FORUM
Do well, graduates
Nigel Alston
Motivational
Moments
"Engage the imagination,
then take it where you will.
Where the mind has repeated
ly journeyed, the body will
surely follow. People go only
to places they have already
been in their minds."
- The Wizard's 7th Law
He has bronze and brown
dreadlocks now - a natural
hairstyle in which the hair is
twisted into long matted or
ropelike locks. It's a hairstyle
quite different than it was four
years ago when he entered col
lege. He is different today too,
having learned valuable les
sons from his parents and the
people they have surrounded
him with and the stimulating
environment in which he has
been placed.
While his grandparents kid
him about cutting off his
"locks" - they are really seri
ous - another family member
' drives home a point: "Don't
worry about the outside: it's
what's on the inside that
counts."
Nathaniel Irvin III (Trey) is
officially a Morehouse Man -
having earned the privilege -
as have the 500 or so young
men who walked confidently,
proudly, and victoriously
acrpss the campus green Sun
day morning to accept con
gratulatory handshakes,
receive their diplomas and be
inducted into the Alumni
Association.
Morehouse College grew
out of a church basement two
years after the Civil War
ended, primarily focused on
preparing black men for thd
ministry and teaching. It is a
"unique institution" that has
weathered challenges and
changes in 135 years of its
existence to meet the "intellec
tual, moral and spiritual needs
of students representing more
than 40 states and IS coun
tries"
"Each of you has accepted
the challenge to begin the
journey," said Morehouse
President Dr. Walter Massey,
Class of 1958. "Your responsi
bility is to continue the lega
cy."
It's a legacy with high
expectations best captured in
"The Charge to the Graduating
Class of 1961," by the sixth
president, Benjamin E. Mays:
"There is an air of expectancy
at Morehouse College. It is
expected that the student who
enters here will do well."
That's a worthy expecta
tion and probably why a 1932
graduate - he didn't get to
march with his class - was on
hand to accept his diploma.
Seeing him stand - supported
by a cane in one hand as he
was helped across the stage -
and accept his diploma was
inspiring.
I was moved by the speech
given by Harold L. Martin Jr.,
the son of WSSU Chancellor
Harold L. Martin Sr., who
graduated as class valedictori
an and president. His address
was thoughtful, passionate and
delivered with clarity and
power. "The journey is much
bigger than we are," he told
his Morehouse brothers.
It was exciting to be caught
up in the enthusiastic "shout
outs" by loving parents, family
and friends, especially Trey's.
While we c&uldn't agree on
what to say - as he walked
across the stage to receive his
degree in Spanish - we
jumped up like popcorn,
young and old, shouting: "Go
Trey! Yeaaah, Baby!!"
Permanent smiles were on
our faces as our hands enthusi
astically applauded his
achievement.
It was a memorable
moment - as moving for me as
the audience standing and
singing "Lift Ev'ry Voice and
Sing." How appropriate for the
sun to rise and shine on our
faces as the words "Facing the
rising sun of our new day
begun/Let us march on till vic
tory is won" roll off our lips.
And victory was being cel
ebrated. I could read the lips of
one woman, sitting several
rows in front of us - dressed in
her Sunday best, hat and all -
and standing in a sea of 12,000
people, overcome with emo
tion. With her head tilted
slightly back, her face toward
the heavens and her eyes
closed, she whispered a heart
felt, "Thank you, Jesus!"
Congratulations, Trey. All
the things your family and
friends shared with you are
true and come from the heart. C
One additional bit of advice,
though: keep the scissors away
from your grandparents if you
want to keep those dreadlocks.
Stay focused. You are
expected to do well. Your chal
lenge - should you accept it
now as you have before - is to
complete this positive affirma
tion on your new 3x5 card: "1
am...."
Nigel Alston is a radio talk
show host, columnist and
motivational speaker. Visit his
Web site at www.motivational
moments.com.
911 warnings
Armstrong Williams
Guest
Columnist
Sadly, the tragic events of Sept. 11 have
come to this: a swell of populist leaders who
are toting hate, pride and cheap catharsis in
? the form of W11 conspiracy theories.
That is precisely what occurred when it
was recently revealed that the CIA informed
President Bush last summer of a threat to
hijack a commercial U.S. aircraft and the pos
sibility that terrorists were receiving flight
training at U.S. facilities.
In assessing this revelation, there are three
crucial facts to consider:
1) The president receives information on
threats to national and international security
as part of his daily intelligence report. Get it?
Every day he receives information like
this. Now, if the president were to respond
with maximum military force to every threat
contained in his DAILY briefings, we would
cease to live in America as we know it, and
we would instead occupy a military state.
2) That particular day, law enforcement
agencies were placed on alert. That is proto
col.
3) And this is the most crucial fact: Never
- I repeat, NEVER - have hijackers used air
planes as missiles. Hijackers have always
used commercial airplanes as bargaining
chips, or as publicity devices. That has
ALWAYS been the motive for hijacking a
plane.
So to imply that the president should have
envisioned the hijackers using the planes as
missiles is the worst kind of hindsight rea
soning.
Nonetheless, that is precisely what certain
members of Congress are now doing. "There
should have been bells and whistles going
off," said Sen. John Edwards, during a recent
appearance on ABC's "Good Morning Amer
ica."
Sen. Richard C. Shelby accused the
bureau of being "either asleep, or inept, or
both."
Rep. Cynthia McKinney was even less
subtle during a recent interview with a Berke
ley, Calif., radio station, when she insinuated
that financial interests led President Bush to
ignore warning signs leading up to the Sept.
11 attacks. "We know there were numerous
warnings of the events to come on September
11th ... (and) that persons close to this admin
istration are poised to make huge profits off
Photo by CHUCK KENNF.DY/KRT
President Bush walks to a White House Rose Garden ceremony; Friday where he
commented on the security briefs on terrorist attacks prior to September 11th.
America's new war."
For obvious reasons, neither McKinney
nor Edwards nor Shelby bothered to mention
that, at the time of the memo, none of the
Sept. 11 hijackers was receiving flight train
ing. None ever enrolled at the Arizona facili
ty singled out by the FBI. And subsequent
investigations have not linked any of those
under investigation in Arizona to the Sept. 11
attacks.
So what might we make of the conspiracy
theories? Plainly, these public officials are
doing what populists in this country have long
done - capitalizing on base emotions such as
fear, hatred or revenge. People crave conspir
acy theories because they give a sense of
order to the tragic. Conspiracy theory also
gives the poor - or other groups who feel
I?
unempowered - a common enemy to blame
for their collective woe. Along the way, pop
ulists such as McKinney and Edwards and
Shelby can secure publicity by moving them
selves closer to center stage.
It does not matter that they are capitaliz
ing off the deaths of thousands. For them,
mobilizing the mob by wagging their fingers
at some vague, mysterious "other," some
shadowy puppeteer, is the point.
This rousing fact has not been lost on
McKinney. who has shown a particular pen
chant for espousing race-based conspiracy
theories during her five terms in office.
Now, she is hopping aboard the handy
wave of 9-1-1 destruction and riding it in.
Truly, how sad.
www.armstmngwilliams.com
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