l.iniMiA' J I,
Opinion
The Martin Luther King Jr Birthday Celebration Committee presents
the following events:
Mon., Jan. 20
3 pjn. - Community Memorial Servicc. First Baptist Church, Chapel Hill.
Tue.,Jan. 21
12 noon - MLX Discussion/Forum. The Sonja Haynes Stone Black Cultural
Center.
6:30 p.m. - Candlelight Vigil, The Pit. The Reverend Jo Watson, Chaplin to The
Black Students Interdenominational Saidents Association will be the gucsl
speaker.
7 p.m. - Lecture: PatriciaRussell McCloud. “Celebrate the Differences (One Size
E)oes Not Fit All)," Hanes Art Center Auditorium
Wed., Jan. 22
11.45 a.m. -”A Show of Hands,” Polk Place, UNC Campus (Quad area in front
of South Building).For more details, call 962-2333.
7 p.m.- “Dr. King's Humanitarian Contributions and the Relevance of Equality
and Human Dignity in Our University Community"
Thu., Jan. 23
12 noon - MLK Discussion/Forum, The Sonja Haynes Slone Black Cultural
Center,
8 pjn. - Lecture: William H.Gray 111, “Historically Black Colleges and
Universities: How They Fulfill the King Dream of Equality,” Memorial Hall
Presentation of the MartinLuther King, Jr. Schloraship.
Fri., Jan. 24
12 rwon - MLK Discussion/Forum.Tlie Sonja Haynes Stone Black Cultural
Center.
7:30 p.m. - “I, Too, Sing America,” Great Hall. The theme of this year’s
program: “ It is Time To Make a change! How The Dream Does and Should
Affect You.”
Sat., Jan. 25
- 8 p.m. - Concert: The Winans, Memorial Hall. Tickets are available at the
Carolina Union Box Office, 962-1449
Fourth Soul Professor Loved by Frien(is, Stu(ients
By Margo Crawford
Guest Columnist
Her leaving date, August 10,
1991, became our gathering date.
We came together everyday to cry
together, to talk about her persona,
her lessons, her love for her race.
There were Dr. Stone stories to tell
-- hundreds of them. Her beautiful
undefeated eyes, the power she felt
in her hands that always talked with
her, and the queenly walk — all
were reviewed over and over.
Calls from New York,
Washington, D.C., San Francisco,
Richmond, and of course Chicago
came in. We talked deeply about
Dr. Stone and her race. They were
inseparable. Imamu Baraka,
Barbara Sizemore, Sterling Stuckey,
Ray Winbush, Jackie Wade,
Benjamin Swenson and Molefi
Asante were among the scholars
who stood up to salute her work.
C. Eric Lincoln, Judge Henry
Frye, Delores Jordan, Asa
Spaulding, Milton Jordan—they.
too, came to say either, “We loved
her,” or “We heard (and we are
convinced) that she is worthy of our
love.”
Oh, her students! How they
showed their loveJ They even halted
America just for her. They came
together to celebrate a special life—
a very special professor who brought
black and white students together—
no racism allowed.
Judging by the two-week
celebration of Dr. Slone’s life and
legacy, it was clear that she was
more than simply missed. She was
even more than loved. She was
what is called in traditional African
culture, “A Fourth Soul” member
of the community.
Fourth Soul members are loved
by the community. What after all
does this mean - to love a professor?
In the words of Gibran we cried:
“Let not the waves of the sea
separate us now, and the years you
have spent in our midst become a
memory. You have walked among
us a spirit and your shadow has
been a light upon our faces. Much
have we loved you. But speechless
was our love, and with veils has it
been veiled. Yet now it cries aloud
unto you, and would stand revealed
before you. And ever has it been
that love knows not its own depth
until the hour of separation.
So now we know. We love. This
leads us back to the very lessons Dr.
Stone taught; that we must
reconstruct ourselves to
understand, love, for example.
Racism suppressed African
knowledge and contributions, but
because of professors like Dr. Stone
who has historically researched to
know beyond the canons of
racism—we know that Africans
believed one to be sick if not (in)
love(d). Being “in love” means that:
(1) we come “in” out of the larger
world, and (2) that we be God-like
because God means love. Therefore,
when we say that we love Dr. Stone
we mean that we have unified in
God’s presence to thank God for
creating her. Fourth Soul members
are those God creatcd especially
for all of us—those who loved us so
that we will forever love them
back. Thus, Dr. Stone was Fourth
Soul.
Dr. Stone is being loved by
even those who did not know her.
She came to love her teaching so
much that uaditional Africans
would say that she was “in love”
with her subject. (I did not say that
she “fell” in love with her subject
bccausc Africans did not believe
that love was ever a “fall.” Read
John Mbili, Mongo Beti, Camara
Laye.) To love to tcach, as Dr. S tone
did, means that God joined her in
her classes, in her teachings, and in
her relationships with her students.
We who do not shy away from
our African background can say
such “strange” things as this. She
was sent by God to shake and wake
us, not to impress us. But she was
oh, so impressive! She knew that
our sufferings, the black tax we
have always had to pay, required an
explanation, and she researched
avidly to bring these answers to her
classes.
She had “slaying power” as
Lerone Bennett called the
deierminauon to dismantle racism.
Paramount, Dr. Stone kept her
African self in place and NEVER
let an “object self’ advance. Object
sel f was inflictcd on Africans during
slavery and continue lobe marketed
by racism but Dr. Slone never
nurtured the inferiority (objcci) self
in herself or others. NEVER!
This is why we call Dr. Sonja
Haynes Slone our Fourth Soul
Professor, the highest honor in
traditional life according to
Dahomcan culture (read Melville
HerskoviLs.)
God gave each person three
souls and some develop Fourth
Soul. Soul one was the Spirit of an
ancestor callcd djoto. Soul Iwo was
the personal soul or personality
See LOVE, Page 12