Just Another Girl On The Yard
By Jeanri Miller
She hasn’t slept in three days
and three nights. The smell of food
couldn’t even appease her, even on its
best day. There was emptiness and
anger inside her festering. Wanting
revenge on her father for how he had
hurt her, but yet she was so emotion
less that the rage inside her couldn’t
be released. No tears fell from her
eyes. There were no screams and
throwing objects hadn’t even oc
curred to her. She just sat in her room,
blaming herself
Wearing nothing but boy shorts, a
t-shirt and flip-flops, music couldn’t
calm her nerves and she didn’t
show up to class all week. Naturally
friends, peers and professors began to
wonder. “Feeling alone wasn’t easy
at first,” Damika Howard told herself,
“but I have to be strong for every
body else, like always.” It was 8:00
am and her friend, Chris, knocked on
her door, as he does every morning to
let her know it’s time to go. No an
swer. He called and there was still no
answer. As any good friend would do,
he started to worry.
Campus police opened her door
only to find her sitting on the bed
with her back against the wall. She
was completely silent. The lights
were off, the television was blank,
there was no soft music playing in
the background. All that was vis
ible was Howard and her empty soul.
She was sitting dazed. Looking at
her worried, the officers asked if she
was okay. Somberly, she explained
the news. Even with having the moral
support of her friends, she still just sat
there, blank, baffled and oblivious.
That morning, she woke up, still
upset from the Skype phone call from
the previous night. “He didn’t re
member me,” Howard said, anticipat
ing calling him again, ft was the day
of the 2010 Student Government As
sociation elections. She woke up and
started her normal routine of check
ing her facebook page, only to see the
unimaginable appear on her cousin’s
page, “R.l.P Granddad.” Staring at
her computer, confiised and anxious,
she called her mother. “We were go
ing to come down there and tell you,”
said her mother. Just yesterday she
sat at her computer, talking to her
99-year-old grandfather, who was
diagnosed with dementia. All he re
membered was the six-year-old girl,
now 22, he knew as Damika Lashun
Howard.
It was Election Day. The week
prior, she had been campaigning
vigorously, aspiring to be the next
2010-2011 SGA president. That was
the same day she lost herself She
didn’t go out to vote, or persuade
others consistently to go vote for her
either. She just stayed locked away in
her room and the only time she did
come out was when she surprisingly
found out she won the election, but
the week away from everything still
didn’t ease her pain. It only kept her
sensible.
Her anger raged from the fact that
her biological father wasn’t there for
her. The only bridge between the two
of them was her grandfather, who
had passed away. Without a teardrop
to fall from her eyes all week, she
looked at her father’s face during the
funeral and finally reached her point
of peace. Her only desire was for him
to empathize with the pain that she
has felt for so long, and that day, he
did. The tears ran down his face as
he grabbed her hand and, at that mo
ment, she knew she had to be strong
for both her and her father.
Her bottled up, inexpressible feelings
resulted in the need for help. The un
conditional support system she had
from Elizabeth City State University
administration, faculty, staff, soror
ity sisters, friends and peers kept her
sane.
Damika Howard - Many know the
name, the face, the goofy, outgoing
personality, but the possibility that
she deals with the same struggles that
any other college student or young
female adult world deals with is, at
times, unfathomable. Many think
they know her, but they have no
idea. Damika’s remarkable accom
plishments, from being an outstand
ing leader to her humble spirit have
caused so many students to view her
with great admiration. She has served
Elizabeth City State University
through heartache, stress and pain,
with a smile on her face and love in
her heart.
Even though the flashbacks of this
traumatic time in her life still cause
emotional pain, Damika Howard is
unstoppable. In everything she does,
she remembers, “Granddad would
have wanted me to.”
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(Above) Damika Howard, current SGA president,
stresses that she is not any more or less an average
college student than most.
Lawrence Douglas Wilder: Determliiedi
By Jalissa Caldwell
During the month of February,
it is common for individuals to
think of Valentine’s Day, love and
all of the aspects that contribute
to the month of love. However,
February also marks the month
in which the Afncan-American
people celebrate their heritage,
ancestors and the contribution
they have made to civil rights in
America.
In grade school, an emphasis
is put on African-Americans who
have made major achievements in
the Black community, including
individuals such as Martin Lu
ther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Harriet
Tubman and George Washington
Carver. But there are many oth
ers who have made history who
haven’t received the full recog
nition of their strides. Lawrence
Douglass Wilder is among those
unsung heroes.
Lawrence Douglas Wilder was
the first black person to be elected
Governor of Virginia and the sec
ond to serve as Governor in the
Unites States. Wilder may not be
known by many but has achieved
great success by becoming a suc
cessful politician.
Wilder was the grandson of
slaves, and he was bom on Janu
ary 17, 1931 in Richmond, Vir
ginia. He was the seventh of eight
children of Robert and Beulah
(Richards) Wilder. Wilder grew
up when schools were racially
segregated; he attended Mason
Elementary and Armstrong High
School. Wilder did not end his
education there; he then went on
to get an undergraduate degree in
chemistry from Virginia Union
University in 1951. Wilder is also
a prominent life member of the in
tercollegiate Greek-letter fraterni
ty, Omega Psi PA/Fraternity, Inc.
Before becoming a politi
cian, Wilder served the country
by fighting in the Korean War,
where he earned a Bronze Star
for heroism at Chop Hill. In 1948,
President Truman desegregated
the military and Wilder stepped
up as a leader. After serving his
time. Wilder went back to school
at Howard University School of
Law under the G.I. Bill because,
at the time, Virginia University
Law Schools did not admit Af-
rican-Americans. After graduat
ing in 1959, Wilder returned to
Richmond, where he co-founded
the law firm Wilder, Gregory and
Associates. Douglass Wilder mar
ried Eunice Montgomery on Oc
tober 11, 1958. They had three
children together; Lauren, Lynn,
and Lawrence Douglass, Jr.
Wilder first began his career in
public office after winning a 1969
election where he was the first
black man elected senator of Vir
ginia since reconstruction. With
a redistricting that took place in
the 1970s, Wilder was given a
predominantly African-American
district, and he was repeatedly re
elected until the 1980s. Before be
coming Governor on November
8, 1998, he was narrowly voted
Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
on a Democratic ticket in 1985.
Wilder was sworn in on Janu
ary 13, 1990 after doing a recount
of the votes from beating Repub
lican Marshall Coleman. For this
achievement, the National Asso
ciation for the Advancement of
Colored people (NAACP) award
ed Wilder the Springam Medal for
1990. While in office, Wilder’s
policies were among the most in
fluential in Virginia. These poli
cies included; the enforcement
of capital punishment, anti-crime
and dramatic cuts in the United
States allocations for higher edu
cation. Wilder served as gover
nor until 1994, but returned as
the mayor of Virginia where he
served from 2004 to 2008.
Although Wilder is no longer
in office, he continues as an Ad
junct Professor in public policy at
Virginia Commonwealth Univer
sity. He writes occasional editori
als for Virginia newspapers and
is still considered to be influen
tial in Virginia politics. In 2004,
VCU named its School of Gov
ernment and Public Affairs after
Wilder. Wilder also received an
honorary doctorate from Arizona
State University. Wilder’s legacy
and achievements will always
be remembered, especially with
schools such as Virginia Union
University, Norfolk State Uni
versity and Hampton University,
who have named buildings on
their campus in honor of the great
Lawrence Douglass Wilder.