The Organ of Student Expression Since 1925

Untamed Boutique flourishes in Atlanta
New management in Chivers
p. 2
The black-owned apparel store flosses some of
the best and most unique items in the area. p.4
Tighter security leaves loose ends
p. 5
Valentine’s Day for the low
p. 7
The Organ of Student Expression Since 1925
The
MAROON TIGER
Morehouse College • Atlanta, GA
February 10 - 16, 2010
Business booms in
campus barbershop
More Haiti relief efforts organized
Leroy R. Mitchell Jr.
Staff Writer
[email protected]
Maroon Tiger staff photo/Remington Jackson
The Morehouse College barbershop Statz has experienced great success and profitability since
the shop opened earlier in the semester. Statz offers reduced prices on Sundays and until 1pm on
Mondays and Tuesdays.
Kevin Mallory
Associate News Editor
[email protected]
E
ven though it has existed
for less than a month,
Morehouse’s newest addition, Statz barbershop, is
racking up enough customers
to eventually become a thriving business.
Edwin York, shop owner and alumnus of Morris Brown, has been quite
pleased with the first three
weeks of his company’s performance.
“We really have not had a
slow day, ”York said. “[Business has been] wonderful,
better than what I thought it
would be.”
Sophomore
international
studies major Reginauld Williams was impressed with his
experience at Statz. “It was
www.themaroontiger.com
J
acque Pape, a junior physics and international studies
major, is challenging his fellow Morehouse brothers and
the entire student body of the
Atlanta University Center to
rise to the occasion in this desperate moment of time to help
millions of homeless Haitians
and the hundreds of thousand
that have been injured.
“The dynamics on the
ground have changed since
the earthquake,” Pape said.
“Having been on the ground
recently, words cannot describe the scene or the smell
caused by this devastating
earthquake. It’s a disaster area
at best and this is why a plea
for help is inestimable.”
With the blessings and help
of the college, Pape has set
up a private charter plane that
will transport AUC students
from Atlanta to Haiti on Saturday, March 6 to return on
Sunday, March 14 as an alternative spring break. Upon
arrival, the students will be
assisting fellow volunteers
at food and clothing banks
where they will hand out resources to victims.
Ground transportation and
personal security will be provided. Student volunteers’
accommodation will be at a
beach house on the outskirts
of Port Au Prince.
Pape says the day after the
earthquake he was approached
by the director of international studies, Ms. Gwen Wade,
as well as friends about doing
relief effort volunteer work.
“The Morehouse Relief Effort was started by the school
after they reached out to me. I
proudly reached back,” Pape
expressed. “We‘ve since collected 96 boxes of clothes,
medical supplies, and food
with 15 of the boxes being delivered by me personally.”
“After having a firsthand account of what the earthquake
left behind, I feel it’s important as an individual, a student,
and a native of Haiti for others to witness the worst tragedy of the 21st century and on
this side of the Western Hemisphere ever,” Pape added.
40 seats are still available to
those interested in the alternative spring break trip. The base
fee for is $1,500 and includes
lodging, roundtrip airfare,
two meals a day and personal
security. All those wishing
to go on the trip must have a
U.S. passport, and come under their own liability.
If you are interested in the
alternative spring break trip to
aid in the Haitian Earthquake
relief effort, please contact
Pape at mchatianreliefeffort
@gmail.com
cool, especially the vibe. It was
a typical barbershop except for
a college style. The cuts are
fresh, and I liked the certain
discounts on certain days.”
By next week, York expects
to have two beauticians and
a nail technician working to
consummate the barbershop
staff. Also, pending permission, York wants to do some
promotional activities to help
his new endeavor become a
burgeoning one.
“We are in the process of
getting EA Sports to come in
here and give away some video games. And, we want to do
an ‘MC Wars’ where students
will have freestyle battles to
have the opportunity to win
prizes like free haircuts, free
nail services and $500 cash.
Everyone in the AUC can get
in it, win some money, and
have some fun,” York said.
He estimated that in the
first few weeks of business
the shop has seen hundreds
of students come in, even
without the benefit of prodigious amounts of advertising. However, if York and his
barbers continue to please
the student body, advertising
should not be too much of an
issue.
“My whole thing is that everybody is happy,” York said.
“If everybody is happy, then
the word will spread even
more. Right now we are getting a lot of love around here.
Statz is open seven days
a week. The barbershop’s
hours are 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Monday through Saturday
and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays. Customers can receive
$8 haircuts all day Sunday;
on Monday and Tuesday
haircuts are $8 until 1 p.m.
RHA throws Super Bowl party
classes this semester.
According to police reports,
Bethea was hit by a drunk
driver who was fleeing the
scene of another accident.
Swanson said he wants the
student body to make any
preparations necessary to be
able to donate to Bethea’s children. According to the resolution, that passed on Feb. 2,
“Be it further resolved, that the
Senate will contribute a monetary donation to the caregiver
of Bethea’s three children.”
Swanson said he was compelled to write the resolution
after hearing so many students
anguish over the accident.
“We want the student body
to take any precautions they
can take now to assist in this
endeavor,” he said. “A lot of
students were hurt by this.”
Freshman Dontavious Taylor had the opportunity to take
Bethea’s class during last semester. Taylor said that Bethea was a
very compassionate instructor.
“She was very understanding,” he said. “She really
cared about how we retained
the material being taught.”
Freshman Kale Blackshear
was in Bethea’s class for only
one period this semester before
she was involved in the accident.
“We had class that Wednesday;
she said there was no class that
Friday; and that next week, she
he lights were dim, the
wings smelled good and
the TV was tuned to the right
channel. This was the atmosphere in the Chivers Hall on
Sunday, Feb. 7 as the Resident
Hall Association (RHA) put
on a Super Bowl 2010 Party.
Students from all across the
AUC filled Chivers with plenty of energy as they boasted
about which team was going
to win. Although students
were not able to watch the
entire game in Chivers Hall,
the 2010 Super Bowl party
received favorable reviews
from students.
“It almost doesn’t feel like
the ‘caf’, it has a sports bar
feel to it, except no alcohol,”
Morehouse junior Mike Grant
said. “I wish we could have
done something like this every Sunday.”
Grant was one of about 150
students who were in attendance to Sunday’s party.
Although the non-Morehouse student price was $7,
other AUC students still came
to support. Sarah Lawrence is
one of the Spelman students
who were in attendance.
“Most women do not like
football, but not me,” Lawrence said. “If I was not at
school, I would be back home
watching the game with my
family.”
This Super Bowl was highly anticipated. Indeed, New
Orleans had many fans in attendance to the RHA Super
Bowl party.
“New Orleans deserved this
win more than anyone else in
the NFL,” New Orleans native and Morehouse student
Josh Helkner said. “I know
they are going crazy back at
home.”
No matter which team students were rooting for, the
common consensus was that
the RHA Super Bowl Party
was a success. RHA was able
to put on an event that students could appreciate, and
thus potentially become an
annual event in Chivers Hall.
was involved in the accident,”
Blackshear said.
Even though Blackshear
only took one class with
Bethea, he had positive predictions about her class.
“She had a really nice personality,” Blackshear said. “It
seemed as though the semester would have been fun.”
Swanson said he was alarmed
when he first became aware of
Bethea’s accident. Swanson said
he was even more baffled when
he found out that many members
of the faculty weren’t aware of
the accident, another fact that led
him to draft his resolution.
Swanson also said that he is a
firm supporter of healthy-student
faculty relationships, and constantly encourages students to
maintain a positive relationship
with faculty members.
“[One] thing we can do is to
be thankful for the instructors
we do have,” Swanson said.
“[We shouldn’t] take them for
granted; because you never
know what the future may
hold.”
He said says that the SGA
Senate would like the students to begin helping Bethea
and her children.
“We (The SGA) have already done the first step [by
passing the resolution],”
Swanson said. “My hope is
that some of the students who
had Bethea will [now] mobilize their own initiatives [to
help].”
Bethea is currently in the
Neurology Intensive Care
Unit at Grady Memorial Hospital. While students cannot
currently visit Bethea in the
hospital, they are encouraged
to keep her in their prayers.
To stay updated, students can
visit www.caringbridge.org.Type
“kafibethea” in the area that says
“Visit a website” on the right side
of the screen. Once this is done,
students will be asked for their
e-mail and other pertinent information that will thus enable them
to create a profile and check on
Bethea’s status.
Calvin Monroe
Associate News Editor
[email protected]
T
SGA Senate enacts resolution for injured professor
Nicolas Aziz
News Editor
[email protected]
A
long with bettering their
methods of student advocacy, the Morehouse College
SGA Senate is doing its best to
keep a solid and personal relationship with administration
and faculty. Junior SGA senator DeVaughn Swanson recently passed a resolution that will
make monetary donations to
the family of Morehouse professor Kafi Bethea, Ph.D, who
was involved in a severe car accident on Jan. 16.
Bethea is a psychology professor who only teaches a few
Recycle The Maroon Tiger
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THE
MAROON TIGER
Vol. LXXXIV, Pages I - VIII
Management
Lauren Harper
Associate Managing Editor
[email protected]
Krista DeSouza
Chief Copy Editor
[email protected]
Brittany Diagle-Leonard
Associate Copy Editor
Operations
Xavier Ifill
O’koyea Huff-Boone
Finance Director
Associate Webmaster
[email protected]
[email protected]
Joshua Brown
Reginauld Williams
Advertising Manager
Public Relations (PR) Director
[email protected]
[email protected]
Alimou Bah
Sescily Coney
Webmaster
Associate PR Director
[email protected]
[email protected]
Keiran Blanks
Distribution Manager
Editors
Nicolas Aziz
News Editor
Kevin Mallowry
Associate News Editor
Calvin Munroe
Associate News Editor
Ashlei Williams
Features Editor
Bryant Childs
Associate Features Editor
Gerren K. Gaynor
Opinions Editor
Antoine Albert
Associate Opinions Editor
Spencer Greene
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Elizabeth Sawyer
Associate A&E Editor
Jon Bradley
Sports Editor
Jourdan Shepard
Associate Sports Editor
Remington Jackson
Photography Editor
Ron Thomas
Adviser
Director, Morehouse College Journalism
and Sports Program
830 Westview Drive, SW • Box 40 • Atlanta, GA 30314
New management has big plans
for Chivers/Lane Hall
Calvin Monroe
Associate News Editor
[email protected]
C
hivers/Lane Hall is
possibly the most visited building on Morehouse
campus. The cafeteria is often critiqued by students for
its shortcomings however,
since January 2010, it has
been under new management. After an interview
with the general manager,
Mr. Andrew Paul Pierson,
students can now be at ease
as he plans on changing the
very foundation of our eating experience.
“Students are our guest,
not our customers,” Pierson
explained.
As of Jan. 5, 2010, the former TGI Friday’s manager
has been hired to change
the face of Morehouse College’s cafeteria.
“Our goal is to provide
Morehouse College a food
service that is inviting,
warm and friendly,” Pierson
said.
Pierson wants to ensure
the student body that he has
raised the standards and expectations for his staff.
“Based on my interaction
with CFO Gwen Sykes, I
have a level of excitement
that assures me that we will
be able to deliver improved
guest relations,” Pierson
said. “I believe not being
in my office, I engage my
guests to develop relationships.”
LaTasha Yarbrough has
been working in Chivers
Hall for two years and says
she can already see changes
with the new management.
“I think the new GM will
fit in perfectly, you can tell
he is dedicated,” Yarbrough
said. “I love working here,
student interaction is my
favorite part, they keep me
going. My plans are to stay
here and be promoted to a
managerial position.”
While some students are
solely concerned with the
food being served, others are concerned with the
overall experience in Chivers Hall.
“I like interacting with
the staff of the caf, most
are very nice,” sophomore
Mark Tucker said. “My favorite is Ms. Pam, she always makes me laugh.”
While the previous management team was aware of
all of the criticism by the
students, the new management team is planning to
actually address those criticisms.
“Currently, I am looking
for marketing majors with
I.T. experience to revamp
our website, also to launch
a Twitter and a Facebook
Andrew Pierson, the new general manager of Chivers/Lane Hall.
page,” Pierson said. “When
students get hungry, I want
them to be able to go online
to see our menu.”
This new position will
only require about 10
hours per week, but Pierson assures that it is neces-
Three
names as
valuable
as our own.
Ryan Bates • Kevin Nzuwah • Alan Smith
This is where you need to be.
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An Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer M/F/D/V.
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Maroon Tiger staff photo/Ahmad Barber
George W. Williams, IV
Editor-In-Chief
[email protected]
Kody J. Melançon
Managing Editor
[email protected]
Jeffery Taylor, II
Chief Layout Editor
[email protected]
Carl Ringgold
New Media Director
[email protected]
February 10 - 16, 2010
- II -
sary to enhance students’
eating experience. These
pages will also serve as an
outlet for suggestions and
advice for Chivers Hall.
February 10 - 16, 2010
- III -
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The
Tiger
THE MAROON TIGER
The Organ of Student Expression Since 1925
News
loo$e
¢hange
A short film directed by
Mykwain Gainey
Date: Thursday, February 11, 2009
Time: 7pm - 8:30pm
Location: Sale Hall Chapel
The Maroon Tiger hosts a screening of “Loo$e ¢hange” by Mykwain
Gainey ‘05 followed by a panel discussion of the films’ themes.
The panel will discuss Obama as an icon and the contemporary
challenges/realities in black male identity construction.
Panelists
Michael J. Brewer
Chief of Staff, State Rep. Alisha Morgan (D-GA)
First general body meeting:
Thursday, January 21, 2010
6pm, Merrill Hall Rm 111
David Wall Rice, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology, Morehouse College
Courtney Ward, Jr. ’09
Jocelyn Wilson, Ph.D.
Professor of Hip Hop Studies, Morehouse College
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Features
February 10 - 16, 2010
- IV -
Untamed Boutique: Black history in the making
Maroon Tiger staff photo/Remington Jackson
Chrishelle Griffin
Staff Writer
[email protected]
D
uring this time of reflection and celebration
of Black people throughout
history, students within the
AUC are immersed in reminders of the strides that
Black people have taken in
the world of business. From
old favorites like Busy Bee’s
to new shops like Morehouse’s barbershop, students are exposed to a world
of black enterprise. Seven
months young, the newest
addition to the West End
neighborhood is Untamed,
a Black-owned boutique located in the Ashley College
Town residential community.
“We decided to open our
business here in the West
End because we liked the
idea that it is a predominantly Black area that gives us
access to a young and fashionable clientele,” Teaera
Raines, co-owner of the boutique, explained. “Like other
Black-owned businesses in
the area, we wanted to serve
as entrepreneurial role models in the community.”
Untamed is a vintage
fashion boutique owned by
Teaera Raines and Melanie
Dunbar. The boutique features vintage clothing, as
well as inspirational greeting cards and natural skin
(All above) Various items from Untamed Boutique are shown on display. The boutique is located in the Ashley College Town residential community. The boutique aims to appeal
to the spiritual and emotional needs of its customers, as well as their unique styles. The owners are seeking college interns with a “passion for fashion,” though no specific
major is required.
care products that cater to
the needs of the Black community.
“Our boutique is one of
a kind because it appeals
to people’s unique sense
of style while also catering to their spiritual and
emotional needs,” Raines
said. “All of our vendors
are Black female business owners and our prod-
ucts are made by AfricanAmerican women such as
the IZREAL Expressions
greeting cards which address unique issues like
divorce, healing and encouragement.”
After being approached by
Jeshawna Wholley, a junior
at Spelman College, regarding the challenges students
face in their search for in-
A dream reborn
The new green movement
Bryant Childs
Associate Features Editor
[email protected]
W
hat does the “going
green”
movement
have to do with the Black
community?
It seems that it has a
large effect on the Black
community and new leaders of this movement are
beginning to emerge, even
at Morehouse. Senior African American studies
major Markese Bryant
witnessed firsthand the
effects of pollution and
poverty in his community
and was moved to take action.
Bryant said that he was
inspired to create an environmentally conscious song
and video after reading Van
Jones’ “The Green Collar
Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems.” The book
details how a green jobs
movement could potentially provide disadvantaged
youth with an alternative to
a life on the streets by creating middle class careers
for lower income communities.
After
finishing
the
book, Bryant decided that
he would create a theme
song for this new movement with an up-and-coming producer named Ayo,
Morehouse graduate and
grandson of famed Nige-
rian drummer Babatunde
Olatunj.
Together, the two created the song “The Dream
Reborn,” that shows how
investing in green jobs
can create opportunities
for low-income communities.
“The song is called
‘The Dream Reborn’ because Dr. King’s vision
of economic justice was
the main inspiration,”
Bryant said. “The green
jobs movement should be
viewed along the lines of
the Civil Rights Movement for the hip-hop generation.”
Bryant also said that it
is time for HBCU students
to ‘step up’ and participate
in the green movement as
well.
He called the song a
‘call-to-action’ for communities of color, which
he believes seem to suffer the most from the effects of capricious climate
change.
“How morally compelling is the calling to build
an inclusive, green economy [for this generation]?”
The music video itself
contains blatant political
messages. In the beginning of the video, there
are images of a rundown
neighborhood that looks
like it is in despair. Toward the end of the music
video, the neighborhood
transforms with environmentally-friendly changes.
“Dr. King and other activists were willing to face
attack dogs, fire hoses and
murderous mobs to get
everyone included in the
[polluted economy],” Bryant said. “What should you
and I be willing to do today to ensure that the new,
clean and green economy
has a place in it for everyone?”
Bryant said the video
was inspired by his own
life experiences.
“In 2005, I was arrested
for selling drugs in Oakland, Ca. In court I pled no
contest and was placed in
the mentor diversion program, which required me
to enroll in a junior college.
My interest in film initially
led me to learn more about
Black films.”
The curriculum encouraged Bryant to explore his
passion for uplifting Black
people, and eventually led
him to Morehouse. By majoring in African American
studies, Bryant said that connecting his past to the present allows him to develop
a clearer perspective on the
plight of the Black community.
http://www.greenforall.
o rg / m e d i a - r o o m / m u l t i media/myprezisgreen
ternships, the owners of Untamed decided to take the
opportunity to expose students to the world of business ownership.
“We are seeking interns
from all majors that possess an entrepreneurial spirit
and a passion for fashion,”
Raines said. “Students will
learn various aspects of being a business owner from
marketing and PR to web
site design and fashion merchandising.”
“I think that it is essential
to have a fruitful and reciprocal relationship between
Black-owned
businesses
and the community that
surrounds them,” Wholley
said. “By supporting businesses like Untamed and
the people behind them, we
can maintain a strong sense
of capital in our own community.”
For more information
on internship opportunities with Untamed contact Jeshawna Wholley at
[email protected]
or
visit www.untamedonline.
com.
Quality check: Toyota recalls
six million vehicles
Jaymie White
[email protected]
Economics Writer
O
n Jan. 21, 2010,
Toyota began one
of its largest recall issues for accelerator pedals. Apparently, the accelerator pedal of certain
models can possibly not
allow drivers to stop because the pedal will jam
in the “on” position.
Akio Toyoda [Mr.
Toyoda], the CEO of the
company and grandson
of the company’s founder, issued a statement of
apology on Feb. 6, 2010
to his shareholders and
customers. This was two
days after speaking with
U.S. Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, who
suggested that his department could seek civil penalties against Toyota for its slow response
to safety concerns. The
slow response led to the
recall of six million vehicles in the U.S. to correct problems that regulators believe caused
certain cars to accelerate
out of control and result
in five deaths.
According to Toyota’s
website, the recalled vehicles included certain
2009-2010 models including RAV4, Corolla,
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Matrix, the 2005-2010
models of Avalon, the
2007-2010 models of
Camry and Tundra, the
2010 model of the Highlander and the 2008-2010
models of the Sequoia.
“I can’t believe this,”
Jonathan Teague, a junior business major,
stated. “Toyota is after
all known for their consistency and safety. This
is a major blow for the
company and one that
major American companies need to take advantage of.”
“Being a Detroit native, I really see companies like GM and Ford
taking this and running
with it,” Royce Williams, a junior business
management major, said.
“The only thing is, U.S.
car makers are more
focused on selling big
cars. Hopefully they can
utilize their smaller divisions like Ford’s Fusion
and Taurus in order to
emphasize safety in their
cars.”
“I’m not sure how all
those ineffective pedals made it through the
factories,” physics major, Michael Raw, stated.
“Whatever team was behind the creation of those
pedals needed to be fired
yesterday.”
Many shareholders are
wondering what took Mr.
Toyoda so long to speak
on the issue. It was not
until Friday, weeks after
the initial incident, that
the CEO made a public
statement.
According to wsj.
com, “The 53-year-old
defended his silence by
saying he directed executives from behind the
scenes and had let his top
quality executive Shinichi Sasaki, ‘the most
knowledgeable person’,
communicate with the
public.”
In the same article,
it is written that “[Mr.
Toyoda’s] aim is to embrace a traditional Toyota practice called ‘genchi
genbutsu’, a leadership
maxim that boils down to
getting out of the office
and visiting the source
of the problem.”
It still remains unclear how the CEO will
respond to recent news
of inadequacies with
its leading hybrid Prius
models. As the company works to address the
manufacturing
issues,
numerous jobs are being
scrutinized.
-V-
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The
Tiger
February 10 - 16, 2010
Opinions
Tightened campus security leaves loose ends
Gerren K. Gaynor
Opinions Editor
[email protected]
U
ndoubtedly, campus security has been the leading focus of discourse within
the Morehouse College community this academic school
year. Trailing multiple robberies and a tragic death, it is
safe to say that students in the
AUC simply do not feel safe.
Measures have seemingly
been made to combat the violence that has crippled the
livelihood of campus life,
however increase of security
has arguably not been tight
enough when it comes to actual safety.
Campus operations at Morehouse confidently assures the
Maroon Tiger that the number
of on-campus patrols have
increased, as well as exterior
surveillance cameras, specifically added to the entrances
of residential halls.
Given at least one confirmed
incident transpired either in or
around Perdue Hall this school
year, it is comforting to know
that such hot spots on campus
Is that how we demonstrate
are being targeted.
visibility? If so, it’s time for
There’s the claim that po- campus operations and chief
lice patrol has somehow am- of police to go back to the
plified—fooled us.
drawing board.
Campus police is not any
more
visible
than they were We come here to receive an
last semester, in education, not to look over
fact in appears
that
presence our shoulders for an armed
has
actually robber. Maybe it’s the fact
dwindled.
that campus police are too
If one walks
along Parsons cowardly to confront the
street near the interlopers who constantly
front entrance
of the Otis Moss terrorize our community, or
suites,
where maybe they merely do not
crime activity is
heavy, it would care. Whatever the case may
be unpleasantly be, something’s got to give.
revealed that an
officer is rarely
ever there.
A student coming back to
There have been several campus late at night should
occasions in which I left the not feel compelled to rush insuites, day and night, and side to avoid being harassed,
a patrolling officer was no- robbed, or worse.
where to be found; but rather
It’s not enough to post an
on the next corner, almost as officer on Fair Street to check
if avoiding being seen.
student identification cards
“
”
entering campus. Granted
the idea in itself is a proactive attempt to garner campus safety.
Here’s the ugly truth: Its not
enough when students like
Dante Miles are threatened on
Parsons street directly in front
of a Morehouse officer, who,
according to Miles, instead of
doing his job, decided to turn
around and pretend to be on
his cell phone.
Miles, a junior from Chicago, said he and three
others were demanded to
“leave or else” by a local
resident a couple of houses
down from the suites. Although no one was harmed,
it was apparent that things
could have played out quite
differently.
Sophomore Alfred Chambers Jr. told the Maroon Tiger
he witnessed the recent robbery of another student on
Webster St. Not only was a
squad car nearby the incident,
but one officer exclaimed “did
he just get robbed?...That’s
what I thought happened.” It
was already too late.
If this is true, and the officers did indeed purposely
ignore these serious altercations, someone needs to be
held accountable. It is utterly
disgraceful for officers to get
paid to stand around, pretending to do their job.
It seems as though campus
police would rather have a
game of “battle of testosterone,” manhandling students
at basketball games.
Sophomore Paul Daniels
II and other students arrived
to the Morehouse vs. CAU
home game with their torsos
painted, spelling out “Maroon
Tiger.” Daniels explained that
they had permission to stand
at the floor of the court, but
that wasn’t enough to stop
campus security from physically regulating bystanders.
If throwing students like
Daniels out into the streets
because he was or was not cooperative during a basketball
game is more prevalent than
literally saving the lives of our
brothers, then maybe students
should reevaluate where they
send their money.
In regard to how campus
security operates on campus,
Daniels asserted there needs
to be a “systematic change,
and if it means an upheaval
then so be it.”
While students appreciate
some efforts made by campus operations, the prevailing
consensus is they absolutely
do not feel safe; not when
officers are talking on their
Bluetooth instead of keeping
an eye on their surroundings,
blatantly ignoring suspicious
activity, and not being visible
at patrol posts.
We come here to receive an
education, not to look over our
shoulders for an armed robber.
Maybe it’s the fact that campus police are too cowardly to
confront the interlopers who
constantly terrorize our community, or maybe they merely do not care. Whatever the
case may be, something’s got
to give.
If campus security doesn’t
like students criticizing their
efforts, then they need to work
a little harder at tightening up
their loose ends.
Do you have an
?
OPINION
To become an opinions writer,
join us for our General Body
Meeting on Thursday, February
11, 2010, in Merrill Hall Room
111 at 6pm.
A small “speck” of black in a large sea of white
Khadijah Robinson
Contributing Writer
[email protected]
B
eing Black and being
African-American are
two entirely different things.
I learned this over and over
again during my semester
abroad in Lisbon, Portugal. I
also discarded so many preconceived ideas about race
during those four months that
I essentially experienced a
rebirth in thought and ideology. The view of race that I
had formulated as a native of
Montgomery, AL and a student of a Historically Black
Institution was one that did
not necessarily serve me well
in the European pool of racial
discourse.
I learned that the racial
baggage African-Americans
are taught to carry around is
regarded as excessive by Europeans: they seem to travel
with only carry-ons in comparison. The first thing that
startled me was the terminology and discourse concerning race. Whereas words like
“negro” would be taboo and
offensive in America, they
were regarded simply as appropriate adjectives to describe Blacks in Portugal. I
remember taking directions to
a friend’s house, and being astonished when he told me that
his street name was “Poço dos
Negros,” which translates to
“Well of the Negroes.”
When I asked him did he
seriously live on a street
named “Well of the Negroes,”
he simply told me, “Oh yes! It
is right next to Rua do Judeu
[Street of the Jew].”
After two months of living in
Portugal, I shouldn’t have been
surprised that he was so nonchalant about things I considered blatantly offensive. Most
of the people whom I came into
contact with (all of them white)
had never met a Black person
from America before.
They openly admitted that
they were surprised that I
spoke English so well and
could afford to come to Europe. I couldn’t believe that
Germans and Norwegians
were surprised at how good
my English was!
I was often told that Americans were hyper-sensitive
about race, and that we were
overly concerned with being
“politically correct.” Many
of my Portuguese friends insisted there was no such thing
as a race problem in Portugal.
Meanwhile, there were probably less than 15 Black people
in my entire college.
My Black-solidarity approach led to another shock
in the attitude of their Black
community towards me. As a
former colonial power, Portugal had connections with multiple countries in Africa, the
largest of which are Angola
and Mozambique. Immigrants
from these countries settled
in large numbers in the capital city of Lisboa, and when
I needed the simple things in
life, such as a hair relaxer, I
Recycle The Maroon Tiger
crossed the border into those
communities.
I felt more like an outsider
there than elsewhere in the
city. I was not like them, I
was reminded. I was treated
with curiosity, much the same
way I imagine they would
have treated a white woman
who had come for the same
reasons: friendly, but cold
enough to reinforce the rift
that lay between us.
Still, I was able to discover that not everything
we learned in our African
Diaspora and the World class
was overly racialized and radical. The Diaspora does have
many common links, which I
eventually found. We do suffer common issues, which I
eventually learned. And most
importantly, we do need to
connect with and uplift one
another.
While systematic racism
may not be as deeply entrenched and dominant in
Europe as in America, there
are certain ideologies and
stereotypes that seem to exist. On the other hand, there is
something valuable in people
being able to have discussions
without there being the taboo
of hyper-sensitive words or
thoughts limiting the honesty
of the discourse.
Although I was just a
“speck” of Black in a sea of
white, I learned a valuable
lesson abroad: being Black in
Europe is the same as being
Black anywhere else in the
world—it’s what you make it.
The Maroon Tiger
Opinions
The modern-day Man of Morehouse
Adopting the “Five Well-Nots”
Tre’vell Anderson
Contributing Writer
[email protected]
M
orehouse: the alma mater of Martin Luther King
Jr., Spike Lee and Samuel Jackson; the Harvard of HBCU’s;
one of the breeding grounds for
the Civil Rights Movement. Interpretations of Morehouse are
quite important especially outside of the student and alumni
community. The Morehouse
Man reputation precedes us.
President Dr. Robert Michael
Franklin has created a concept
of what a man of Morehouse is,
or at least should be: the Five
Wells. According to him, we
should all be well-read, wellspoken, well-dressed, welltraveled and most importantly,
well-balanced
individuals.
That is the Morehouse look and
if you don’t fit it, maybe you
should transfer elsewhere.
This is the way to prove to the
world that Black males do have
competent,
forward-thinking
minds and not just pants hanging
off their behinds. This is the way,
the Morehouse way and inherently the only way. Or is it?
Is this really beneficial to us?
I must admit as a freshman
this year, my mother and I
were enthralled by such ideals.
I found myself always striving
to execute the wells in the best
manner possible. I began longing to dress better, speak better,
learn more, do more. I wanted
to be this person that Franklin
spoke of. I wanted to be something else.
When I went back home for
winter break I was excited to
see old teachers, friends and familiar faces. But just about every single time I talked to someone they always said, “You can
tell a Morehouse man, but you
can’t tell him much!”
I began to ask myself what
in the world these people were
talking about. I just couldn’t
fathom the assumption people
made of me based on the institution that I attend. But then
it hit me that it has been constantly said, both by our president and others on our campus,
that the role of Morehouse in
this community and abroad has
changed. It’s not what it used
to be. Sure, we still may be the
pinnacle institution for a Black
male to be educated, but we
have slid down the totem pole
when it comes to being in touch
with the community.
And yet we wonder why
people from that very same
community rob us walking
from Woodruff Library.
‘’We don’t have a connection
with [the community],’’ said
Brandon Malone, president of
the community service group
‘Do it 4 the Hood.’
We hold ourselves on this
high pedestal above all others,
seemingly reaching to wear the
crown that Morehouse holds
above our heads, but while in
pursuit, we forget about the
places from which we came,
ignoring the methods that got
us to Morehouse and will keep
getting us to other places after Morehouse. Yet we expect
those around us to embrace us
with open arms?
We are distant from this community just as much as they are
distant from us. From what I
see, this is the man Morehouse
is creating with the Five Wells.
Is this really what I want to
be? Is it what you want to be?
I’m not here to discredit what
the five wells are attempting to
instill in us, nor rebel against
Franklin and his mission.
However, where are the ideals
of being well-aware, of both
ourselves and what’s going on
around us, of our past and our
future, or well-understood,
both internally and externally
in order to ensure that negative
sentiments are not being developed by our community?
What about being welltaught, through formal education and through life experience, or well-wishing,
not only to ourselves and our
family, but to the competition
and those who may not be as
educated as us?
The bottom line is that we
are too narrow in our expectations and assumptions of what
a Morehouse Man should be.
This is the crisis in the village.
Yes, he has to be well-read,
well-spoken, etc. but more importantly, he has to be, rather
needs to be, well-received by
the community.
.
.
.
Y
D
H
EA
February 10 - 16, 2010
- VI -
D
BU
The term “acting white”
Kevin Small
Contributing Writer
[email protected]
Gerren K. Gaynor
Opinions Editor
[email protected]
W
e’ve heard it many
times before and it
is a criticism of the way we
talk, walk, dress and the cars
we drive. Many of us come
from suburban neighborhoods, are very cultured and
have experienced the best
education, yet get labeled
as “acting white,” even at
an a historically Black college. But what exactly does
acting white really mean? Is
acting white deemed good,
whereas acting Black isn’t?
It brings anger to most
AUC students when labeled
under this category. Morehouse College sophomore
Jason Culmer strongly feels
that when it comes to the
term acting white, as a community “Blacks purposely
deter from professionalism
and educated manners as if
to retain parts of their Black
identity.”
But ultimately Culmer
is convinced that people,
Black or white, can define
themselves and that acting
white is simply equated with
what should be considered a
necessity to all races, such
as being both educated and
professional.
Spelman College student
Nalecia Davis explained that
it’s an ignorant statement.
“I feel that when I hear
the term acting white it’s
associated with being educated and able to make
strong and correct sentences. While acting Black, on
the other hand, has a negative connotation, including
not being able to attend institutions like Harvard or
Princeton and that we only
listen to rap music and all
of this is not true.”
So let’s compose a list.
Acting white, according to
the nay-sayers, is having
your shirt tucked in, not sagging your pants and listening
to classical music. Someone
who acts Black curses like a
sailor, is not an avid reader,
unable to manage money
and tends to talk loud…all
wrong! People never seem
to realize that these individuals are just being themselves
and that their tendencies
come from the environment
they were raised.
Acting white is an uninformed statement made by
others who are not exposed to
a certain way of living. This
widespread term is often found
in today’s media, even when
referencing President Barack
Obama, who is frequently referred to as acting white simply because he speaks like an
educated American with sophisticated rhetoric.
The media is a very strong
tool that portrays Blacks
negatively. Very seldom do
you see Blacks in a positive
light. They’re typically being
arrested and are dressed as
what is labeled as “ghetto.”
Being Black is more than
what is perceived on the outside-- it is actually quite diverted. In the AUC we cross
paths with young professionals who are great politicians,
dancers, stylists, writers and
orators. Some Blacks like
rap, which is fine, but others
prefer a little jazz and opera.
They’re not acting white,
they’re acting American.
But what many fail to realize is that acting white is inevitable because you cannot
possibly climb the social or
professional ladder without
using basic grammar and being somewhat cultured.
Day after day in the AUC
we break the stereotypes of
what a Black person should
act like. At Morehouse,
Spelman and Clark Atlanta
University, we are taught
by some of the best professors and mentors who lead
us in the path of professional prosperity. So why
get caught up in who’s acting white and who’s acting
Black? We need to focus
on moving forward and not
getting stuck in old cliches
that do nothing but continue
to hold us back.
JOIN OUR TEAM!
Y
Are you interested in Technology, Social Networking,
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Looking to boost your resume for
Graduate School and Summer Internships?
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The
Tiger
- VII -
Arts & Entertainment
Valentine’s Day for the low
Elizabeth Sawyer
Associate A&E Editor
[email protected]
V
alentine’s Day is just around the corner. It’s the most romantic day of the
year, full of dinner, roses, cards and passion. But all of those material displays of
affection can get pretty costly. Our current
recession and the perpetual plight of being
a broke college student makes it pretty difficult to lavish your boo with all that she or
he is expecting. Furthermore, some of these
Valentine’s traditions can get pretty trite. So
the Maroon Tiger kept that in mind this year
and did some of the footwork for you. We
looked up some of the best and most exciting (and cheapest) restaurants and events as
well as some alternative (and cheap) flowers and movies to help you make this Valentine’s Day special.
Restaurants
The Real Chow Baby
Pre-fix Menu, $20 per person
Chow Baby is a quirky stir-fry restaurant original to the city of Atlanta. They’re enticing
you to join them for Valentine’s Day with a
very well priced pre-fix menu that includes
all-you-can-eat stir fry. Although eating here
requires a little manual labor (you put your
meal’s ingredients together yourself), the
end result is definitely worth it.
Stats
Pre-fix Menu, $25 per person
It just so happens that this romantic holiday
is on the same day as the NBA All Star game.
Fortunately, Stats makes it so you don’t
have to choose between your two loves. This
classy downtown sports bar is offering a nice
pre-fix menu of good old American cuisine
while viewing the game.
Ru Sans
$15-30 per person
Ru Sans, the familiar and extremely casual
sushi place, is a good restaurant to head to
if the plan is to keep Valentine’s Day fairly
relaxed. The traditional Japanese cuisine as
well as the sake cocktails are very good and
incredibly affordable.
Chocolate Pink
$10-$20 per person
If you’re really trying to keep things to a minimum, you can skip dinner entirely and head
to Chocolate Pink for desert. They have everything from chocolates to cupcakes and depending on what you get, the prices are fairly
low. These delicious deserts coupled with the
intimate environment makes Chocolate Pink
a perfect Valentine’s destination.
Lobby at Twelve
Pre-fix Menu, $35 per person
The Lobby at Twelve is located exactly there
– in the lobby of the Twelve Hotel. This luxurious restaurant is right in Atlantic Station
so it’s just a quick MARTA trip away and
right around the corner from the movies
should you decide to stop there after dinner.
The food is a little bit pricey, but the quality
and atmosphere of the restaurant is worth
the extra buck.
WaterHaven
Pre-fix Menu, $35 per person
Located in Midtown, WaterHaven is a highly-praised albeit somewhat expensive restaurant but you will definitely get your money’s
worth. Just glancing at the pre-fix menu will
make you salivate and it has plenty of options for even the pickiest of dates.
Movies
Valentine’s Day
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Jessica Biel, Julia
Roberts
The name of this fun and up beat romantic
comedy says it all. It literally has Valentine’s
Day written all over it. With a star studded
cast and your typical romantic comedy formula, this is sure to be a hit with both girls
and guys (whether they admit it or not).
Dear John
Starring: Channing Tatum, Amanda
Seyfried
Of all of the movies listed, this is definitely
the sappiest. Based off of a novel by Nicholas Sparks, the mastermind behind “A Walk
to Remember” and the “Notebook,” this
movie is definitely designed to pluck at your
heart strings.
Murphy’s
$20-$40 per person
This Atlanta classic is famous for its brunch
but it has plenty to offer in the dinner category as well. Murphy’s will be serving their
regular menu on Valentine’s Day which
helps to keep dinner at a moderate price.
*It would be wise to make reservations in advance for each of these fine establishments.
Don’t risk being relegated to McDonald’s
because you couldn’t find a table.*
The Wolfman
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt,
Anthony Hopkins
For those of you who aren’t into the whole
romance and romantic comedy scene, there’s
The Wolfman. This modern interpretation
of the classic tale features an award winning
cast and some pretty graphic and gruesome
images.
Flowers
Valentine’s at the High
The High Museum
$25 per person, $40-$42 per person
The High Museum is a constant source of
entertainment for art lovers in Atlanta and
this Valentine’s Day is no exception. There
will live performances of romantic classical
music and the sultry sounds of guitar player
Myles Brown. There will also be tango and
salsa lessons as well as drawing workshops in
the galleries.
Lilies
Although often associated with Easter, lilies
can be a great alternative flower for Valentine’s Day. They’re just as beautiful and diverse as roses but at a quarter of the price.
Tulips
Tulips are some of the most beautiful flowers
in the world. So much so that they sent an
entire country (the Netherlands) into “Tulip
Mania” during the 17th century. Four hundred years later, they still retain that epic
beauty and are a perfect way to show someone you care without breaking the bank.
Things to Avoid: Many people think that
flowers are just pretty and decorative and
they all mean the same thing: I’m sorry
and/or I love/like you very much. On
the contrary – all flowers have meanings
– some of them good and some of them
very bad. The yellow rose is an example
of the latter. Presenting someone with a
bouquet of yellow roses means that you
despise them. If it’s your significant other’s favorite color, it might be better to get
one of the alternative flowers listed above
in yellow and stick with either white, red,
pink or purple roses.
Events
Word is Born! Spoken Word Open Mic
Apache Café
If you’re looking for a welcoming environment full of jazz, poetry and art, look no further than the Apache Café. On Valentine’s
Day, this midtown café/gallery/venue will
be hosting a spoken word open mic night.
You and your valentine can sit and watch
while you have a bite to eat or jump in and
share if you feel so inclined.
*Tickets must be purchased in advance for each
of these events*
It matters, if you think a little
Jane’a Johnson
Contributing Writer
[email protected]
“B
lood Done Sign My
Name” centers on
a real-life man named Dr.
Ben Chavis, played convincingly by Nate Parker,
who rallies a southern North
Carolina town to action in
the wake of a heinous, racially charged murder. It
isn’t a traditional biopic.
It has no clear ‘star’, and
no grandiose plot. This
isn’t to imply the film’s
resident star power suppliers Lela Rochon and Nate
Parker don’t turn inspired
performances because they
certainly do. Instead is it
the movement that burns
brightly at the center of
this film.
The murder takes place in
1970, and the movie is simply a snapshot of what happened to civil rights after
the murders of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Malcolm X,
John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy. It is a world
we are seldom presented
with, as we are sometimes
led to believe by popular
history that these type of
murders disappeared with
the 1960’s.
A white reverend named
Vernon Tyson, whose reallife son wrote the book
from which the film was
adapted, is a charismatic
character. The reverend
tries, eventually at the
cost of his job, to help the
town accept racial integration. The problem with his
character, and many of the
other characters in the film,
is a weakness that is omnipresent in the film: they are
not dynamic.
The “good” characters are
almost God-like in their actions, never faltering from
start to finish; the “bad”
characters in the town are
pure soulless evil.
The one character that
brims with complexity
is Golden Frinks, a man
whose only job was to
agitate the masses and get
them to organize. He is an
embodiment of the leaderless civil rights movement
at the time, but blink and
you’ll miss his significance.
The acting in the film
is superb, but it is the flat
characters that box the performers in and prevent the
audience from being completely moved. Even Lela
Rochon’s wonderful performance as the Tyson’s
nanny is bogged down by
her character’s unwavering
benevolence.
The film is brave in its
presentation of the killing. The irony that the man
killed survived a tour in
Vietnam, and was killed in
his own hometown is not
glazed over; it is pointed
out directly by dialogue.
The director first whispers to the audience hints
of the man’s impending
February 10 - 16, 2010
doom, and then thrust it
upon them, before they are
ready.
There are tons of typical emotions that well up
inside a viewer during the
murder scene. Anger, disgust, hatred… but, there
was one that was more important than the rest: Fear.
The fear this one scene stirs
is enough for the film to be
watched twice. In a time
when people are questioning the relevancy of such a
film, it is this emotion alone
that justifies its existence.
The portions of the film
that explore the marching
and organizing after the
killing are anti-climactic.
The audience will want
justice for the killing, but
the film is painfully honest. If one can resist the
temptation to write this off
as ‘just another civil rights
film’, there is a woeful,
but useful message to be
learned about current race
relations in American.
Recycle The Maroon Tiger
Lalah Hathaway:
A legacy of her
own
Donovan X. Ramsey
Contributing Writer
[email protected]
H
earing Lalah Hathaway
is an experience. The
undeniable presence of her
father, the legendary singer
Donny Hathaway, can be
heard in her lower register.
Even over the phone, her
speaking voice fails to disguise the exquisite qualities
that are ever-present when
she sings. Hathaway will
undoubtedly use that incredible voice to bring down the
‘House on Friday, Feb. 12 at
the annual Founder’s Day
concert.
Born into the music industry, Hathaway honed her
gifts from early on and at
the Berklee College of Music where she worked on her
first and self titled album,
“Lalah Hathaway.”
“I was working on that in
college and it came out just
as I left college… [The process] wasn’t unlike what a
lot of my peers were doing,”
she said. “I went to school
with Paula Cole and Roy
Hargrove so a whole lot of
people that I went to school
with were working musicians.”
While releasing a studio
album may not have been
unusual for the Berklee
graduate, she did so as the
daughter of arguably one of
the greatest soul singers to
have done it.
“I’m his daughter and
that’s the truth of who I am,
every day. When I was 15,
and then, 20, I didn’t get
why people were asking me
how I felt about him and his
music. But when I turned
25, I began to understand.”
The musical legacy of
Donny Hathaway is one
that has lasted far beyond
his death and is carried on
through her work. In fact,
she recently finished collaborating with saxophonist
and singer Kirk Whalum on
his album of songs written
by her father.
Hathaway’s calls her most
recent album, “Self Portrait,” her clearest and most
coherent record to date.
Having been involved in
everything from the writing
and production to the engineering and album art, her
commitment to the project
shines through from start to
finish.
Her dedication to every
aspect of creating an album
reflects the nature of a shifting industry. The advent
of modern technology has
opened up the doors of opportunity for artist and taken
out many barriers for onceindependent artists like
Drake and Wale to grow an
audience all on their own.
“Now is a great time for
the independent artist and
that means all of us who
want to be independent,”
Hathaway said. “It’s a time
where the labels are starting
to see that the art really has
nothing to do with the business. Any person that has a
computer can make a record
in GarageBand and have it
on iTunes next week. That
wasn’t available 10 years
ago so there are a lot of
these big record companies
that we don’t really need
anymore and that makes it
good for the artists. There is
a revolution happening.”
If anything is clear from
speaking with Lalah Hathaway it is that she knows the
music business and art of
making music through and
through. A look at just what
she’s listening to currently
is as eclectic as the influences that manifest through
her genre-crossing compositions.
“Right now I’m listening
to ‘The Foreign Exchange.’
I just got this Lady Antebellum CD after seeing them at
the Grammys and I thought
they were lovely. I’m still
listening to Eric Roberson’s
CD. I’m also on a big Herbie Hancock kick right now.
I listen to music everyday
and I’m constantly in search
of music. Some of it I don’t
even know what it is.”
This Friday, Hathaway
will be the featured act for
Morehouse’s Founder’s Day
Concert. Anyone that has
seen her perform live can
attest to the virtuosity and
power of her live show. She
usually performs only with
the essentials: a few backup singers and a band and is
fond of singing sometimes
with new arrangements.
“I always try to combine
as much of my career as I
can into my shows as possible. So I’ll perform some
of the old stuff, some of the
new stuff, some of my work
with Marcus Miller and Joe
Sample. I try to make the
show as varied as I can and
make sure that everyone is
having a good time.”
With an already accomplished career, the musical
legacy that Lalah Hathaway
wants to leave is straightforward. “I hope that people are
uplifted by [my music] and
it makes them feel something,” she said. “I hope that
my music is something that
lives on and that people will
give their children and those
children will give their children…I hope it will live forever.”
Donovan X. Ramsey is
a Contributing Writer for
“The Maroon Tiger” and former Managing Editor. Read
more of his work at www.
DonovanRamsey.blogspot.
com. Tickets are available
for the 2010 Founders Day
concert in the Morehouse
College Bookstore or www.
TicketMaster.com.
The Maroon Tiger
Sports
Morehouse
Athletics:
A decade in review
Dufferin Culpepper II
Contributing Writer
[email protected]
T
he past decade of sports
for Morehouse College has presented highs and
lows for the Tiger athletic
programs. The teams have
experienced gut wrenching
losses, dramatic victories,
and everything in between.
Here is the decade in review
for the sports of basketball,
football, golf, and track and
field.
Basketball
The Tiger basketball team
was one of the most decorated sports programs on
the campus for the decade.
Lined up around the scoreboard in Forbes Arena are
championship pennants that
represent great accomplishment, particularly towards
the beginning of the decade.
Those were the glory years
of Morehouse basketball.
Head coach Grady Brewer
has been involved with the
team since playing from
1976-1980.
Team of the Decade: The
2002-2003 SIAC championship team that was led by
center Ronald Thompson,
who was league and tourney
MVP. From 2000-2004, the
team had at least 20 wins and
were regular favorites to win
the conference.
The Highlight of the Decade: The 2003 SIAC championship in which the Tigers
game with Miles College
was postponed a day due to
“problems with the court.”
The Tigers eventually won
the game by three points and
advanced to the NCAA Division 2 Tournament.
The All Decade Team:
PG Darius Wade
–Was a Black College AllAmerican and the SIAC Rookie
of the Year
SG Brandon Chiles
–Is the second leading
scorer in Morehouse College
history behind Harold Ellis
SF Steve Walters
PF Ronald Thompson
–Was the 2003 SIAC MVP
and tournament MVP
C Kenney Boyd
–Was a Black College AllAmerican SIAC MVP
Brewer, who won the
2000-2001 and 2002-2003
Coach of the Year and Coach
of the Tournament award,
is very optimistic about the
next decade of Morehouse
College basketball. “The
nucleus of starting another
dynasty is there. I am very
pleased about the prospects
of our team. The future is
bright.”
Football
The gridiron has been a
staple for Morehouse College fans. The fighting Tigers have registered a 57-
February 10 - 16, 2010
- VIII -
47 record from 2000-2009.
Head coach Rich Freeman
has been proud of the Tigers since he became coach
in 2007. His 20-10 record is
the best three-year start for a
Morehouse football coach.
The Highlight of the Decade: The Clark win that “restored institutional pride,”
Freeman said.
Some great players of the
decade include:
QB Ruben Dupree
RB John David Washington
WR James Steadman
QB Christian Sterling
WR Achille Hendje
K/P Micah Streiff
LB Jeffrey Cargile
ATH Jamar Rodriguez
DT Ramon Harewood
S Derrick Scott
Although they did not
make the playoffs in these
years, they came close on
numerous occasions and
Freeman is optimistic that
in the decade to come, they
will have the opportunity to
compete in those big games.
“We need not knock at the
door, but kick it in,” Freeman said. This is expressed
in the coach’s motto, “Fast,
Hard, Smart.”
Golf
Morehouse golfers have
been quite successful on the
links this decade. The team
was formed as a club sport
in 2001 and in 2002 became
an official Division II team.
Coach William Lewis has
been there since its inception.
The team has finished in the
top 10 every year, including
three tournament championships and three second place
finishes.
The team has also finished
fourth in the national championship standings for the
last two years. Individually,
Phillip Allen has won the
SIAC for the past two years.
Lewis attributes some of
the team’s success to the
First Tee Program, which introduces children to golf at
an earlier age, particularly
African Americans. Many of
the participants on the golf
team have participated in
this program.
Another contributing success to the program has been
the Morehouse brand, which
eases the process of recruitment. According to Lewis,
the highlight of the past decade is the tournament that
Morehouse has been hosting for the past five years, in
which nine to 12 teams compete.
Track and Field
The Track and Field program is the school’s most
successful program. In the decade, they won 7 championships and have had numerous
All Conference players, and a
handful of All Americans.
Track and Field Athletes
of the Decade:
Gary Alman, Michael
Blevins, Frederick Day,
Momodo Drammeh, James
Kizer, Terrance Battle,
Jason Cornelius, Josiah
Lagat, Javondee Small,
Alex Brickler, Keith Moffett, Bruno Parker, Cameron Beyne, Julius Coleman,
Damian Prince, Randall
Flimmons, Kevin Chafe,
Chevone
Cunningham,
Turner Coggins, and Barry
Baston.
The Highlight of the Decade: The team’s third-place
finish at the 2007 national
championship meet. Head
coach Willie Hill is especially proud of the fact that his
athletes, who have also gone
on to graduate and lead professional lives.
Some have even continued
track and field professionally
such as Moffett, Flimmons
and Prince. Moffett finished
second in the U.S championship for the high jump and
Flimmons finished first in
the indoor U.S championship in the long jump.
Athletic director Andre
Pattillo is very proud of the
past decade of Morehouse
athletics.
“The program has improved significantly,” he
said. “Morehouse was considered a doormat, an easy
win, we were not competitive. But now we have increased the competitive spirit
of our school.”
According to Pattillo, two
of the biggest highlights of
the decade has been the
length of the 2007 track
team season, in which, the
team was considered third
in Division II. The second
highlight was the opportunity for Morehouse to
compete in five football
classics and travel to cities
such as, Los Angeles, San
Diego, and Lexington.
Individual athletes who
have stood out to Pattillo
over the period have been
Kenney Boyd, John David Washington, Ronald
Thompson, Keith Moffett,
and Gary Coleman. Pattillo
is proud of his athletes who
have excelled athletically
and academically, as well
as the caliber of individuals and their accomplishments.
Going into this decade,
however, Pattillo is concerned with the economic
downturn because of the resources that are needed to
give the opportunity to recruit and enroll quality student athletes.
“All in all, I feel like it has
been a great decade for the
Department of Athletics and
I am proud to be a part of it,”
Pattillo said.
The NBA’s newest competition
Jourdan Shepard
Associate Sports Editor
[email protected]
L
ately the NBA has been
concerned about its reputation due to the actions of
some of its players, for example Gilbert Arenas. But
now they also have to deal
with something new to them,
competition. Don “Moose”
Lewis, a Georgia boxing and
wrestling promoter, is forming a new basketball league
comprised of only white
American players and it may
be coming to a city near you.
Basketball is recognized
as one of the fastest growing
sports worldwide and the NBA
has some of the best players
this sport has produced. The
average NBA fan can rattle
off the names of about 10 to
20 NBA players without even
thinking. Some of the most
beloved players in the league
are Kobe Bryant, LeBron
James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant
and Chris Paul.
Out of all of the aforementioned players, how many of
them are Caucasian? None.
That brings up the question:
Who are the most notable
players in the NBA who are
white? There are Dirk Nowitzki, Mehmet Okur, and Steve
Nash, but they are foreignborn. That poses another question: How many of players
are white and American born?
That question is far tougher to
answer even for the most avid
NBA fans.
This past Martin Luther
King Jr. weekend, Lewis announced he is trying to form
the All-American Basketball
League. The “AABL” will
only allow white, Americanborn men on its rosters. Lewis cites Arenas as one of his
reasons for why he wants to
create this new form of basketball entertainment.
“Would you want to go to
the game and worry about a
player flipping you off or attacking you in the stands or
grabbing their crotch?” Lewis
said to the New York Daily
News as he defended promoting the AABL. The AABL is
trying to provide an environment for fans that want to see
“fundamental basketball” unlike that of the “street ball”
that has “people of color.”
Lewis is trying to create 12
teams for this newly proposed
league in 12 different cities.
Interested in becoming a
Augusta, Ga., is one of the cities Lewis is fighting to place
a team in. Lewis believes in
this contemporary culture it
should not be frowned upon
to “move ourselves in a better
direction.”
Deke Copenhaver, Mayor
of Augusta, has already responded saying that his city
would not support Lewis’ entertainment venture.
“It [AABL] shouldn’t be
taken seriously, because the
NBA doesn’t choose players
based off of their race, but off
of skill alone…” Morehouse
senior Michael Statham said.
“It’s a second-tier league
showcasing players who aren’t
talented enough to make it
into the league [NBA].”
Many people nationwide,
like Statham, are upset with
the proposal of this new
league that has been deemed
racist. It’s not enough to just
be white to play, but players
must also be American born.
Though this is only a proposed league, Lewis must do
more campaigning and use a
better choice of words if he
is going to gain support for
AABL.
SPORTS writer?
Join us for our General Body Meeting on Thursday,
February 11, 2010, in Merrill Hall Room 111 at 6pm.
Catching up with Kenney Boyd
A few words with the basketball star
Jason Jenkins
Staff Writer
[email protected]
M
orehouse
College
aims to produce some
of the finest professionals: lawyers, doctors, business tycoons. But rarely, if
ever, does the same apply
to professional athletes.
Former Morehouse basketball standout Kenney Boyd
proves otherwise.
Though the enormity of his
dreams befits his stature, the
6-foot-8, 260 pound Boyd felt
his lifelong dream progress
into a blissful reality.
Signed with a league in
Western Europe, Boyd is currently playing professional
basketball on the island of
Tindastoll, Iceland. Bringing a
whole new meaning to studying abroad, Boyd is adapting
to his new home.
“The culture here is very
different and very outgoing.”
Boyd said. “Even though the
people here look very different and speak a different language, they have been very
supportive of me.”
Despite the unfamiliar atmosphere, Boyd didn’t wait
for the ink on his professional basketball contract to
dry before word got out.
“I was thrilled!” Boyd
said. “I spoke with the coach
and the team owner, and then
it hit me, all the practicing
is paying off and my dreams
were finally coming true.
Recycle The Maroon Tiger
“The first person I called
was my mom, she was happier for me than I was.”
Boyd’s joy has definitely
been accompanied by hard
work. Morehouse, not to
be confused with Duke or
North Carolina, has not
been a basketball powerhouse. Boyd’s stellar play
and leadership have been
“
took charge his final season, leading Morehouse in
points, rebounds, minutes
played, field goals and assists. Boyd’s impact and
versatility did not go unnoticed, becoming the first
player in Morehouse history
to win SIAC Player of the
Year as well as be named to
the NABC All Star game.
On a campus in which
4.0 biology majors collide with young ambitious
entrepreneurs,
and all in between, the
least expected outcome
falls in the realm of
professional sports. An
atmosphere
induced
more so by academia
rather than athletics
never silenced Boyd’s
passion. Even with the
future unclear, Boyd
never lost confidence
in his plans.
“I realized when I
was a kid that I was going to play professional basketball,” he said.
“From watching it on
television to playing
in the backyard, it was the
only thing that would make
me happy.”
Boyd couldn’t be any happier. The Division II AllAmerican proved his game
to be worthy on the collegiate level. The next challenge would undoubtedly
come in the professional
ranks.
Coming to
Morehouse was the
perfect place for
me. From coach
Brewer down to
my teachers, I had
their full support,
and looking back
that made all the
difference.
—Kenney Boyd
”
impressive nonetheless.
“Coming to Morehouse
was the perfect place for
me,” Boyd said. “From
coach Brewer down to my
teachers, I had their full support, and looking back that
made all the difference.”
During Boyd’s two seasons at Morehouse, he averaged 16 points and nine
rebounds a game. Boyd