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Page 9 Spelman Spotlight, Atlanta, GA March 4,1993 CAMPUS NEWS Forum Raises The Issue Of Sisters In The Struggle By Regina Gaskins-Joyner AST Sisterhood sponsored a forum Feb. 23 entitled "Sisters in the Struggle" in the LLC-II auditorium. Five panelists covered such topic as "Sisters in the 19th Century," "Women Warriors in the AUC," "What We Should Do Now, New Womanism," "The Depression of the 70s," and "Personal Struggles." The forum began ceremoniously with libations in honor of African and African American ancestors. During libations many well known names were called out from the audience including Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Ida B. Wells; however, students did not name figures in their own family legacies. The woman performing libations noticed the occurrence and remarked that we often choose prominent historical figures to look up to when we can look around us or in our own families. One of the panelists, Spelman history professor Dr. Tiffany Patterson, gave an account of her personal history in the struggle against oppression and sexism. She recalled being an activist as early as age 13 and going on to graduate school only to find out that she had to work twice as hard as everyone else because of her race and gender. "Women could not compete intellectually but could compete in bed" in the eyes of men, she said. Nevertheless, Dr. Patterson recalled how she proved them wrong graduating with the highest grade point average (4.0) in her graduate program. She noted that surviving meant being willing to "pay the price" and sometimes that involved being alone and risking one’s health. This statement was one of many spoken by the panelists. They also spoke about courageous sisters struggling and surviving stress for the sake of self- determination as blacks and as women. Dorothy Naime, a professor at Clark-Atlanta University, briefly discussed courageous sisters in the 19th century who struggled for self- determination and equality. Many of the names she mentioned were not ones we would normally be able to find in history books. She described such women as Mary C. Coy who travelled extensively as a writer, nurse, and gold processor; Susie King Taylor who organized the first night school for adults; and Lucy Terry who fought for land rights. Msinghi, one of the 23 founders of AST, also gave a lesson on courageous sisters. Her talk hit very close to home. She gave accounts of women warriors of the five historically black colleges in the AUC during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. According to Msinghi, the first sit-ins began right here in the AUC with women like Carolyn Long, Mary A. Smith and Herschell Sullivan of Clark, Morris Brown and Spelman colleges respectively. "On March 15, 1960 Sullivan and Rose Ann Pope drafted ‘An Appeal to Human Rights,’" she said. It was a Declaration of Liberation. These women convinced Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. to participate in the sit-ins although he was on probation for other arrests. Women organized sit-ins and were among the 77 women arrested in the movement. "Women were beaten inside the jail as well as outside," Msinghi said. Given such possibilities these women sought out the help of faculty members such as Dr. Lois Moreland, Professor of Political Science here at Spelman. Dr. Moreland advised the women on their legal rights in case of arrest. Msinghi reiterated the point that few texts present the work of Black women but to counter this "we have to find evidence of these women playing a major part in the struggle." To another panelist, Animata Umoja, a teacher in Atlanta Public Schools and member of the New African Peoples Movement, sisters in the struggle did more than just change their names and wear African garb. "Black women were active in the fight for self-determination,." Umoja said. "We must govern ourselves. That’s self-determination." Umoja emphasized the need for us to continue to resist imperialism and sexual oppression. Her talk took a militant turn. She argued for land and independence, control of human resources, and a new African nation, instead of the "blood-sucking concept of imperialism." Umoja noted, however, that we cannot fight imperialism until we fight sexist oppression - the subjugation of women by men as the American way of patriarchy. The audience, predominantly female, became aroused and vocal during her talk clapping and shouting in approval. The panelist defined of a womanist theory by women and men. She said she prefers the new "womanist" term as opposed to the "feminist" one coined by many white women during the Women’s Movement of the 60s. The forum took somewhat of a curious turn as panelists shared differing opinions concerning the necessity of theory and the use of the word "feminism." Dr. Patterson explained that instead of doing away with the terms used to describe women, we must redefine them. Panelist Njere Alghanee, Program Director of the Georgia Hunger Coalition, argued that we must not get bogged down on defining terms and having word wars. She further acknowledged the need for us to put our ideas into action. "Now we must learn from the mistakes of the 60s and 70s... we must begin to pull all people in our communities together including the homeless, the poor, and the uneducated," she said. According to Alghanee, we fall victim many times to studying too much and not putting principles into action for the masses of people. Her statement subsequently received loud claps from the audience. Dr. Patterson interjected stating the importance of theory in our community. She noted that we must understand what capitalism is and its role in our lives in order to fight sexism as it relates to the Black community. "Sexism is when men grab, choke, hit, loud talk, throw things at Black women...when they adopt a belittling tone and the idea that a man is just being a man...when they take the role of teacher," Umoja said. She also noted a "contradiction in terms" when the wives are doing most of work at home and not able to develop as individuals; instead, they are urged to stay home and have babies. Umoja called for the adoption against it. For a moment the program turned into a ‘struggle’ in itself as panelists shared their personal feelings on the two issues. Many students felt the degree of tension involved when it comes to defining terms such a feminism and holding theory at high esteem. The forum ended in prayer and in respect to ancestors. SSGA Sponsors Black History Quiz Bowl By LaNae Dora Local News Editor As the closing event in its Black Herstory Week celebration, the Spelman Student Government Association on Feb. 26 sponsored a Black History Month Quiz Bowl at Peyton Forest Elementary School. In game show fashion, the children were asked questions such as, "When were the first slaves brought to America?" and "Who founded the Tuskegee Institute and became the first president of that college?" The contestants then buzzed in giving their answers. Correct responses were awarded five points each. In the first round, three teams of fourth graders faced each other, and three teams of fifth graders competed during the second round. The winning team from each grade - the fourth grade Quiz Crushers and the fifth grade Quiz Masters - battled for the last five questions as their classmates cheered them on. The Quiz Crushers won the game with a score of 20 to 5. The fourth grade class was awarded a pizza party from the SSGA. All of the participants were awarded squeeze bottles. The event was the beginning of a relationship between Peyton Forest and Spelman College, said SSGA President Germayne Crow. VOTE FOR SSGA OFFICERS MARCH 19