Newspapers / Black Ink (Black Student … / Aug. 26, 1991, edition 1 / Page 2
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Black Ink August 26 , 1991 Loud and True (continued) On Tuesday, August 6, Dr. Stone, 52, was found uncon scious in her Durham home by her son, Robert Stone. She was rushed to Duke University Medical Center and diagnosed as having suffered a massive aneurysm in her brain. She lay in a coma in intensive care for days and was diagnosed as brain dead. Her family held on, hoping for a miracle that would bring the dynamic scholar and activist back. She died Satur day, August 10, at about 1:15 p.m. We mourn her loss deeply. I am at a loss for words to describe this truly phenomenal woman and the impact she had on so many lives. Their voices ring loud and true. “She was inspiring,” senior Tara D. Owens, a health be havior and health education major, said. “I’d never been one to really get involved in class discussions. I preferred to just get the notes and get out of there. You didn’t get away with that in her class. You didn’t want to. She got people involved. She taught us how our history as black people was very important and very mis understood. 1 wanted to learn more about my culture— my self. She sparked something in me that’s still there. I’m still learning, thanks to her.” “She was more than a teacher to her students,” 1991 graduate Tara L. Patterson, an African American studies ma jor, said. “She put a personal responsibility in each student. Not too many professors want to do that. She did it, because she really cared. She saw us as individuals, not just as her class. She wanted to do what she could for everyone she met. Carolina has lost one of their best teachers.” “I knew her as a teacher, a mentor and a colleague,” As sistant Dean Harold Woodard said. “1 met her in 1974 while I was a freshman here. I was in two of her classes. She in formed us about events in the black experience that helped us appreciate more the strength of the black folk we studied. Considering the obstacles they faced, it forced us to see how much better the opportunities were for us. She was an incred ibly insightful instructor. She kept challenging students to push themselves and become involved both in scholarship and service. That is the legacy she has left us. For that I think her students are most appre ciative. She was without peer in terms of her willingness to extent herself to her students. Her commitment to the Afri- can/African-American studies curriculum is unparalleled by any other individual here in terms of years of service and consistent advocacy. I hope, in her memory, that students dedi cate themselves to the two things she stood for— scholar ship and service. “Sonja was a long distance runner for the race,” Margo Crawford, director of the Black Cultural Center, said. “She was a major spokesperson on cam pus and a social activist in the most powerful way. In the tra dition of a Rosa Parks and a Harriet Tubman, she was a per son who didn’t just simply talk Black Ink rhr ss M( (• oilircilom is iincln 'iUinclinfi'' EdMors-in-Chief Erika F. Campbell, Akinwole N'Gai Wright .Michelle Thomas, Teresa Jefferson Zontr^ttars: Margo Crawford, Arnie Epp«, Heather Lynch, D.Soyini 'Madison, NC Fellows/Leadership Development, Edith Wiggins, Special Thank You To Dennis,Douglass, Fred, Lee, Renee and Stefan, about solving the problems, she was a person who dedicated her life to strategizing and working toward solutions. She had the strongest sense of self esteem I had ever seen. It came from her family and the strong bond they shared. She didn’t know how not to stand up for herself. She taught theory, but unlike most professors, she didn’t stop there. She taught her students to close the gap betv/een theory and reality. She believed it was theory in prac tice that changed the world. She worked for change and a mission of opposing injustice to the last day of her life.” "Dr. Stone made a tremen dous contribution to the Uni versity, her students and the African/African-American Studies curriculum.,” Dr. Audreye Johnson of the School of Social work said. “She was a role model, mentor, teacher and a friend to me. I’d known her since Chicago over 20 years ago. She struggled with put ting forth the ideas and needs of African-American students for years. And she found a brick wall when she got tenured in 1979 and promoted in the mid- 80s. She fought for equality all her life. She didn’t have time to give up the fight.” These are only a few of the voices who sing her praises. We have lost a remarkable woman, a dedicated teacher and an unyielding social activ ist. There is a void at the Uni versity of North Carolina that may never be filled. I chal lenge, as I know she would, the African American students who will fight to see that her life’s work was not in vain to take up her torch and fight for injustice on every level. One step in that direction is to con tinue her fight to build an ap propriate black cultural cen ter. We should continue the fight and name the completed sanctuary after her. She should also be honored with one of the highest honors of the Uni versity, an endowed chair. Go to the Black Cultural Center, the Black Student Movement, the Collegiate Black Caucus, the Black Alumni Association, and anywhere else African Americans have a voice, and a power base. Find out what you can do to help. Dr. Sonja H. Stone, an as sociate professor of African Am.erican Studies at the Uni versity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, left her mark on this campus and this country. She was born in Chicago, Illinois December 14, 1938. She earned her bachelor’s de gree in social science from Sarah Lawrence College, a master’s degree in social work from Atlanta University, a master’s in social and ethical philosophy from the Univer sity of Illinois at Chicago and a doctoral degree in history and philosophy of education from Northwestern University. She also studied additionally at the Duke University School of Divinity. She taught at Northeastern Illinois University, where she was assistant director and act ing director of its Center for Inner City Studies in Chicago and was chairman of the De partment of Inner City Stud ies. She also worked in the Cook County (Illinois) Office of Economic Opportunity and its Department of Public Aid, as well as in the Los Angeles Department of Community Services. Dr. Stone came to UNC in 1974 as director of the Cur riculum in African American studies. She remained direc tor until 1979. She was founder of the Southeastern Black Press Institute and di rector from 1977 to 1979. She was chosen for the Favorite Faculty Award by the Class of 1990 and National Association for the Advancement of Col ored People Woman of the Year in 1981. In 1990 Dr. Stone was the first recipient of the Outstanding Black Faculty Award from the UNC General Alumni Association. The award recognizes professional and academic achievement and service to the University and its students, with an emphasis on minority involvement. While at UNC Dr. Stone served on numerous advisory panels, including the Black Cultural Center Planning Com mittee on Recruitment of Black Faculty and the Campus Y ad visory board. She was an ad viser for the UNC Collegiate Black Caucus and the African American Studies Club from 1974-1980. Dr. Stone wrote extensively about the black community. She received numerous awards, including the Black Student Movement Faculty Award in 1983 and its Award for Excel lent Academic Achievement in 1980, the N.C. Alumni and Friends Coalition Award for Achievement in Higher Edu cation in 1982 and the National Council for Black Studies Dedicated Service Award in 1978. Dr. Stone served a s director of the. Archival Pro gram of the Opportunities In dustrialization Centers of America Inc. in 1986. She was founder and co-chairwoman of the Black Presence Committee of Chapel Hill-Carrboro in 1976-77 and was founder, co convenor and Piedmont re gional director of the North Carolina Conference on Black Studies. Sonja H. Stone is survived by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wendell O. Haynes of Durham; a brother, Wendell O. Haynes Jr. of New York City; and two children. Precious Stone of Bethlehem, Pa., and Robert Stone of Durham. We, the Editors of Black Ink, lovingly dedicate this issue to the memory of Dr.Sonja Stone. We will miss her greatly. ^ BUck Smdc« at the Umv«ity of North Otrolim *tCh»pel Hill ^ ^ di»cmnimte on the basis of Mxuai orientation, religion, ma «hinc Stuto Union. Mailing addre*. CB# 5210 Student Union, Univnsity of North CaroKn., Chapel ^ 275M. Phone. yeai sulMc^joon m U.S. and possessions $20,0a Single copy. $1.00 (Make checks payable to ^ annou^eru or advemsem^ be printed must be »*mtaed the Wednesday before any pi*lication pubhshed comptaeiy by un.v^ty «udents on the SCAPEGOAT desktop publishing system print^CviBaae Printing Comp«.y-
Black Ink (Black Student Movement, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
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