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NEWS February 8, 2013 \ MLK Day speaker challenges students to shed safety Snuggles Pastor Santes Beatty inspired students during an event about Martin Luther King Jr. in Dana Auditorium. BY SYDNEY HAWKINS Staff WRfTBt Pastor Santes Beatty '97 served as the keynote speaker on Jan. 30 for the "Collective Voices Igniting Change" event series commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. When Africana Community Coordinator Jada Drew introduced Beatty to the audience, she gave a personal testimony about her relationship with the pastor. "He inspired light in me and helped me believe I could achieve anything" said Drew. In his speech, Beatty encouraged students to leave their comfort zone like King did and to make a difference in the world around them. He began his speech with an anecdote about his in-laws giving him a Snuggie, describing it as "essentially a backwards robe ... but it has pockets." Although Beatty was originally embarrassed to wear his Snuggie, he warmed up to it. As he later said, "I was content to sit in my Snuggie all day long." Beatty used the anecdote as a metaphor to encourage people to follow the King's example and apply it to our lives by "releasing yourself from the Snuggie." Beatty is a former Guilford student, football player and employee. During his time as an employee for Guilford, he was appointed as the head of the Bonner Scholars program. In his first year in that position, he was offered position of Africana Community Coordinator. "I was in shock," said Beatty. "I was very inspired by the speech Pastor Beatty proposed. The passion that was infused into its words has made me think twice about what I want my experience to be like at Guilford." Trenor Colby, first-year He did not know if he could take on the job at only 22 years old. He was encouraged by his peers and decided to leave his comfort zone and take the job. Today, Beatty is a high school pastor for Kentwood Community Church in Kentwood, Mich. Through his sermons and mentoring of high school students, Beatty leads by example just as King did. Attendees of the speech were moved by Beatty's words. "I was very inspired by the speech Pastor Beatty proposed," said first-year Trenor Colby. "The passion that was infused into its words has made me think twice about what I want my experience to be like at Guilford." Beatty closed his speech with a quote from King. "A life worth living is a life of service." Bryan Series welcemes Canada BY NATALIE SUTTON Staff Writer America is supposed to be the land of opportunity. Everyone has the same chance to succeed, right? According to Geoffrey Canada, a visit to an impoverished and violent dty borough like Harlem can quickly disprove this belief. Growing up nearby in the South Bronx of New York City, Canada experienced the dangers and mayhem of poor, inner-dty life on a daily basis. Understanding firsthand the unfairness of children living in a world where gunshots outnumber high school graduates, he dedicated his life to helping eliminate violence in inner dties and giving children a chance for a better life. His sodal activism and enthusiasm for changing lives made him a desirable choice for The Bryan Series. Community members can look forward to hearing Canada speak on Feb. 10 at 3:30 p.m., at War Memorial Auditorium in Greensboro. Prior to the presentation, spectators will have the chance to hear the Guilford College Guitar Ensemble. As president and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone since 1990, Canada strives to increase high school and college graduation rates in Harlem. This nonprofit provides free aid for impoverished children and families through parenting workshops, a supportive preschool program, public charter schools, and health programs to break the cycle of poverty. "He has helped to bring critical issues in education to the forefront through film, books and appearances all over the country," said David Temple, visiting assistant professor of education studies. "There are some who disagree with his picture of American schools and what needs to be done to transform them. Whether you agree with him or not, the important thing is that he has inspired profound and passionate conversation." Canada is also a member of the Board of Directors of The After-School Corporation, an organization that serves to generate more educational opportunities for students throughout the coimtry. "We have a great teacher education program at Guilford," said Ty Buckner, associate vice president for communications and marketing. "I really believe that (Canada) touches so many areas of that. He's a principle problem-solver. He's critically involved in community and justice. If you ticked off the seven core values the college has identified for itself, he pretty much hits each one of them." Buckner, who plays a key role in hiring, organizing and promoting these events, is excited to hear Canada speak because he thinks that it will be both an informative and entertaining presentation. Rebeca Bonilla, a junior, watched the documentary "Waiting for 'Superman,'" which featured much of Canada's work, and is looking forward to hearing Canada speak next week as well. "He's created a system that gives kids a chance to succeed beyond adversities like crime, poverty or complicated home lives," said Bonilla, an education studies and psychology double-major. "He has created a model that makes kids resilient to factors that often result in high drop out rates and high arrest rates. He has proven that these kids should, and can, succeed just like anyone else." Buckner too shares this excitement for Canada's speech. "I'm most excited that our students and our faculty and the members of the community will be really engaged with this program," said Buckner. "I truly believe that, and that they will walk away having learned something and having heard from a person who is in the trenches doing this work." Outside the lines: a reflection on Bayard Rustin’s life and work BY KEVIN ENGLE Sta^Wmter Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, A. Philip Randolph, W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington. Every year, we celebrate these civil rights leaders who were courageous enough to look oppression in the face and fight for justice. We often forget one man whose vision helped shape the civil rights movement. His insight, along with his ability to organize and mobilize peace demonstrations, made him an invaluable part of the movement. This man's name was Bayard Rustin. And you have probably never heard of him. It is okay, many have not. The reason is simple. Rustin was an out gay man. The Multicultural Resource Center held a screening of the documentary "Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin" on Feb. 1 in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and as the first in a series of events in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Winner of the 2003 CINE Golden Eagle Award and the 2004 American Library Association Notable Video Award, this documentary portrays the civil rights movement in a different light. By telling the story through the eyes of Rustin, the documentary shows a new side to the Civil Rights Movement. Because of his sexual orientation, Rustin was forced to stay behind the scenes of the movement, and as a result he is often forgotten in discussions of civil rights today. "Oftentimes, our civil rights heroes become untouchable icons, and we are diverted to believe that a few select people were responsible for desegregation and all of the social change we have today, and we accept that there is not more to the story," said LGBTQA coordinator Parker Hurley. In the question-and-answer session that followed the screening, Beatrice Franklin of the Multicultural Resource Center asked attendees to reflect upon the film and challenged them to keep the spirit of Rustin alive at Guilford and the outside world. Students voiced their feelings of shame in not knowing his story and also shared their renewed sense of moral obligation to spread his message through activism within the community. After all, no one understood the power of grassroots activism better than Rustin. Rustin himself once said, "We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers ... the only weapon we have is our bodies, and we need to tuck them into places so wheels don't turn." Guilford provides the perfect facility for community activism. Students interested in making a difference can look no further than the Bayard Rustin Center on campus. Aptly named, the Bayard Rustin Center's mission is to stay "committed to the cultivation of transformative educational experiences, building leadership within otherwise marginalized communities."
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