Onyx Informer, November 20, 1998
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Scholars' commitment to · hope By Jamila Hill and Kerrita McClaughlyn Onyx Staff Brilliant minds from various aspects of the Black intellectual community crune together on October 7 in ..A Nig_ht with Black Scholar.,. .. The event. which was hosted jointly by the Black Strategic Leadership Coun• cil and the John D . o· Bryanl African· American Institute. was designed to high light Blacks within academia who were using their know ledge to try a nd trans fonn the academy lhal they are a part of. ll i, imponan t to c reate the s pace for our presence and the ideas that we bring," said Provosl Dean Hall, moderator of the even1. The eve ning a ttracted a va, t array of people who allended for a myriad of rea• sons. " whenever I hear lhut Black schol ars are ,peak ing, well it' d be fooli,h not to take advantage o flh e oppo rtunity," ~id Cyru\ McQueen, Northeastern student. Comi ng to these thin gs keeps me fo cused o n what I came here rNonheast ll, Dr. Selwyn Cudjoe, Dr. Cornell West, Dr. David Hall, Dr. Kwamina Panford, Dr. em] for ... ,a id Marie Cheryl. a public law Black Scholar s unit e. I. 10 r. Dr. Roben H a es Hackne • Jr. bolo credit: Christine Dela Cueva student. Edward Bullins, and Dr J am One dominant reason. however, for the expre~~ their lives through music. that it is critical for race !>Cholars to pro attendance of many was the special guest Black musicians are indispensable to tec.t lhe rights of the Black community DESMOND speaker. Dr. Comel W"sl. the Black communit y's ~anity," said and 1ha1m any of them are doing so right l used 10 watch Come! We51 on TV West. now. PUHFEIFER and l wac..always intrigued b y his aura According to Dr. Edward Bullins, it The scholars at the university are con By Ola Kolawalee and just always wanted 10 see and hear is not only the musician~ who are indis cerned about scholarship but also the Onyx Columnist him in pen.on," ~aid Octavia Ram'iey.N U pen!table" but also those involved in the univen.ity community and the commu student. ater. nity in general," Hackney sa id. '' For The Bad News Corne! West. professor a1 Harvard Bullins. playwright and drama profes• most of us, that is the primary force for Sherman Hemsley. (Jeffersons). had Unive rsit y a nd acc laimed ~peaker sor at NU. discussed the research that he what we do_." he said. two lines. " Y'all better be moving on up" throughou1 the United States, was the last ha, been doing for 40 years on African• Hackney suggested several mean~ and "I'm a little weasy."' Hemsley was to addres~ the audience for the evening. American literarure. He also talked about through which a link b etween Bl ack the man; a strong man. He was blacker West di~cu!lsedhi s entrance and commit the link that exists between Black schol scholarS and the Black community could than thou in "All in the Family; · and never ment to the Black Movement as well as an, and the community as well as the U!'l be made. sold 0111 a, George Jefferson. Now had the i mportance of hope within Bl ack age of theater as a fonn of protes t. He staled that scholars must go into Hemsley been Desmond PuhFeifer we·d struggle. Bullins wanted the audience to ''un the community and speak 10 the _people. be ,;;eeing a differen1 side of history. But ''I've always wan1ed to be part of a derstand that there is hh1oricaJ continu He propo~ed that scholars organize a why should any network go through the story bigger than·me," We,t said. ity in Bl ack 1hea1er. Thi, has bee n a think tank a nd court media coverage . trouble ofb aving chat much vi~ion? UPN West explained that Black in1ellec1U• source o f inspiration a nd hope i n the Hackney also said that the co mmunity is playing small fish in a b ig oce an. ,o als face a problem. With kn owledge Black community that's been under as should do its pan by reading Black schol• why should they bother comes the freedom of un derstanding sault." ars. which can lead to pain, grief, and anxiety We must believe in our possibility as Dr. Kwamina Panford, professor of See UPN , page 3 over the plight of the Black community. a people," he said. Afro studies at Northeastern University, Our work is noted in the guttural crie!) Dr. Se lwyn Cudjoe pointed our that proposed that the Black community <,tart of Black people,.. West said. all aspects of scholarship are linked and producing ib own source~ of informa We\t said that no1 allowing suffering that if we truly believe ,c holarship to be tion in order for Black America to tap 10 have the laM word is the best of Black emancipatory then we -;hould act on be into Black intellectuals. struggle. half of the community. Dr. Panford':i.m essage was rooted in History is about tradition of \truggle," The o nly thin g yo u've go t a, a the theory of Pan•Africanism which he said West. "fo be able 10 look death in scholar is knowledge, .. ,aid Cudjoe. You said had its binh in the United States Affirmative Action ......... 2 the face a llows y ou t o live more in must begin to use your talents whenever Panford srn1ed that in the midst of all the Project Hip-Hop ............. 4 teni;ely." you are to brin g o ur p eopl e problem, . Black, face in the US. Africa. In order to do that, West suggest\ that together ... !lcholarship without a ction is and the Caribbean, that "when we coop Editorial/Op-Ed .............. S Black intellectuals need 10 aspire to the blind." he said. El Color de Jazz .............. 7 leve l of Bl ack mu sicians like John Dr. James Hackney also focused in on Track By Track ............... 8 Coltrane. West :i.aid that they "come to the need for scholar to u1<1etheir knowl See HOPE , page 3 terms with their own devils" in order to edge 10 help the masse,. Hackney ,a id The Ony~ Informer , Wednesday , October 28, 1998 , Page 2 AnotherBlow ToAffirmative Action Supreme Court Rules By Andre Jean-Francois Onyx Staff By Olayinka S. Kolawole Fonner law ole,h have gone on to be Ony, Staff Imagine one day that affinnutiveac come justices themselves or participate as professorsat universities. tion never exb1ed. Whal would you be In 1875 Chief Justice Horace Gray be The march on Washington one doing right now? Would you be going was gan the pra ctice of em ploy ing a law c lerk . of a thr ee part plan designed by the to !>Chool here? In addiLion. how many A Harvard Law School graduate no less. NAACP and memb ers of numerous po minorines would be go ing to school here Coincendentally , there were few, if any, litical and advocacy groups . with you'?That day might comequicker Native Americans, Asian Americans or The Millio n Youth March and T he thun you think . African Americans alie n din g Harvard Law On October 8. City Cou ncil Presiden t Cure for Cancer are the two more recent at the time. His brotheralso at Harvard, demonstr'Jtion s cond ucted by the coali James Kelly held a meeting 011 the issue Profess or John Chipm an Gmy, facillated tion . Were they succesful at the steps of of affirmati ve action. He addressed the the hirin g process by reco mmending the the Supreme Court? Among those ar ruling that req uires that (here be at lea.st "candidates" of choice to Just.ice Gray. one minority for every white candidate rested in addition 10 Mfume. were Rep. Let's skip over another hundred years Gregory Meek s of New York, Arch consi dered for a spot on the Boston po of woeful racism in Americaa nd walk mto lice or fire departmenh . bishop Stalling s founde r of the Ameri the I 990's, Oc tob er 5th, 1998 to be exact. The city said lha1affirmative LJC tion can Catho lic Congrega tion, C hief Gil Kwesi Mfumewas arrestedon the steps of is no longerneeded forthe filling of these bert Blue, from the Catawbe Indian Na the Supreme Co urt. He was attempting to po~ition~. According to them, the civil tion. Mr. Stevens, Jr.. firstvice- president deliver res umes of brilliant minority law of the NAtional Congress of America n te,t is ~o unbiased that eve ryone has a stude nts to the Ju stices. chance for the same spots. regard less of • Indian s, Dr. Powell . associa te general I spoke with C harll otte Nelson, Presi race or !)ex. sec retary of the National Co un cil of dent of the Boston chapter of the NAACP While scree ning the tests they searc h Chur ches, Blacks-in Government na and asked her why it was important for mi for the highes t scores. So, do the high tional pr esi dent Os car Eason and C. norities to work as law clerks in the Su Del orees Tucker past president of the est scores alw ays ge l the j ob? Accor d preme Court. " Law clerks hold sway over ing 10 Kelly this is not always the case.