Building unity and coalitions through club membership
By JASMINE CAMPBELL
Here on our campus we have a variety of fun and exciting clubs for our African Americanstudents. For example we have a club especially for African American women called Sistertalk. Sistertalk is a group that
focuses on the changing roles of the African American woman on campus and in the community. This is achieved through a solution oriented empowerment dialogue session held every Wednesday, where everyone voices their concerns about relationships, men, racism, and our culture as a whole. We also have a
club for African American men called the Alliance for the Preservation of African Consciousness (APAC), that meets every Tuesday. APAC’s mission is to strengthen validity of education among the African American family and greater multicultural community thereby enhancing the quality of life of the members. Next
we have the Afro-Ethnic Student Association (AESA) which is the club that serves as the umbrella organization for all of the African American student organizations on CSUF’s campus.Members of AESA work toward strengthening the African American community on and off campus through community
service projects, and social events. NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers strive to increase the number
of culturally responsible black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.
REMEMBERING OUR PAST
Born a slave in Virginia on April 5, 1856, Booker T.Washington learned the importance of hard work, discipline and determination as a young boy. He held several jobs during his youth to help support his family.
In his early twenties, Washington went to Wayland Seminary in Washington, D.C. but after a year returned to Hampton to become a faculty member. In 1881 he relocated to a new school for blacks, Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Later in life, Washington became a national leader when he spoke at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. He urged Southern Blacks to remain in the South and to commit themselves to economic improvement because he believed this would lead to improvement in civil rights.
Washington published his autobiography, Up From Slavery in 1901. Despite opposition to his opinions, he remained a prominent and recognized influential figure in the nineteenth and twentieth century.
Black to the Future: Where does African American Studies go from here
By Chanel Lee
A A R C N E W S L E T T E R
Three years ago, Princeton University appointed Harvard professor Cornel West as the school's newest professor of religion. This came after Harvard president Lawrence Summers questioned the quality of West's "scholarship" to colleagues and the press. Despite the fact that West had written or edited over a dozen books, Summers had taken issue with West's alliances with failed presidential candidates
Bill Bradley and Al Sharpton and West's recording of a spoken-word CD.
Amid the furor over West's departure from Harvard's celebrated department of African and African American studies came a much quieter yet no less disturbing contretemps. That June, a group of conservative scholars withdrew from a panel on the prominent philosopher Sidney Hook that featured West as a discussant. Asked to explain the boycott, CUNY's John Patrick Diggins told The New York Times, "I'm concerned about whether [West] has any point of view in matters of philosophy," despite the fact that West
holds a Princeton Ph.D. in the discipline and devoted some of his 1989 book The American Evasion of Philosophy to Hook.
In The Chronicle of Higher Education this April, Robin Wilson portrayed African American studies programs as fighting against irrelevance—and for their very survival. The article depicted a field in the midst of an "identity crisis": departments struggling to attract students while budget cuts thin the faculty, courses crosslisting with other departments, programs "scrambling to reinvent themselves" and "broadening their courses" by changing their names or widening focus to study African peoples from the Caribbean and Europe.
It is a portrayal that many African American scholars of various disciplines blasted as ridiculous and
patently false, especially considering that quite a few "traditional" disciplines, such as sociology and English
literature, did not become formal courses of study until the end of the 19th century.
"Black studies is 30 years old and we're already talking about its demise?" asks Dwight A. McBride, a
professor of English and head of the African American studies department at Northwestern. "Did anyone talk about the demise of sociology at 30? We are not crediting disciplines like black studies for making inroads, working from the margins to produce this knowledge in this country...
Aerika's Corner
I remember when I first arrived in Fullerton as a transfer student in 2002. I was excited to move out of
my parents house, nervous about moving to a new area, and scared I would not live up to others expectations. My first year was filled with new experiences, opportunities for
growth and “brilliant ideas”. FYI, pouring bleach off the balcony in the
dorms is not a good idea, at least the downstairs neighbors did not appreciate it. I hope that you take advantage of the programs, events, and resources available through the AARC. Come have lunch and pick up some info at our “lunch-time lectures”, get tips on taking the GRE, or learn to find research articles at our “library skills workshop”. In addition to workshops, we have computers with internet access, printing, a library (books and videos), a conference room and a study lounge. I’ve found the couch to be a great place to sleep between classes. The most important thing to remember is that we are here for school. Set
enough time aside to study. If you are struggling in class, my best advice is to go to your professors office hours. If they see you are trying, they may be willing to give you the benefit of the
doubt. It may be the different between a “C” and a “D” or an “A” or a “B”. I challenge you to get involved on
campus in clubs and organizations., I’ve heard if you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for everything. Whether it
be human rights, Black consciousness, or representing your family, what will you stand for? Find a group that
matches your interests and start helping. College can be one of the highlights of your life, or the longest 4-5 years ever. Make friends and the most of this experience!
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