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t ||k£ •- - • 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 Continued on page 8