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The Organ of Student Expression Since 1925
The
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Morehouse College • Atlanta, GA
February 23 - March x, 2011
Volume LXXXV, issue 17
Rapper Lupe Fiasco
Visits AUC Community
Rapper Lupe Fiasco visits Clark Atlanta University to discuss his upcoming album “Lasers” and political
messages in his music. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Jocelyn Wilson (right) of Morehouse.
Lance Dixon
Associate News Editor
ldixon2012 @ gmail .com
S tudents packed Davage
Auditorium in Clark At
lanta University’s Haven-
Warren Hall, anticipating
the arrival of Lupe Fiasco
for a poignant and relevant
conversation on social is
sues. The discourse was put
on by the Hip-Hop 2020
project, headed by More
house College professor Dr.
Jocelyn Wilson. The Hip-
Hop 2020 project was re
sponsible for bringing Kid
Cudi to the campus last year
for a similar program. DJ
Syfr, Morehouse junior Ste
phen Francis, kept the crowd
at bay playing hits from the
rap star’s first two albums
“Food & Liquor” and “The
Cool” and cuts from his up
coming album “Lasers.”
The program was organized
by breaking down the unique
acronym of Fiasco’s album
title. Fiasco has charged it to
mean “Love Always Shines
Every Time Remember 2
Smile.” However, in this case,
the focus was on Leadership
and Authenticity, Spirituality
& Ethics and Reciprocity &
Social Consciousness.
The Hip-Hop 2020 pro
gram sought to find the bal
ance between Fiasco’s words
and his deeds, which ulti
mately began with his ori
gins. Dr. Wilson delved into
Fiasco’s childhood and how
that helped shape him and his
message. Fiasco referenced
his mother and father as key
figures in the home that al
lowed him to gain knowledge
beyond his rough neighbor
hood. He noted this as the key
to his knowledge because he
never attended college.
“That’s why I really believe
in school for some, education
for everybody,” Fiasco said.
Education was a key con
cern for Fiasco, as he stated
he does not know how to fix
the problems with America’s
schools but knows changes
have to be made.
“A perfect education sys
tem is a utopian one but there
are little progressive steps we
can make toward one,” Fiasco
said.
Wilson then asked Fiasco
to expound on the lyrics to
his latest single “Words I
Never Said,” a politically-
charged piece that has Fiasco
revealing his opinions on the
Obama administration, the
state of stagnant youth and
the general complacency of
people in the country. When
comparing the use of social
media in the recent Egypt
protests compared to Ameri
can use, Fiasco lauded the
Egyptians and saw their use
as the ideal example of how
to make change.
“[They] used social media
as a means to an end,” Fiasco
said. “Our problem is ‘new
media activism,’ we post a
tweet or make a song and
that’s the end.”
The Chicago MC also not
ed the hypocrisy in the Black
community and beyond.
When questioned about the
line “Complain about the li
quor store but what you drink
ing liquor for?” Fiasco noted
that line and the lines that fol
low speak to what he believes
is a tendency of Americans
to participate and contribute
to things that they consider
negative.
“That’s why I unapolo-
getically do not vote,” Fiasco
said. “I don’t want to contrib
ute to anything that will even
tually be used to buy bombs.”
The discourse continued on
an encouraging note when Fi
asco began to talk about his
other single from “Lasers,”
the song “The Show Goes
On.” The second verse of the
song was highlighted as one
that could be inspirational for
children and seek to combat
See LUPE FIASCO, page 2 ►
Morehouse Glee Club
Celebrates Centennial Concert
Jordon Nesmith
Staff Writer
jnesmith 17 @ gmail .com
T he Morehouse College
Glee Club hosted an
event commemorating its 100
years of existence on Sunday,
Feb. 20.
Family, alumni, faculty,
staff and students piled into
the International King Cha
pel for the opportunity to
experience the historic occa
sion. The concert began after
what seemed to be an unusu
ally quick dispatch by the
gentlemen of the Glee Club
to the stage from the aisles of
the Chapel. Once in place, a
beckon was made to the audi
ence for the members of the
joint student and alumni cen
tennial Glee Club to take the
stage as well. Alumni mem
bers in the audience followed
suit and quickly dispatched
to the stage, creating a sea of
choral members prepared to
perform the prearranged se
lections of songs that would
highlight the Glee Club’s
musical prowess.
The musical roster of the
centennial performance in
cluded a meshing of songs
the Glee Club is renowned
for such as “Betelehemu,” as
well as a few original piec
es, including “Who’ll Join,”
written specifically for the
ocassion by Morehouse Col
lege’s own Dr. David Mor
row. Morrow, the director of
the Morehouse Glee Club, is
only the third director of the
Glee Club in its 100 years of
existence.
During the performance,
Morrow paused to recognize
Glee Club member Antoine
Griggs, a junior music major
from Detroit, with the David
Morrow Prize. This award,
established by Dr. Louis W.
Sullivan ’54, honors a hard
working member of the Glee
Club each year for his out
standing work.
At a young age, Griggs
had been infatuated with the
Morehouse Glee Club. In
fact, Griggs auditioned to
be a part of the group while
still enrolled in his perform
ing arts high school. He felt
privileged to be in the Glee
Club and to be able to sing
alongside past members for
the centennial event.
“It’s amazing to come back
together with alumni. I was
very impressed, I was proud,”
Griggs said. “I was honored
to be a part of the Morehouse
College Glee Club.”
See GLEE, page 2 ►
The Unlikely Venture:
Morehouse Men Start
Condom Line
Jason Panda (left) and Ashanti Johnson (right).
Gerren K. Gaynor
Managing Editor
gerren ,gaynor@ gmail .com
N ever in a million years
did Jason Panda envision
that he would walk into a phar
macy and see his own condom
shelved beside industry giants
such as Trojan, Durex and Life
style.
In fact, when he majored in
biology at Morehouse College,
his aim was to become a lawyer-
-and he did just that. In spite of
obtaining his law degree from
Georgetown University and
thriving as a corporate attorney
in New York City, Panda, class
of 2002, felt unfulfilled. So, af
ter a suggestion from his moth
er, Panda partnered with fellow
Morehouse brother Ashanti
Johnson, also class of 2002, to
launch their own condom line, b
condoms.
B condoms encourages con
sumers to take pride in whatev
er demographic they may sub
scribe to. It markets itself with
a simple, yet alluring motto: “b
cool, b safe, b yourself.” The
sleek, eye-pulsing packaging,
available in four vibrant colors,
offers a host of condom styles fit
to meet the needs of each clien
tele.
“We want b condoms to be in
clusive so that if we’re talking to
African-Americans we can say
‘b African-American’, if we’re
talking to the church we can say
‘b spiritual’,” Panda said.
“We wanted to have some
thing that would be able to con
nect all of the different groups
that we wanted to target with b
condoms.
“Essentially, you can be any
thing. You can be a better per
son, you can be educated, you
can be committed or you can be
community oriented.”
While a condom line pio
neered by a couple of More
house Men may strike one as
a peculiar venture, Panda and
Johnson felt it could not make
any better sense. With the rise
of HIV and AIDS cases in the
African-American, Latino and
gay communities, the duo visu
alized a condom that would be
inclusive, reliable and, most of
all, give back to those disease-
stricken communities.
In a unique fashion, b con
doms, which launched on Dec.
See CONDOM, page 6 ►
inside track
News 1 World & Local 3 Business & Tech 4 Features 6 Opinions.
This week, The Maroon Tiger features a
Special Black History section on page 11,
highlighting achievements of Morehouse
Men and others.
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