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8
Annual IRC
dinner a success
Luiza Constanza
Staff Writer
The International Dinner was
celebrated in Stemberger on Sat
urday, February 19. It was a big
event planned by the International
Relations Club for almost a month.
The event had the same success as
dinners of past years, and I heard
many positive comments —for ex
ample, that the food was excellent
and that there was plenty of it.
The extensive buffet was filled
with main dishes and desserts from
countries on every continent in the
world. Food from India, Japan,
Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Guate
mala, France, Italy and many other
countries could be tasted by all
people present. No one could com
plain about not having enough to
cat, but instead, they complained
abut having eaten too much.
As seen every year, the Interna
tional Dinner also presented a va
riety of entertainment which began
after everyone filled their plates
with excellent food cooked by
people who attended.
This year, the program of enter
tainment presented dances from
Africa, Latin America and the U.S.
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The African dance was mixed with
Latin dances, showing that the
Latin dances such as the "Meren
gue" and "Salsa" have their roots
in African dances. The U.S. also
performed a cheerful country
dance by four American students.
Many singers also sang songs in
their native languages—Spanish,
Swahili and English.
For the third consecutive year,
the program included a fashion
show that displayed colorful
dresses from India, Nicaragua, Ja
pan, Africa and Iran.
Without any doubt, the Interna
tional Dinner achieved all the goals
that were set for the activity. All
310 people who had the opportu
nity to attend got the chance to
taste different types of dishes and
also to learn about other countries
from the evening's presentations.
The IRC feels really satisfied
about the success of the event and
wants to thank all the persons who
helped in the activities and, of
course, to all who joined them and
had fun at the dinner. The IRC
hopes that people who could not
attend this year can be active in the
1995 International Dinner and get
prepared to have a really good
evening "around the world."
iJerflptcrtbeS
Whitlow sings blues
Ashley Clifton
Perspectives Editor
"Nina Shee-ee-mooooaan."
Sung like a true poetess.
Because the blues transcend that
pain, that sorrow.
Beats of pulsating song landed
in front of the podium and began
to dance. They danced to Carolyn
Beard WhiUow's poetry, to the po
etry of those she chose to honor in
commemoration of Black History
Month.
She sang of her ancestors and
their pained struggles, the loneli
ness of their oppression and the
commonality of it.
She sang of the elements which
bind the strings of blues, slavery,
beating-down and worn-outness,
rejuvenation and celebration to
gether to form a heritage which has
been sung since forever, even in
the less-heard times of early op
pression.
How appropriate that Carolyn
Beard Whitlow sang, dancing with
her voice and also directing our
eyes, our own inner rhythms with
her waving fingertips, so that we
could feel the celebration of her
people, her culture, and those who
first spoke their troubles and tri
umphs.
We hear through therapists and
twelve-step programs that the first
step in progress is to vocalize the
situation—in this case, oppression
of a people and their own strength
in battling it. And there are still
more issues, new songs, new ver
sions of old songs to be told and
sung as the struggle continues.
She shows us the dance, be
cause for those of us who
lack the experience, that is
all some of us can ever re
ally know.
Alone in an apartment, a woman
cries, "My baby done left me," pro
claiming, "I gives away my lovin'
likes a brown paper sack."
It's no wonder her poems lin
ger with the sweat of dancing their
characters' triumphs and singing
their blues under the hot light of
the stage, where they are finally
seen and heard.
Laments and celebrations.
"Poems are not diaries of their
authors," she reminded the audi
ence.
But Whitlow's poetry does carry
the pieces, the characters and
Ifebruarp 25,1994
scenes of many people and their
realities, which we are able to
glimpse for the duration of the
reading.
"Only punctuation holds my
tongue," reads one of her poems.
This is clearly not a reflection
of Whitlow as poet. She plays with
form, melding it to suit her poems
and the people they paint. She
plays with punctuations of her
songs, beats, rhythms, rests and
crescendos.
From black oral tradition, when
it had to be sung to survive, to now,
when it is sung to be celebrated,
remembered and understood.
Carolyn Beard Whitlow sings the
blues.
She teaches in questions and
sings in observations which ask
their own set of questions. She
makes you ask, "Why?" She shows
us black history in characters,
scenes, melody. She shows us the
dance, because for those of us who
lack the experience, that is all some
of us can ever really know.
On February 15, Whitlow sang
her blues. She sang others' blues,
transcending this pain for a mo
ment to share it. So that others can
celebrate, remember, revere and
learn from it.