FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1981
THE BENNETT BANNER
PAGE FIVE
Miller suggests study strategy
by Dr. Issac H. Miller, Jr.
President of the College
To the Bennett Student;
In all probability you kept a
very busy and hectic schedule at
home this past summer, what with
television, movies, unlimited dat
ing and sleeping late. All of that
will need to change if you are to
have success in college.
Study, regular attendance in
class and laboratory sessions, rec
reation, religion, cultural activities
and sleep are all necessary ele
ments of the college scene. You
must find the proportion and bal
ance in which each of these fits
into your learning style if you are
to be a successful student. We do
not expect you to accomplish this
overnight, but get started early.
You will need to put these activ
ities in the proper order in your
plans and give each a sufficient
time. In short, you will need to
construct or devise your own per
sonal strategy for college survival
and success. Your teachers will
suggest some ideas for your sur
vival kit. Here are a few
suggestions:
1. Work very diligently, seven
days a week the first six
weeks and from then on,
work during the week. Save
your wekends for church,
Lyceum programs and
seminars.
2. Join the NAACP, YWCA and
other groups providing
wholesome associations.
3. Do not register for an over
load of courses until you
have carefully analyzed your
learning style and learning
capacity.
4. Concentrate on learning well,
not fuzzily and fragmentally.
The grade points will follow,
and remember grade point
averages do count when you
are looking for a job or seek
ing admission to graduate
school.
5. Keep your own very accurate
record of your progress and
know every semester where
you stand with respect to
satisfactory completion of
course requirements. The
Records Office and Academic
Support Office will keep you
reminded, but it is your
Christian beliefs ruin
Tribe in Acliebe novel
by Pauline Nzeribe
“Things Fall Apart,” Chinua Achebe’s first and
most famous novel, combines a tragic portrait of
Okonkwo, a very strong-willed village leader, with
a detailed study of the Ibos, an ethnic group situated
in eastern Nigeria.
The narrative, which has the compactness and
power of Greek tragedy, is set in Umuofia, a clan-
district composed of nine villages, at the start of this
century. Umuofia is feared by neighboring clans be
cause of great and fearless leaders like Okonkwo, who
has proved his worth in wrestling, battles, and agri
cultural production and has been rewarded by
villagers and the gods.
Okonkwo is a self-made man—both a master and
a victim of the patriarchal system and the cult of
virility. He has a large barn stocked with yams, three
wives, eight children, two titles of distinction and
lofty membership in the hierarchy of Umuofia.
He is a hard and, at times, vain man. Early in the
novel, he is appointed as the guardian for Ikemefuna,
a young, boy given as a peace offering to Umuofia
because a member of a neighboring clan has killed
a village daughter. The boy awakens Okonkwo’s pride,
respect and even love. But when the oracle of Umuofia
decrees that Ikemefuna must die, Okonkwo, whom the
boy now calls “father,” cuts him down with a machete.
Okonkwo is afraid of being called a coward.
Okonkwo’s fear of failure and worship of power
have grown out of his contempt for his father, who was
more interested in music and palm wine than he was
in the sowing of crops. Therefore Okonkwo didn’t
have patience with unsuccessful men. One of his
strongest fears is that Nwoye, his natural son, has
inherited his grandfather’s weakness.
Okonkwo is a quick-tempered man of action, and
he rules his house with an iron hand. He makes the
mistake of beating one of his wives during the sacred
week of rest and harmony—an act for which he is
fined. Later, he has to take his family into exile be
cause he has inadvertently murdered a clansman
during the funeral of Umuofia’s oldest man.
This crisis creates the climax of the novel. During
Okonkwo’s seven-year absence from Umuofia, Chris
tians slowly but surely infiltrate the village, make
chaos of the ancient religion and turn clansman
against clansman. The newcomers bring a court sys
tem to the village to pacify what they term “primitive
tribes” as well as a district commissioner.
Okonkwo’s reaction to the change is the most
crucial moment in the novel, for “things have fallen
apart.”
Achebe has taken his title from one of this cen
tury’s most prophetic poems, William Butler Yeats’
“The Second Coming,” a work stressing that spiritual
aimlessness and political chaos are the ‘order’ of our
time.
Achebe, an Ibo, was born in 1930 at Ogidi, Anam-
bra State, Nigeria. After taking a university degree,
he wrote “Things Fall Apart” while he was working
for the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. The novel
was first published in England in 1958 and is now
available in a Fawcett paperback. Achebe’s other
novels, including “No Longer at Ease” and “A Man
of the People,” have also received critical acclaim and
an international audience. The most significant mod
ern Nigerian novelist, Achebe has taught at the
University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
“Things Fall Apart” is a stunning achievement
because of Achebe’s sensitive portrayal of Okonkwo
as well as the other characters in Umuofia. He has
skillfully woven irony into his plot and has used to
the fullest degree all the idioms, proverbs, tales and
sayings for which the Ibos are known.
The novel is filled with every-day drama and an
undertone which stresses that we are not completely
in charge of our destiny. The tale is told in such a
fascinating and objective way that it becomes a power
ful and moving chronology of the Ibo cultural system
just before the slow invasion of the white missionaries.
I recommend this book for entertainment and also
as a storehouse of information about the customs that
were a way of life in a hierarchical-intermittent
political system as exemplified by Umuofia before the
incursion of Christianity. Achebe’s sequel, “No Longer
at Ease,” serves as a basis for comparison between
the pre-colonial and post-colonial periods in Nigeria.
On Nov. 2, in a Bennett faculty
meeting, James Baldwin will pre
sent a video-taped conversation
with Chinua Achebe. Baldwin and
two colleagues from Bowling
Green State University will then
discuss the dialogue and answer
questions from a faculty panel.
COLLEGE POETRY REVIEW
The NATIONAL POETRY PRESS
announces
The closing date for the submission of manuscripts by College Students is
November 5
ANY STUDENT attending either junior or senior college is eligible to submit
his verse. There is no limitation as to form or theme. Shorter works are pre
ferred because of space limitations.
Each poem must be TYPED or PRINTED on a separate sheet, and must
bear the NAME and HOME ADDRESS of the student, and the COLLEGE
ADDRESS as well.
MANUSCRIPTS should be sent to the OFFICE OF THE PRESS.
NATIONAL POETRY PRESS
Box 218
Agoura, Ca. 91301
responsibilty to know.
6. Keep up with your financial
obligations. You will be
managing your own finances
before you know it, so, there
is no time like the present
to learn how it is done.
7. Do not be afraid to ask for
help from your teachers if
you need it. That is why they
are here. Try to analyze your
own problems first so that
you can tell them specifically
how they can help best.
Do not attempt to study with
a sleepy mind or a fatigued
one. Sleep when you should
(See Page 6)
Dance company
Shows heritage
by Jennifer Jones
Lively,” “entertaining,” “fantas
tic,” “exciting,” and “culturally
enriching”—all these “raves” de
scribe the feats of the Chuck Davis
Dance Company during its two-
day visit last month.
The climax of the troupe’s stay
was the Sept. 17 African-style con
cert featuring audience participa
tion. Agugu, the spirit of God
working through ancestors, was
summoned; and the celebrants
were asked to do certain steps that
are complementary to the ritual
of the ancestors. One of the most
noteworthy aspects of the brilliant
concert was the ecstatic involve
ment of the audience.
Davis, in a post-concert inter
view, recalled his motivation for
founding the company, which has
toured successfully across Africa,
Europe and America. “In 1958,”
he said, “I wearied one day of
watching Tarzan on the screen,
and realizing that the image being
perpetuated was extremely nega
tive in terms of us Black people
... I gathered a group of artists
whose thinking was about the
same idea as mine, and we formed
the Chuck Davis Dance Company
—a perpetuation of communica
tion, a love of dance as an art
form, and particularly the Black
dance cultures and preservation
of its cultures.”
The movements in every per
formance have cultural signifi
cance, according to Davis. The
company works “within which
ever culture the ballet was taken
from and which gave it the in
spiration. The movements are in
digenous to the culture. If it (the
dance) is a choreographed piece,
it is a blend of the different move
ments from different cultures
across the continent.”
Davis lavished praise on the
nucleus of his company—Roslyn
Davis, Lisa Dockery, Anita Lam-
berty, Chiqui Santiago, Abdel
Salaam, Tony Williams, Kwe Yao
Anaafopopanko, Jalal Sherriff and
Phillip Williamson. “I would like
to give thanks to my artists; for
unless you have the artists to im
plement (a program), it is
nothing,” Davis said.
The company’s work began Sept.
16 with a workshop conducted by
Davis in Goode Gymnasium. Dur
ing the hour and a half of instruc
tion, a group of 31 performed rig
orous calisthenics and then did
African steps. Davis taught the ag
gregation a dance from the Kakil-
ambe Festival. Kakilambe is the
god of the harvest in West Africa.
The deity is asexual because Afri
cans believe that God is a spiritual
entity. Kakilambe, who comes ev
ery sev(” years, judges the suc
cess of tl. harvest. If he/she rises
from the .irth, this appearance
means that ihere will be a rich
harvest.
Lisa Wise, a member of the
Greensboro community, precisely
summarized the impact of the
CDDC visit: “This cultural prep
aration offered a glimpse of Afri
can life that is rare to witness in
the South. On many levels, it (the
concert) was an educational and
uplifting experience — rhythm,
participatory culture, dance, songi,
spirituality, earth. It demonstrated
the wholeness of African cultural
aestheticness, the oneness of hu
mankind, nature, spirit, earth,
past, present and future, particu
larly emphasizing ancestral
continuity.”
Many viewers felt Bennett
College has a duty as a Black
institution to offer more educa
tional events pertaining to Black
heritage.
4r
Trustee Emma Smith served as the guest speaker at the Miss Bennett
Coronation. On her right sits the new queen, Terri Phillips. Smith stressed the
importance of overcoming hard realities in the pursuit of our dreams.