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Page 8 - Spelman Spotlight
Wall of Respect
world Ms. Parks has this to
say: “You have the same tlents
and abilities as those of men.”
She continued, “Although
there are very negative at
titude towards artists,
particularly female artists,
this is something that we must
not let discourage us from
creating beautiful work — and
the discouragement is out
there because I have
experienced it many many
times.”
Ms. Parks explained that
there were several people
whom she met this past
summer, particularly men,
who had very negative at
titudes towards artists.
“They expected me to have
low moral standards in the
way that I governed myself,
low moral values.” Ms. Parks
revealed, “That was my first
time being exposed to that type
of thing, I had no idea that
artists had such bad
reputations.”
Ms. Parks describes herself
as being a basically quiet
person, and told our reporter
that she speaks more now than
she ever has before. She
laughed when she said,
“Sometimes I tell people that I
just started talking two years
ago.”
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Black Men and Women
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put people of equal importance
on the wall.”
All types of people, from
winos on up to professionals
would come out to talk to the
artist as they worked, this was
often in temperatures of 9(
degrees and higher. Some ol
the people came out with their
lunches. One woman, a poetess
by the name of Kanita Poet,
was so inspired by what she
saw that she extemporaneosly
wrote a poem about the mural
entitled “Wall of Respect. "The
artist previously named the
mural “Panels of Black”
because the mural covers eight
panels. “The poem sized up
what the wall represented so
well.” exclaimed Ms. Parks.
Of the many comments
made about the wall, two stand
firm in her mind. “One was
from the mayor (Maynard
Jackson) who said, Tve been
to many different cities and
Pve seen many different
murals, but this is a mural’!”
Ms. Parks laughs when she
recalls the second comment,
“A girlfriend of mine went by
and saw the mural and came
back and said, ‘It looks like a
chandelier in a shack.’ I guess
she meant that the buildings
around were pretty old.”
Some people just couldn’t
fathom a woman, a female,
doing what Ms. Parks was
doing.
“Sometimes the other two
would leave and I’d be the only
one out there and someone
would say ‘Well where’s the
artist?’ ‘You’re doing this?’
‘You’re painting this?’ I didn’t
let it bother me a whole lot, I
would just tell them, yes, I’m
the artist, I’m just as dedicated
as the other two artists in
volved.”
Some people, black and
white, wondered about the
presence of Egypt’s pharoah,
King Tut, who was a part of the
mural representing the past.
“One evening when we were
just about finished (they
worked eight hours a week for
two months) the mayor came
by with his kids. He knew
about the mural before hand
and was present at the “Sweet
Auburn” festival.
He explained to his kids
about the different people in
the mural and went pretty in
depth into what King Tut
meant in relation to the rest of
the wall. Many people try to
link Egypt with western
civilization. They say that
Africa was no match to
Egypt’s wisdom and
technology. But Egypt was
then and still is a part of
Africa, our roots, not theirs.”
Mrs. Parks, who hails from
Chamblee Georgia, a suburb of
Atlanta, says that she has
been interested in art since her
childhood and has been pain
ting seriously since the 11th
grade. Although Ms. Parks
had never painted anything as
large as the mural, she says
that she had no problems and
had a lot of room to let her
creativity flow. She plans to
become a top fashion designer
upon graduation. She em
phasizes the word “top.”
To the female artists of the
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man wants to talk to a
particular woman, he does not
come out with it and she
doesn’t respond. It is a two way
thing. She may want to talk to
him also but won’t because he
did make himself clear.”
AU student and Spelman
alumna, Sheila Johnson
expressed the problem as the
result of two conditions. One
was the economic situation.
“We have to worry about
external factors. How can
black men and women develop
interpersonal relationships on
a higher level when they have
to deal with such humiliating,
degrading and primitive
circumstances in society.
Students do not escape these
factors. They have to deal with
financing a college education
and living expenses that may
cause uncertainity, which
often leads to bitterness.”
She went on to say, “The
economic problem in our
society leads to the problem of
sexism. When one person does
not look at the other person as
an equally intelligent and feel
ing person, you have problem
arising.”
Dwayne Heard, senior
economics major at Morehouse
College, said the problem on
the AU campus was because of
“insecurity and immaturity on
both parts.”
Gonzelous Nimmons Jr.,
political science major, hinted
at a sexual problem between
black men and black women.
He contends that blacks are
inhibited towards sex because
of moral values in black
society and it causes a problem
with their relationships.
Carl Muchison, engineering
student, attributes the problem
between the sexes to the
materialistic values of black
women. “For instance, a
young black woman may not
respond to a young black man
because of his clothes.”
Glenda Johnson, a Spelman
English major, blames the
problem on the black men’s
selfishness. “A woman will
give all of herself without a
second thought. Men are
selfish in their giving.”
Barbara Mahone, political
science major at Spelman, also
blames the problem on men.
“There is a lack of com
munication on the man’s part
because he does not want you
to know where he’s coming
from.”
From the answers received,
there were several reasons at
tributed to the problem
between black men and black
women. External forces such
as the job market and
economic problems, as well as
internal forces were seen as
basic causes for the rift
between the sexes. On some
replies, there was the idea that
men were less feeling and more
insensitive than women.
Women were sometimes seen
as being materialistic. All
seemed to agree that there was
a basic problem of honesty.
But as one reply pointed out,
there is a feeling of insecurity
i.e. the fear of being rejected
that makes it difficult to be
honest.
Not everyone saw the
problem in terms of a black
one, but most agreed that be
ing black added another
element to a universal
problem. There were also
specific problems of students.
These included, the problems
of dealing with school work
and a mate, financing a college
education and deciding what
personal future plans one
would make.
The problem has not gone
unnoticed by the AU
academia. For example, under
the auspices of the Psychology
NBSA
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the rest of the community,” he
said.
A good communication
system would provide the foun
dation for external support
among students across the
country, Owusu said. If
something is happening in
North Carolina, students in
California can respond with
support. No one will be
isolated.
“The standard press does
not report the involvement of
the Black student movement.
But something is happening
and there is a need to revive
Black student involvement
more in the affairs that affect
all of our lives,” Brother
Owusu explained.
Consequently, plans for the
next work conference are
underway. This National
Planning Conference will be
held October 29-31. The ten
tative site of the conference is
Dean Sage Hall. NBSA
members will conduct
workshops in organizational
development, prisoner sup
port, and financial
development.
Folks interested in helping
with conference developments
in the areas of publicity, fund
raising, letter stuffing, etc.,
should call Brother Owusu:
524-8086.
A summary of the workshop
proposals drawn up at the
Regional conference may be
obtained by writing NBSA, ad
dress: P.O. Box 92001 Atlanta,
Georgia 30314. Conference
reports complete with detailed
minutes may be purchased for
$1.00 (printing cost).
department at Morehouse,
there is a course offered that
probes into the issue. The
course, Relations Between
the Sexes, first started four
years ago. Dr. Roseman, as-
sociate professor of
psychology at Morehouse,
instructs the course and adds,
“It is my favorite one.”
Dr. Roseman sums up the
problem in one word, “com
munication.” He added,
“Basically when people get to
know each other, they like
each other.”
Although the class does not
specifically address itself to
the problems of black men and
black women relationships,
the students talk about their
specific relationships. The
class meets once a week in a
seminar format. From review
ing the student evaluatons of
the course, most students
thought it was their most
relevant course. However the
class is open only to
psychology majors.
The next issue of the
SPOTLIGHT will continue the
survey and will hopefully
provide some insight into what
can be done to help solve the
problem