On Campus
Carmichael: He’s A Revolutionary
by Pamela Denise Moore
“Now, I must tell you that
I’m a revolutionary. I can’t lie
to you, I’m a revolutionary.
And as a revolutionary it
means that every second of my
life I work as hard as I can to
•tear down, to destroy, to com
pletely annihilate the
American capitalist system.”
This was one of Stokely
Carmichael’s opening
statements in his address
Thursday November 3 at
Sister’s Chapel. During the
sixties Stokely was active in
the Civil Rights movement as
a member of the Student Non-
Violent Coordinating Com
mittee (SNCC), the Black Pan
thers and various other
organizations. In 1968 he went
to Africa where he studied
under Nkruma. He returned to
the United States in 1971 to es
tablish a base for the All
African People’s
Revolutionary Party. It is this
cause that has emerged as the
dominant force in his life.
Carmichael’s rhetorical,
high strung and dramatic
style can easily lead one to
believe that his gift as a
speaker is extemporaneous
and disorganized. Quite the
contrary is true. Despite his
highly emotional style, his
speech was well organized.
He began by listing his
purposes which were to recruit
members for the party, to make
others more conscious of their Carmichael first concen-
responsibility to mankind and trated on the flaws of the
to get others to at least think. capitalist system. He
Stokely Carmichael, “You have a responsibility to the
suffering masses.”
contended that the American
capitalist system “dulls the
consciousness of the masses of
the people and lets them think
that they’re thinking when, in
fact, they’re not thinking.”
For example, he mentioned
that the majority of Americans
are against communism even
though most of them know
very little about communism.
Clearly the system is
backward was his comment,
because the purpose shouldbe
to find out all there is to know
about the enemy, so that one
can know when and how to
strike.
Continued on page 8
SPELMAN
THE VOICE
OF BLACK WOMANHOOD
SPOTLIGHT
Yol. 31 No. 4
Atlanta, Georgia
November 1977
Dr. Niara Sudarkasa Lectures At Spelman
by Malrey Head
“Unlike Western women
who are concerned with
domination, African women
are concerned with restoring
unity to the family and
preserving the family,” stated
anthropologist Niara
Sudarkasa, at Spelman
College on Nov. 4.
Dr. Sudakasa, professor of
anthropology, spoke at the
fourth international forum on
the Changing Roles of Women
in Africa.
In her lecture, Dr. Sudarkasa
spoke of the period of
traditional Africa. She said
that the women were “concep
tualized as wife, daughter and
sister. They were expected to
be progenitors. A woman
without children was the most
pitied in traditional Africa.”
“Staying in the home did not
make a woman less pres
tigious,” said Dr. Sudarkasa.
She said that men and
women were basically equal on
all levels. There was no
superiority of one sex over the
other.
“There was equal access
with men to the opportunity
structure,” she said.
During the colonialization
period of the late 1800s and the
early 1900s this system
changed. The system was
conceptualized by economics
and the exportation of con
sumer goods. Europeans came
and bought the crafts and took
them to Europe to copy,” she
said. “
At this time there was a
period of male migration of
labor from the homes.
“Women now assumed the res
ponsibility of all roles. They
brought up the children and
cleared the land,” she said.
With the entering of the
Europeans, roles and equality
changed. Positions of
authority were given to men.
Women were looked down
upon.
Dr. Sudarkasa said that
after the countries gained their
independence, little changed.
“Most rules of the (European)
regime remained.”
“Women’s solidarity groups
formed. Academic women
organized. There was no
concept of antagonism. The
family was still important.”
After her lecture, Dr.
Sudarkasa answered ques
tions.
Q. In traditional Africa men
were allowed to have many
wives. How is poligamy han
dled today?
A. First of all, there are two
Dr. Donald M. Stewart,
president, Spelman College,
has been elected a member of
the National Academy of
Public Administration in
recognition of his achievement
is a scholar in the field of
public administration. News
of his election was received
from Frederic N. Cleaveland,
chairman of the National
Academy.
The strength of the
Academy resides in the
competence and expertise of its
members and their informed
judgment about government
and public administration,
and the goals of the Academy
are dependent upon the direct
involvement of its members in
the program through service
on study panels and
participation in the collegial
marriage systems. In the
system that follows the
Western idea, there is only one
wife. This is marriage ac
cording to the Civil Code. In
the traditional method, the
Islamic law prevails. In this
Continued on page 5
activities initiated on behalf of
the Academy by its Board of
Trustees. Each year the
Academy members elect ad
ditional persons to
membership; this year,
twenty-four members were
elected, including Dr. Stewart,
bringing the active
membership of the Academy to
233.
Dr. Stewart received his
Master’s and Doctor of Public
Administration degrees from
Harvard University in 1969
and 1975, respectively, and as
sumed the presidency of
Spelman College in August,
1976. He was formerly As
sociate Dean, Faculty of Arts
and Sciences, Director, College
of General Studies,, and
Counselor to the Provost at the
University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Albert E. Manley, former president of Spelman
College, became Spelman’s guest as a speaker for the
International Forum Series. Dr. Manley presented a
lecture on the educational advancement of the
People’s Republic of China today. He said that he
was very impressed by the government schools
which, he said, are after more than assimilation of
one cultx\re into another, but seek to take the best of
both cultures in order that identities may be main
tained.
Dr. Stewart
Elected To Academy
