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February 29 - March b, 2012
6 FEATURES
Descendant of William White
Attends Morehouse
Mr. Louis Dore:
A Prominent
Figure in Black
History
Kobi Ansong
Associate Features Editor
kobi.ansong@gmail.com
n Aug. 19, 2008, a fresh
batch of freshmen
poured onto Morehouse’s
campus to begin NSO week.
Students, faculty, and staff
passionately instilled the high
expectations and standards of
Morehouse through countless
workshops and presentations.
But for one young man, the
pressure was a little more real.
Clarence William Jefferson
III is the great-grandson of
Morehouse’s founder, William
Jefferson White, and a senior
accounting major from De
troit, Mich.
William Jefferson White
was the son of a slave woman
and a slave owner father. In
1867, two years after the Civil
War ended, White founded
the Augusta Institute. For
years, laws prevented blacks
from receiving an education.
White indentified with his
African-American side and
wanted to create a haven for
black males to learn without
restrictions. The primary fo
cus was to produce black min
isters and teachers.
Today, the once basement
sized institution is Morehouse
College, the largest producer
of black male leaders on the
planet.
Growing up, Jefferson did
Sierra Stokes
Associate Copy Editor
sstokes6@scmail.spelman.edu
S pelman College’s Museum
of Fine Art has been offi
cially chosen to be a presenter
at the renowned Havana Bi
ennial. This is not only an ac
complishment for Spelman
and the AUC community, but
also for the nation.
“This exhibition will mark
the first presentation of a cu
ratorial team from the United
States included as a partici
pant in the main program of
the Biennial,” Biennial direc
tor Jorge Fernandez said.
“We value this unprecedent
ed opportunity to participate
in the rich cultural dialogue
that the 11th Havana Biennial
affords,” Andrea Brownlee,
director of Spelman College
Museum of Fine Art and co
curator of the exhibition, said.
not know anything about
Morehouse or his grandfa
ther. It wasn’t until Jefferson’s
senior year in high school that
his uncle, Alexander Jeffer
son, made the connection in
his book, “Red Tail Captured,
Red Tail Free: The Memoirs
of a Tuskegee Airman and
POW.”
Alexander Jefferson, who
attended Clark College before
The Havana Biennial is an
art exhibition that takes place
every two years and primarily
focuses on promoting third
world contemporary art. The
Havana Biennial is one of
the longest running biennials
with a concentration on art
from Africa, the Caribbean,
Latin America, Asia and an
abundance of projects by Cu
ban artists. Ever since its first
edition in 1984, the Biennial
has continued to flourish and
is still considered an impor
tant venue for underrepre
sented people.
Spelman’s Museum of Fine
Art will be presenting in co
hesion with The Contempo
rary Arts Museum Houston
at the Biennial. The team
will be presenting the exhibi
tion “Cinema Remixed & Re
loaded: Black Women Artists
and the Moving Image Since
1970.” The groundbreaking
it merged with Atlanta Uni
versity, is a national hero. The
former U.S. Air Force officer
was a part of the renowned,
Tuskegee Airmen. In the
opening pages of his book, he
explored the genealogy that
linked his family to More
house.
One day Jefferson received
a visit from his uncle. They
looked though the book and
exhibition chronicles the con
tribution that black women
have made and continue to
make to video art.
The exhibition is consid
ered to be the first collection
of almost 50 works by black
female artists who have pio
neered time-based media.
The exhibition presents 30
years of work by 40 women
artists from Australia to Ke
nya. Their work represents
an ongoing effort to examine
individual experience, evoke
familial and communal mem
ories, and challenge societal
conventions through the use
of the moving image within
cinematic and visual art.
Visual artists and experi
mental filmmakers included
in this survey are Ina Diane
Archer, Carroll Parrott Blue,
Maria Magdalena Campos-
Pons and Zoe Charlton. The
exhibition was nominated for
Jefferson learned about his
familial ties with a histori
cally black college in Atlanta.
But his mind was already set.
He wanted to accept a schol
arship offer from Michigan
State University.
“I wanted to be back home.
I didn’t want to be out of my
element,” Jefferson said. “It
was just close-minded think
ing.”
Although Jefferson was still
weary, his mother contacted
Morehouse and proved their
familial ties to White. Not
only was Jefferson accepted,
but he was also rewarded a
scholarship.
“I actually got my accep
tance letter on my birthday,”
Jefferson said as he reminisced
on the special moment. “My
mom brought it out with my
cake.”
Jefferson graduates in May
and he has no regrets.
“I knew after NSO week,
that I made the right deci
sion,” he said.
Jefferson would like to fol
low in his grandfather’s foot
steps and create a brand of
charter schools in Detroit
for middle school-aged black
males.
“Part of being a man of
Morehouse is you have to get
back,” Jefferson said. “My role
in giving back would be open
ing a school for young Afri
can-American boys.”
an Association of Internation
al Art Critic’s award in digital
media and video.
“This project proposes that
Black women video artists are
highly attuned to the broad
concept of social imaginaries
and for this reason often cre
ate works that are steeped in
collective histories and social
critique,” Valerie Cassel Oli
ver, senior curator at Contem
porary Arts Museum Hous
ton, said.
“The selected works un
derscore the reality that such
social constructs have the
potential to illicit swiff and
significant reactions,” Oliver
added.
The theme for this year’s
Havanna Biennial will be
“Artistic Practices and Social
Imaginaries.” The 11th Ha
vana Biennial will take place
from May 11 - June 11 in Ha
vana, Cuba.
Bryant Childs
Contributing Writer
BryantChilds@gmail.com
D uring Black History
Month, it is common
to hear about the same Black
leaders with little variation.
Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa
Parks, and Thurgood Mar
shall are all great Black lead
ers in history, but it is im
portant to seek out and learn
about those who also played
a vital role in African-Amer
ican history and are still
continuing to do so.
Louis O. Dore, a More
house graduate, became the
first Black lawyer to make
senior partner at a white law
firm in the state of South
Carolina. Dore’s long list of
amazing accomplishments
makes him a prime example
of what a Renaissance Man
is. During a sit-down con
versation with this dynamic
figure of history, it was evi
dent that Dore went above
and beyond the call of duty
to uplift his community, and
forced positive change in
American society.
His role in Black history is
important and should be ce
mented in the minds of all of
men of Morehouse who fol
low in his footsteps.
As a native of Beaufort,
S.C., Dore attended public
schools in Beaufort County
and graduated from Rob
ert Smalls High School with
honors. He is referred to as
an educator, businessman,
civic leader, lawyer, histo
rian, and politician. While
at Morehouse, Dore earned
a bachelor’s degree in busi
ness administration and was
involved in various campus
organizations including be
ing the President of the Chi
Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma
Fraternity.
After the Young Demo
crats was formed at More
house the organization im
mediately became involved
in community activities, and
supported and worked for
the election of blacks to the
State Legislature. Black poli
ticians such as Senator Leroy
Johnson and representatives
Benjamin Brown and Julian
Bond were among those the
organization supported and
actively worked for.
They were among the
first blacks in Georgia to be
elected to the Legislature
since the reconstruction.
This was the beginning
of a movement on college
campuses to get students
involved in “off-campus”
community building.
Dore entered Law school
at the University of Georgia
in 1970 as a Herbert Lehman
Scholar. During his time at
UGA, Dore became a mem
ber of the Honor Court and
Phi Alpha Delta Law Frater
nity. Dore broke new ground
in 1976 when he was elected
chairman of the Beaufort
County Democratic Party.
In the same year, he was
elected to the State Demo
cratic Party Executive Coun
cil. Dore fought tirelessly
for single member districts,
which drastically increased
the number of Black-elect
ed officials statewide and at
every local level of govern
ment. In 1976, Dore joined
the law firm of Moss, Carter,
and Bailey and became the
first Black man to join and
become a senior partner at a
white law firm in the state of
South Carolina. He gained
prominence throughout the
entire state as an outstand
ing trial lawyer.
In 1991, Dore started
his own practice in Beau
fort and is now a managing
partner of Dore Law Firm, a
small family firm, where his
sons Anthony and Bertrand
also practice. Dore is a chief
litigator and is still actively
involved in civil jury tri
als. The law firm represents
clients in the areas of civil,
criminal, and domestic liti
gation.
Continuing to be involved
in civic activities, Dore has
served on a large number of
local and state boards and
commissions: including the
S.C. State Human Affairs
Commission, the Board of
Trustees of Benedict College
and Chairman of the South
Carolina State Board of Edu
cation. As Chairman of the
State Board of Education,
Dore worked closely with
the former South Carolina
Governor and Secretary of
the United States Depart
ment of Education Richard
Riley to get the legislature
to pass and fund the Edu
cation Improvement Act;
funded with a one-cent in
crease in the sales tax. The
Education Improvement Act
emphasized remedial educa
tion at all levels and for the
first time provided funding
for pre-school kindergarten
statewide.
During the conversation
with Dore, his face lit up
with happiness to learn that
the Young Democrats con
tinue to exist on the campus
today. He is a proud More
house graduate, and often
refers to what campus life
was like when he as a stu
dent in the 1960s by reciting
the benefits of mandatory
chapel attendance during
those days.
He is married to his wife
Vernita and has four chil
dren, Anthony, Bertrand,
Candace, and Angela, who
is currently a senior at Spel
man.
M
t
O
y
MAN OF THE YEAR
2012
coming soon.
Spelman’s Museum of Fine Art
Makes History
Recycle The Maroon Tiger