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Morehouse Tiger
January, 1968
FRESHMAN FOCUS
Robert T. Smith, III
This is the second in a series of articles that should better acquaint the administration
and student body with the freshmen — their ideas, activities, and problems.
Ceasar Williams, Freshman Class president, has asked that I print his plea for all class members to pay
their dues in full to the treasurer before the party in February. The theme of the party is "Freshman
Follies." Those who have paid their dues will enjoy the live entertainment free with their guest. Others
will be charged admission. PAY YOUR DUES.
The following replacements were announced by the president. Bryant Hawkins will replace Calvin
Butts as chairman of the action committee. Michael Rogers will replace Tyronne Holt as chairman of the
publicity committee. Michael Scott will replace Maseo Sloan as Chairman of the freshman social and
cultural affairs committee. In addition to these groups being reorganized and reactivated, the coordinat
ing committee has promised to meet regularly with the Freshman Class of Spelman.
Members of the Freshman Class have proven themselves on the football field, on the basketball
court, in the pool, and, more recently, on radio. Weekly on Tuesday nights at eight o'clock on WSB
Radio, Edward Billups represents Morehouse College as a panalist on "This Is My Religion," a program
on which religious officials, usually a rabbi, priest, Unitarian minister, and canon (of the Lutheran
Church) are bombarded with questions from young minds concerned with topics ranging from birth
control and Vietnam to Christianization of interplanetary beings.
Both Rindy Buggs and Waltina McElroy, first and second attendants to Miss Freshman, wish to
express their deepest gratitude for making the homecoming activities a memorable occasion. Rindy, of
Pasadena, California, likes to accompany herself on the guitar; and Tina from Macon, Georgia, likes to
read and meet new and interesting people.
Reflections . . .
PUSSYCAT OR TIGER?
Robert T. Smith, III
Conditions here at Morehouse aren't quite as
bad as we think. Most of the ills and problems
have been presented to the faculty and administra
tion to work on and try to solve, and as Mr. Finley
Campbell said in an impromptu speech to a Tues
day morning chapel gatherin, "There's no need to
get upset or violent over your problems. Be stoic."
Mr. Campbell discussed four evils of the institu
tion. A tutorial system should be set up, especially
for freshmen, on an inter-dorm basis. Secondly,
there should be a place where students may freely
discuss academic and classroom problems with an
administrative head who will listen and let them
finish before,quickly running them out of the of
fice. Next, Mr. Campbell suggested that living con
ditions be improved for students. Lastly, in addi
tion to the necessity of solving these problems,
intellectual initiative must be present among the
students.
True enough, registration, classroom counciling,
and living conditions, to name only a few, may
seem to make one think that "ole Morehouse” is
still in the first century of growth, but work is be
ing done to bring about a speedy relief and carry
Morehouse into a fruitful second century.
THE MISSION
Harvey B. Smith, Jr.
Our mission is one which requires unyielding toil.
There must be no compromise, for this only eats
Away at
Our manhood.
MANHOOD! MANHOOD! MANHOOD!
Our very being as a people is at stake!
Don't tell me of this morbid thing called amalgamation
As the ultimate panacea!
There will always be "niggers" as long as you persist
Upon such a futile idea!
The Black mission which we have embarked upon is the
Total antithesis of this foolish concept!
There will never be a worthwhile amalgamation!
There can only be CO-EXISTENCE, and
AWARENESS OF SELF
Precedes this!
Dig yourselves, brothers and sisters.
CALL IT CHEESE
Ben Wright
My friend Alexgy and I were seated at the table;
it was spread with bread and cheese and wine - that
was plenty in those days. Solace was slouched in a
far corner against the wall. She said very little and
hardly moved an inch; she smoked a lot and gazed
occasionally about the small, crowded room. Solace.
I had just written a story and I wanted my
friend Alexgy to hear it. The story was not yet
titled; it was about a backward country that gradu
ally became maddened as it was exposed to a great
luminous light.
I started reading the story to my friend. He
turned and looked at Solace. She gave Alexgy a
mysterious smile and walked slowly to him.
I continued to read. By now Solace had reached
Alexgy; she ran her fingers coldly through his
course, curly hair.
I read on. Solace said nothing. My friend gazed
into her eyes. I continued to read.
As I neared the end of the story, Alexgy put a
piece of cheese into Solace's mouth. When I was
done I said to Alexgy, "What shall I call it?" He
was not listening. I asked again, "What shall I call
it?" Alexgy smiled. "C'est fromage," he said.
"Call it cheese."
REVIEWS
A VICTORY FOR PURLIE?
Benjamin H. Wright, Jr.
Purlie Victorious, a very funny play by Ossie
Davis, was the second offering of the Atlanta —
Morehouse — Spelman Players, and received a
receptive opening-night audience on December 4,
1967, at the Fine Arts Building, Spelman College.
The play takes place in the cotton plantation
country of the Old South, and although the time
is the recent past,it is rather difficult to determine
whether or not Purlie Victorious is actually a re
flection of pre-Reconstruction days and or a com
mentary of the present.
"Being colored can be a lot of fun when no
body's looking" is one of the funnier lines from
Purlie, and the action of the play centers around
the funny incidents leading to the attempt of
Purlie Judson to outsmart Ol' Cap'n Cotchipee.
Purlie Victorious Judson (Robert Moody) is a
self-ordained minister who is reminiscentof Sinclair
Lewis' Elmer Gantry. Purlie, like Elmer, is specta
cular, bombastic, and great at the art of harangue —
in short, he is a con man.
Cap'n Cotchipee (Hannibal L. Penny) is the per
fect image of the Great White Father. He has all
black folk in debt to him for sundry reasons, and
REVIEWS - A Victory for Purlie? (Cont’d)
has not yet accepted the fact that the days of
"cotton-pickin' darkies" are gone with the wind.
Gitlow Judson (Cula Jackson) is the ever-endur
ing Uncle Tom who indirectly takes pride in perpe
tuating white superiority. Charlie, Cotchipee's son
(Phillip Kimball), represents the white liberal.
Juanita Nason gave a funny, but warm inter
pretation of Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins, Purlie's
"Zulu Queen." Missy Judson, the wise old colored
women, was played with great feeling and sincerity
by La Tanya Richardson, thus achieving the best
performance.
Despite the fact that director Richard D. Don
nelly has a sound play and a fairly good supporting
cast, he failed to score a victory for Purlie. Robert
Moody was amiable, but weak in the title role —
he lacks the strength, vitality, the flamboyance
which are all essential to Purlie's character.
The setting by Luis Maza was flexible and
could easily be moved about, but was abstract,
cold and austere. Therefore, the lighting by Dan
Kennedy and the costumes were the only material
devices adding to the effectiveness of the play.
PURLIE VICTORIOUS - -
ROLLICKING FUN GALORE
Edward Roger Billups
After the presentation of the not-so-splendid
In Splendid Error — a well-written historical drama,
but not as equally well-acted — we were handed the
rolicking, hilarious comedy and satirical farce on
white and Negro life in the plantation country of
the South. Purlie Victorious. It was presented by
Spelman's drama department, under the direction
of Mr. Robert Donnelly.
Purlie. written by the noted actor and play-
write Ossie Davis, was as great a box-office smash
as a Broadway play and as superb as Gone Are the
Days in its celluloid presentation. With the
Atlanta — Morehouse — Spelman Players' ren
dition, we had a fantastic audience success
but a flop in the casting of major roles, in the
direction of a badly-choreographed "flight scene,"
and in the snail's-pace action in Act I.
The skillfully constructed sets of Luis Maya
(formally of the Pocket Theater) and lighting by
Dan Kennedy gave us a picture-perfect look at the
cottonland of the South, but alas, all that glitters
is not gold. Robert Moody, as Purlie, is not quite
as forceful and profound in his philosophies and
preachings as we would expect him to be, but he
carried the weight of the play rather well with mus
cle strain only occasionally showing. La Tanya
Richardson — as Missy Judson, Purlie’s sister-in-
law — developed an excellent character onstage,be
ing strong, deeply religious, and stern-willed. She
balanced the hard-task with just the right helping
of quipping humor. Miss Richardson is a fine act
ress and we hope to see more of her.
Another talented member of the cast was Cula
Jackson as Gitlow, Purlie's "Uncle Tom" brother.
Mr.Jackson has created a character reminiscent of
the comic style of Godfrey Cambridge and gives us
the perfect Uncle Tom character — wide grin, rol
ling eyes and all. However, Mr. Jackson does have
a bad habit of back-bending and overplaying at
times. Another standout in the play is Hannibal
Penny, an actor who has created some fine roles in
his work with the players, including the two roles
he created for the previous production. Mr. Penny
developed for us Ol' Captain Cotchipee, the villain
of the play and owner of everything and everybody
in the county. As a man who "loves his nigras,"
Mr. Penny does a splendid job raving across the
boards sprouting his authority (at times carrying
the "old, old" bit a little too far), but please,
please, please, Mr. Penny, couldn't you have for
gotten that you were once aScot in Macbeth and at
least have tried for the "deah ole Southern drawl?"
Gloria Curry, Danny Ware, Robert Garcia, and
Phillip Kimball all do excellent jobs in their sup
porting roles.
And then there was Lutibelle, Purlie's Ethiopian
Pearl, whom he had brought from Alabama to im
personate his late cousin, Beatrice. Ossie Davis in
writing the play has provided us with a witty,
sharp, and often biting dialogue. In fact, the sub
ject was so good that if the actors only spoke the
lines the play would still be as funny. The point
I'm trying to make is that Juanita Nason (bless
her heart), who plays Lutibelle, did just that and
therefore her characterization was accepted. Luti-
belle's shy, innocent, confused, and flustered
characteristics are played by Miss Nason with child
like ineptness. While watching her perform (?) we
get the notion that she is rehearsing a kindergar
ten skit. We do watch her SPARK in the second act
and then die out. A line in the play .best de
scribes Miss Nason's performance perfectly:
Lutibelle: Aunt Missy, sometimes I wish I
could drop dead — for a little while!
So did we, Juanita, so did we! But don't fret.
Talent is there and Mr. Donnelly has shown us
that he is a capable director in his production of
the play and the skills he used to pull that spark
out of you.
Purlie Victorious was a marvelous theater expe
rience and the AMS players provided us with a
sparkling performance that will long be remember
ed by its audience.
The United Negro College Fund would like to publicly thank the following companies
for their support in the U.N.C.F. drive.
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