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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. ml .. | .oidiers and thdi Health Profess! ou reach your q . books and lab I hly stipend of $1 THE STRENGTH TO HEAL and l&arn Idioni in corner 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. Recycle The Maroon Tiger