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How I Learned to
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Student art show
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Teaching in Thailand...
A Lesson For Greensboro
Seth Feinberg
Staff Writer
Award-winning author
Ernest J. Gaines visited Guilford and
gave two presentations on Nov. 14
as part of the "One Book" read
ing program that is being held
throughout the United States. The
Greensboro program, "One City,
One Book," is sponsored by the
Friends of the Greensboro Public
Library.
The Washington Center for
the Book initiated the "One Book"
program in 1998, and it has since
been introduced in all 50 states
and throughout Canada.
The program is part of the
library's centennial celebration,
during which 10,000 local resi
dents read A Lesson Before Dy
Undoing Racism at Guilford
Kara Price
News Editor
One weekend. Twenty in
tense hours. Thirty Guilford stu
dents. Ten community members.
These are the factors three
women worked with as they led the
training session Undoing Racism
as a retreat at Guilford Colleqe Nov.
15-17.
Representing the People's
Institute for Survival and Beyond,
trainers Monica Walker, Angela
Winfrey and Suzanne Plihcik en
gaged participants in a variety of dis
cussions and activities that seek to
understand and finally dismantle in
stitutionalized racism.
"I have never seen a group
ing, Gaines' award-winning
novel, published in 1993.
The novel depicts a
young black man wrongly con
demned to die in the electric
chair, and the teacher who at
tempts to help him meet death
with dignity.
A Lesson Before Dying
was nominated for the Pulitzer
Prize and has been adapted for
theatre and television. Other cit
ies that have read it include Buf
falo, Rochester, Grand Rapids,
Houston, Waco, and Seattle.
At the age of 15, Gaines
moved from his birthplace of Loui
siana to California since he had no
access to high school education in
the segregated South. After enter
ing a public library for the first time
struggle to understand an issue
this deep," said senior Naz Urooj.
The training focused on rac
ism within the U.S., primarily be
tween blacks and whites, as a sys
tem rooted in history, society and
institutions of this country.
The definition of racism ac
counted for the combined dynamic
of. race, power, and prejudice.
"At times it was hard to
swallow," said junior Elizabeth
Appenzeller, "but it's important to
understand the racist system that
we all take part in."
The trainers brought in a
blend of historical facts and per
sonal experiences to provide par
ticipants with a context in which to
Ernest Gaines spoke about his
novel A Lesson Before Dying.
at age 16, Gaines decided to be
come a writer and later graduated
from San Francisco State College.
Since 1983, he has served as a
discuss racism. Participants also
had the opportunity to share and
reflect on their own experiences
and perceptions within the context
of the discussion.
First-year Tanya Madenyika
reflected on an activity in which the
trainers asked everyone to say
something they enjoyed about be
ing their race.
"I think for all of us in the
November 22, 2002
Volume 89, Issue 10
writer-in-residence at the
University of Louisiana-
Lafayette.
Gaines' first presenta
tion focused on growing up in
Louisiana and stories about
how he began writing. His
evening presentation focused
on A Lesson Before Dying and
how it came to be.
"I'm hoping that the
One City, One Book Program
will get people talking about
the different themes in the
book, such as race, educa
tion, and inequalities within
the death penalty," said
Gaines
continued on page 2
room it was a difficult question,"
she said, "because most of us
don't sit down and think about it."
Another activity favored by
many participants was the Satur
day evening culture-sharing.
Those who felt so inclined shared
continued on page 3..