1991_03 The Daily Collegian March 1991

              Women's Herstory Month
Uhuru Na Umoja * March 1, 1991
African People's   History Month
A recap of highlighted events
By M.A. Drummond
Correspodance Editor,
UHURU
Opening Day
The opening day festivities for Afri¬
can People's History Month began
with the opening ceremony at 11 am
in front of the Martin Luther King, Jr.
plaqueoutside the main cafeteria. The
featured speakers were Dr. Robert
Mikell and Dr. Malik Simba of the
Ethnic Studies department. Both de¬
livered informative and thought pro¬
voking talks about the history and
importance of the month long cele¬
bration.
Dr. Simba challenged the diverse
audience that came to participate to
go out and find those that didn't come
and "nail their butts to the wall". He
pointed out that those same people
would have been in attendance had
there been mention of musical enter¬
tainment, and that that attitude is
indicative of the problem of young
African-Americans today. He stated
that they make excuses "because",
but won't support "the cause", mean¬
ing the priorities of young people are
not focused on the proper perspec¬
tives.
Dr. Mikell spoke of the history be¬
hind the Martin Luther King, Jr.
plaque, and the importance of it as a
symbol of the dedication of the stu¬
dents who fought to get itplaced there
on the wall of the main cafeteria. He
spoke of the turbulent times of the
'6Cs and 7Cs when the African-
American students and faculty at
CSUF were arrested during non-vio¬
lent protests, how administrators used
secret exits toavoid the students, and
how African-Americans were bla¬
tantly discriminated against. He also
called upon thecrowdtogetinvolved
and keep informed of the events oc¬
curring on campus and in the com¬
munity. He stressed reading the Daily
Collegian and the Uhuru Na Umoja
for information regarding and per¬
taining to African-Americans.
The program was rounded out by
Jean Stackhouse reading the sched¬
uled events for the month, and Rod¬
ney Walker who acted as MC (Thanx
Rod).
Thc night time event, a skit by mem¬
bers of the Fresno High school BSU,
was a delightful, though brief, travel
through history from Africa to now,
portraying the trials and tribulations
of Africans and African-Americans.
The skit was presented at 7 pm in the
Satellite Student Union.
"Seperate fcut Together"
The performance of the play "Sepa¬
rate But Together" was an insightful
look into the philosophies of four
young African- Americancollege stu¬
dents who come together in a library
setting. The play, writtenand directed
by Alexander Claiborne, who also p
pla yed oneof the characters, provided
the audience with a glimpse of how
young African-Americans view their
past, present and future. The action
centered around the lives of Vivian, a
well-to-do young woman who, after
being adopted at an early age, was
raised by White parents; Derrell, a self
described realist, who dropped out of
college to pursue financial gain,
Eriecka, a proud and determined
young woman from a lower middle
class background, and Geoffrey, a
street wise, self reliant young man who
had to raise himself on the streets, and
who is determined not to let the euro-
centric environment he finds himself
in influence his quest for the knowl¬���edge and truth about his people.
In the end, after much discussion
about why one should seek economic
gain or fight for civil rights and equal¬
ity, they all conlude that though they
are African-Americans with separate
agendas, they are all in this world
together and that it is very important
not to forget that
Photo Exhibit
The photo exhibit on the second floor
walk way of the Henry Madden library
evoked quite an emotional response
from those I talked to. More than just a
bunch of pictures, it is a piece of his¬
tory, undeniably vivid and painfully
gut wrenching. Captured thereon film,
for all to see, is the injustice, harred,
prejudice and violence perpetrated on
my parents and grandparents. This is
not ancient history, but recent history-
history so fresh that it stills affects Af¬
rican-Americans today, this minute,
all across the country. The pictures tell
the struggles of an oppressed people
searching forthe one thing guaranteed
them under the Constitution of the
United States; the right to be treated
equally and considered equal citizens.
There are many in this community
and on this campus that advise us to
give it a rest; that there is no longer a
need to continually point out that
people of African descent were treated
brutally, and that it is all in the past. To
those people I say this: take a look at
those pictures, go home and ask your
parents about what the climate was
like, ask your grandparents, and then
look around you at the environment
we live in today. Take a look at all the
conflict and ask yourself what it really
is all about, then, to borrow a phrase
from Michael Jackson, take a look at
the man/woman in the minor and ask
him/her to make a change.
Live Satellite Teleconference
The question is posed almost eve¬
ryday, spoken by someone, some¬
where, who has had enough of the
violence, injustice and prejudice,
and the tolerance that these dis¬
eases enjoy in today's society. This
question was again posed at the
televised symposium on Wednes¬
day, February 20th, in the Alice
Peters conference room. The topic
of the symposium was racial cli¬
mates on American college cam¬
puses. The event was hosted by
Julian Bond, and had an impressive
panel of African-American and
White professors, administrators
and husiness persons, both male
and female. The symposium
touched on all the problems associ¬
ated with being a college student in
this day and age of covert and overt
racism, heterosexism, and sexism.
The audience also participated by
asking questions, and there was a
phone lineopened up tocallers with
questions, who were watching via
the satellite feed. The symposium
ended after proposing some solu¬
tions to the problems that were ad¬
dressed. To die students these sug¬
gestions were made: 1. Don't lower '
your standards for academic
achievement because you may not
be considered/'cool" by classmates.
2. Insist that your campus compile��andenactanacceptablecodeofcon-
ductfor all students, to include racial
slurs, racial acts and acceptable be¬
havior requirements for all students.
3. Don't segregate yourselves into
cliques based on social status, and
makean attempt to find friendsand
associates from all areas on cam¬
pus, and from all races and socio¬
economic backgrounds. 4. Become
involved in student government
and politics, and the politics of the
different organizations on campus.
5. Demand accountability from
student leaders. 6. Don't ostracize
anyone for developing or cultivat¬
ing relationships of any kind with
members of other ethnicities, races
or sexual orientation.To the faculty
these suggestions were: 1. Demand
the curriculum be inclusive of eth¬
nic issues and concerns. 2. Mentor
and encourage students to strive
for academic excellence. 3, Become
familiar with organizations on cam¬
pus and their members and func¬
tions. 4. Demand accountability
from departmental heads and
deans. 5. Keep informed on depart¬
mental changes and departmental
issues. To the administrators these
suggestions were offered: 1. With
the help of legal counsel, devise
policies and penalties for dealing
with racial incidences and acts. 2.
Act swiftly and decisively in mat¬
ters that have racial implications. 3.
Encourage funding for ethnic pro¬
grams. 4. Demand accountability
from department heads and deans.
5. Support and encourage activities
based on cultural awareness. 6. Con¬
duct seminars and/or workshops on
race relations within campus police
agencies. 7. Promote continuous dia¬
logue between groups involved in con¬
flicts and hold these talks in a mediated
environment.
The panel, as a whole, agreed that so¬
ciety needs to wake up and get rid of all
the "isms" and media stereotypes that
are abundantly apparent today, and
work towards understanding that it is
the economic standards and conditions
that have us all trapped in the conflicts��we experience today. Remembering that
racism is the control of production,
employment and academic standards
of one people against other peopleis the
key to understanding what we need to
do to correct our current situation.
Children's Day
Children's Day was held on Friday,
February 15th and was attended by
seven west Fresno schools and a school
from Lemoore Naval Air Station. The
children were taken on a tour of the
CSUF campus and then came back to an
African-American history session con¬
ducted by Stacy Green, J. Scott Walker
and Mary Anne Drummond. After a
lunch break the kids were entertained
by rapper G-ICE and there was a short
awards ceremony and certificates were
handed out to the participants.
In all approximately 200 children be¬
tween the ages of eight and fourteen
years oldparticipated in the day.
The Fresno State students that partici¬
pated in organizing and facilitating
Children's Day commented that they
had more fun than the kids. We look
foward to next year.
Wanted:
People to assist in all
phases of develop¬
ment for the UHURU
NA UMOJA.
Qualifications:
NONE!!!
All you need is an
interest in Afrikan
peoples, and the de¬
sire to work hard.
For more info, contact J. Scott
Walker at 278-4352.