interviewed by young activists of
the 1990s in hope to learn from
each other.
It was unlike any learning
experience I had in my UNC-CH
courses. Not only did it serve as a
history lesson for younger partici
pants, (I got a first hand account of
COINTELPRO-an FBI program
established to break down Black
nationalist movements), but it gave
the older generation a chance to see
the next generation of radicals.
Often times my generation (late
1970s) is criticized for not being as
active as our parents’ generation,
but the youth of today showed that
we are as committed to improving
the lives of Blacks and other
minorities as our ancestors were.
The BRC consisted of many
different causes - Black Feminist,
BRC Youth, Lesbian - Gay, Trade
and Union and others over its three-
day course. As a former leader in
the UNC-CH Black Student
Movement, I participated in the
BRC Youth Caucus. It was a great
opportunity to hear so many young
individuals discuss their efforts and
dedication to their communities.
In a workshop titled, “Youth
and Student Organizing:
Supporting Those...Who Have the
Courage to Run Against the Storm:
The Next Generation,” we dis
cussed the attacks on youth as gang
bangers and promiscuous teens, as
well as the results of recent cuts of
minority programs and scholarships
on campuses. We worked to estab
lish ways to link together and com
bat the issues. In this session, as
well as in the BRC Youth Caucuses,
the minds of intelligent, active, yet
stubborn individuals clashed.
The concept that so many
people were trying to get together
to solve age old problems became
very problematic. Many of us
decided not to attend a number of
the break sessions of the BRC
Cultural Events featuring Sonja
Sanchez. Instead, we stayed up
until 3:00 AM to have our report-
backs from our sessions. We argued
and disagreed on ideologies and
basic procedure.
When we finally broke off
into regions of East, West, Mid-
West and South, we began to
accomplish many things. Each
region came up with critical issues
facing their communities. Some of
the issues included; political apa
thy, failing criminal justice system,
police brutality, welfare reform and
liquor and cocaine addictions,
among several others. The issue of
southern Black and Latino farmers
was a pressing one that didn’t show
up on the list of other regions.
The BRC Youth Caucus has
composed a list-serv. I receive on
an average of 5-10 messages each
day about the efforts of participants
and the continued quest for solu
tions to these many issues. We real
ized that our problems will not go
away if we are not willing to fight
for what we believe is right. Merely
having conversations and daily
chats will not alleviate our prob
lems.
There is quite a long road to
take in the education of many of our
communicates. When we left the
BRC Youth Caucuses, we vowed to
stay abreast of the issues facing the
African-American community and
fight to end racism and inequality in
America. I hope to do my part by
creating awareness about the
expansion of the prisons the pun
ishment industry. The BRC was an
event that will occur again in the
future. I hope to attend again next
year, but this time with more
knowledge about what radicalism
is...getting to the root.” ^
Carol Ben-Davies is a recent graduate of
UNC-CH and is currently working as
Program Coordinator at the Sonja Haynes
Stone Black Cultural Center. The article
also featured in the September 1998 issue
of The Prism.
We realized that our problems will
not go away if we are not willing
to fight for what we believe is
right. Merely having converstions
and daily chats will not alleviate
our problems
Black Ink
5