Page Two
THE BENNETT BANNER
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1976
Democrats Return
It is November and the bicentennial year is drawing to a
close. Our President-elect is Jimmy Carter and we stand on the
threshold of a new era or at the least a new century. Carter has
promised to curb unemployment, balance the nation’s budget,
revise income tax prices and trim down the federal government
itself. How he will do all this remains to be seen.
With the Democrats returning to office after eight years,
many blacks breathe a sigh of relief and feel that things will be
better with the ousting of the last of the Nixon regime. Many
say that maybe now the White House will be more sympathetic
to the needs of blacks and appropriations for this program and
that program will come through again.
At a banquet recently, I had the opportunity to hear the
esteemed Rev. Jesse Jackson speak on the needs and plights of
blacks. He made reference to the fact that blacks tend to believe
things will go better with Democrats in office, than with Repub
licans in office. He went on to add that it is time to remove
ourselves from the so called dependency syndrome _ (the idea
that blacks wait for things to come to them) and rise up and
prove beyond a doubt who we are and what we are capable of;
we don’t necessarily want anything, just the opportunity to
achieve. And to a large extent he had a point.
In the sixties and early seventies, black was an issue and
many programs were implemented to help blacks become first
class citizens in a country where they had been second class for
so long. However, now black power is no longer the vogue and
black people seem to have settled back into what might be
termed complacency or despondency or a mixture of both.
Looking back it seems as though blacks were so happy about
getting some of the “great American pie” that they failed to
save any for the future or by and by. The gap in leadership that
resulted from the death of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. still has
not been filled. Many feel that we are a people without unity and
direction. Perhaps in many ways this is true; look at the failure
here in North Carolina to support Howard Lee in his bid for
lieutenant governor.
Although the “black movement” has slowed down, today
there are more black lawyers, doctors, senators, congressmen,
educators and businessmen than ever before. Yet it has to be
interjected, that they are what they are and have achieved not
purely because of handouts from the government but because
they themselves wanted to be and seized the opportunity to
become. Blacks have the past to remind them of how to prepare
for the future. It might be said we as a people went through a
“gold rush period” but there is still much to be done in the area
of civil rights and token positions and short term government
aid are not going to satisfy black people.
We still have a long way to go. With the advent of a new
administration maybe we can pick up and continue along the
way in spite of being temporarily derailed.
Letters to tke Editor
Dear Editor,
1976’s election could be a great
focal point towards the redirection
of our country’s goals, principles
and ideals. As Bennett sisters, we
have witnessed the need for party
unity (so as to bring about a com
mon good), the upholding of moral
and political principles and the
transcendence of trivialities.
As America strives to redirect
herself to the problems, issues,
and needs of the country and the
human being, we, as students,
females and Blacks must take
every opportunity to broaden our
insights, perceptions, and aware
ness. These are the necessary
skills within a formal education to
insure that our goals and aspira
tions for America will be made
an integral part of whatever
course is pursued in attaining
solutions to the problems, answers
to the queries and achievements
to the aspirations.
Let us not thwart what we can
do by being obsessed with only
acknowledging what America has
not done for us. Instead, remem
ber what the late John F. Kenne
dy said, “Ask not what your coun
try can do for you, ask what you
can do for your country.”
—Faye Cardelia Howard
P. O, Box 787
Southern Ohio
Correctional Facility
Lucasville, Ohio 45648
DEAR EDITOR:
I am a black inmate here at
this institution, who is in dire
need of a lot of postage stamps,
that may help me get out of this
place.
I’ve been informed that the
newspaper at this school, will
print ads and letters free of
charge for prisoners. If that is
true, I would appreciate it very
much if you will print this letter
in one of the upcoming issues of
the school’s newspaper so I may
obtain the help and aid that I
need, from anyone there at the
campus of your school, who might
be willing to help me in the above
request for stamps.
Closing, and thanking you far
in advance for your time, concern,
and all consideration in the above
request, that you will and can
offer to me in printing this letter.
Sincerely,
John L. Wright 124730
Edi+or-in-Chief
Diane Stevens
Joyce Bass
Adviser
Dr. Virginia Tucker
Layout Editor
Deborah Tillman
Circulation Manager
Cleo Branch
Feature Editor
Robyn Denise Berryhill
Business Managers
Deborah Luttery and Terry Lewis
Advertising Managers
Sandy Monroe and Kelly Gardner
Cartoonist
Bobbi Durdin
Photograohers
Joyce Bass, Becki Holder, Gena Haskett
Reporters
"Kool-Aid" Bartley
Marcelle Miranda
Cleo Branch
Sandra Monroe
Gail Burgess
Rochelle Moody
Kelly Gardner
Linda Pittman
Gena Haskett
Hattie Purnell
Barbara Hamm
Thomasina Stallings
Lennet Hill
Robin Stamps
Debra Hodges
Kathy Torrence
Faye Howard
Yvonne Wiggins
Juanita McGhee
Cathy Young
Bianca Hurley
FOR Mr. Robert Durdin
"My Pal"
With Love and Kisses
—Bobbi
Sue McRoo.
a small child in a big world
trying to deal with what life has to give.
She is a child with no race, color or creed
—she is you and me—and our inner-most
feelings.
She is not black—with large stereotyped
lips or white with thin transparent
cherry lips—for she has no mouth.
She is not black with an Afro—or white
with stringy hair—yet she is not bald.
She is not black with poor cut-off jeans
and tattered shirt and shoes.
She is not white with a cream-colored
chiffon dress and laced socks and Maryjanes.
She is herself—clothed.
You see—she has no home
sheltered and rested.
-yet she is
All these things lead to stereotype—
She has no color—because you can never
stereotype a neutral— they get along
with anything.
Anything but a Glory
Poor Acting, Music Highlight A&T’s “Tambourines”
by Barbara Hamm
My play production instructor
made the assignment, “Go over
to A&T to see Tambourines to
Glory and then write a critique.
I groaned inwardly because I had
seen Tambourines four times and
I really didn’t want to see it again.
Well ... as any conscientious
student would do, I obeyed my
instructor’s command and went to
see the play. To this day I wish
I had been naughty and stayed
cooped up in my room listening
to Earth, Wind, and Fire! For
Langston Hughes’s Tambourines
to Glory, as produced by the Rich
ard B. Harrison Players, was one
of the worst plays that I have ever
seen. The only way for you, the
reader, to understand just how
awful the play was is for me to
describe the entire evening to you.
Let me begin by first explain
ing that Tambourines to Glory is
a Black musical about the trials
and tribulations two poor Black
women (Laura and Essie Belle),
face after they decide to start a
phony church to raise money for
themselves. It is also about how
the devil, who takes human form
as a guy named Buddy Lomax,
can interfere in people’s lives and
cause trouble. The setting and
time of the play is Harlem in the
1950’s. Although the play was
written with a great deal of hu
mor, there are some serious un
dertones about the social problems
of the time.
Now that you have a general
understanding of what the play is
about, let me go on to describe
my evening.
I arrived at the Paul Robeson
Theatre about 7:45 p.m. so that
I could purchase my ticket ($1.50),
and get a good seat. Curtain, by
the way, was at 8:15. I walked up
to the lady selling tickets and
asked for one student ticket. Be
lieve it or not it took me exactly
ten minutes to get my ticket! The
lady had no idea of the price range
of tickets, how the seating chart
was arranged, or where the tickets
were for the particular sections of
the auditorium. And to top it all
off, she had no change!
Anyway ... I finally got my
ticket, was handed a program by
the usher and sent off by myself
to hunt for my seat. Now you
might say, “Any college student
should be able to find his own
seat in a theatre,” and you might
be right—but have you ever tried
to find a seat in a theatre when
none of the rows are marked? The
audience played a game of musical
chairs until everyone finally
found his correct seat.
Finally 8:15 arrived and every
one sat erect, anticipating a good
play. Well, folks, it just didn’t
happen. Instead of a good play
with good acting and good music,
we got a good play with mediocre
acting and horrible music.
In spite of the fact that almost
all of the technical aspects of the
play, (that no one is to know
about except Miss Troutman’s
Play Production class), were done
ROBYN'S NEST
by Robyn-Denise Berryhill
I can bet that after reading the
first three words of this sentence
you will continue to read out of
sheer curiosity. Why? Because by
now you are absorbed in the most
orignial way there is of commu
nicating: the story.
If you ever want to express
yourself the story is the most ef
fective way of doing so. Just look
around you. Each one of us has
a story to tell. Each one of us is
unique in originality. And so that
is precisely what my column in
this issue is about: stories and
their originality.
Books are little more than
lengthy stories. And the goal of
the author is to capture the atten
tion of the reader from the first
word to the last period. I for one
have always felt that the best way
to tell a story is straight—out and
with no unnecessary frills. This
in itself presents a problem for
the author who must carefully
choose the vehicle of his craft—
words. Blend these two ingredi
ents along with character descrip
tion and plot, and the task of the
writer becomes a tedious one in
deed. But two recently published
novels remedy this problem:
“Roots” by Alex Haley and
“Meridian” by Alice Walker. Both
stories are superbly written with
style, simplicity and originality.
“Meridian” is Alice Walker’s
second major novel in the past
five years. And although still
very young, Ms. Walker is no
new addition to the literary field.
She is the author of a collection
of short stories and poems too
numerous to mention.
“Meridian” is the story of a
poor, southern black girl. It is the
saga of her struggle, her love and
her strength, set in the South dur
ing the Civil Rights era. It pos-
sloppily and incorrectly, one still
expected good acting. But this was
not the case. 1 got the impression,
(as did others, I found out later),
that the actors were not really
“into” what they were doing. They
did not project their lines clearly;
half of the play was mumbled. I
don’t know, maybe the actors were
angry because across A&T’s cam
pus Miss A&T was being crowned
and they wanted to be there.
Continued on Page 4
Great New Books
Capture Attention
sesses the rarity of once having
been picked up, it is impossible
for the reader to put down. Each
character and each event are so
vividly defined that the entire
novel flows from the pages like
a long, continuous picture.
For those who are old enough
to remember the Civil Rights
movement in the 1960’s, “Meri
dian” will bring back memories.
And for those who do not, “Meri
dian” will make you laugh, cry
and touch your heart with a gentle
cm)n'’er that black women ev
erywhere are still in the struggle
together.
The search for Alex Haley’s
“Roots” has been, according to the
author, a life-long one. It began
on the porch of his grandmother’s
house in Tennessee where, as a
young boy, Haley heard his
grandmother tell the tale of an
African ancestor named Kinte.
This story would perplex Haley
from that time until years later,
a search spanning three continents
would trace his family tree in
Africa back to a relative named
Kunta Kinte.
Oddly enough from the title and
the advanced publicity, one would
think that “Roots” is a story of
the search for Haley’s family tree.
But instead it tells the story of
Kinte’s life in Africa, his entrap
ment into slavery and his life in
America. The book doesn’t stop
with Kinte but continues on with
his descendents.
Beginning in January, ABC will
present “Roots” in a twelve-hour
series on television. If by that
time you haven’t read the book,
you owe it to yourself to tune in
and watch.
Alex Haley collaborated with
the late Malcolm X on his auto
biography. “Roots” however is his
story and one well worth listening
to.