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\ V FEATURES 14 What Will You Do Now Black UNC? By Charles McNair /nJt Contributor What is activism? When most people think of that word, mass demonstrations, a flurry of activity and “organized” chaos, militancy and marching, chants and shouts come to mind. Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines activism as “a doctrine or practice that empha sizes direct vigorous action (as a mass demonstration) in support of or in opposition to one side of a controversial issue.” According to the same book, the word “active” means lo be “characterized by action rather than by contemplation or speculation.” Do most people have a reactive notion of activism rather that a proactive one? It is the former, reactively, that pervades the hearts and minds of the Black population here at Carolina. We all know what reactivity means. If someone hits you then you hit them back — that’s reactivity and reactionary. Proactivity is taking the necessary steps before hand to discourage someone from hitting you at all. In “The Art of War,” Sun Tzu teaches that hand-to-hand fighting is a low form of war fare. The highest form is actually defeating your enemy without physical conflict. You use your intellect and wit to outsmart and defeat them before they even know there is tension, thereby retaining peace. I am not saying that there is never a lime for reactivity, but proactivity should be the primary goal. This is along the same lines as the saying, “The best offense is a good defense.” You ask, “Where is your evidence of this reactive nature among IJNC Blacks?” 1 reply with the example o f the on going struggle fora free-standing Black Cultural Center. Yes, I say on-going because what we won was a battle, not a war. And in my personal opinion, it was a minor skirmish because if the tides turn, which they may do at the State Legislature levels, then I fear that the battle for the Sonja Haynes Stone BCC may be lost. I say this, of course, with a httle cynicism because I still have faith in my people an more faith in UNC’s Black reactivity is the amount of activity and hype that occurred when the media and Spike Lee were in town about a year ago compared to the inactivity now. “But,” you say, “there’s nothing going on now, inactivity is inevitable. Besides, I got other, more important things to worry about.” All of these statements are false. There are things going on right now, especially those facilitated through the BCC. COMMUNIVERSITY is lacking in student volunteers; the Cross-Cultural Communications Institute needs more participants; the SHSBCC is understaffed (and they can employ work-study students too); the BSM sponsors numerous programs that are, more or less, organized by the same group of overworked members; and a plethora of predominantly Black organizations have programs that are not supported by the Black community here. Inactivity is only inevitable at death. You can only be defeated with a defeatist attitude. It is not that things show down or stop; it is that you choose to slow down or stop. The activity continues on a different level, and it is only when enough people catch this defeatist attitude when there is inactivity — i.e. death. We all have things that we worry about and with which we preoccupy our minds. This is not the question, so this is not de bated. The question is one of priorities, dedication and aware ness. If every Black person that ever lived took this narrow posi tion then every Black person that has ever lived would have been and wouW be enslaved. This attitude, worrying about your personal problems to the exclusion of taking action against the collective problems, presupposes one or more of several things that: •Someone else will take care of the problem. •B lack people are not in a state of crisis. •Life will somehow get better for them one day, and then they will help their people. The person who rationalizes with the first presupposition shirks their responsibiUty to help their people and enjoys the ben efits of others labor without toil; they are parasites. The person who uses the second presupposition, thinks that everything is so fine that they can concentrate only on themselves and the “American Dream.” This person is not only blind, but does not see the symbiotic relationship between him/herself and their people. They do not identify with their people. Those who employ the third presupposition, do not realize, or choose to ignore, that the older you get the tougher life become. A passive position in life can only lead to tougher times the older one gets. Money does not necessarily improve life; it is the wisdom you possess and use to manage that money, which eases life. Even so, the trend is that the more money one makes, and the more time that person is distanced from the community, then the less likely he/she is to return to the community. In other words, they sell out! Everybody has problems, and for you to put off the struggle for Black liberation because of a few selfish preoccupation is disgraceful. Remember, someone managed through their problems and focused on the future libera tion of Blacks, resulting in your attendance at UNC and your privi lege to even worry about credit card bills, schoolwork, etc. Time management and discipline are the keys to making time. Sisters and brothers, we have to lay a solid foundation before we can build a house, and if we don’t finish building, then we and our children will freeze when winter comes. Some are under the impression that the foundation is already laid, the house already built, and now it is time to prop up our feet by the fireplace and chill. They are deluded and have bought in to the myths of Black progress, American (perverted) individualism, and/or are self- hating. Others are satisfied with the foundation and are building on the house, thinking they are now at the final sate of shingling the roof. NOT! The foundation is not yet complete and needs to be strengthened. Their’s a house that would crumble and fall. We, as a people, are still laying the foundation; do not be deceived by all the rhetoric of improved Black life in America We have to support the SHSBCC, its programs, and all progressive Black organizations on campus. The old adage is true, “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.” We have to initiate and/or support proactive programs that deal with situations before they become problems. COMMUNIVERSITY is a foundation builder as well as an investment in the Black community. If anyone is interested, please stop by the BCC for more information. You fought for COMMUNIVERSITY when you fought for the BCC. Will you now let it and other BCC programs die? Will your efforts have been in vain? Did you march and protest and struggle to get off on your own egomaniacal power trip or did you do it for the children and your Black people? Assess yourself, face the truth, and make a positive reality for your people and for yourself. Proactivity is vital to winning the war against White World Supremacy. Proactivity was used and our minds and spirits were enslaved for 400 years and the meter is still running. It has beenjMDvento to work. Activism muse encompass proactivity. The COMMUNIVERSITY teacher is as much an activist as Malcolm X was—both employ(ed) action after contemplation and speculation, which are the roots of activism. For all of you who talk the talk and call yourselves conscious, but don’t walk the walk, you need to truly wake up or go to Hell! There is not time for empty rhetoric as Black men, women, and children die everyday of AIDS, drugs, homicide, suicide, genocide, ignorance, poverty, self- destruction and the list goes on and on. Remember, as your people die, so do you. And when your people are dead, so are you. If the current trend of death continues, all that will be left of the Black presence in America is a handful of house niggas whose passport to individual integration was a college degree. We are at a crossroad Black UNC. We have lost a great leader in Mrs. Margo Crawford who was not only the BCC director, but was a mother to many. Which path will we choose? Will we choose reactivity and sentence ourselves and our people to die a slow death? Will we be proactive and help insure a long and prosperous life for hundreds of generations to come? Will the Black struggle and history of Blacks at UNC be forgotten? If so, then the war is lost. Know you history, support your own and let the visions and dreams of those freedom fighters who came before you become your own. Choose life so that you may live. The choice is yours. Aluta Continua! Sisters and brothers. ALL thst wUl be left of the Black presence in Mierica is a handful of house niggas ]Ahose passport to indLvidjal integration uas a college degree.
Black Ink (Black Student Movement, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
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March 28, 1994, edition 1
14
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