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OPINION ??? '??? ????>?? a.ux Unniut Bioa four The Chronicle t%t CXmtfi'Afmm AmetM Imfitm*nm Ernest H. Pitt Ndlbisi Egemonte Elaine Pitt Fannie Henderson T. Kevin Walker Kay Stilt/ Publisher/( 7>- Founder Co-Founder 1 Business Manager Advertising Manager Managing Editor Produelion Supervisor A T-7-T Publiehers North Carolina Prsss Association Certified Audit CAC of Circulation Amalgamated ? Publiahars. Inc. KRT Photo Sidney Poitier holds the honorary Oscar he received Sunday. Let's enjoy the triumphs while they last There are few things worse for an African American than seeing other African Americans caught in unflattering situations or accused of unspeakable crimes. The same is probably true for other groups as well such as Hispanics. Asians and Jewish peo ple, but African Americans have had to experience this far more in recent years than any other group. We are always, hoping that the person accused of some heinous crime is n6f black. Some of us even say silent prayers before a mug shot on the television screen confirms our worst fears. This was the case when we heard about the crematory case in Georgia: Millions of African Americans shook their heads in shame and disbelief when we discovered the facility was black owned. <; Conversely, African Americans feel a great sense of pride when one of us does something extraordinary, even if we don't know the person personally. That was the case Sunday night when history was made at the Oscars. African Americans from coast to coast gleamed wh H. le Berry was announced as the first black winner in the be actress category. We gleamed even bigger when Denzel Washington became only the second black to win the best actor award. We gave little thought to the fact that both Washington and Berry make more money in a month than many of us will make in our lives or to the fact the they live lives of seeming ease. We were so proud of them because we know all too well what it takes for people of color to reach the top - overcoming the barriers, the naysayers. the slammed doors and glass ceil ings. African Americans have felt this kind of excitement before. We felt it when Venus won Wimbledon, when Tiger won the Masters, when Carol Mosley Braun of Illinois won her U.S. Sen ate seat, even, to some extent, when Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell won their much-coveted cabinet positions. The accomplishments of these people have not made life eas ier for most of us. It has not increased our pay at work or decreased the likelihood that we will be racially profiled while driving or shopping. And. sadly, steps forward are usually fol lowed by steps back. For instance, it took 40 years for another black man to win a best actor Oscar after Sidney Poitier broke v through with his win. Although the tangible benefits are few. African Americans will continue to take great pride in the accomplishments of fel low blacks, just as we will continue to look for rocks to hide under whenever one of our own-<loes something illegal or down right stupid. It's one of the side effects of racism. It is racism after all that both prevents blacks from achieving the things they deserve and makes us feel ashamed when we see a black face in a mug shot. We know that the times we feel ashamed are going to come each time we watch the news of pick up a paper, so let's enjoy the triumphs, even though most of them are meaningless and petty. Submit letters arid columns to: Chronicle Mailbag, P.O. Box 1636, Winston-Salem, NC 27102 Please print clearly. Typed letters and columns are preferred. If you are writing a guest column, please include a photo of yourself You also can e-mail us your letters or columns at: news@wschronicle.com. Writing program is worthwhile To the Editor: Did you know that 40 per cent of the books written today are romance novels and of that 40 percent about 15 percent are written by African-American women. I am not talking about authors like Terry and Roslyn McMil lan. but authors like Donna Hill ("Temptation"), Rochelle Alers ("Just Before Dawn"), Gwynne Forster ("Beyond Desire"), and Francis Ray ("Heart of the Falcon"). These women of color write for and about us. Recently I was a part of the most amazing coming together of sisterhood. For the past seven or eight years, the first Thursday in March there is a coming together of these authors and readers. It is called Romance Slam Jam. 1 was privileged to be in the number this year at the Romance Slam Jam from March 7-10 in Durham at the Sheraton Imperial Hotels and Convention Center. From the beginning I fell like 1 had been coming to this every year, yet this was my first, because of the way I was received. This was not about women bashing men nor was it a witching party. The con ference offers several work shops: Aspiring Writers work shop (which I attend); What to Do After My Book is Pub lished?: The Art of Self-Pro motlon; How to Lead a Suc cessful Book Discussion: and panel discussion on Why Authors Write Them - Why Readers Love Them, just to name a few. The atmosphere was awe some. Women from all walks of life were present at this year's Romance Slam Jam. The authors of these romance books have B.A. degrees, master's degrees and doctor ates. Some have their own publishing companies and public relations firms. The list is endless. The conference held book signings, and women came with large tubs, suitcases and boxes of their romance books for their favorite authors to sign. I came with a notebook with over 66 authors in it along with the list of their books, and each author got to sign his or her name on his/her page in my notebook. To date, I am not sure who holds the record for the most romance novels, but I must say that at the time of the conference I had over 350 books written by these great writers. Several husbands were present, including one very handsome man from the Caribbean who has written his first romance novel, which is due out sometime this year. I can't wait to read it after he read a few pages. Yes there are books out there written just for us with all the romance that we some times crave for from our mates. I truly enjoyed meeting Parry "Ebony Satin" Brown, a great person who wrote a book called "The Good Son - Good Man." She has another book/tape called "Sexy Does n't Have a Dress Size." This was a great group dis cussion. I can't wait until next year. I just wanted everyone to know that there are some real ly great books out there, so visit your local library and check out these great writers. Nausirtt Muhammad Ministers need collective voice To the Editor: Emory Curtis's article "Black church can lead us" is like a sequel to the 1990s' work on "Black families in White America" by African-American sociologist Dr. Andrew Billings ley. Billingsley brought to the forefront the role of the African American church in addressing the needs of our communities. Churches are individually addressing the many conditions facing our communities, hut what is lacking is the "collec tive" voice of African-American churches. This is the role for the Ministers Conference of Win ston-Salem. I do not know the purposes of the Ministers Conference, but believe that every African American minister should be a part of this body, and help to define how it can contribute to "collective" efforts to strengthen communities that need help. For example, the Ministers Confer ence rallied together as a collec tive voice in support for an African-American entrepreneur of the East Winston Shopping Center who was facing econom ic challenges. I challenge the Ministers Conference to do more to make this body into a collective voice to lead us through the increased social and economic challenges to come in 2002 and beyond. As Emory Curtis stated, the church "served as a megaphone to amplify our words to the external world." We need that megaphone now. Sincerely, Irene Phillips . v distant Professor at WSSU y0 ZIMBABWE PRESIDENT ROBERT MUGABE Teams must score more points in classroom I George E. Curry > Guest .Columnist I Forget the Final Four basket ball tournament this weekend in Atlanta that will determine the nation's tqp college team. The results are already in: Indiana is No. I. Kansas is second. Mary land is No. 3 and Oklahoma holds down the Final Four's final spot. No. this is not necessarily how the teams will finish on the court; it's how their schools have already finished in the classroom, according to the National Colle giate Athletic Association's (NCAA) annual graduation report. Indiana, the team that rallied to upset defending champion Duke en route to the Final Four, graduates 62 percent of its black athletes, the identical graduation rate for white athletes. The NCAA report covers the six-year period beginning with the 1994 1995 academic year. Remarkably, that's more than twice the overall 30 percent grad uation rate of African-American students at Indiana. The University of Kansas graduates exactly half of its black athletes and 54 percent of its white jocks. The white athletes graduate at the same rate as the overall white graduation rate at Kansas. However, the 50 percent black graduation rate among black athletes is more than double the 22 percent graduation rate for all African-American students. Of the Final Four teams, only Maryland and Oklahoma gradu ate fewer than half of their black athletes. Each also has a signifi cant disparity gap between the graduation rates of its black and white athletes. Maryland, which defeated a strong Connecticut team on Sun day, is the only Final Four team that has a lower graduation rate for its African-American athletes than the university's black stu dent enrollment in general. The Terps graduated 18 per cent of its black athletes, com pared to a 4<) percent graduation rate of all African-American stu dents at College Park. The white graduation rate for athletes was 65 percent, slightly higher than the overall 62 percent for all white students. Like Maryland. Oklahoma has produced more than a 15 point disparity between the grad uation rates of black and white sports participants. In fact, white players at Oklahoma were twice as likely to graduate as black ath letes, the widest gap among of any of the Final Four teams. Oklahoma graduated 32 per cent of its African-American ath letes, compared to an overall black graduation rate of 30 per cent. White athletes finished with a 64 percent graduation rate, higher than the 50 percent gradu ation rate for all whites on cam pus. African-American women playing basketball in Division I showed the greatest increase in graduation among all sports, jumping to 61 percent in 1994, an increase of 9 percent over the pre vious reporting period. That's still four percentage points lower than the figure for all women basket ball players in the division. The NCAA collects data from all universities and publishes that information in an annual gradua tion report. That information is also online at NCAA.com^ Under its rules, the faCAA counts only students who enroll as freshmen, receive athletic scholarships and graduate from those colleges within six years of initial enrollment. A school is finalized in the standings if a stu dent quits or transfers to another university, even in good academ ic standing. Efforts to force universities to improve graduation rates have stalled, including one that would tie graduation rates to the number of scholarships an NCAA athletic program can give and to whether its teams can appear in post-sea son games. Jesse Jackson, founder and president of The Rainbow/Push Coalition, has been in talks with the NCAA about the issue, said Charles Farrell. director of the coalition's Rainbow Sports divi sion. "There needs to be some sort of penalty put in place that forces these schools to work with thes<0 students to make sure that their grades are kept up and that they stay on track to graduate." he said. "If by your graduation rates you're going to lose two scholar ships, that has a definite impact on your program." Farrell said a rale to tie schol arships and post-season play to improved graduation rates has been suggested by the Knight Commission, which has made extensive recommendations on the reform of college sports. "But it has not been voted on yet because so many of those powerful schools in sports would be losing scholarships, would be losing their positions of power if this was done." Farrelt said. "But it's the only way that you're going to force these schools to do the right thing and educate these kids." File photo A Maryland player blocks a shot during a matchup with Wake Forest. Maryland is the only ACC team in the Final Four.
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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March 28, 2002, edition 1
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