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The Maroon Tiger
-IV-
February i7 - 23, 2010
Remembering Civil Rights:
“Blood Done Sign My
Name”
Morehouse Education
Association: Exploring New
Avenues of Education
MEA examines education as service
Ashlei Williams
Features Editor
awilli66@scmail.spelman .edu
F ew words were exchanged
before hasty bullets hit
the young, Black man, Henry
Marrow. Even fewer words
were exchanged when the
white Teel family was acquit
ted of the murder charges.
Thirty years later, Hollywood
hopes that the words neces
sary to right such wrongs will
be heard.
On Feb. 19, Real Folk Pro
duction’s “Blood Done Sign
My Name” will be released in
theaters. This film, based on
the novel by Tim Tyson and
the life of Civil Rights activ
ist Ben Chavis, Ph.D recounts
the 1970 murder of Henry
Marrow in Oxford, N.C. and
the social movements that
commenced as a result.
Chavis attended the Uni
versity of North Carolina at
Charlotte where he became
a statewide youth coordina
tor for the Southern Chris
tian Feadership Conference
(SCLC) and later returned to
serve Oxford, N.C. as a teach
er and activist.
“Educators should be ac
tivists,” Chavis said. “A lot
of times we tend to see our
vocations narrowly, but if
an injustice happens in your
community then there is an
opportunity to speak out and
make a difference.”
The impact that will result
from the film of Chavis’ life
will be momentous, as past
and present issues will be ad
dressed.
“It’s the small stories and
the small heroes which make
history,” said Jeb Stuart, di
rector of the film.
With the historically contro
versial material of the screen
play, the actors in the film
including Nate Parker (“The
Great Debaters”) and Lela
Rochon (“Waiting to Exhale”)
took on challenging roles.
“You either accept a role be
cause it’s something you want
to be a part of or you love the
part,” Rochon said. “And for
me it was something I wanted
to be a part of, because I think
that some of the stories I’ve
done that were Civil Rights
stories or true stories were my
favorite and they are going to
live on to be something that
my children can see.”
“As actors, our number
one job is to put truth on the
screen," said Parker who
played Dr. Chavis in the film.
The film is a message
of courage and action that
Chavis hopes would be dis
seminated.
“It’s like passing the ba
ton; each generation has the
last communication,” Chavis
said. “To young Black men
and to young Black women,
the message is there's a lead
ership role for you today.”
Parker added that he felt
the leadership responsibility
among Black youth is need
ed most among young Black
men.
“We need to join together
to make a change by first fo
cusing on the things that are
destroying our community,
one being the lack of fathers,”
Parker explained.
“It is with Black men first,
that I think that our commu
nity will be turned around.”
Parker added. “We need pa
ternity, and that’s what I'm
trying to do, be a surrogate
father to the community.”
As co-founder, president
and CEO of the Hip-Hop Sum
mit Action Network (HSAN),
Chavis continues his activ
ism by connecting the past to
the present, teaching social
awareness and involvement
among Black youth.
“I’m optimistic. I think
that the youth of today are
the most intelligent and gift
ed generation,” Chavis said.
“But because they are the
blessed generation and not
the cursed generation, more is
expected.”
Ashlei Williams
Features Editor
awilli66@scmail.spelman.edu
4 4 T 1 ducation is for im-
JL/proving the lives of
others and for leaving your
community and world better
than you found it,” president
of the Children’s Defense
Fund, Marian Wright Edel-
man, once said. The men of
the Morehouse Education
Association (MEA) are up
holding Edelman’s words
as they unite students with
a passion for the classroom
and a drive to change the
educational system.
The MEA was recently
founded during the spring
2010 semester. In the
wake of President Barack
Obama's platform for edu
cation, it is fitting that Men
of Morehouse are rising to
the occasion of educating
today’s youth. The associa
tion is working to mobilize
Men of Morehouse in all as
pects that affect education.
“One of the things we are
trying to help Men of More
house understand is that go
ing into education does not
mean you have to work in
the classroom,” MEA Presi
dent Carlton Collins said.
“Each board of education
has a chief financial officer
or someone who facilitates
the finances of the district.
Everyone has a psycholo
gist, everyone has a law
yer.”
MEA welcomes all stu
dents from all majors. As a
new organization on cam
pus, the association is work
ing to recruit any students
willing to help. Currently,
the association meets on
the last Wednesday of every
month at 7 p.m.
“We have many events
and ideas planned that are
in the works,” Collins ex
plained. “To briefly discuss
two, there is the ‘Kick-Off
Reception’ for the organi
zation and ‘Dialogue about
Education’ [event].”
MEA has been working to
establish connections with lo
cal and national organizations
outside of Morehouse. The
Georgia Association of Educa
tors and the National Educa
tion Association have agreed
to partner with the organiza
tion to assist members with
professional development.
MEA has also reached out
to Atlanta public schools,
of which 2007 Morehouse
alumnus Courtney English
is a newly elected board
of education member. The
organization is currently
working with Dr. Charles
Meadows, who oversees the
Teacher Preparation Center
at Morehouse and serves as
the advisor to students who
apply for teacher certifica
tion.
“We are trying to incor
porate a system called Each
One, Reach One,” Collins
said. “This is an attempt to
drive the mission of the or
ganization, but also maxi
mizes the opportunity for
building meaningful rela
tionships while networking.
Every person in the orga
nization is reaching out to
another organization and
maintaining the relation
ship.”
With community service
projects and networking
events these Men of More
house aim to become More
house Men who left their
community better than they
found it.
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Expected increase in
U.S. Job
Jaymie White
Economics Writer
jaymie.white88@gmail.com
O n the eve of Warren Buf
fet finally making it into
the S&P due to his company’s
recent acquisition of railway
operator Burlington Northern
Santa Fe, economists from
banks and top colleges pre
dicted a slow hiring season
for the next year.
According to wsj.com
“Based on [recent] growth
projections, over the next
year economists estimate the
U.S. will add about 133,000
jobs a month. That sounds
good and it’s certainly bet
ter than more job losses.
But with about 100,000 new
jobs a month needed just to
soak up new entrants to the
work force, that pace of job
creation will only slowly
market
reduce the high unemploy
ment rate.”
Accordingly, with this,
the U.S. if lucky could see
unemployment drop 0.3
percent from 9.7 percent
to 9.4 percent at the end of
2010. The unfortunate truth
is that a quarter of the 8.4
million jobs lost during the
2008 recession are not com
ing back. Due to companies
working more efficiently
with outsourced jobs and
smaller work forces, com
panies are deciding to stay
the course.
“Right now we need jobs
bad,” president of the Eco
nomics Club. Ronnie Wash
ington said. “133,000 is a
nice number, but hopefully
that number can increase on
a blue collar level. I feel
that even part-time jobs
need to be increased in or
der to create some type of
income for families.”
“The good news is that most
jobs are cyclical,” senior eco
nomics major, Alan Smith ex
plained. “I believe the more
demand picks up the more
jobs will return to meet that
demand. The issue is pushing
the consumer to realize that
the worst is behind us.”
Although 2.2 million jobs
have been lost over the course
of three years, those jobs are
expected to return. When de
mand stabilizes, factories usu
ally increase workers to meet
the demand. Economists are
also predicting a slow upswing
for the economy as a whole.
Economic growth is expected
to settle at about 3 percent in
2010, off sharply from the
powerful 5.7 percent season
ally adjusted annual growth
rate in the fourth quarter.
Interested in becoming a
FEATURES
writer?
Join us for our General Body Meeting on Thursday,
February 18, 2010, in Merrill Hall Room 111 at 6pm.
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