he life and woiic of E>r.
Sonja Stone was pivotal
to the development of
the Black community at
UNC-CH. WE MUST LEARN
from her contributions to thiscam-
pus and to the history of African-
Americans in higher education.
We must continue her work. She
was the activist professor on cam
pus, a title that sne wore with
pride. Along with others, she was
a strong advocate for the estab
lishment of the Black Cultural
Center. Afirican -American stu
dents taught by her needed to vali
date their culture, identify with
their cultural imperatives, and pro
mote themselves as people with
an African heritage. She was
brought to this campus in 1974 to
chair the African/African Ameri
can Studies Curriculum and within
a year she presented a iMt)j)osal for
the curriculum to wcffk toward
departmental status, a status still
not achieved, a goal that she stayed
focused on during her tenure at
this university. WE MUST
LEARN how to set goals and
achieve them for the Black com
munity on this campus.
to believe that knowledge is
contained within the binding
of a book. She deconstructed
that provincial idea of what
scholarship is. Black studies
was the reading also of our
people's eyes, their pain, their
aspirations and strategies for
advancing thenr»selves in the
world. Dr. Stone was much
more than a reader of the literal
text on her people. WE MUST
LEARN to read beyond the text.
Dr. Stone did not perceive this
university as responding fairly
to her discipline or her people.
She relentlessly chased what
she perceived as racism. She
chose to speak up and speak
honestly regarding these per
ceptions. WE MUST LEARN,
too, to do the same.
A major element of educa
tion and aesthetics is protest.
Both require courage, tenacity,
and integrity. Dr. Stone was a
true educator who learned to
speak directly to the issues.
Sonja Stone did not sigtufy or
talk indirectly. She always
made her position clear. She
was never unhappy because
"She never tried to muzzle people. She
respected open dialogue around an is
sue and, of course, she was an active
participant in any meeting. WE MUST
LEARN to say what needs to be said
when it needs to be said."
As I reflect on Dr. Stone's
work, I see her mission so
clearly. She shared Dr. Carter
G. Woodson's mission to not
miseducate students. She
never tried to muzzle people.
She respected open dialogue
around an issue £ind, of course,
she was an active participant
in any meeting. WE MUST
LEARN to say what needs to
be said when it needs to be
said. It should not be surpris
ing that a professor of Black
studies kept her own discipline
as her highest priority . But
Dr. Stone did better than that;
she tried to keep our people as
the hub of her work. Black
studies to Dr. Stone was not
simply our reading African
American "texts" in the most
literal sense. She realized the
nnanufactured, elitist notion of
what knowledge is and refused
she was Black. WE MUST
LEARN how to say what we
mean and mean what we say
and save signifying or indirect
argunnents for our literary ex
ercises. WE MUST ALSO
LEARN how to be direct in our
discourse especially when we
are negotiating for our race on
this campus or anywhere.
Dr. Sonja Stone joins our
great 20th century African
American educators who stood
up agair\st the conservative and
accommodationist positions in
higher education. DuBois, for
example, had to take the heat
he received when he spoke out
boldly against the Tuskegee
Accommodationist school at
the turn of the century. He
took the heat. Dr. Stone took
the heat she had to take to be a
voice against the conservative/
acconunodationist strategies
on this campus. WE MUST
LEARN to take the heat, even
welcome it, if it will advance
your race.
Most acadenuc disciplines
including psychology, anthropol
ogy and certairJy history had
to be revised in the 1960s to
correct the distortions and
omissions of racist theory. Dr.
Stone was one of these trail-
blazer professors and, there
fore, eradicating racism was
part of the mission of her pro
fessorship. WE MUST LEARN
that we can serve our race as
we advance as scholars in our
field. WE MUST LEARN how
to add the onussions, get rid of
the distortions and racist as
sumptions and be accountable
for advancing and validating
our own humanity. WE MUST
LEARN how to be more than
proper speaking intellectual
puppets for this society and these
campuses.
Racial problemson this cam
pus are, indeed, identifiable
and Dr. Stone demonstrated the
courage to identify these chal
lenges and respond to them.
Most of the time we whisper to
one another about the atroci
ties that we experience. WE
MUST LEARN to have the abil
ity to say what needs to be said
to those who need to hear it.
WE MUST LEARN to reflect
the integrity and dignity of Dr.
Sonja Slone every chance we get.
We can delude ourselves to
thirJc that as individual intel
lectuals (or others) we can move
"outside" of the boundaries of
the problems that our race face
but this is not so. Dr. Stone
knew this. WE MUST LEARN.
Dr. Sonja Stone was a re
markable professor! She was
an activist in the tradition of
Harriet Tubman, Sojourner
Truth, Fannie Lou Harmer, and
Pauli Murray. Her work on
campus was a compelling
drama of the experience of an
African American woman pro
fessor vdth a mission to dis-
mantie racism at a white flag
ship university. Dr. Stone con
stantly agitat^ against racism
and she was always in opposi
tion to the conservative leader
ship that tried to silence her.
The struggles she encountered
at UNC are not unusual
struggles for African Ameri
can professors to face. WE
MUST LEARN this. In 1905,
the Niagara Movement Black
radicals wrote (to the cor\ser-
vative Booker T.'s), "We do not
hesitate to complain and to
complain loudly and insis-
tentiy." Dr. Sonja Stone mod
eled this position on this cam
pus. ShedidNCDT wear the mask
and grin and bear it. She knew
that if we wear the mask too
often, we become the mask and
not much more. WE MUST
LEARN.
As we explore the meaning of
Dr. Stone's work through re
flection, speculation, discussing
and writing, let us be reminded
of an important lesson from Dr.
Stone's life: Inner emancipation
from the effects of racism is
paramount. Dr. Stone demon
strated an internal discipline
and ability to intelligentiy uti
lize her brilliance to serve her
people. She earned a Ph.D from
Northwestern; she also earned
a Ph.D in integrity and race
dignity.
This year, let us celebrate
the life of Dr. Sonja Stone, rec
ognizing her as an African -
American professor with a
legacy untrammeled by the
fears of trying to be an inver
sion of others. What an accom
plishment! WE MUST LEARN
from this achievement!
I
Black Ink August 26 , 1991