 GREENSBORO NEWS |
 |
 |
|
|
Dr. William Hart, a professor of Religious Studies at UNCG, and Professor Faith Rivers of Elon Law School, were just two of the scholars featured at the Conference on African American Culture and Experience at UNCG.
Credit: Pamela Holley-Bright/Carolina Peacemaker
|
|
Conference explores Black activism
by Pamela Holley-Bright
Carolina Peacemaker
Originally posted 11/11/2009
As UNCG students (University of North Carolina at Greensboro) along with scholars and activists gathered on the campus Nov. 7 to discuss African American activism, they discovered that they don’t have to look far as key components of the civil rights movement happened in their own backyard.
The theme of the 20th annual Conference on African American Culture and Experience (CACE) was 100 Years of African American Activism: Looking Back While Moving Forward. “The theme was influenced by the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,” said Dr. Tara T. Green, program director for UNCG’s African American Studies Program.
The conference, which was co-sponsored by the Greensboro and UNCG chapters of the NAACP and the UNCG College of Arts and Sciences, Women’s and Gender Studies Program and Undergraduate Studies Program, featured two discussion panels – one comprised of scholars who study activism and the other featured local activists.
Dr. Anthony Bolden, a University of Kansas associate professor of African and African American Studies, was the keynote speaker as he addressed the topic, “What Is Blackness, What Is Activism? The Truth about (the Lack of) Change in the Age of Entertainment.” A Literary Café that included poetry readings was also a part of the conference.
As the scholars discussed the civil rights movement, they recognized some of the local and everyday people as being the true movers and shakers of the movement. “When it comes to Black activism, I believe it is very important that we are motivated by and understand the fact that it is everyday common people who are making these changes. Just because most of these people are from a lower class, doesn’t mean that they aren’t a part of a serious change,” said Tiffany Quaye, a guest lecturer at N.C. A&T State University and UNCG Ph.D. candidate.
Quaye gave recognition to a few of the groups that called for change in Greensboro. These included: the Morningside Community, Greensboro Citizen’s Association, Greensboro Citizen’s Association for Poor People and The Black Citizens Concerned with Police Brutality, a group who stood behind Elizabeth Rhodes, an elderly Black woman who faced police brutality in December 1971 for issuing a fraudulent check for $22 to Zayre’s Department Store.
It was reported by The Carolina Peacemaker that the bank officer told Rhodes that she couldn’t see what the problem was but encouraged her to cooperate with the police who threatened to take away her children as she was unfit to be a mother as she bounced a check. The arrest sparked an outrage and many groups rallied together. “We don’t need to sit back and necessarily always wait for a leader to arrive before we are ready to join a cause. I hear people say that there are no more Kings or Malcolm Xs, but what about you? Why wait for a leader?” asked Quaye.
Professor Faith Rivers James of the Elon Law School acknowledged the NAACP for calling for equal citizenship rights for all Black citizens. “They had a large task in front of them. From employment to housing to transportation and voting, the NAACP has played a critical road to reforming the nation,” she said.
But even though the Black freedom struggle brought success, it also brought consequences. Dr. William Hart of UNCG’s Religious Studies program stated, “You can’t talk about ‘the Black community.’ There are many Black communities with different interests and they have different notions of what Black freedom should look like. It’s not just the matter of getting the attention off the White elite either. It’s also understanding that there are Black elite and often times, those Black elite have the same interests as the White elite.”
Quaye added, “As great as the civil rights movement was, we also have to understand the backlash. We made all of these strides—Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, desegregation, it makes it harder for movements that come after that. When you get back to complaining about equality, society looks at you as not being able to be satisfied and says, ‘We give you this and you still want more.’ It really starts to divide the people and makes them not be able to rally together for a specific cause.”
The Morningside Community, Greensboro Citizen’s Association, Greensboro Citizen’s Association for Poor People and The Black Citizens Concerned with Police Brutality, a group who stood behind Elizabeth Rhodes, an elderly Black woman who faced police brutality in December 1971 for issuing a fraudulent check in the amount of $22 to Zayre’s Department Store.
It was reported by The Carolina Peacemaker that the bank officer told Rhodes that she couldn’t see what the problem was but encouraged her to cooperate with the police who threatened to take away her children as she was unfit to be a mother as she bounced a check. The arrest sparked an outrage and many groups rallied together. “We don’t need to sit back and necessarily always wait for a leader to arrive before we are ready to join a cause. I hear people say that there are no more Kings or Malcolm Xs, but what about you? Why wait for a leader?” asked Quaye.
Professor Faith Rivers James of the Elon Law School acknowledged the NAACP for calling for equal citizenship rights for all Black citizens. “They had a large task in front of them. From employment to housing to transportation and voting, the NAACP has played a critical road to reforming the nation,” she said.
But even though the Black freedom struggle brought success, it also brought consequences. Dr. William Hart of UNCG’s Religious Studies program stated, “You can’t talk about ‘the Black community.’ There are many Black communities with different interests and they have different notions of what Black freedom should look like. It’s not just the matter of getting the attention off the White elite either. It’s also understanding that there are Black elite and often times, those Black elite have the same interests as the White elite.”
Quaye added, “As great as the civil rights movement was, we also have to understand the backlash. We made all of these strides—Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, desegregation, it makes it harder for movements that come after that. When you get back to complaining about equality, society looks at you as not being able to be satisfied and says, ‘We give you this and you still want more.’ It really starts to divide the people and makes them not be able to rally together for a specific cause.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
