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Three Months From the Centennial!
The Voice of Black Womanhood
Vol. XXIV, No. 4
Atlanta Georgia-Spelman College
February, 1981
Photo by Whitney Young
COMING:
FINANCIAL AID AWARENESS WEEK
February 9-13,1981
All necessary material such as:
• application
FAF
• Consumer Information, etc.
Will be available.
Location:
Upper Concourse in the Manley Center
Time:
10-12 a.m. and 2-4 p.m.
Remember now is the time to apply.
Do not wait until the last minute.
Ben Hooks Speaks
At Spelman
NAACP President Benjamin Hooks
warned students of dark days ahead
during his recent visit to the Spelman
College campus.
Speaking to a crowd of students in
Spelman’s Sisters Chapel, he stated that
“black peopel have not yet attained first
class citizenship” in spite of 200 years of
sweat, toil, and tears.
Hooks, guest speaker of Spelman’s
Jan. 22 Centennial Vesper Service, stated
that blacks constitute 10-11% of the
nation’s population but comprise less
than 2% of the country’s doctors, lawyers,
and dentists and less than 1% of the
country’s certified public accountants.
The black family income, he said, is
only 59% of the average white family
income, and black unemployment now
stands at 18% compared to 7% of the
general population.
“Blacks are still agitating, working, and
trying to achieve the goal of first class
citizenship,” said Hooks.
“1 would wish and hope that all of you,
he told the students, “would read and
know your history in order to have an
appreciation of where we are as a race.”
Hook attributed the problems of the
black community to racism and predicted
that young blacks will have a more
difficult time in the 80’s than was ever
expected in the 70’s.
“I’m worried about our young people,”
he said. “It seems there’s no fire in our
bellies, no commitment to the cause.
Where is the fire? Where is the purpose?”
he cried.
“Today,” he continued, “organizations
such as the NAACP and SCLC are
literally starved to death, and I wonder
how many of you have shared some of
your income?”
“Freedom,” he told the crowd, “is not
feee. You may not get all you pay for, but
you shall certainly pay for all you get.”
Students Respond To Ebony Article
By Torri C. Brown
Sr. Reporter
An article which appeared in the
January 1981 issue of Ebony magazine
entitled, “Do Black Women Set Their
Standards For Marriage Too High?”,
written by Chris Benson, has recently
sparked an enormous amount of
discussion among Spelman and
Morehouse students.
The article initially focuses on the
impressions of T.C., a bus company
supervisor, who stated that professional
Black women will not speak to him
because he wears a uniform while
working.
The article also focuses on questions
posed by Mr. Benson to a sociology class
at Spelman College concerning marriage
criteria set by Black college women.
Benson asked, “Is a man’s status really
important to a Black woman thinking
about marriage?” There was a resounding
“yes!” from the group.
Some of the reactions from students on
the campuses of Spelman and Morehouse
regarding Mr. Benson’s article are as
follows:
— Melvin Jenkins, Morehouse senior
“I agree with the Ebony article. When I
first transferred here, the women were not
friendly at all. I would say “hello” and
they would keep on walking like I never
saida word. It got to the point where I just
said to myself that I don’t need them, I’ll
just go about my business. If a brother
doesn’t have a car or looks like he has
some money or anything going for
himself, they won’t even bother with him.
All I can say is to each her own, because I
don’t even deal with sisters that are
material minded. If she can’t deal with me
for what I am, then she need not deal at
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