Newspaper Page Text
February, 1988 SPELMAN SPOTLIGHT • Page 5
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A.K.A. Congratulates Keisha McCullan.
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In November of 1987 the
ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha
Sorority, Inc., Mu Pi Chapter
sponsored as essay writing
contest. In an attempt to
make Spelman women aware
of what challenges are before
them, the topic “What do you
perceive the role of Black
women to be in the year of
2000?” was chosen. We
received many exeptional
essays. However, we could
only have one winner and
Keisha McCullan was the
person we chose. The
winning essay is printed
below for your enjoyment.
The state of being a woman
is truly a unique existence.
The term womanhood is not
only a classification—but an
essence. The experience of
women in the United States
and the experience of Black
women in particular, has
been one of continual compe
tition against White America
and Black men. More specifi
cally, the situation that faces
Black women in this country
is one of duality.
The present responsibility
of Black women in 1987
involves the maintenance of
traditions within the black
culture. A fundamental char
acteristic of Black people, for
example, has been one of
perseverance. Rooted in the
times of slavery, the ensuing
periods of desegregation, the
Equal Rights Movement of
the sixties, and the present
issues of 1987; the black
experience in America has
been a constant struggle—
and tradition. Perhaps, most
importantly, the responsi
bility of the Black woman in
Photo Opinion
Has the food in Alma
Upshaw improved since last
semester?
.Tracey j
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Texas,
No, I can’t say that it has.
The menu is very limited
with an abundance of pork
and beef. Because of this I
find myself eating elsewhere
and going into Alma’s for the
sole purpose of socializing
and interacting with my
Spelman sisters.
Dawne Mitchell
Senior
ATTENTION!!
If you are a student inter
ested in applying for a schol
arship sponsored by the
Army ROTC, the deadlines
are as follows:
Three year scholarships:
February 22, 1988
Please pick up an application
from the Army ROTC trailer
number one on Morehouse’s
campus or contact Napoleon
Wright, Prof. Military
Science at 681-2800.
No, I don’t feel that the food
has improved. It is still full of
starches and it is never prop
erly prepared. It is either
undercooked or overcooked.
Mary Brown
Sophomore
No, it hasn’t and I believe
the main problem is the lack
of knowledge in Alma’s when
it comes to creating a well
balanced meal.
Allyn Leftridge
Sophomore
the year 2000 will be one that
not only builds upon tradi
tion, but also promotes
progress.
To understand progress, it
must be viewed as change
over time. Progress, more
over, suggests a positive
change from a previous situ
ation. In short, the role of the
Black woman in the year
2000 should be one dedicated
to the improvement of her
capacity to achieve in society.
But how has progress for
Black women been accom
plished prior to 1987? In
order to formulate strategies
for ensuring progress in the
future, one must realize the
method used in the past to
achieve similar goals—that
of utilizing opportunities.
A clear indication of prog
ress emerges in the number
of opportunities available to
a particular group—oppor
tunities that were not avail
able in the past. The
professional fields, for
example, overflow with Black
women in positions of influ
ence and control that would
have been unheard of twenty
years ago. A Spelman grad
uate, for example, is
currently the Commissioner
of Health for the State of
Massachusetts. In addition,
the achievements of women
in presidential positions in
colleges, universities, and
corporations, attests to the
progress that Black women
have attained within the last
twenty years. The goals and
aspirations of the aforemen
tioned Black women would
have been little more than a
dream deffered in the 1960s.
Opportunity, evidently
necessitates progress.
Black people possess and
important responsibility to
themselves and to others to
continue the legacy that their
ancestors began. Such goals,
however, begin with the
“parts.” As an essential
element within Black
culture, Black women share
in this responsibility to
uphold tradition and to
promote progress. Purpose
and determination tran
scends time. The goals of
today are an extension of the
goals of yesterday and a
vision of the ones tomorrow.
Since progress and its attain
ment is a continual process,
so too has been, and will be,
the role of Black women in
the year 2000.
Writer Responds To Questions
When I wrote the article
about the male pervert that
bothered me while I was in
the library I was initially
hesitant because I did not
want to answer questions
about him. I felt that I would
be scrutinized. However, I
then told myself that
Spelman was different. This
is the place where I may
write whatever I feel and not
be criticized. I soon found out
that if there is one place I will
be scrutinized, questioned
insensibly and whispered,
about it would be here. As
soon as people read the
article I was asked over and
over to explain what
happened, how many times I
had seen him and just very
inquisitive (more positive
than nosy) questions. I
became annoyed at some
point and became a very diffi
cult person to talk to about
that particular article. I
decided to respond to these
inquisitive questions
through another article, so
that I would not lose any
friends.
What really annoyed me
about some of the responses
from the article were the
innuendos in the responses
that I in some way had some
thing to do with this perverts
twisted mentality. Well,
sisters and some brothers
you have attacked the wrong
Black woman. Those
innuendos need to be pointed
in another direction—not an
innocent bystander who
happened to accidentally
enter this perverts twisted
world by trying to study at
the library. I heard the age
old accusations that it was
my fault that this man found
me and chose me to attempt
to assault. I will tell you that
this man has also been seen
looking under another
females dress and exposing
himself to other women.
When are we going to rid
ourselves of the age old
mentality that the woman is
always doing something to
provoke a man to either rape
or assault her? I, especially,
want to talk to my sisters
because it is from them that
I received the most flack and
curious looks. I am a conserv
ative (attitude) young Black
woman majoring in Sociology.
I am not a flashy dresser. To
be perfectly honest I would
not term anything about me
provoking, except perhaps
my mind, something of which
the pervert had no contact
with. In response to the ques
tion, “why didn’t you do
something, like assault him
back?” I would like to say
that I am not by nature a
physically violent person. I
would also like to say that I
usually try to think a situa
tion through. Though I had
vowed to try and knock him
out, I realized that if this
person was strange enough to
expose himself he may be
crazy enough to carry a knife
or maybe even a gun. Person
ally, I would like to complete
the two years I have left here
at Spelman, get my law
degree and complete the rest
of my dreams, so I figured
one on one combat with this
lunatic would not be very
smart. Let me say that it is
always easy in retrospect to
say what could have been
done because hindsight is
always twenty-twenty,
however, when confronted
with a potentially dangerous
situation it is important to
try and remain calm and
rational which is what I tried
to do. Now maybe my reac
tions weren’t good enough for
you, and that is too bad,
because I did what I thought
(and still think) was right. I
did not provoke this man and
it must be remembered that
men who assault, rape or do
any other harm to women
have psychological and
emotional problems. These
problems stem from the
pervert.
It is also important to
understand that writing
about this was not the easiest
thing I have done. Granted,
some people may consider
this to be very major, but to
me, a conservative young
(con’t on pg. 8)