FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 1983
THE BENNETT BANNER
PAGE THREE
Speaker interprets dream of King
by Jackie Johnson
SGA Vice-President
From the Commemorative
Service for Dr. Mai'tin Luther
King, Jr., January 13:
We have assembled this
morning to commemorate the
birth of a man 14 years de
ceased. Beginning today and
on through the next week,
hundreds will speak his name,
and thousands more shall bow
their heads in remembrance.
This man was born just as
you and I, a tiny infant of no
real importance to anyone but
his parents, close relatives
and friends. But, unlike many
who had long since journeyed
the road of life before him,
and, needless to say, of the
millions who have passed on
since he, it can truly be said
that the man whom we are
honoring today—in the 39
years he spent in this life—
touched somebody as he
passed along this way.
He was none other than Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.—
husband, father, Nobel Peace
Prize recipient and civil
rights leader.
I feel safe to assume that
the majority remember Dr.
King for h i s outstandinr
leadership during the Civil
Rights Movement. Some of
you are old enough to have
been intrinsically involved in
the movemnt of the ’60’s and
must still remember, and will
probably carry to your final
resting spots the physical,
mental and emotional pain
suffered.
Others, such as myself, are
only remotely aware of the
total anguish that had the
black race by its throat at
that time. But regardless of
whether you helped fight the
battle or were just old enough
to remember that the dream
of a brighter future was the
basis of the battle, today we
come with a sense of grati
tude and respect for a man
who stood on the forefront so
that in 1983 I and others
might have a chance at the
opportunities once thought
only to exist on the other side
of the rainbow.
As a leader, Dr. King fre
quently spoke to thousands.
We are all familiar with his
famous address at the Lincoln
Memorial during the August
28, 1963 march on Washing
ton entitled, “I Have a
Dream.” That day in Wash
ington, Dr. King expressed to
thousands his dream. The
crowds cheered and clapped
their hands, letting the world
know that they shared the
dream of the great leader.
Some of you were there in
Washington, others witnessed
from their television sets,
while yet some heard the mes
sage on the radio. But no mat
ter how you heard it, on that
day we all clapped and
cheered. Dr. King had a
dream, and it promised hap
piness. But, were we all
aware that Dr. King’s dream
was not intended to be asso
ciated with sleep?
According to The American
Heritage Dictionary, there
are several definitions of the
word “dream” which center
around a state of sleep or dis
traction. But then, if one pays
close attention, real close at
tention, he will find squeezed
between definitions four and
six, definition five which de
scribes the word “dream” as
“an aspiration; ambition.”
I liked definition five, so I
decided to substitute this def
inition in place of the word
“dream” in the title of the
address at Washington, “I
Have a Dream.” What I dis
covered was, I have an aspi
ration ; I have ambition. This
discovery made me feel good.
But, as I remembered an
other man, Langston Hughes,
I began to feel a bit troubled.
Remember the poem “Har
lem,” most commonly referred
to as “Dream Deferred” by
Langston Hughes?
What happens to a dream
deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
or fester like a sore
and then run?
Does it stink like rotten
meat?
or crust and sugar over
like a syrupy sweet?
maybe it just sags
like a heavy load
or does it explode?
I substituted my new defi
nition into this poem and cre
ated a mind-boggling experi
ence. What happens to an
aspiration, an ambition de
ferred? I began to realize
that maybe I had stumbled
onto something that would
not only be of use to me, but
would also be useful to others.
Was Langston Hughes hol
lering to me, Jackie Johnson,
to let my Bennett family and
friends know that it was
great to have a dream, an
aspiration, an ambition, but
that a dream not realized is
as useless as an umbrella on
an uncloudy day?
Each of us has a dream.
Maybe your dream compara
tively seems quite small.
Don’t be ashamed. The truth
of the matter is that it takes
the accomplishment of a great
many small, humble dreams
to accomplish that one big
dream. In order to accomplish
anvthing, however, one must
put forth effort. The point to
be made here is that now is
the time to wake up and to
exert the same energy as Dr.
King and others before us
have done to make our
dreams reality.
Students, we have sought
out Bennett College to be our
passageway to careers and
futures unmentionable. We
hope to leave a positive im
pact on the world. But we
cannot achieve these aspira
tions, if we constantly dream
and hope but never attend our
8:00 a.m. classes because they
are too early or our 4:00
classes because they are too
late.
We cannot realize our
dreams if we never experi
ence art in any form other
than graffiti or punk rock or
if we never try to organize
anything but weekend rendez
vous. Students, we must
strive to get all that we can
attain from Bennett.
We should bleed our in
structors of every ounce of
knowledge that they have
which might set us on the
right paths to self-actualiza
tion. We need to attend chapel
and other campus events de
signed to enhance our cultur
al backgrounds. Belles, par
ticipate in organizations and
share your ideas.
Faculty and staff persons,
be it be said that as each stu
dent matriculates beyond the
walls of Bennett College that
you have in some way—
whether it was in the capa
city of instructor, adviser,
confidant, or just someone
whom students passed by
each day—served as a posi
tive role model.
This cannot be accom
plished by yielding to stu
dents who show great poten
tial but never exert efforts to
maximize their proficiency or
by pampering a slow student
with a passing grade which
she has not earned. It cannot
be accomplished when you do
not participate in campus
programs designed to be en
joyed by the entire Bennett
family, of which, be reminded,
you are a part.
Encourage your students to
realize their fullest potential
whether they label you or not.
Participate in chapel pro
grams by attending and en
couraging your studnts to at
tend and by assisting in the
development of programs
which will help broaden the
intellectual mentality of ev
eryone whose presence shall
grace this campus day to day.
No—although I realize that
we still have a much longer
road to travel—there isn’t the
urgency such that existed in
the ’60’s and ’70’s that war
rants the carrying of picket
signs, fighting for a right to
equal education or a boycott
because of poor service. But,
is there a need to picket in
order to get students from
their dorms into the class
room, forcing them to make
their own dreams reality. We
need to wake up. Need we
boycott classes because of
poor instruction? We must
wake up!
When Dr. King delivered
the speech, “I Have a Dream,”
on August 28, 1963, he did
not set a time limit on its
realization. As you may re
call, he constantly said, “I
have a dream that one day.”
That was 14 years ago. We
are running out of time.
Today is the day for you
to decide if you will take ac
tive steps toward realizing
your dreams. Or shall you be
caught with the answer to the
question “What happens to a
dream deferred?”
One student excels while another fizzles
by Joan Davis
Recently I met two girls,
Mary Lee and Betty Ann, who
are equally attractive young
ladies. It has been said that
they could pass for sisters,
but I soon discovered a major
difference between the two
ladies.
Mary Lee spends most of
her time on the phone or jok
ing with guys in her dorm’s
parlor. If the weather per
mits, you’ll almost always see
her sitting around the flag
pole or sharing a few laughs
with friends. When does she
study? She doesn’t.
Since she stays up half the
night dating or gossiping
with friends, Mary Lee sleeps
late, often until two or three
in the afternoon. Going to
class is something she does
when nothing exciting is hap
pening on “General Hospital.”
Leader recalled as hope of future
(Continued from Page 1)
Susan Smith, a junior ISP
major from Bucks County,
Pa., says, “I can believe what
Dr. King said about non
violence and how the black
race needed to go back to the
church, because at the time
there was so much violence
among whites and blacks that
black people looked at Dr.
King as a source that would
help them overcome.”
For some students, the re
membrance of Dr. King
means hope for the future
generations as well as for
themselves.
Wanda Parker, a senior
from Rock Hill, S. C., said,
“I feel the remembrance of
Dr. Martin Luther King’s
birthday is one of redefining
what it means to be black,
and it is an appreciation of
one’s self, and one’s black
heritage, which extends to
our African roots. ... I feel
that we as black people should
remember his birthday be
cause it gives black children
hope for the future. In addi
tion, I think it sets precedence
for how we should think as
black people. . . .”
Junior Teresa Tunnage, a
computer science major from
Fort Lauderdale, Fla., stated,
“Dr. Martin Luther King
means a lot to me because I
believe he is partly responsi
ble for me being where I am
today. His achievements and
what he strived for have left
its mark on society and on
me. He has helped pave the
wav for many blacks and I
feel that we should be forever
grateful for what he has
done.”
One student felt that the
lesson King tried to teach us
should be apparent to every
one and absorbed by all.
“In my mind. Dr. King is
a representative of a struggle
for self - realization that
should be inherent within ev
eryone,” says Jackie Johnson,
a senior accounting major
from Baltimore, Md.
The Student Government
Association held a service
Jan. 13 to commemorate
King’s birth.
What about her grades? She
doesn’t have any grades.
Betty Ann isn’t an “A”
student, but she does do her
work and she studies regu
larly. She too can be found in
the parlor with friends or on
the phone. She loves to sit
outside on warm nights, but
only when she feels she has
devoted enough time to her
school work.
Although she occasionally
skips a class, Betty Ann goes
to class quite regularly and
she’s never had an attendance
problem because she’s careful
about the number of cuts she
takes and when she takes
them.
One more difference I no
ticed is that Betty Ann’s boy
friends seem to have a lot of
respect for her and I notice
that they talk a lot about dif
ferent things. Many of her
relationships last for a long
time, and I often see her at
the mall or around town,
holding hands with a nice
guy.
Mary Lee is just the oppo
site. She doesn’t understand
why, but after a while she
finds she doesn’t have any
thing to talk to her boyfriends
about, and her relationships
never last very long. It has
always been a cause of won
der for me that her boy
friends never take her out in
public.
Of course, all of you realize
that Mary Lee and Betty Ann
are fictional characters, but
I’m willing to bet that you
know someone just like Betty
Ann. I’m also willing to bet
you know someone just like
Mary Lee. A Mary Lee might
live across the hall, in the
room next door or she might
live in your room. Mary Lee
could even be you.
Qutlpursts and Inspirations
Belle perceives apathy
by Leslie Barr
Now that I have returned
from the Christmas holidays,
I’ve noticed that Bennett isn’t
what it used to be. There
seems to be a certain amount
of urgency in just about ev
erything pertaining to the
campus.
Recruitment practices have
seemed to reach an all-time
high and it also seems that
Bennett has become equally
concerned with body counts
as well as money counts.
This great institution of
ours has provided several ed
ucational programs to attract
those individuals who seem to
have difficulties entering
other colleges. This is a good
practice of sorts, but what
happens to those students
who have gone the extra mile
in securing their require
ments? Have we lost the in
centive to work hard and
strive for the best? Needless
to say, Bennett cannot afford
to turn away students.
There are students here
whose GPA’s have fallen be
low the norm for college stu
dents. Should these students
be allowed to stay and be a
part of all this permissive
ness? I wonder.
Apathy seems to be on the
rise, and there also seems to
be a message of “I don’t care”
all over this campus. What
are we going to do about it?
Apparently nothing.
The Administration cannot
be totally blamed. Why should
they beat their heads against
the wall when only a small
portion of the students re
spond. When we complain, we
call it taking action, but when
the administration complains,
it is taken as an insult.
We should take some of the
responsibility of sharing the
load. If we show our counter
parts that we care, maybe
they won’t, but we need to at
least try.