| This Issue: |
|
Home Arts Forum News Sports |
| External Links: |
|
Bates.edu Dining Services Garnet Gateway Bates Catalog Bates Daily Bates Facebook Bates Handbook Bates Search Bates Webmail TheFacebook.com Weather |
| NEWS: |
| •
Nyu Psychologist Speaks On Stereotype Threat • As Snow Falls, Students Hit the Slopes • From Bates to Glass Blowing: Alumni Provides Hope for Confused Seniors • New Progressive Think Tank to Be Brought to Campus • School Finished Oral History of Senator Edmund Muskie • Thesis Talk: Bringing the Nanny Diaries to Life On the Vineyard With Emily Parr • Third Annual Unity Conference Focuses On Critical Issues Facing Black Community • Women's Basketball Wins First Ncaa Tournament Game |
| PICTURES: |
 |
The title of the conference was "Critical Issues Facing the Black Community: Identifying the Issues, Examining the Causes and Charting a way Forward." The afternoon session included short talks on a wide variety of subjects including segregation in education, the criminal justice system and issues involving HIV/AIDS and other diseases and their effect on the black community. One highlight was Austin Faison's discussion of his senior thesis which he wrote during the previous semester.
However, it was the keynote address, delivered by Dr. Maya Rockeymoore, which drew the best reviews. Rockeymoore, Vice President of Research and Programs at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and author of "The Political Action Handbook: a How-To Guide for the Hip-Hop Generation," spoke for 45 minutes. We need to be "actively involved in the political process" she urged, adding that "we are at a crossroads… if we're not engaged now, we're at a danger of turning back time."
One powerful example Rockeymoore offered to the attendees revolved around her undergraduate alma mater, Prairie View College in Texas. In the last election cycle, town officials told the students of the traditionally black college that they were not allowed to vote and if they did they would be at risk of being fined $10,000. In response, over 4,000 students and other members of the college community walked four miles to the town offices in protest. However, when it came time to vote, only 400 students voted. Rockeymoore concluded that "we are good about getting up and screaming" but "we've got a disconnect among young people" when it comes to voting. "We are lacking outrage."
Rockeymoore did stress that simply voting is not enough. "Voting is not the end-all-be-all-of the political process," she explained. Instead, it's "like the tip-off… it doesn't win you the game, you need to do more." In her book, she urges members of the hip-hop generation to get involved by learning about the issues. Since "many young people are not learning about the issues in school," they need to go out and actively search for information on their own. Many issues that are currently being discussed on Capitol Hill, such as social security, are "actually our issues."
Rockeymoore closed with a poignant anecdote about her father, a career military man. She explained that he had not always been treated with the respect which he felt that he deserved by the United States military, yet every day he raises the flag regardless. "Every time you see that flag remember that you have a job you need to do… a never-ending job"
The final event of the Unity conference, the Triad dance, was well attended. It lasted from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. in Chase Hall and featured many different types of music including hip-hop, reggae and salsa.