Newspapers / Bennett College Student Newspaper / April 11, 1973, edition 1 / Page 2
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PAGE 2 THE BENNETT BANNER WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 1973 EDITORIAL CUTBACKS AFFECT STUDENTS Recently Richard Nixon, President of the United States, began a cut-back of funds to anti-poverty prognrams. To most students on Bennett’s campus, that statement means very little. Surrounded by the protective walls of Ben nett, they very seldom venture to think of what’s going on out side and the effect it would have on them. Most of the students, though, will be smacked in the face this summer when they begin to look for a job and find others out there looking, also, but finding no jobs available. Most black students during the summer look for employ ment under such programs as Neighborhood Youth Corps, Model Cities, OEO, EOC, Urban League, etc. But these are the main programs which would suffer most, because these programs were instituted primarily to help minorities (i.e. Blacks and Latins). Also affected by the cutbacks are the industries which hereto fore, backed by government funds, hired students from low income families for summer work. Now when you think about this, not only does this hurt poor Black students who may need the money to return to school, but this step also hurts the average Black family. The anti-poverty programs are staffed predominantly by Black folks. When these people are dismissed, where will the family income come from? And if things are not bad enough with no jobs, the cost of living nationwide (especially the price of food) has gone up. This means that the average Black person is suffering doubly. To top all things off, with no programs to keep the youth occupied over the long hot summer ahead, the inner city (ghetto) may get a little hotter. March 26, 1973 To The Editor: There are 165 courageous people at the Dow Chemi cal plant in Bay City which has been on strike for 14 months. They would like to enlist the aid of your news paper and members of the student body so that we may survive. Dow Chemical is using its unlimited resources in an attempt to destroy us economically and eliminate the collective bargaining process of our Local Union which is 14055 of the United Steelworkers. Many workers and their families have suffered un limited hardships in the loss of income and personal property which theyi have had to sell in order to feed their families because Dow Chemical refuses to resolve an unjust labor dispute provoked by Dow Chemical and its local management. In the interest of humanity we ask that you print this letter in your college paper and that the student body aid us by refusing to buy Handi-wrap plastic food wrap and Ziploc bags which are made at the Bay city plant. If there are individuals or groups on campus who would like to aid us in this humane endeavor, please con tact me at the address which is given below. We request that they boycott the above mentioned products which are produced by Dow Cliemical in Bay City and by any other aid or activities which may aid our cause. Please print this letter in your student newspaper and if possible send me a copy. Thank you, Martin Schwerin 401 N. Chilson St. Bay City, Michigan Local 14055 INTERESTED IN JOURNALISM? Lay-out-Design Reporters Writers Photographers Artists Proof Readers Name Campus Address Area(s) of Interest (Submit to Myra McCoy—Campus Mail) THE BENNETT BANNER STAFF 1972-1973 Editor Myra McCoy Managing Editor Elizabeth Hemingway Vernadette Alexander Feature Editor Deborah Lundy Sports Editor Denise A. Johnson Renee Simpson Circulation Editor L. Diane Williams Artist Carolyn D. Johnson Reporters: Patricia McCoy, Sandra Neely, Cathy Duckett, Bobetta Jones. Dorisenia Thompson, Paula Peterson, and Lealer King LESSONS FROM BATON ROUGE BLACK WORLD VIEW . . . Last November, on the night after the brutal kill ings of two black students at Southern University, the mayor of Baton Rouge said, “The incident at Southern University is an isolated one.” His words were, of course, an attempt to mislead the local black community. Like mem bers of oppressing grroups everywhere, the man was at tempting to' minimize the signal event, to cut it off from its deep rootage in de cades of injustice, to tear it away from its present mean ings and future significance for the oppressed, for us. Fortunately, black students at Southern knew better. For even before the murder of their comrades, in the course of the long struggle which led to the unprovoked attack in front of the school’s main administration building, the students had said, . . it is not the Southern University system (alone) that is under seige, but the educational system as a whole that exists within this country and main^ tains its oppression.” The students wanted to be part of an educational sys tem that served the needs of black people, rather than of an oppressive, “mainstream,” American society. They want ed Southern University’s so cial science departments, for instance, to become centers for the political education of the black conmiunity. They wanted its dairy to distribute milk in the community; its agricultural department to establish training programs in scientific farming to help feed people; its job recruit ment policies to question the anti-black activities of pri vate corporations and govern mental departments which were currently welcomed on campus. In short, they were raising those essential ques tions which it is forbidden for any colonized people to broach. Lessons for the External Struggle But as law enforcement of ficers from the city, county, and state levels mounted their assault, and when they were later joined by the National Guard in a “peace-keeping” (pacification) role, it was possible for the students — and all of us — to see that much nu>re than the educa tional system was involved. For at Baton Rouge it was clear that the state’s political and mUitary systems had been quickly brought to bear in support of the beseiged educational arm. It is report ed that a sixteen-ton armor ed car and helicopters were used in the action against the students, and that sheriff’s deputies (private citizens equipped with, and sanction ed to use, their personal weapons) moved in, shouting, “Come on, niggers, we’re ready for you all. We’ve been waiting for this.” Then, when Denver Smith and Leonard Douglas Brown lay dead, the lies about their death began. As the local mayor and the East Baton Rouge sheriff tried to practice deception, as a “liberal” Louisiana governor produced bald lies (the same man whose “liberal” appeal won him a crucial 90% of the black vote), and as the American President remained silent, the systemic forces of local and state power coalesced over the bodies of our sons, and the future of our chil dren, opening certain hard lessons for us all. In our struggle with the external forces of white dom ination, the killings at South ern drive us hard to recog nize the fact that the wield- ers of white power are again prepared to exact death as the normal price for organiz ed black protest. Nor should we fail to realize that it is no accident that the schools where black students have been murdered by officials of the “law” during the last four years have been state institutions (in South Caro lina, North Carolina, Missis sippi, and Louisiana). Not only does that deadly agenda remind us of the critical struggle now going on for the future of black higher education in the South, it demonstrates even more viv idly the fact that it is the power marshalled by govern ment itself which presses us hard against the wall. Lessons for Internal Organization Such realities lead us, too, to the interior life of the black community, suggesting other lessons from Baton Rouge—especiaUy where the struggle for black education is concerned. The death of our students, from Orange burg to Southern, tells us that black education is a battleground, and black edu cators, students, and parents must see it as such and act accordingly in the struggle for control. On this battle ground, this contested terri tory in the struggle for black self-detertmination, the Sou thern black schools are criti cal. At Southern, as elsewhere, the students believed it was possible for black educators, in cooperation with the black community, to provide criti cal leadership towards the creation of a new, struggle- honed black education, even within the constraints of the white racist boards of con trol. But no serious attempt was made to respond to the vision of the students and of some of Southern’s faculty. Through the action of a few, the message for all of ns comes through: We must all press institutions to their limits on behalf of black people. We must all dare to organize black people for that task. Only then can we know what the limits are and or ganize sufficiently to re move them. Even now, ten students at Baton Rouge are under re straining orders which ban them fron;i campus, and it is reported that a police state atmosphere persists there. So if one of the lessons of Baton Rouge is that traditional forms of protest and petition are no longer viable in the “land of the free,” we need to heed that important mes sage and to shape our future tasks accordingly. Whatever we need to learn, the year ahead — which lies in the light and shadows of Baton Rouge — can only be a time of renewal for those dedicat ed to bldck struggle. It can only be a time of rededica tion to our best understand ing of what needs next to be done. Roving Reporter Question: What in improve ment would you like to see at Bennett this year? Alright let’s start with the sanitary conditions ' in the dining hall, it should be much cleaner. I’ve been here for three years and the menues are the same, nothing dif ferent. Also 1 feel that the instructors should have a closer relationship with the students. One thing is where there are paths made across the lawn. Walkways should be made instead of putting in more grass which would be a waste. —La Nell Jennings Close relationship between the students, more social ac- tivites and entertainment here on our campus. —Debrah Boulware I mean we need a change in everything, especially the social life on campus. —Sedell Williams The curfews are too strict, a tighter teacher and student relationship. And Jones Hall should be torn downu —Marriet Edwards Telephones in every room. —Dorathy Leter Next year well more so cial life, better food in the dining hall, definitely . . . and more dependable teach ers. —Cythia Woodauff 1 would like to have tests done away with, and with each class just have a paper which would consist of a combination of all work cov ered during the semester, with emphasis placed on one particular area of interest. —Fritzer Danzy Everything. —Adrian Lee First of all I would like to see an overall campus im provement, an improvement in the curriculum as far as majors having to take courses that seem irrelavent to their major. —Denise Lyles More Superflys. —Ogetha Roberta Humanities (Continued from Page 1) their wares); Displays of classroom projects. In keeping with recom mendations from our Evalu ation of last year, we are so liciting participation from the community-at-large, particu larly from the “children per sonnel” of the elementary schools. The image of spiraling dreams is ripe with symbol ism: birth, maturity, death, rebirth; the “journey” theme, cosmic cyclical change, etc. We are hopeful, therefore, that activities will be many and varied. We further hope that the joyousness inherent in the word “festivity” will prevade the day’s proceed ings. For further information, please contact any of the fol lowing members of the Steer ing Committee: Mrs. Geral dine A. Totten — Z^Z-Z3ZZ; Dr. Richard Rickert — 272- 2322 or 275-9791 Ext. 23 or 39; Mr. Nelson Allison — 275-9791 Ext. 53.
Bennett College Student Newspaper
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April 11, 1973, edition 1
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