Newspaper Page Text
2 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1967
The Panther
The Clark Panther
PURPOSE
A journal of college life published from September to June
by students.
To fill the vacuum of lack and effective communication be
tween students and administration; students and students.
An instrument for fostering constructive criticism of activi
ties pertaining to college life.
Senior Editor-in-Chief Carrell Smith
Co-Editor Jerry R. Allen
Assistant Editor Robert Allen
News Editor Regina Nixon
Copy Editor Juanita Hall
Feature Editors Hattie Grimes, Marcia Jackson, Roger Porter
Fashion Editor Helen Boykin
Greek Editor Norris Arnold
Cartoon Editor Madeline Durham
Sports Editors Rubye Jackson, Dwight Ellison
Managing Editors Harold Craig, Johnny Bruce
Exchange Editor Eddie Embry
Inquiring Reporters Mary Jo Clark, Robert Price
Photographer Charles Smith
Advisors Mrs. Long, Mr. Baker
Ox o
PRESS
Editorial Notebook
A Note to the Blind Man
by Jerry R. Allen
Blind man can’t you see? Sometime during the lapse of ex
istence, some well-known historian made the statement, “give me
liberty or make me black.” Similarly, an anonymous person was
given credit for saying, “a black man in need is a black man
indeed.” Still, another distinguished personality made the com
ment, “I regret that 1 have but one black man to give to my
country.”
Blind man can’t you see? Webster defines the word “white,”
a derivative of the Anglo-Saxon word “whit,” as meaning that
which is pure, innocent, free from evil
intent, harmless. While on the other hand,
he defines the word “black,” a derivative
of the Anglo-Saxon word “blaec,” as
meaning that which is dark, dirty, evil,
wicked, sad, dismal, sullen.
Blind man can’t you see? Can’t you
see why you tend to shy away from the
word “black”? Can’t you see the deriva
tive of the word “black”? Can’t you see
the connotation given to the word
“black”? Can’t you see the psychology of
the word “black”? Can’t you see the
dramatic effect of the word “black”?
Blind man can’t you see? The pur
pose of P.R.I.D.E. (Persons Ready In the Defense of Ebony) on
the Clark College Camps is, “to instill within the consciousness
of Afro-Americans the beauty of their black being, the strength
of their past nad the possibilities of their future.” Parallelingly,
P.R.I.D.E.’s declaration of hope is, “through the efforts of this
organization, blackness will no longer be a subservient quality.
Nor will blackness continue to remain in the minds of Afro-
Americans as representative of inferiority, evilness or undesir
ability. It is the opinion of this group that our objectives are in
keeping with the time and only through the maintenance of such
an organization will an awareness of blackness find its roots in the
minds of the masses of black people in this country and the world.”
Blind man can’t you see? you have a past. You have a present.
You have a future. In short, you have an identity. Be proud of
your identity. However, even more important, be aware of your
identity.
Blind man can’t you see? A few years ago, some outstanding
individual said, “ask not what the black man can do for you; ask
what you can do for the black man.” Blind man can’t you see
that you are black?
No More Nothing
n
by Carrell Smith
Life is a game where you never win or completely lose. There
are some achievements made that makes a person feel proud and
happy and there are defeats that test the very souls of men, even
(in some cases) to the point of self-destruction.
What is it about nature that shatters happiness in life. How
can a person feel so pessimistic and depressed all of a sudden
when just yesterday he had hopes and a future.
Is love of man and self so important that the very foundation
of a person can be wrecked when disappointment arrives? The
answer is, regretfully, yes. Life has no favorite people, it abuses
and torments individuals at will, from a random sample of the
chaotic world.
Having a future is only a dream governed by a pendulum that
sways a person’s life into the zone of hope and happiness back
to the dreaded zone of pessimism and grief. Be ever waiting for
the least expected, for you are one who has a 50-50 chance of
being swayed by the eternal and mental castration of the pendulum.
Sdit&ld @oxrt&i . . .
"The Secure
Of the College Student"
by Carrell Smith
When time comes for the college student to meet the world,
will the student be ready to meet its demands? Thinking realistical
ly, most college students will not be properly trained to entangle
themselves in the cruel and vicious cycle of the outside world.
After finishing college a great deal of students feel that the
world owes them a living and jobs are already available at their
request. Some students feel that the only prerequisite for obtain
ing a position in life is a degree. How wrong can one person be.
It is a hard, cold and unsympathetic world at the exit of the
college door with courage and will power
as the student’s only weapons against the
force of a well-corrupted society. For the
“A” student it is not what you know
(and never forget it) it is who you know
in this world that will advance your
future. Knowledge is an invaluable gift of
life but in order to obtain success there
must be a combination used of what you
know about life and “who you know in
life” (the latter being the most important
of the two).
The regurgitation of ideas, facts and
numbers to an instructor is only the start
of the challenging life you are confronted with after school. There
will be greater responsibilities in life that will test the firmness
of your human endurance, such as: Securing a steady and a suffi
cient amount of income to support all aspects of life, including
a wife and family, being able to handle general problems (car re
pairs, monthly bills, home maintenance and budgeting), providing
education for children, protection from outside social forces and
the perseverance of personal success. These problems do not be
gin to scratch the surface of the many conflicts you will be con
fronted with after leaving the not so demanding campus life.
The previous comments are not intended to be discouraging
but rather an incentive to acquaint the “secure feeling student”
with reality—the outside world. Study hard and achieve as much
as possible on the academic level but do not limit yourself.
Venture some and find out what life is all about on the other side
of the fence.
Too long (especially among Negroes) we have been told to “get
an education so you won’t have to work so hard all of your life,”
but if education is not channeled properly you are still left holding
the bag. One thing in particular the Negro must always remember
is that he has to meet “the system” (white system) which can
break or make an individual no matter how many diplomas or
degrees a person has acquired.
Students should be increasingly aware of the present chaotic
condition of the world. It should be known by students that there
is a strong possibility of the human race becoming extinct if there
is an all out war attack of country against country. Surprisingly
enough very few students (Negro) know that this country can turn
any black community into a concentration camp within 30 minutes
by letting no people in or out of the said community, cutting off
the water supply, food supply and surrounding the area in
definitely with National Guardsmen.
Apathy is a sickness and must be counteracted with reason,
ambition and unity of persons that are concerned with the destiny
of mankind. The “happy-go-lucky student” day is over. Today
those persons are neither happy nor lucky, he just “goes.” Don’t
let yourself go.
GRAMBUNG
by Frank Browning
GRAMBLING, La. (CPS)—Grambling College has suspended
25 students who have been leading demonstrations and class strikes
aimed at upgrading the “academic environment” of the school and
de-emphasizing sports.
The students, 22 males and three coeds, were given two hours
to leave the campus. Among those suspended were the student body
president and the editor of the student newspaper.
The mass suspensions, however, did not end a student boycott
of classes which began last Wednesday. The college, which is pre
dominantly Negro, has a total enrollment of 4,200 students, but
only 200 attended classes Monday. Student leaders said the strike
will continue indefinitely.
The tense situation here last week came to a head Saturday
when Louisiana Gov. John McKeithen ordered out 500 National
Guardsmen to blunt possible student uproars. The troops never
arrived at the campus, but are still standing by at Ruston, a town
six miles away.
The suspension of the student leaders Monday came as a
surprise. The students were called before a joint meeting of the
college’s Disciplinary Committee and the Interdepartmental Coun
cil. Three minutes after the meeting began the suspensions were
announced.
Three students are members of the Disciplinary Committee,
but two of them, the student body president and vice president,
(Continued on Page 4)
Afro-Americanism
Its Outgrowth
by Marcia J. Jackson
(Part I deals with Black Culture
and its advantages. Part II deals
more specifically with the or
ganization of P.R.I.D.E. and
other local college organiza
tions.)
“African and Afro-American
intellectuals sometimes uncon
sciously forget, and always find
it painful to consciously accept,
the disconcerting fact that many
African societies and the cul
tures that they emobdy are of
ten viewed with contempt, and
sometimes with fascinated hor
ror, b ythe peoples of the West
ern World, including the black
masses of the United States,”
says Saint Clare Drake, promi
nent social anthropologist. Too
many “Western values” have
come to over-shadow with de
gradation what can be consid
ered pure and authentic art and
culture. These “values” have
thus tended to cause a stereo
typed impression of Black Cul
ture. Too often those persons
who idealize that “Western cul
ture” and its values associate
contempt, revulsion, shame, su-
perstitution, and guilt with the
word “black” — “The blacklist
is contemptible”; “The Black
man is inferior”; “The black cat
is bad luck”; “Black is dirty.
Such sayings are mere racial,
cultural stereotypes, therefore
not necesarily true.
The critical intellectual, how
ever, as distinguished from the
less critical man, constantly
seeks to explore and uncover
racial conditioning, always at-
the truism in all cultural and
tempting to avoid distortions
and misconceptions of partial
perspectives in order to derive
its objective. As a result of this
need for objectivity, particularly
in the north, there has been ex
pressed concern for Africa and
its culture. The “intellectuals”
of these colleges and universi
ties, who know very little about
Africa in general, have come to
regard Africa more objectiveL
today than it has been regarded
in the past. More and more
Negro Americans have ex
pressed concern for Black Af
rica and its heritage. As proof
of this concern and in order to
eliminate the stereotyped images
of Black Africa, Afro-American
Societies and outgrowths of the
Society have emerged.
With the idea of advancing
African culture while simultane
ously instilling a sense of pride
and dignity in the Black masses,
many Clark College students
have organized an Afro-Ameri
can Society, a “black aware
ness” group very appropriately
called PRIDE, Persons Ready
in the Defense of Ebony. Such
a society for any racial culture
offers many advantages. In the
first place, the organization of
Afro-American societies estab
lishes a fundamental basis upon
which can be built a learning of
the value and worth of Black
Culture, including primitive Af
rican art, socio-economic status
of the African people, political
policies and trends, and social
attitudes. Secondly, there are
numerous misconceptions on
the part of Negro Americans
with regard to Africa-miscon-
ceptions such as, “Africa is the
black jungle land of wild ani
mals, cannibals an dhot des
erts,” “Black Africans feel that
(Continued on Page 4)