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December 1981 Spelman Spotlight Holidays A Time Of Refreshment rejuvenation Christmas Prayer For Black People Page 2 by Stephanie Greene Contributing Writer The flame is just about flickered out for the fall semester of 1981. For many of us, the time has flown by. For others of us, time has only crept. We’ve gone from the hot days of September registration, getting settled in new classes, and adjusting to new instructors; to homecoming and the many festivities surroun ding that event. Finally, we face the onset of final exams. In just a few days, we will be heading home to be with family and friends for the holidays. I, just as you, want this to be a happy and joyous time. Being so, I think one of the best ways to make the holidays more special is to leave our academic en vironments with good and positive thoughts, whether or not we have considered the past months to be ones of fond remembrance. After all, we made it through in each of our own individual ways. Now that we are about to leave, we should take stock of ourselves by evaluating our priorities, values, and beliefs. Then, placing this semester in the historical and significant past, we should return next semester with renewed energy and ambition. Positive attitudes should characterize our being. Lastly, let us try to return with a strong sisterly kinship toward each other. Sisterhood is what makes Spelman unique, and it has to be more than a word in order for Spelman to be that special place that we like to believe it is. The holidays are a time for refreshment and rejuvenation. Upon our return, we should be ready to start anew and give the best that we have to give, because anything less would be damaging to all those who have sacrificed in order for us to be here. Only one more thing to say, and that is ... have a great Christmas and fantastic Kwansa and New Year. by Dr. Manning Marable I believe in Black humankind — every man, woman and child of African descent that dwells on this earth. I stand in awe of our beauty and genius, our gift of song, our sciences and culture. Neither slavery nor capitalist oppression could destroy that special heritage, that challence of Blackness, which shall oneday rise up with the oppressed of other lands and inherit this turbulent world. I believe in Work — that collective act of creativity which moves mountains and builds cities. I believe that unemploy ment is a crime, and that all men and women should be provided the chance to learn productive skills, to enjoy the fruits of their labor, and to control the means of production that creates all wealth. I believe in Equality — that all human beings of all races and cultures were made alike in the possibility of development. I believe that the Black struggle in this nation cannot accept “equal opportunity” within an in- ANMHILATION OF 0LACK COLLEGE EDUCATION... tt - Looking * ‘81 By Lisha B. Brown Associate Editor The first semester has come to an end and everyone is looking forward to that long vacation. Christmas presents, home cook ing, and nights of constant partying are just waiting at home. Instructors are compiling those last exams and grading those final papers. And the students are cramming. (First they are cramming their minds for those finals; then they start cramming those suitcases to go home). Christmas is definitely the busiest time of the year. The holidays are so hectic that we can't even find time to reflect on our past few months together. As we race off to the airport, we are frantic because the plane leaves in twenty minutes and takes fifteen minutes to get there. Finally, there is time to breathe. This is the time each of us should take time to look back Back at At Spelman In Retrospect and measure ourselves. We go through the stages of being a freshman, sophomore, junior, and a senior. Supposedly, we encounter a growth — a mental growth within ourselves. As freshmen, we experience homesickness, some in dependence, initial interaction with other Black women on academic and social levels, and possibly even a first love. Our situations become more com plicated as we move on to become sophomores. Frustrations set in; and while homesickness becomes a familiar ache we have adjusted to, we encounter new ex periences that gradually change 1 our outlook on life. When our junior year rolls around it is more difficult to part with friends. We find love among our buddies, and home now has two meanings. Classes rack our minds, the men rock our worlds and the realities of life remind us that we are no longer children. Finally we become seniors, basking in theglory of achieving. Our minds are full of new knowledge, and our hearts are full of hope and enthusiasm. Yet, there is a reluctance to let go. Friends go far away and the pains of separation remind us of the day we left momma four years ago. We laugh and joke but the seriousness of our future straightens our smiles. The well wishes of those we love follow us, but we know it all rests totally upon us. Yet, we look back, reminding ourselves of the joys, the sadness, the sisterhood, and the love. And somehow along the way we learn to smile again. I sincerely wish all of my Spelman sisters a very safe and enjoyable holiday season. nerently unequal economic and political system. The demand for equality, defined as the principle of human fairness, must mean the construction of a sensible, deomocratic, economic alter native for U.S. society, which socializes the accumulation of capital and places the interests of people before profits. I believe injustice — that every citizen should have equal access to counsel, and be treated fairly in courts of law. I believe that the American legal system has all too often favored the affluent and powerful and systematically punished the Black, Brown and poor. I believe in the Prince of Peace. Wars of imperialism and aggression, waged by this nation and others, are nothing less than Murder. I believe that nuclear weapons must be outlawed in our generation, to permit the survival of the next generation. I believe in certain Inalienable Rights beyond "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” I believe in the right not to go hungry in a land of agricultural abundance; the right to decent be free at last. housing; the right to free, public medical care for all; the right to an adequate income in one’s old age. I believe in Education — that the greatest force of protest against the evils of racism and economic exploitation is knowledge. Every Black parent must spend as much time teaching his or her child as that child receives at school. Educa tion must become a tool for liberating our minds, bodies and communities. I believe in Sacrifice. We cannot all be wealthy. In an ideally democratic society, no one should have an income or an accumulation of wealth that he or she does not personally need, nor acquire the economic power to disrupt the lives and aspirations of others. We must give a portion of our personal income back to our Black com munities to build economical and social institutions. I believe in Freedom. In this society, freedom has meant the freedom of corporations to raise prices, the freedom of the wealthy to evade taxes, the freedom of the unemployed to dwell on the precipice of starva tion and desperation. I believe in the freedom to build a new society devoid of the darkness of blind bigotry; the freedom to work, play and live in neighborhoods without fear of police repression; the freedom to worship; the freedom to confront our own weaknesses with the courage of our Black elders; the freedom to resolve the political and social problems of today and set forth in the light of our heritage, to a new land of peace and productivity, racial equality and economic democracy. Only when these tasks are accomplished shall we Swhum Editor-In-Chief Photography Editor Bridgett M. Davis Whitney Young Associate Editor Co-Circulation Manager Reporters Lisha B. Brown Lillian Jackson Nancy Bowman Managing Editor Business Manager Carla Johnson Elena Jordan Susan Hart Denise Reynolds Valerie Peete Office Manager Copy Editors Carolyn Robinson Emily Patterson Carla Thomas Ronda Killens Yolanda Williamson Glenda Patterson Kimberly Harding News Editors Daphne Ward Karen Burroughs Diane Moss Layout Editor Veronica Green Lynne Shipley Spotlight Advisor Features Editors Judy Begre-Hewitt Lisa Turner Circulation Manager Tony Magby Valerie Pinckney Artist Special Features Editors Ruby Hall Debra Johnson Photographer Angela Moore Melvin Jones The Spelman Spotlight is a bi-monthly publication produced by and for the students of Spelman College. The Spotlight office is located in the Manley College Center, lower concourse, of Spelman College. Mail should be addressed to Box 50, Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia 30314. Telephone numbers are 525-1743.