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October 2013 SpelmanPaper@gmail.com
The BluePrint %•
DOMESTIC & International News
Friendship Baptist Church
The Significance of History & Profit
By: Jasmine M. Ellis C2015
Failing to Protect & Serve:
Police Brutality in America
By: Kyra Carlisle C’2015, Clark Atlanta University
$19.5 million is a lot of money. Friendship
Baptist Church made the decision to sell its edifice
to the Atlanta Falcons for that amount in September.
Flowever, the church was the birthplace of Spelman
College in 1881; for some, that piece of history is
priceless.
Though leaders at the church declined to
comment, others have not—this sale has sparked
debate across Atlanta. The public has had both
positive and negative responses, but Spelman
students have a unique perspective on it.
“I was genuinely upset,” said Breanna
Wilkerson, junior at Spelman College. “As it is
a historical site, I do not understand how this
decision could be made. I would have thought
both Spelman and Morehouse would have had a
stronger voice in the way things were played out.”
Friendship Baptist Church once served as a
mecca for Black History throughout the 1800s and
well into the 1960s. Spelman College was founded
in the basement of the church. The founding pastor
of Friendship Baptist Church, Reverend Frank
Quarles, opened up the basement of the church to
develop the college.
Spelman’s role and relationship with Friendship
Baptist Church has come into question. As an
institution so deeply rooted in tradition, it’s hard
for a lot of people to come to terms with the fact
that the place in which Spelman came into fruition
will be flattened and replaced with a new stadium.
“Legally, since there is no formal relationship
between our institution and Friendship Baptist-
The United Kingdom celebrates Black
History Month in October. It acknowledges the
contributions of people from the African Diaspora.
The United Kingdom started commemorating Black
History Month in October of 1987.
According to the Discover Black Heritage
website, “the month of October was selected
because it coincided with the Marcus Garvey
celebrations and London Jubilee.” Different groups
within the United Kingdom celebrate Black History
Month, and the celebration has spread throughout
the boroughs and several other places within the
United Kingdom.
Delisha Rown, a student from London studying
at Spelman College explains more.
“Black History Month was celebrated in my
primary school,” Rown said. “We were encouraged
to celebrate the different cultures within the African
diaspora.”
Rown remembers presentations in her
younger years of poets who performed at the
library particularly one Jamaican poet. As her
parents are originally from Guyana and Jamaica
-which is sad—I can see how [Spelman’s] voice
would not have had much power,” Wilkerson
said. “I do wish Dr. Tatum would have released a
statement to the church addressing their concern
with this decision.”
Christine Slaughter C’2015, expressed her
disdain with the church’s decision and the effects it
will have on the neighborhood.
“How far are we willing to gentrify our
neighborhood? I am not at all pleased with the
decision,” Slaughter said. “Friendship Baptist
Church is a historical memory in Spelman’s
history. Better yet, Friendship was the first African-
American Baptist church in Atlanta post- civil war.
“What does it say about us that we were
willing (or forced) to sacrifice that history for
‘economic development.’ Can we not develop our
communities any other way? I believe Spelman
should have intervened sooner and been vocal in
protest.”
As seen throughout the years, financial
gain often supersedes historical significance.
Slaughter gives insight into America’s economic
consciousness.
“We should be more conscious in our
decisions,” Slaughter said. “Why build a new
stadium when there is a growing homeless
population in Atlanta? Why not invest that money
in a more humane way - such as education?
“Development doesn’t always mean profit, we
must consider what we lose when we make such
big decisions.”
respectively, the content of the poem made her
appreciate the presentations that represented her
own background.
Even though her parents did not heavily
celebrate Black History Month, she recognizes the
need to celebrate black excellence because of racial
profiling. Since race relations issues continue to
persist in London, Rown described the importance
of continuing to have Black History Month
“It is important to expose European children
[to] the influences of black people,” Rown said.
Although the United Kingdom celebrates its
own Black History Month, many of the pioneers
within the black community are from the United
States. Rown explains that London is heavily
influenced by America, particularly with the election
of Barack Obama in 2008.
For more information regarding events
during Black History Month, visit http://www.
blackhistorymonth.org.uk
Being black in America has never been an easy
thing, especially for black men. The number of
killings of unarmed black males from non-blacks
has risen in recent years. Black men in America are
killed, beaten, and violated by police officers.
One in particular is Jonathan Ferrell, a 24-year-
old former Florida A&M football player, who was
killed by a police office in September. Ferrell
wrecked his car to the point where he had to break
the back window in order to escape. He then ran
to the nearest house for help. The resident of
the house saw him, thought he was attempting
burglary, triggered the alarm, and called the police.
When Ferrell saw the police officers, he ran to
them for help, but was fatally shot. The officer
responsible for his death has been charged with
voluntary manslaughter.
Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo, and Oscar Grant
were all unarmed black men murdered by police
officers. Adding Ferrell’s completely avoidable
murder to that list, it’s safe to wonder if black men
Across the nation, LGBT History month occurs
each October with individuals focusing in on Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender history and the history
of the gay rights. The UC Davis LGBTQIA (Lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex,
and asexual) Resource Center has compiled a list
of terms related to the LGBTQIA community.
No matter where in the rainbow you are
Someone cares.
Please keep in mind that the terms and
definitions below are ever-evolving and changing and
often mean different things to different people. They
are provided below as a starting point for discussion
and understanding.
Asexual: a person who generally does not
experience sexual attraction (or very little) to any group
of people. Asexuality is distinct from celibacy, which is
the deliberate abstention from sexual activity. Some
asexual people do have sex. There are many diverse
ways of being asexual.
Androgyny: (1) a gender expression that has
elements of both masculinity and femininity; (2)
occasionally used in place of “intersex” to describe a
person with both female and male anatomy.
Biological sex: the physical anatomy and gendered
hormones one is born with, generally described
as male, female, or intersex, and often confused
with gender.
Bigendered: Having two genders, exhibiting
cultural characteristics of masculine and feminine roles
Bisexual: a person who experiences sexual,
romantic, physical, and/or spiritual attraction to people
of their own gender as well as another gender.
Cisgender: a description for a person whose
gender identity, gender expression, and biological sex
all align (e.g., man, masculine, and male)
Coming Out: “Coming out” describes voluntarily
making public one’s sexual orientation and/or gender
identity. It has also been broadened to include
can rely on the police to protect them. Police often
see black men stereotypically as threats, and as a
result they overcompensate and take preventative
actions against them.
“I feel like the police should assess the situation
before they take action against any person,” said
Melvin Hill, a junior at Morehouse College.
Hill is absolutely right. American police officers
should stop entering situations with a prejudice
attitude against black men. They should realize
we are all human and should be treated as such.
However, some believe that black men in America
will always have a difficult time dealing with law
enforcement.
“I don’t believe police brutality is ever going
away,” Morehouse student Xavier Herbet said.
“Black men should adapt.”
The increasing number of black men who are
murdered by police officers will not decrease until
police begin to see them as their counterparts and
not as a threat to their personal safety.
other pieces of potentially stigmatized personal
information. Terms also used that correlate with this
action are:
--’’Being out,” which means not concealing one’s
sexual orientation or gender identity.
-’’Outing,” a term used for making public the
sexual orientation or gender identity of another who
would prefer to keep this information secret.
Outing [someone]: when someone reveals
another person’s sexuality or gender identity to an
individual or group, often without the person’s consent
or approval; not to be confused with “coming out” This
is highly disrespectful and dangerous to the person in
the LGBT community.
Pansexual: a person who experiences
sexual, romantic, physical, and/or spiritual attraction
for members of all gender identities/expressions.
Drag King: A person (often a woman) who
appears as a man. Generally in reference to an act
or performance. This has no implications regarding
gender identity.
Drag Queen: A person (often a man) who appears
as a woman. Generally in reference to an act or
performance. This has no implications regarding
gender identity.
FTM (F2M): Female-to-male transsexual/
transgender person. This person does not have to
or can undergo medical treatments to change their
biological sexto be considered FTM/MTF
Gender Identity: the internal perception of an
individual’s gender, and how they label themselves.
Hermaphrodite: an outdated medical term used
to describe someone who is intersex; not used today
as it is considered to be medically stigmatizing, and
also misleading as it means a person who is 100%
male and female, a biological impossibility for humans.
Questioning: the process of exploring one’s own
sexual orientation, investigating influences that may
come from their family, religious upbringing, and
internal motivations.
Queer: anyone who chooses to identify as
such. This can include, but is not limited to, gay,
lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and asexual
people. Some people still find this word offensive,
while others reclaim it to encompass the broader
sense of history of the gay rights movement.
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The Blueprint: Mission Statment
It is the mission of The BluePrint to serve as a profound forum that fortifies
understanding, unity, and advocacy throughout the Spelman and greater
AUC community. The BluePrint strives to produce innovative, fair, and
creative journalism that helps its readers understand the nation and world
through the lens of African-American and Black Women.
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Black History Month in the UK
By: Alexis Dulan C’2016
October Marks LGBT History Month
By: Afrekete