Newspaper Page Text
Campus Mirror
Published During the College Year by the Students of Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia
VOL. \1\ NOVEMBER. 1942 NO- 2
Paul Robeson Speaks at
Atlanta University
Paul Robeson, internationally famous
singer and actor, addressed more than
1600 students, faculty members, and
friends of the Atlanta University Sys
tem. who gathered into Sisters Chapel.
Spelman College, recently, and prolong-
edly applauded him at the close of the
exercises. He followed his address by
singing ‘‘The Ballad for Americans”,
with the aid of a chorus from the affi
liated institutions under the direction of
Professor Kemper Harreld. Mr. Law
rence Brown was the accompanist.
Mr. Robeson electrified his audience
as he told of many of his experiences in
different parts of the world. He told
how in his singing, he found many of the
things that were close to his heart. In
Czechoslovakia, in Spain, in Russia, and
in other countries, he found the somber
music of the folk songs to be akin to the
Negro spirituals. Here it was made clear
to him that human beings after all are
very close to each other.
As a man who knew of the heart
aches of a minority group in America,
Mr. Robeson saw the same problem of the
common man as it existed in Wales, Scot
land. India. Africa, and other countries.
He found that on leaving America he
could not forget the responsibility that
was his. for in the midst of success, he
pointed out that no one can feel that he
i- apart from the people. “As long as any
other of the race can suffer indignities
and lack of freedom, so can 1.” he stated.
“No matter how fortunate any of us can
be. our destiny lies with the destiny of
our people, and there is a real responsi
bility on us to see that these things are
being realized by supporting the forces
which are fighting slavery.”
Mr. Robeson described the superiority
of the democratic way of life. It is pos
sible for every human being, he said, to
have a decent existence and not to sub
sist on the crumbs of life nor accept the
control of destiny by greed and force.
We are not isolated in our problems, he
concluded, but the problems that face us.
face millions of others all over the world.
Thanksgiving Day in
W ar Time
Evangeline Few ‘46
Even the most pessimistic individual
among us must admit that as college
women in the United States today we
have more for which to be thankful than
any other group of people in the world.
As a whole, the people of this country
have felt the effect of the war less than
the people of the other waring nations.
I hough we read in our newspapers about
bombing and mass destruction of prop
erty as well as of human life, we have
not had to suffer the harsher realities of
war. Many women in our country have
altered the courses of their lives to meet
the new exigencies that war inevitably
brings; but here in college we are living
normal, undisturbed lives.
I Continued on Page 6 i
Spelman College
Represented at N.A.A.C.P.
Conference
The call to the fourth Annual Student
Conference of the N.A.A.C.P. was an
swered by tw'o hundred or more students
and young people from various parts of
the country. The conference which as
sembled to deliberate on “War and Post-
War Problems for Negro Youth” met at
Clark College from October 30 to No
vember 1.
All of us desire a better world which
can be realized only by adequate planning
during the present struggle. With this
thought well in mind, the delegates for
tunate enough to attend the November
N.A.A.C.P. conference, delved whole
heartedly into the various panel discus
sions and activities of the conference.
There were five panels concerned with:
(1) Post-War problems for Negro youth.
(2) Negro Youth and the franchise, (31
Minority strategy in war time, (4) Negro
Youth and civil liberties. (5) Negro
youth and jobs.
From these panels came one tangible
result of the conference . . . that of draw
ing up a charter called "The Demands
of Negro Youth.” This charter will fur
nish the basis for the year’s work in the
youth chapters of the N.A.A.C.P.
The students alone, however, could not
* have made a success of the conference.
In addition to the student discussions
there were the encouraging and heart
stirring speeches made by various leaders
and advisors. The initial and keynote ad
dress, “Negro Youth and His Struggle
for Democracy”, was delivered by Dr.
Buell G. Gallagher, President of Talla
dega College. The closing address was
given by Mr. Thurgood Marshall, lawyer
and special counsel for the N.A.A.C.P.,
who challenged every student to become
a leader in the fight for the right to full
citizenship. Among others who gave bene
ficial talks were Madison Jones who i~
the youth director of the N.A.A.C.P., Wil
lard Townsend of the C.I.O., Attorney
Charles H. Houston of Washington, D. C..
the Rev. James H. Robinson of New
York City, and Dr. Benjamin Brawley.
President of Clark College.
The conference, however, was more
than a series of discussions, assemblies,
and addresses. The mingling together of
students from various colleges created an
(Continued on Page 6)