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Spelman Spotlight
February 1982
Africa Needs Aid From America
by Dr. JAMES H. MEREDITH
The goal of black people in the
1980's should be:
•to lay the groundwork for the
attainment of total freedom, and
•to accept complete respon
sibility for determining the fate
of their own future.
American blacks in particular
must come to realize how rich
they are compared to other
black people of the world. They
must accept the responsibility of
helping other blacks to enjoy a
higher standard of living.
Every group of Americans
except black Americans look out
for the interest of the people of
their homeland. The American
blacks must do the some for
Africa. Every time an African
child dies because he doesn't
have proper food to eat, a little
piece of the American black's
soul dies too.
The following figures and facts
are from the annual report of the
Agency for International
Development (AID) submitted
to Congress last month. AID is
the largest U.S. agency working
for black Africa. It has offices in
every black African country.
Among its findings:
•The quality of life in black
Africa remains the world’s
lowest. The food produced for
each black African is now declin
ing by 1.4 percent each year.
•The average daily nutrition
for a black African is 1,590
calories and 55 protein grams.
Thisismuch lessthan halfthatfor
an average American.
•Life expectancy averages 43
years, compared to 71 years in
the United States.
•Eighty percent of all Africans
are illiterate; the same percen
tage has no access to health
services of any kind.
•The transportation system is
inadequate to get agricultural
and social services to the people
or to get food to the markets.
The AID report also said Africa
has great potential for water and
land development. According to
the report, if Africa gets help, it
could increase grain yields by the
year 2000 by 25 million tons.
Of course, I have seen with my
own eyes what AID was telling
Congress. I have seen half of the
people starving slowly to death. I
have seen people dying because
they could not get simple
medicine that would not cost a
dollar in the United States.
The world is divided into so-
called developed countries,
developing countries, and un
developed countries. All un
developed countries are black.
Sonce the end of World War 11,
all focus has been on developing
the undeveloped and un
derdeveloped countries. There
has been little development.
I have studied the situation for
several years. My conclusion is
that there is only one group of
people who is capable of bring
ing about speedy development
of the continent of Africa. That
group is American blacks.
Africans do not have technical
know-how. Black Americans do,
and they have the resources—
technology, education, and
money. They have everything to
gain by using their knowledge
and resources to develop Africa.
No black person will ever be
completely free anywhere in the
world until black people are free
somewhere in the world. Africa
is the only place where it is
possible for any black to become
free.
Black people outside the con
tinent of Africa must come to
know that they will never be free
until Africa is free.
By the same token, black
Africans must realize that they
will never be free without the
black people who live outside
the continent of Africa.
In our time of weakness, the
black race was divided,
separated, and split apart. We
must be made whole again. The
family must be reunited.
There is a legend existing
among the masses of people in
black Africa. It says that the lost
children will return one day and
save the people.
The day has come for the
reunification of black people.
This must be our main goal. All of
the children— black
Americans—-have been found.
The wheel of the black race must
be put back together so it can
roll.
The development of Africa
and the reunification of black
people is one and the same. The
lost children have everything
that Africa needs in order to
develop. Africa is the only hope
for the vindication of black peo
ple.
Dr. lames H. Meredith was the
first black to enroll and graduate
from the University of Mississip
pi.
We Are Our
Responsibility
by Lisha B. Brown
Associate Editor
There is a sense of individuality
infiltrating our Black culture that
is pulling us farther apart every
day. I hear cries for unity among
Blacks, unity among the A.U.
Center institutions, sisterhood
among Spelmanites, understan
ding between Black males and
females. But I also hear, “Eley,
that’s not my problem," or “That
sounds like a personal problem
to me: I can’t (won’t) deal."
These are not the sounds of
hypocrisy among Black people;
they are sounds of emotional
confusion produced by a
cultural conflict that is plaguing
today’s Blacks. We cry for unity
because it is in our hearts. We
need to be together; we thrive
on the closeness that comes with
being Black. Unity is an innate
characteristic of our culture-of
our people. But it conflicts with
the ideology of the dominate
culture in our American society.
We are torn between what we
feel in our hearts and what
society tells us is right. We are
told "It’s your thing, do what
YOU wanna do.” We hearothers
say, “Hey, I’ve got mine. Now
you get yours.” But we must
abandon this individualistic way
of thinking. This sense of “me-
ness” is infiltrating our culture
and gradually destroying the
sense of "we-ness” that has kept
our people together in Africa,
throughout slavery and the
movement in the 60’s.
We are not an individualistic
culture, but we are very con
fused. We can not see that the
constant thought of “me” or “I”
is a device to increase the
division among us. It is defined as
healthy competition; and of
course our country loves to be
highly competitive in all it does.
However, this unnaturally high
level of competition does not
allow any form of unity. It does
create alienation from others,
loneliness, and emotional
depression. If we continueadop-
ting this sense of individuality
and irresponsibility for one
another we will always feel weak,
insecure, and susceptible to any
injustices society wishes to throw
upon us.
Being Black has always meant
looking out for one another. We
must realize that this concept of
“me-ness” is dangerous to our
culture. We must strive for the
progress of our people. While
we grow to improve ourselves,
we must be sure that self-
improvement is beneficial to us
all.
We can't afford not to care
about what is happening to our
people in Africa, in Haiti, in
America, within the Atlanta
University Center, in our
neighborhoods, etc. Awareness
of ourselves, and ourtrue history
is essential. We must work to
bring about this unity we are
crying for. There are no heroes
for Black people; we only have
each other. And if we abandon
one another and refuse to be
responsible for ourselves, then
we as a culture are lost.
Editor-In-Chief
Bridgett M. Davis
Photography Editor
Melvin Jones
Associate Editor
Lisha B. Brown
Circulation Manager
Glenda Patterson
Reporters
Nancy Bowman
Eric Brown
Managing Editor
Susan Hart
Business Manager
Denise Reynolds
Rosalyn Carey
Dawn Dickerson
Veronica Green
Office Manager
Carla Thomas
News Editors
Karen Burroughs
Copy Editors
Ronda Killens
Glenda Patterson
Layout Editor
Kimberly Harding
Lisa Hobbs
Angela Jackson
Sharon Jones
Valerie ^ette
Carolyn Robinson
Lynne Shipley
Spotlight Advisor
Features Editors
Judy Gegree-Hewitt
Lisa Turner
Tony Magby
Art Editor
Debra Johnson
Special Features Editors
Angela Moore
Diane Moss
Health Editor
Carla Johnson
Artists
Luis Davway
Rita Lewis
Russell Watts
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.