The Spelman spotlight. (Atlanta , Georgia) 1957-1980, February 01, 1979, Image 2

The Spelman spotlight., February 01, 1979, Image 2

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Newspaper Page TextPage 2 - Spelman Spotlight THE VOICE OF BLACK WOMANHOOD Editor-In-Chief — Avy D. Long Associate Editor — Malrey Head Reporters Sheron Covington Pamela Johnson Daisy Minter Adele S. Newson Shelia Poole Valita Sellers Nancy K. West Donna Williams Dorothy Williams Contributing Writers Lauri M. Sanders Roionda G. Watts Artist Roionda G. Watts Advisor Christopher Reynolds Lack of Leadership Threatens Black Survival Bv Avy D. Long This is the time of year that has been set aside to commemorate and celebrate the heroic deeds of various black leaders in our past. If this special recognition were geared toward contemporary black leaders, there would be no need for celebration. There seems to be a general mood of disappointment today toward black leaders. The reason is - generally explained as the absence of the type of leadership that is conducive to developing the black race. Many , of our black leaders have been criticized for perpetuat ing the slave mentality that has divided this race for centuries. This mentality is manifested through the act of no longer identifying with the members of one’s own race but identifying with the oppressor. The historical significance of identifying with the oppressor has been survival. The more we looked like and acted like the oppressor the more likely he would be to accept us. Acceptance meant peace of mind from the raft of the KKK, food, clothes and shelter — in other words, security. This type of behavior as well as its motives can be more clearly discerned by observing blacks during slavery. Today it still exists but in a camou flaged and more sophisticated form. At some point we all have to answer that classic question: Should 1 risk food, clothes, and shelter in order to fight for dignity and truth; or, do 1 compromise dig nity and truth in order to feel secure in my physical environment. The pages of our history are filled with examples of heroic blacks who have dared to risk their lives in order to prove that there are factors more crucial to the well being of a people than food, clothes, and shelter. These other factors fall into the category of freedom, truth and dignity. Unfor tunately, this decade has not impressed us with any leaders who possess the courage or chrisma to uphold these principles. Today it appears as if our leaders have lost touch with these higher realities. They seem to have forgot ten that black people’s loyalty to these values in the past has been responsible for any progress we might witness today. It is no longer the white man who is a threat to our survival; we are our own threat. Ten or twenty years from now (if that long) when there are no more black elected officials, no more black Supreme ( ourt justices, and no more black students in predominantly white universities, we will have only our selves and our leaders to blame. Media Reactions To Jonestown By Manning Marable The first decomposed bodies had barely arrived at the U.S. Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, when journalists began to analyze the reasons for the Jonestown, Guyana massacre. Over 900 men, women and children, the majority of whom were black, either com mitted suicide or were killed on the order of the Reverend Jim Jones, formerly of San Francisco. The most newsworthy event of this, or any year, has unfortunately failed to generate any critique which beg ins to explain the reasons for the Peoples’ Temple murders. These sad and tragic events have generated a rash of popular jour nalistic accounts which scavenge the remains of the battlefield. Less than two weeks after the murder of Representative Leo Ryan and the mass suicides, two paperback accounts are already in mass circu lation. “Guyana Massacre-The Eyewitness Account,” was written by Washinton Post reporter Cha rles A. Krause, with the assistance of two Post editors San Francisco Chronical reporter Ron Jarvers dictated “The Suicide Cult” from his hospital bed, recovering from gunshot wounds. CBS plans to air a documentary, and the other net works are investigating the possi bilities of a made-for-television movie on Jonestown. Publishing company G. P. Putnam’s Sons has plans lor a hardback volume on Jones. One of the standard interpreta tions seized by most journalists has been isolated on the theme of “cults.” News items about all the other publicized religious cults found their way again into the newspapers. In Oregon, for exam ple, a dress-alike couple calling themselves “Him and Her" per suaded dozens of people to sur render their worldly possessions and to pray for a rendevous with a space ship, which would transport the group beyond our galaxy. In Maine, reporters pointed out, two pastors of the Body of Christ Church were arrested for severely beating a cocktail waitress—they claimed that they were attempting to drive devils out of her body. We were reminded repeatedly, of course, of the ubiquitous “Hare Krishna” youth, who seemingly outnumber the passengers at most airports. By emphasizing the “cul- tish” aspects of the Peoples’ Tem ple, journalists could skirt pivotal questions generated by the incident—namely, what did the Peoples’ Temple represent within the context of Black culture and Black urban politics? What was the ideological persuasion of Jim Jones’ theology that would force so many Black men and women to slaughter their children and then commit suicide? A second popular explanation used by the cold warriors of the American media was the fact that Jones claimed to be a “socialist.” “The church was just a front for the socialist movement,” stated Michael Prokes, a former televi sion journalist and Peoples’ Tem ple member. True, Jones was fascinated with the ideal of socialism—the promise for eco nomic equality for all individuals. In Guyana, Jones’ assistants met Feodor Timofeyev, the press att ache at the Soviet Embassy, to the Soviet Union. The camp main tained a small library with a number of books on Communism. Yet hidden from most of the front pages were the real political connections of Jones. Contrary to his so-called “Marxist” image, Jones was just another element of the Bay Area’s liberal political establishment. A decade ago, Jones was active in progressive political activities, such as organiz ing on behalf of Angela Davis. But interestingly, as Jones himself became more paranoid and terro rized his followers sexually, he became an avid member of the pol itical establishment. In 1975, he delivered several thousand votes which allowed liberal Democrat George Moscone to win the San Francisco mayoralty race. Gover nor Jerry Brown visited the Peo ples’ Temple and courted Jones for his support. In 1976, Walter Mon dale asked the good Reverend to visit with him on his private air plane. Even Rosalynn Carter dined with Jones at the Stanford Court Hotel, and wrote to him later that “(she) enjoyed being with you dur ing the campaign.” In the end, Jones’ socialism was only similar to the “National Socialism” of Hitler of the socialist demagoguery of a Mussolini: both were pro foundly irrational, antihumanist and politically opportunistic. There were as many theories for the massacre in the Black com munity as there were estimates for the number of people who were slaughtered. George Robinson, the black author of Metanoia Conver sion, insisted that “the tragedy in Guyana is an example of how ignorant blacks worship and the slave mentality of blacks where as they’ll do anything the white man says....” Robinson argued in a speech at the Guiding Light Bible Center in Atlanta last month that the suicides "can happen again to blacks in America because religion is the haven for theft, rape, corrup tion, exploitation and murde- r...and (because) whites copy doctrines and methods used by blacks like Father Divine to mis use blacks.” In a similar vein, some Black intellectuals point out that the peculiar, transient cultural terrain of California’s black community was the pivotal contributing fac tor. Columbia University anthro pologist Elliott Skinner states that California blacks “don’t have roots to church structures...so (they) get carried away as whites." black followers of Jones were “Looking for a messiah (and) a New Jerusalem.” In the San Francisco Bay Area, many black community leaders and elected officials were forced to account for their longstanding sup port of the Peoples’ Temple and its leader. The Reverend Ceil Willi ams, pastor of San Francisco’s Glide Memorial Church, justified many of the previous activities of the biracial congregation. “Any evangelist who comes to San Fran cisco and tells people he’s going to take care of their ills is bound to draw a full house,” he stated to the Sacremento Observer. Jones and his congregation ran a nursery school, provided medical care for the sick and had lodgings for the continued on page 3 Too Little Emphasis On Black History by Malrey Head As bebruary approaches, people begin to think about black history and put a little emphasis on black achievements. In the early part of the decade there was a cry for black history courses in the schools. As a result of this cry, numerous Afro- American Studies programs were instituted; but with the dying cry, so died these programs. At black institutions, such as those in the Atlanta University Center, it seems odd that this would happen. It could have been the fault of the administrators, the dying interest of students or both. But whatever the reason, it should not have happened. There are, within the Center, a few courses under history or Eng lish that are black courses. How ever these courses are not taught every semester and few students, other than those declaring that particular major, take or have the opportunity to participate in these courses. A better solution would be for teachers to put some emphasis on black contributions along the specific courses. Few teachers, in disciplines where it’s possible, teach with emphasis on the black side. Classes do not have to be greatly altered to put emphasis on blackness. Major concepts or theories in courses such as sociology or political science can be taught and specifics or examples could be used to show the black element, black contribu tions, etc. Students should also take more of an interest. If students had remained interested in the past, most black studies programs would not have been removed. As Black History Month approaches and leaves, try not to forget that black history does not have to be learned one month or in just one course. Everyone must do ner part, in and out ol the class room, to promote black history.