1991_03 The Daily Collegian March 1991

              Women's Herstory Month
Uhuru Na Umoja * March 1,1991
UJIMA
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«Creative Work and Responsibility»
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Cartoon appears courtesy of Z Magazine, Oct. 1990
Greetings and salutations my Afri-
kan brothers and sisters. I hope that
you all had a tremendous celebration
of Afrikan People's History Month.
Many, like myself, find it somewhat
hard to get too wrapped up in festivi¬
ties when we still have so many prob¬
lems that continue to beset our com¬
munities. I would though like to
commend all those that worked on
our History Month committee. This
committee did an excellent job in pro¬
viding a broad base of activities for all
to enjoy. There were many things to
arose intellect as well as events to
simply enjoy. My congratulations on
a job well done.
On a more serious note, something
has to be done about the treatment our
Afrikan leaders receive. It appears
that when an Afrikan speaks up on
this campus, about any issue, they are���disscredited, undermined and their
opinion negated. It seems like when
an Afrikan student or even for that
matter faculty or staff speaks out on
something that does not sit too well
with the white power structure, this
person is simply crying racism and
therefore "its the same ole' song" and
delegitimized. Let me alert the sleep¬
walkers to something, racism is alive
and well in the United States. It rears
its ugly head in more forms now than
did it in earlier times. Until it is prop¬
erly and diligently dealt with, it will
persist in our society.
My Afrikan brothers and sisters, don't
let the racists who try to shout you
down and otherwise cloud the issue
discourage you. The WUF (White
United Front) has always tried to get
inourway. Itisbecauseourancestors
had the will and greater calling to
push on, that we enjoy the things we
do- The myth is that only a selected
few have theability to be leaders or get
involved. The Movement will never
move faster than the peoplecan move.
With that we owe it to our future gen¬
erations to do what we can NOW!! I
know not a one of us wants to see our
children and grandchildren go
through the same or worse things we
went (are going) through and feel
inside that th^y didn't do what thev
could to bring about change. 1 don't
know about you, but I'm just starting
to fight. The power of the universe is
on the side of the righteous!!
Fight on, Afrikans, Fight on!
African Student Union Revives Resolution
Group plans to take up issue ASI wouldn't touch
By J. Scott Walker
Managing Editor,
UHURU
In an attempt to address an issue
that was passed over by the Associ¬
ated Students Incorporated, the ex¬
ecutive board of the African Student
Unionplans to bring the recently failed
anti-war resolution to the body of the
organizationfor approval.
In a senate meeting on the 26th of
February, the ASI failed to passa reso¬
lution that not only addressed the
atrocities of war, but also dealt with
the racist and sexist themes of the
United States' Involvement in the
1      Middle East.
A senate gallety made wp primarily
Of members of Young,Americans for
Freedom, the much maligned, ultra-
conservative group, taunted and pres¬
sured many senators into voting
against the resolution. According to
Steve Sewaldthe oldest and most out¬
spoken of the group. There is no ra¬
cism in the armed forces—its anall
volunteerarmy. Besides Black people
want to be on the front lines because
they are more apt to violence...they
enjoy it."
Legislative Vice President and Sen¬
ate Chair Stacey Greenhad her hands
full in controlling a crowd that ap¬
peared to be extremely hostile towards
people of color. An unidentified
woman even made remarks directly
against the significance of Af rikans in
the political process. 'This country is
run by the majority ...Black people
shouldn'tcomplainanyway, they don't
evenvote." This is a remark she said
she learned in her Political Science
class.
When the issue at hand was eventu¬
ally discussed, the major points ar-
guedtended to fall along color lines.
Some of the major points made by the
resolution was that there is a dispro¬
portionate number of Af rikans in the
service and particularly on the front
lines of battle. This extreme number
meant that a tremendous amount of
the casulties would be of Afrikan
decent.
When confronted with these facte,
members of the gallery tried to dis¬
pute them but didn't have any sub¬
stantiation against the facts that were
presented.
Co-au thor ajid presenter of the reso¬
lution, Jose Lopez, tried toexplain the
intent of the resolution to the senate
and gallery. "This resolution is not
about being anti-American, its about
savinglives. Itsaboutsavingthelives
of our American brothers and sisters
has well as our Kuwaiti and Iraqi
brothers and sisters." Lopez also
added, "This country's fundamental
value is freedom of speech and the
rightthequestionauthority. Wehave
the right to speak out against some¬
thing we believe is wrong, and this
war is womg."
There was also the question brought
up that the majority of people in
America as well as on this campus
weren't against the war. The point
was also brought that in the polls
conducted by the USA Today showed
that 72% of people of color did not
support the war, including 85% of
people of Afrikan decent. This served
as the primary reason Salman Shabazz,
president of the ASU decided to bring
this resolution to the body.
"It disturbs me that this resolution
didn'tpassbecause someone said that
it didn't reflect the 'majority'. Time
and time again Afrikans have had to
fight for our voice." Shabazz adds, "I
don't care what polls they want to look
at, we want it known that Afrikans
don't support this war."
Please see Resolution
Page 8
The Uhuru
Na Umoja
Managing Editor
Layout/Design
J. Scott Walker
Co-Editor
Editor, Women's Affairs
Andrea Sidney
Correspodance Editor
Campus Relations
Mary Anne Drummond
Photo Editor
Jabari Reynolds
Contributing Writers
Felicia Harris
Rinee Mitchell
Vallery Pierce
Advisors
Sharon Elise
Itabari Zulu
flic UHURU NA UMOJA is written by
and fOT people of Afrikan decent. Any
questions or comments regarding published
naterial, or wish to get involved, contact:
UHURU NA UMOJA
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CSU, Fresno 93740