Page 12
April 20, 1988
Time for a
change
by RICHARD WHITE
News Editor
The 1987-1988 school year has been
a trying one for us all. Apathy and frustra
tion over Black Student Movement leader
ship has grown to a p)oint where some
students find it easier not to care or to be
involved. Attending an “emergency
meeting” does not suggest loyal participa
tion. At best, we are comfortable with
mediocre leadership. Once on track, it
becomes difficult to turn the situation
around and engender enthusiasm. We
should strive to be active, not reactive.
That is not to say that being reactive has
no merit. By doing more for ourselves,
we lessen the opportunity for external fac
tors to operate against us. The upcoming
year is a chance to change. There are
several areas we should consider.
The BSM has existed some twenty
years. There has been no celebration to
commemorate its founding or its history.
A member's handbook that records the
history of the organization and the black
student, faculty and staff presence at the
University would be helpful. More pro
fessionalism is definitely needed. The
organization needs character and perhaps
a new direction. Boycotts cannot be an
nounced without sufficient background in
formation. When the president calls for
■‘phase three” every member should have
some idea of what it is. Empty threats
breed resentment. There must be greater
communication internally.
Black faculty and staff members have
demonstrated their interest in our well
being. We, students, need to let them
know that we appreciate their efforts and
will look to them for continued guidance.
We need to suport each other and plan to
write a comprehensive black agenda for
the university. Many changes lie ahead.
We need to look critically at ourselves and
prepare.
The Black Ink was founded as the
newsletter to the BSM to serve as a tool
to apprise members of the group’s ac
tivities. It has been on rare occasion that
the BSM has worked with the paper. It
should at least print the minutes of the
previous meeting as well as announce the
upcoming agenda. There should be an oc
casional letter from the president's desk.
In its coverage of the UNC black com
munity, the Daily Tar Heel leaves a great
deal to be desired, but if we demand bet
ter coverage, we put the Black Ink’s future
in jeopardy. Both the BSM and the Black
Ink are at a turning point.
Clearly, the administration has not
been particularly responsive to our con
cerns like recruitment and retention, but
let's be honest and fair. The UNC black
community has not created for itself an en
vironment that is conducive to educational
success. It is unfortuante to be on a cam
pus where students place more value on
being “Greek” than on being a scholar.
We have not called for academic ex
cellence. Furthermore, we are not even
comfortable with each other, but yet, that
eternal call for unity still goes out. As long
as we continue to relate to each other as
we do, it will never occur.
Looking beyond Chapel Hill, our
younger brothers and sisters need us. We
need to consider graduate school so that
one day some of us can replace Dr. J. Lee
Greene, Mrs. Joanne Woodard, Dr.
Trudier Harris, Mrs. Donella Croslan and
Dr. Robert Cannon among others.
Through education, we can endeavor to
counteract the abundance of psychological
.warfare that works against us.
There is much we can do like provide
forums that are collectively planned to ad
dress real campus and world issues. We
must sharpen our intellectual and
analytical skills and thereby, remove
ourselves from emotionalism so that we
can get at the essence of those problems
that affect us. We must stop and ask
ourselves “What’s going on?”
Sorry, but hipness
Blackness
by GARRAUD ETIENNE
Staff Writer
The following is a conversation that
occurred between two Black students; one
of them is a writer for the Black Ink who
prefers to remain anonymous because he
fears reprisals from the rap-worshiping
HBA (Home Boy Association of
Amercia).
Black Student: “Hey man what’s up!
Haven’t seen you on the yard, what you
been up to?”
“Pseudo” Black Student; “Nothing
much; studying, working, chillin. Right
now I’m checking out this concert.”
Black Student: “Yeah, yo who’s
playing?
“Pseudo” Black Student; "LED
ZEPPELIN-LIVE”
Black Student; “Led Zeppelin! Hey
what’s the matter with you man, are you
Black or what?”
These two students are both black;
both wake up in the morning and see a
familiar black face staring back, both are
used to those peculiar glances when
they're the only ones in their all white
class who can answer the teachers ques
tion, and both feel that empty disappoint
ment when they attend a convention of
successful businessmen to find that the on
ly other blacks present at the convention
are those hired to clean up. Both are
undeniably black in experience, pride,
understanding and ideals; but the problem
is that too many brothers and sisters
equate hipness with the true meaning of
Blackness.
There seems to be an unfortunate but
prevalent consciousness that only those
that “act Black” are black. This dubious
“Blackness” manifests itself in several
mannerisms which alone, are bad enough,
but become especially reprehensible as a
substitute for black understanding and
comraderie.
1) Flashiness — “Superfly” is alive
and well. He/she no longer sports picks
in Afro’s, big gaudy Lincoln Continentals
or leisure suits but still prefers the flashy,
ridiculous appearance; flashy gold, flashy
clothes and the flashy cars pumping the
obligatory loud music (so you can turn
around and look at his flashy, bad selO.
2)“I’m too cool to acknowledge your
presence as another human being” motif.
You know those characters, maybe you’re
one yourself; they look you right in the
eye as they pass you on the street and can't
be bothered to extend a friendly smile or
an understanding nod as a sign of black
sister/brotherhood.
3) Forced bad english motif. Slang
and jargon are one thing; an acceptable
method of identifying with others of a
common understanding. However, after
twelve years of education in the English
language can college students really say:
“Now look what you done did you dumb-
ass nigger, is you crazy or something?”
4) Last but certainly not least is my
personal favorite; the “you must talk bad
English, listen to only rap music and have
a stylized rap for the females to be really
Black” motif. This is the most insulting
to anyone who has a sincere notion as to
what true Blackness really is. Blackness
can't be bought at jewelry stores, can't be
bought with tinted windows or obtained
by putting yourself above another black
human being. Those who do look like the
Beastie Boys in blackface.
If you want to begin to understand
what Blackness is there are many who are
far more eloquent than myself; read the
works of Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther
King, Jr., or have a talk with your elders
who grew up in a time when blackness
was a dirty word. But don’t insult what
Black Americans have and are fighting for
with “Stylized Blackness.”
UNC Journalism School repeats
minority training program host
For the third consecutive year the
School of Journlism at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been
selected to host the Minority Reporting In
tern Program of the Dow Jones
Newspaper Fund.
“Working with the Newspaper Fund
to increase the number of minorities in
journalism is important,” said Dr.
Richard R. Cole, dean of the School of
Journalism at UNC. He added that the
school has several activities geared to that
goal, including recruitment programs and
scholarships.
“The program shows that there is
tremendous merit in the concept of train
ing minority sophomores for working in
ternships at daily newspapers,” said
Harry Amana, associate professor of jour
nalism at UNC and program director.
The one-of-a-kind program, which
teaches college sophomores about repor
ting, is designed to identify and encourage
minority students to pursue newspaper
careers.
Eight sophomores will begin the pro
gram at the journalism school with an in
tensive two-week seminar designed to
train each student for a general assignment
internship at a participating daily
newspaper.
Program participants will be Angel
D. Ayala of Whittier (Calif.) College;
Marcus Chan of Whitworth College at
Spokane, Wash.; Mildred Charley,
Prairie View (Texas A&M University;
Lisa Esquivewl, Indiana University,
Bloomington; Maria Gutierrez, Universi
ty of Virginia, Charlottesville; Cheri
Lawson, Long Island University; Octavia
McBride, Cheyney University, New
Orleans; and Michael Wang, Pomona
College at Claremont, Calif.
Newspapers participating in the pro
gram are The New London (Conn.) Day;
Durham Morning Herald; The Fort
Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel; The Palm
Beach (Fla.) Post; The Princeton (N.J.)
Packet; Cape Cod (Mass.) Times; News-
day (Long Island, N.Y.); Columbia (Mo.)
Daily Tribune; and the Greenwich
(Conn.) Time.
Interns will receive about $200 a
week in salary and a $1,000 scholarship
from the Newspaper Fund for college next
year.
The Newspaper Fund provided a
$20,000 grant to fund the program.
For more information, contact
Amana at (919) 962-4080.