-Rec program
IS run by professionals that want to reach
every segment of UNC's population.
The emergence of interested blacks dur
ing basketball season points to another,
much more severe, problem with blacks
and mtramurals at Carolina With such poor
participation by blacks in everything but
basketball, and almost no participation
among black women, one must wonder if
black students are only interested in that
one sport, which is doubtful, or if the word
IS not getting out — If the black students are
not being informed In this respect, the
Black Ink has failed
Despite this \ear s extensively planned,
publicised and implemented basketball of
ficials clinic program, only three black
students, all male, showed interest That
three out of some 100 officials does not
make a very nice percentage Three black
women have loined the student office
assistants staff, making the grand total, six.
The IM Rec program offers over 40 dif
ferent activities spanning the entire school
term and summer sessions There are more
than lust maior team sports like basketball,
voiles ball, soccer, football and softball In
dividual and all-campus spK>rts, sp>ecial
events, such as the recent Valentines
Couples Competition, and the new
Lifetime Leisure Program." that offers
students and faculty instructional clinics 16
different sports and interests (Including four
fitness classes), represent a vast area of in
terest.
The Carolina student is exposed to, and
can take advantage of, a well-rounded and
well-planned program of competitive and
recreational activity to relieve the pressures
of school, keep the body fit and socialize In
a healthy, positive way.
In a move to increase the publicity efforts
ot the IM-Rec program, a graduate
asslstantshlp in publicity was created this
year As a result, the IM-Rec publicity coor-,
dinator malls a press release every week to
42 school and community organizations,
including the Black Ink. Included In this
weekly release are deadline and activity
dates, plus information regarding every
aspect of the program
The Black Ink has used this Information
twice in the whole year; two date items In
Its calendar of events. Realizing that every
publication has problems of space, il Is still
puzzling why so much space is given to var
sity athletic features and score predictions
where benefit goes to so few.
The Black Ink uses this calendar In each
issue to inform black students of events "It
feels IS of interest to the black community at
LINC Black Ink spokespersons have
repeatedly told the IM-Rec office that "Its
reason for not publishing or even printing
IM material Is that 'It" feels black students
can get this Information from the Daily Tar
Heel.
Why then have the Black Ink? Isn't one of
Its purposes to Inform black students of
available services.
The IM-Rec office wants nothing more
than a well-balanced program for ALL We
encourage black students to join the of
ficials association and all other aspects of
our program
We also urge the Black Ink, a publication
we feel compliments, not replaces the
Daily Tar Heel for black students, to help us
help its readers readership