THE FUTURE OUTLOOK
J. F. JOHNSON? 1 Editor & Publisher
MISS EMMA P. JOHNSON News Reporter
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m Black Is Beautiful"
Sunday, July 5, 1970, North Carolina sponsored its
first Miss Black North Carolina Pageant at the Greens
boro War Memorial Stadium. Forty-one beautiful black
girls representing various cities, counties, and towns in
the state competed for the title.
The pageant began with the introduction of all the
young beauties. As the show proceeded, the contestants
were re-presented three times modeling cocktail dresses,
mod costumes, and swimsuits. Out of the forty-one young
ladies, ten were selected as the semi-finalists upon their
charm, poise, and talent. From the ten semi-finalists, five
of the young ladies made finalists. Hilda Freeman of
Rutherford County, a student at Bennett College; Vivian
Gunn of Durham County, a graduate of N. C. Central Uni
versity ; Phyllis Ledbetter of Bull City, N. C., a student at
N. C. Central University ; Clennis Noble of Raleigh, a stu
dent at Winston-Salem State University ; and Sylvia Alexis
Smith of Durham, a graduate of Hampton Institute,
Hampton, Va.
Each of the five contestants was asked a question
about problems of current events. Upon their answers
along with their other attributes, Miss Black North Caro
lina was selected. She is Miss Sylvia Alexis Smith, a 22
year-old college graduate from Durham. She is presently
working on her master's degree at N. C. Central Univers
ity.
The theme "Black is Beautiful" represented more
than just being crowned Miss Black North Carolina in this
pageant. It represented and still represents an awareness
and true identity of the black race. Until recently, many
black people thought true beauty was having long straight
or curly hair, being of fair complexion, and having the
shape of a white person. But this pageant showed that
black beauties come in various shades with various
lengths, types, and colors of hair, and various sizes and
shapes.
Miss Sylvia Smith felt the reason for the pageant was
to give the black girls an opportunity to participate in a
pageant because she seriously doubts that a black person
could ever win the Miss North Carolina pageant.
The purposes of the pageant as stated by the sponsors
were : "To provide scholarships for deserving young women |
and to bring out the awareness of black beauty that has
been denied Black Women in its fullness."
This also inspired all black women to believe that they
possess some qualities that could be considered true beauty
as looked upon by people in their own race as well as
others. Instead of trying to simulate the white woman,
the black woman can fix her hair as she chooses and de
termine the size or shape that she would like to acquire
and walk in this country with her head held high with a
feeling of being proud and respected.
The last concern and main concern of this pageant to
the sponsors is to help the people and to encourage the
people to help themselves. They would like for all the con
testants along with all black women to help make our state
and nation a better place to live, void of hate, racism,
drugs, and all other detrimental forces that prevent us
from having a harmonious society.
POET'S CORNER
"Lord, when Thou seest that my work is done,
Let me not linger on,
With failing powers,
Adown the weary hoars, /
A workless worker in a world of work.
Bat, with a word, ^
Just bid me home,
And I will come if
Right gladly,
Tea, right gladly
Wm I come." 1
This Weed's Sunday School Lesson
GKEATION. GOD'S HANDI
WORK
Beginning Where You Are
The Apostles' Creed begins,
"I believe in God the Father
Almighty, maker of heaven and
earth." This confession clearly
sets Christians off from those
who do not believe that heaven
and earth were created. Those
who do not accept the biblical
faith believe that the universe
has always existed and is there
fore uncreated, or else they be
lieve that the ordered universe
came out of chaos by chance.
Some who accept modern
scientific theories of the origin
of the universe do not attribute
its existence to God, and many
scientists decline to discuss
theological questions. Those who
accept the creed of communism
or other atheistic systems do
not believe that the world's ex
istence depends upon God, since
they believe there is no God.
But those who accept the
Christian creed believe that God,
the uncreated, the eternal Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, is
the sole Maker and Sustainer
of the universe. They affirm
that every part of creation be
longs to God.
Christians and Jews alike cel
ebrate this faith weekly. "God
blessed the seventh day and hal
lowed it, because on it God rest
ed from all his work which he
had done in creation." (Genesis
2:3) Because Jesus Christ rose
from the dead on the first day
of the week. Christians celebrate
Sunday as the day of God's new
creation, the day of the new
Adam.
Searching The Scriptures
The Scripture for this lesson
is Genesis 1 and 2; Isaiah 40:12,
21-28; I Corinthians 8:4-6; He
brews 1:1-4. Selected verses are
printed below.
Genesis 1:81
31 And God saw everything
that he had made, and behold,
it was very good. And there was
evening and there was morning,
a sixth day.
Genesis 2:4-9
4 These are the generations
of the heavens and the earth
when they were created.
In the day that the Lord God
made the earth and the heavens,
5 when no plant of the field was
yet in the earth and no herb of
the field had yet sprung up ?
for the Lord God had not caused
it to rain upon the earth, and
there was no man to till the
ground; 6 but a mist went up
from the earth and watered the
whole face of the ground ? 7
then the Lord God formed man
of dust from the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became
a living being. 8 And the Lord
God planted a garden in Eden,
in the east; and there he put the
man whom he had formed. S
And out of the ground the Lord
God made to crow every tree
that is pleasant to the eight and
good for food, the tree of life
also in the midst of the garden,
and the tree of the knowledge
of good and evQ.
1 Corinthians ?:4-S
4 . . . We know that "an Idol
has noo real existence," and that
"there la no God but one." 8
For although there may be so
called gods in heaven or on
earth ? as indeed there are
many "gods" and many "lords"
? 6 yet for us there is one
God, the Father, from whom
are all things and for whom we
exist, and one Lord, Jesus
Christ, through whom are all
things and through whom we
exist.
Memory Selection:
The earth is the and the
fulness thereof,
the world and those who dwell
therein. ? Psalms 24:1
Exploring The Question*
Two accounts of creation are
given in Genesis. The first is
found in Chapter 1:1 through
2:4a; the second, in Chapter
2:4b-25. These accounts differ
in some details but agree in
ascribing the world of heaven
and earth to the creative act of
God.
Questions may arise in the
minds of many as they read the
creation accounts of Genesis.
These are some examples:
Why does the Bible have two
stories of creation side by side,
and why are they different from
each other? What can we learn
from these two stories?
Some may question the val
idity of the biblical accounts of
creation when they are compar
ed with modern scientific ex
planations. Must a modern man
choose between the biblical rec
ord and modern scientific theor
ies? Can he live with both? If
so, how?
What is man's place in crea
tion?
What is the significance of the
tree of life and the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil in
the Genesis 2 story?
Finding Help With Your
Questions
From the beginning of time
man has looked at the stars and
wondered what they were and
how they came to be. He has
observed the cycles of nature
and speculated about their origin
and meaning. Most of all, he has
pondered his own placei in the
world and his relation to its
Creator. The Bible opens with
a declaration of the faith of the
Hebrews on this matter of be
ginnings.
Two Account*
The fact that the Book of
Genesis opens with two accounts
of creation suggests the contri
bution of more than one author
to the composition of the book.
Biblical scholarship indicates
that the creation narratives are
essentially the products of two
sources ? the J or Yah wist
writer and the P or priestly
writer. In speaking of the work
of these two writers Charles
F. Kraft has this to say:
"We have two accounts, not
one, of creation. The first is the
voice of the exilic or post-exilic
priestly writer, P, proclaiming
the divine setting of the cosmic
drama through God's mighty
word creating heavens and
earth, man and the Sabbath (1:
1-1 :4a). The second Is J, the old
Judean prophet, telling in hia
inimitable narrative style bow
the God of tha universe, who
aa 'Lord' (Tahwah, YMWH (tha
Hebrew alphabet has no vowels)
o it his special people Israel,
fui iued man from the ground
with human tenderness, breath
ed into him the breath of life,
placed him in a special garden,
and made him a mate (2:4b
25)."
We should not assume that
the Yah wist and priestly writers
were composing original stories
as they recorded the creation
accounts in Chapters 1 and 2.
They were more like editors
compiling, arranging, and re
cording traditions that had been
existing in the Hebrew commun
ity for many centuries. These
stories had been remembered
and passed by father to son,
from generation to generation.
We must also remember that
the Hebrews were surrounded
by Mesopotamian neighbors who
had their stories of the world's
origin. Some were older than
the Hebrew accounts. Scholars
differ in their estimates of how
much these Mesopotamian vers
ions influenced Hebrew thought.
Doubtless some borrowing from
these sources occurred. But the
Hebrew accounts are unique in
treatment Nowhere is there any
hint of polytheism (belief in
many gods), as in the Baby
lonian account. The one God is
the Creator of heaven and earth.
According to the priestly ac
count in Genesis 1, God speaks
and creation immediately re
sults. Thus creation is by divine
decree. This account depicts God
as exalted and absolute. He
stands above his creation with
some detachment.
This detachment is especially
apparent when compared with
the very intimate contact depict
ed in the Genesis 2 account. In
Chapter 1 God speaks the word
and it is done. In Chapter 2
God toils, in human fashion,
over what he creates.
Further, the priestly account
uses the word for "God,"
Elohim, rather than the name
for God, Yahweh, as in the J
account.
The Genesis 1 account is
heaven-centered, while the Gen
esis 2 account is earth-centered.
The first narrative tells of the
creation of a universe in general
terms. The second speaks only
of our planet and life on it.
The Creature Man
In the Yah wist account (Gen
esis 2:4b-25) the Lord's first
specific work was to form man
from the earth. He then placed
man in a garden to keep it
Man is thus viewed as the
first living creature and is di
stinctly an "earthling." His vo
cation is earthly, a tiller of soiL
The relationship between the
Creator and his creature!, man,
is like that between owner and
manager, master and servant,
or lord and steward.
Trees inside of the garden of
Eden bore man's food. In the
midst of the garden was the tree
of life, the ancient symbol of
immortality. Near the tree of
life stood and tree of the know
ledge of good and evfl. To eat
of this tree was forbidden be
cause its fruit would cause man
to know or experience evil and
thus lead to death.
The priestly narrative itataa
that man is the final living
creature made ? the of
creation. Furthermore, man
alone is created In the Image of
God. The first implication of be