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Spelman Spotlight Page 2
Jumping the Generation Gap
By Jocelyn Coleman
Editor-in-Chief
Where would some of us be
without family? How far have some of
us come without any family support at
all?
Fortunately, I am one of the lucky
ones. The Coleman family has been the
most positive influence in my life.
I am sure I am not alone when I
admit that sometimes tears come to my
eyes when I think about how much my
family members mean to me.
It’s really comforting to know that
there are people in this world who love
you unconditionally.
However, I must admit that
recently I’ve grown a lot closer to
some particular members of my family
- my grandparents.
This Christmas I took a break
from the usual "old hangout drop-ins"
and chillin’ with the high school crew
to spend a week with my father’s
parents.
This idea hit me during a
meditation at the end of the semester
when Spelman sisters were sharing a
lot of the pain they had to endure
within their family structure.
I thought about how grateful I was
to have such a positive family and how
I really had not spent that much time
with my grandparents, especially since
I was working far away the entire
summer.
So I packed up some graduate
school applications, a list of letters to
be written, a draft of a T.V. script and
a journal I planned to begin and
headed for my grandparents’ house less
than an hour away.
My grandparents are real busy still
working side-by-side well past the
retirement age. They are the two most
generous people I’ve ever met and I
truly adore the loving relationship they
share going on 50 years of marriage.
Little did I know that I would be
too engrossed in my grandparents’ daily
rituals of living life to the fullest to
even touch my load of busy work.
We got up every morning to one
of Grandma’s hearty breakfasts and
talked about this and that until The
Price Is Right came on T.V. We
shopped for gifts, scoured the town for
the perfect poinsettias for neighbors
and put new tires on the Chrysler.
Then it was time for dinner, the news
and small talk until we all went to bed
a lot earlier than my usual time.
It was really refreshing to have in-
depth conversations with my elders.
Their insight on the topics we
discussed were golden and enlightening.
Listening to my grandmother lay
down some laws on handling
relationships was a revelation in itself.
History really does repeat itself. Men
haven’t changed a bit and her advice is
priceless.
Granddaddy reminded me to take
care of my mental well-being which is
something that many college students
tend to ignore. Whenever I am getting
too stressed out I hear Granddaddy’s
words of wisdom ringing in my head
and I adjust my schedule for some
sleep.
The highlight occured in the
middle of the week when it donned on
me that.../ was actually CHILLIN’ with
my grandparents!.
It was relaxing, it was educational
and it gave me an opportunity to see
why my Dad developed into such a
strong man.
I can honestly say that getting to
know my grandparents on the cool tip
was one of the most exciting weeks of
my life.
We laughed, we talked and most
of all, we explored the sides of
ourselves we never got to see between
Christmas trees, holiday get-togethers
and Sunday afternoon dinners.
This special time gave me even
more reason to feel so extremely
blessed to have a pair of God’s angels
as grandparents. . . and friends.
The War. . .In The Gulf?
Know The Facts
By Kimberley A. Suber
My people, so you know what’s
going on?
My people, where are your brothers
and why are they gone?
My people, did you know that
there has been a war declared on us?
No, it’s not a new war, nor a
separate war - it’s the same war we’ve
been reading about since Jan. 15, 1991
- the war in the Gulf. Did you believe
that it was "America v. Hussein"?
That is what the media would love for
you to believe, but please - think
again.
This war has nothing to do with
oil. America only gets approximately
6% of its oil from Kuwait.
Kuwait is Japan’s main source of
oil. . . So why aren’t they militarily
engaged in this war? The answer is
simple: America de-militarized Japan
in order to keep the Japanese in
military control; so no matter how
technologically advanced they become,
America retains the capacity to destroy
them. My people, America knows
what it is doing; everything is a means
to an end.
The issue here, is that of control.
If Hussein controls Kuwait (which is
rightfully his historically), then he
gains enormous p^wer. This is a
threat to the white collective powers
economically. To the white collective
powers, a man of color in control is
no only an economical scare, but an
egotistical scare as well.
The objective of the war is to let
people of color know, point blank:
When people of color step out of line
(strive for power and/or economic
equality), whites will not only
themselves make military moves to
destroy us, but will (in this case
especially) recruit other people of color
and TOGETHER will TOTALLY
annihilate us and our colored
adversaries. Make no mistake -
America knows exactly what it is
doing.
America has a past history of
exerting random, unnecessary military
force on people of color (i.e.
Hiroshima, Vietnam and - let us not
forget - Panama). In Panama, not 300
(as reported by American media), but
3,000 Panamanians were killed in the
search for one man - Manuel Noriega.
Ironically, the American press
neglected to inform us that Noriega
was recruited by the United States at
the age of 16, trained by the CIA and
put into power when their president
was "mysteriously" killed in a plane
crash. America created and
empowered him. . . my people,
America knows exactly what it is
doing.
America makes two claims that
seem to have nothing to do with each
other: (a) America is a Christian
country, and (b) Hussein is literally
crazy.
In the Middle East, there is no
separation of church and state, so
killing in the name of Allah is not
crazy; it’s an acceptable circumstance
of life. Here, our Christian "Ibou
shalt not kill" government has
hypocritically issued the order to
remove Hussein at all costs. Our
"Thou shalt not kill” government has
even gone so far as to threaten nuclear
warfare.
Now WHO’S crazy?
My people, America knows what it
is doing; and by painting the picture of
Hussein being "crazy," America has
gained enormous financial, military and
moral support.
There is so much more to look at:
the mysterious rise in military
Continued on page 12
Spelm
an Spotlight
STAFF
Editor-in-Chief
Jocelyn Coleman
Associate Editor
Raye John Belcher
Co-Photo Editors
Karen Neely
Diana Dismus
Advertising Director
Camille Saunders
Classified Ad Manager
Renee Ross
Business Managers
Michelle Tibbs
Office Managers
Geronda Carter
Donnica Gordon
Daphne Walker
Staff Advisor
Joi Bostic
Section Editors
Copy Editor
Ladonya Massie
Art Director
Aurellia James
Arts and Entertainment Editor
Allegra Lawrence
Sports Editor
Angela Fry
Campus News Editor
Riche Richardson
Expressions Editor
Shana Tyree
Local News Editor
Nicole Williams
Layout Editor
Elisa Smith
The Spelman Spotlight welcomes letters to the editor, artwork and
submissions to Expressions. Editorial opinions expressed on these
pages do not necessarily represent the editorial position of the
Spotlight. All submissions will be considered for publication as
space permits. Submissions should be sent through Campus Mail
via P.O. Box 1234.