Express Yourself In Black Ink
Black Ink invites all students to
showcase their talents in a special literary
edition of Black Ink. We will be
accepting poems, fiction, graphic art and other
innovative artistic forms.
Black Ink will accept entries until
Monday, February 4, 1991
Look for drop boxes in the Black Cultural Center, the Black Student
Movement Q£Rce, Lenoir, Chase, Morrison, Hinton James, Craige,
Bkringhaus, Aveiy, Teague, Carmichael, the Campus Y and
the Black Ink Office (Suite 108-XJnion)
Heroes
continued from p. 5
70s, black children can see someone who
looks like them every Saturday morning.
Independent fdmmaker Spike Lee also be
came well-known for making successful
films with little money. Lee’s first two
films She’s Gotta Have It and School Daze
became surprise box office hits. By the time
Lee produced Do the Right Thing in 1989,
he had established himself as a legitimate
independent filmmaker. Lee’s recent film.
Mo’ Better Blues starring Denzel Washing
ton, continues to reaffirm his place in the
entertainment industry. So over the past
decade, there has been a rebirth of black
films made by independent filmmakers.
And not only have these films been pro
duced, they have received widespread ac
ceptance among all people in the nation.
Black people can go to the theater to see
movies produced by them and made for
them. The very fact that a black person can
become a filmmaker is inspiring but to do it
independently is both exceptional and in
spiring.
Several blacks have also become the
host of their own television shows. Over the
past decade, African-American talk shows
and variety shows have become widely-
watched across the nation. After years of
domination by Johnny Carson and Phil
Donahue, black people began to host their
own shows. Oprah Winfrey’s show became
nationally syndicated in 1987 after her
nomination for best supporting actress in
The Color Purple. Winfrey’s show has in
spired several other blacks to also venture
into the talk show realm. The Jesse Jackson
Show has also received support, which has
allowed it to be broadcast in more cities
than ever before. Comedian Marsha
Warfield has her own half-hour variety
show on NBC weekdays. Singer Natalie
Cole is the host of Big Break, which re
sembles a black version of Star Search.
Comedian Byron Allen has his own week
end show that runs in syndication. Arsenio
Hall became one of the fu-st blacks to host
a late-night talk show in 1989. The Arsenio
Hall Show has quickly become one of the
most widely-watched talk shows on televi
sion. These are all examples of black people
who have gotten their own shows in 1980s.
Black people can look at T.V. and seen an
African-American discussing today’s is
sues or telling jokes. It is inspiring to see
black people making inroads as hosts of
nationally-televised talk shows.
Black people have always had to fight
for economic, social and political equality.
The struggle for black equality will never
end until every African-American has the
opportunity to experience the American
dream. Statistics show that black people are
still facing a long road ahead with poverty,
high mortality rates and unemployment
keeping them fit)m achieving their goals.
However, black people should know that
despite all of these obstacles, hope is still
alive. Black people are overcoming barriers
each and everyday. It seems like the blacks
that have made it are few, but the fact that
they fulfilled their dreams inspires other
blacks to dream, too. In the White House, in
the NFL and on television, hope is kept
alive by people of African descent. Even
though one in four black men are in prison,
there are also some in Congress and in the
mayor’s office. African-Americans have
succeeded in the midst of people always
telling them that they can’tsucceed. Itseems
someone is always trying to hold us back.
People probably told Douglas Wilder that
he’d never become the nation’s first black
governor, but he did. No one knows how
many other Douglas Wilders are in the
world. The achievements of modern-day
black heroes should inspire all African-
Americans to keep hope alive in order to
win the struggle for total equality.