UNISONDiversity Committee for Communities of InterestSpring 2013 Volume 9, Issue 1

SANKOFA

Symposium

Race Relations

Civil Rights?

Misconception : Blindness

MLK/ The Cuban Guy

OMMA

In this issue:

2

3&4

5

6

7

8

9

By: Brandon Wiggins

UNCP’s African Student Organization kicked off its Miss Africa UNCP pageant “Deeply Rooted” on

January 30, 2013 in Moore Hall Auditorium. UNCP Student, Darnell Daley, and UNCP graduate, Ayodele

Balogun, hosted the event.

According to ASO President Saffie Jallow, one of the main points of Miss Africa is philanthropy

work in the community and to ensure citizens are educated about Africa.

“Our pageant contestant winner has a platform that they will promote within our community edu-

cating students about Africa,” Jallow said.

The judges of the event were Director of Minority and Multicultural Affairs, Mr. Robert Canida,

UNCP Alumnus, Mr. Virgil Oxendine, and UNCP Student Jessica Harris. The contestants included UNCP

students: Christina Palmer, Mona Gbamele, Serenity McLean, Catty Alexander, Amanda Moseley, and Krys-

ten Coleman.

The event started off with a dance performance by UNCP students Tre Robinson and Carmella

Nucci. After the introduction, each contestant participated in four rounds: talent, individual, formal, and

platform presentation.

The talent round consisted of contestants performing poetry, musical talent, and dance. The individual

round allowed contestants to express themselves on a personal level.

The contestants arrived looking superb on stage for the formal round leaving the audience impressed

by their appearance. During the platform presentation, contestants shared their awareness about Africa and

different foundations they would start for the continent. The winner of the 2013 Miss Africa Pageant was

Mona Gbamele, she gladly shared insight on the event at the end of the night.

“We must continue to spread awareness in order to help Africa,” Gbamele said. The Miss Africa

Pageant winner’s platform primarily dealt with major issues Africa such as hunger and the need for more

education.

ASO Presents The 2013 Miss Africa UNCP Pageant

Sankofa By: Chanel Langley

UNISON

The SANKOFA African-American Museum on Wheels made its appearance for the third time on UNCP’s campus on January 15, along with curator Angela Jennings. Jennings tells us that SANKOFA means, “We must go back and reclaim our past so we can move for-ward, so we understand why and how we came to be who we are today.” Starting the museum in 1995 as a way to teach her nephew about his past, Jennings noted that others should learn about the history of African-Americans as well. The art exhibit which featured over 1,000 pieces highlighted the past which involved slavery to historic leaders like Fredrick Douglas, Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King Jr., to the current history of having the first African American president. Jennings traveled internationally to 18 countries on the continent of Africa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Europe to learn and collect artifacts.

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The Office of Multicultural and Minority Affairs (OMMA)

on Aug. 29 hosted their fifth annual Social Justice

Symposium with the theme “Hidden Histories Made

Visible.”

The speakers included a survivor of North Carolina’s eugen-

ics sterilization program and House District 48 Rep. Garland E.

Pierce.

The event featured a panel discussion moderated by sopho-

more Hamood Gazali.

The panelists for the panel discussion were Dr. Ronny Bell,

professor in the Division of Public Health and Sciences for the

Department of Epidemiology and Prevention at the Wake Forest

School of Medicine; Virginia Brooks, a victim of North Carolina’s

Eugenics program, and her adopted daughter Carol; Dennis Gaddy,

founder and executive director of the Community Success Initiative;

Dr. Gary Grant, executive director for the Concerned Citizens of Til-

lery; and Dr. Ruth Woods, president of local crisis ministry Scared

Pathways.

Rep. Pierce was the keynote speaker for the event. He has

received 29 awards for community service.

Forced Sterilization Brooks, a native of Robeson and Moore counties, was a

victim of the state’s eugenics program which ran between 1929 and

1974.

Brooks was placed into a sanatorium around the age of 15,

and the workers told her that she had to have her appendix removed.

The workers didn’t remove her appendix, they sterilized her instead.

Brooks adopted a daughter and now lives in Maxton, N.C.

She is a grandmother and great grandmother.

Brooks’ adopted daughter Carol told the audience that she

saw a change in her mother after Gov. Bev Perdue founded the North

Carolina Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation.

Legislative Response

According to Rep. Pierce, 80 percent of North Carolina

eugenics victims were women. He said that the state had the most

aggressive eugenics program in the U.S.

He said that North Carolina was the only state to allow

social workers to petition for people to be sterilized.

Rep. Pierce said that there are an estimated 1,400 to 1,800

eugenics victims still alive in the state.

According to the North Carolina Justice for Steriliza-

tion Victims Foundation webpage http://www.sterilizationvictims.

nc.gov/, an estimated 7,600 male and female North Carolinians,

“were sterilized by choice, force or coercion under the authorization

of the North Carolina Eugenics Board program.”

According to the North Carolina Justice for Sterilization

Victims Foundation, many of those victims were “poor, underedu-

cated, institutionalized, sick or disabled.”

According to Rep. Pierce, the North Carolina Assembly

promised to give $50,000 to every victim of the North Carolina

Eugenics Board, but they decided not to do so.

Rep. Pierce said that he felt hurt by the General Assembly’s

decision not to reimburse the state’s eugenics victims.

Rep. Pierce said that the reimbursement would not erase

what eugenics victims went through, but that it would have served

as a way to say “I’m sorry.” He told Brooks that she was a “she-ro”

for sharing her story with those in attendance.

Dr. Bell talked about the issues surrounding the health

disparities of American Indian people.

Prison Population Gaddy is a proponent of “Ban the Box.” “Ban the Box”

looks to take the “have you ever been convicted of a crime or incar-

cerated” box off of job applications and the (See Symposium Page 4)

initial employment process.

Gaddy said that it would allow employers to learn about

UNISON

Social Justice Symposium brings Hidden Histories to forefront

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By: Ashley Williams

a prospective employee’s experience, personality and skills related to

that particular job.

Gaddy told the audience that African Americans make up

12 percent of North Carolina’s population, but they account for 57

percent of the state’s prison population.

Dr. Grant talked about Confined Animal Feeding Operations

(CAFOs). According to Dr. Grant, some CAFOs house 5,000 pigs and

produce 4,000 pounds of waste per day.

Dr. Grant said that young people need to be more politically

aware.

“If this nation is ever going to live up to its creed that ‘all

people are created equal’ then we’re the ones that are going to have to

make it that way,” Dr. Grant said.

Poverty Rate Dr. Woods said that Sacred Pathways came about because

they had a concern for people. She told the audience that she sees

hunger and homelessness as “the new face of poverty.”

Dr. Woods told the audience that Robeson County has a 17.3

percent poverty rate.

Dr. Woods quoted Dr. Cornel West when she told the audi-

ence “We cannot lead the people, unless we love the people.”

Dr. Woods said that she would like to see instructors require

a certain number of hours in hands-on community service in their

[social learning] courses.

Poetry Spoken Word Artist Petrina C. Bryant, also known as Trin-

A-Thoughtz performed two powerful and engaging poems. Her first

piece started off with a Dr. Reverend Martin Luther King quote and it

discussed things such as the killings of Trayvon Martin and Sean Bell.

Bryant quoted her grandmother by telling the audience, “If

you haven’t walked in a person’s shoes, you have no idea how their feet

feel.”

Bryant’s related that quote to her second piece “Spare Some

Change.” The piece focused on trying to imagine herself in a homeless

person’s position when they ask for spare change.

According to OMMA Director Robert L. Canida II, the event

drew a crowd of approximately 200 guests.

Brooks told the audience that she would be turning 84 years

old in the days following the symposium, so Canida had the audience

sing happy birthday to her.

Chaqulla Woods, student service leader with the Office of

Community and Civic Engagement, delivered a call to action by urg-

ing the audience to be active citizens on campus and in their commu-

nities.

Rep. Pierce asked the audience to bring petitions to the Gen-

eral Assembly. He also asked the audience to call the NC Justice for

Sterilization Victims Foundation at 1-919-807-4270.

Canida showed the audience the trailer for the documentary

“Hole in the Head: A Life Revealed”. The documentary was directed

by Brett Leonard and produced by Dr. Wilbert Smith.

“Hole In The Head: A Life Revealed” is about Dr. Smith’s

longtime friend Vertus Hardiman who was experimented on with

radiation at the age of 5. The radiation left Hardiman with a hole in

his head.

The documentary is narrated by Allstate Insurance spokes-

man Dennis Haysbert. Haysbert also played Whitney Houston’s love

interest in “Waiting to Exhale.” More information can be found on the

documentary by visiting http://www.holeinthehead.com/.

Canida said that stories like Hardiman’s make events like the

symposium important to have.

English Department lecturer Dr. Walter Lewallen said that

he thought that the event was great and that it was important to hear

Brooks’ story.

Graduate social work students Shakera Williams and Court-

ney Wall said that they enjoyed the event.

Williams said that she wishes that [OMMA] continues to do

the Social Justice Symposium because it is good for the campus.

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Symposium Cont’d

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Theatre Delta of Chapel Hill presented “Race Relations: Who Needs It?” on February 14, 2013 in Pine Hall Mul-tipurpose Room. The event involved interactive theater, which allowed the audience to participate in the perfor-mance with a raffle contest at the end. The performance revolved around three college students dealing with race relations on campus. Once the act was over the audience discussed the issues presented is the performance. After the theater discussion, audience members had the chance to reenact the scene while implying what decisions

they would have made dealing with the dilemma. A major-ity of audience members involved used positive reinforce-ment while others corrected the misconceptions behind race relations. “Race Relations: Who Needs it?” was the third per-formance featured by director of Theatre Delta, Ben Saypol. After presenting a sexual assault awareness performance the night before, Saypol shared some differences between both events. “Tonight was a smaller intimate crowd, but we had a deep conversation about race relations and I felt we made a lot of progress as well,” Saypol said. Saypol has been doing Interactive Theater for eight years and founded “Theater Delta” in 2009. Among the crowd was director of Minority and Multicultural Affairs, Robert Canida and Associate professor, Dr. David B. Oxendine. At the end of the night, Saypol said we hoped Theater Del-ta’s will return to UNCP in the future. “We want to return and we look forward to, it” Saypol said.

By: Brandon Wiggins

Dr. Charles Beem, associate professor in the History Department, gave a lecture about the place of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) rights titled “Civil Rights? That’s So Gay”. Dr. Beem told a story of how he overheard two young men in a locker room having a conversation when one of them said the phrase “that’s so gay”. As an openly gay man, he approached the men and asked if they could explain what the phrase meant. “It’s as if I caught them using a racial slur,” Dr. Beem said. Relating the term to the past presidential election when Gov. Mitt Romney mentioned Obam-acare in a negative way, President Obama ‘owned’ the term with a simple “I like it.”

“I think what the President has done for Obam-acare; gays can do for ‘that’s so gay’”. Dr. Beem said. He said that gays should own the phrase and

turn it into something posi-tive. Beem also discussed

civil rights and the LGBT community. How marriage

equality is now a part of the American civil rights

movement. In May 2012, North Carolina passed

Amendment 1, a consti-tutional ban on marriage

equality defining marriage between one man and one

woman. “I’m a second class citizen because my state will not allow me to marry my spouse.” Dr. Beem said. The lecture was part of the Office of Multi-cultural and Minority Affairs Diversity Café Series.

Diversity cafe series: Civil Rights? That’s so Gay

By: Chanel Langley

UNISON

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Diversity café presents:just like you the misconceptions about blindness

By: Rudolph Binder

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On February 13th three students, who are all blind, gave a presentation on what it’s like to be blind and the misconceptions that many people have. Jessica Smith,

Daria Bannerman and Ashley Coleman, all blind students of UNCP, presented using vid-eos and PowerPoint slides. The presentation focused on what it is like to be blind, the different forms of blindness, such as light perception and legally blind, and what to say to someone who is blind. With one of the presenters saying “it’s okay to ask us if we saw something on TV last night”. It included how to go about helping a blind person who looks as if they may need assistance. Telling the audience that if you ask someone who is blind if they need help and they refuse to not take it personally because they are asked this all the time. The discussion continued with what it’s like to be blind and having service animals. Service animals are trained to lead the blind. They are permitted to go anywhere their handler goes, with the exception of kitchens, certain areas in hospitals and private homes. A key point that was touched on was that service animals should not be petted or fed treats by anyone, as it is not good for the animal. The blind students spoke on the use of certain objects and programs that allows them to do things like read papers, count money and use computers. The presenters stated that Apple computers are far more accessible for blind users than other brands because of the programs offered. There is a program called Job Access with Speech (JAWS) which is a screen reader program that allows the computer to communicate with the blind and vice versa. The advantages of being blind were also touched on with Smith saying “being blind I never have to be the designated driver.” The presentation concluded with a question and answer session with the audience. Questions such as what kind of blindness they have and the stages in life in which their blindness occurred, were answered. All three said they were born blind. The presentation ended with the students stating that just because they are cannot see doesn’t mean they don’t do the same things everyone else does.

UNISON

Motivational speaker Andres Lara also known as “The Cuban Guy” presented “How to Move Forward When You Feel like Quitting” to an interactive audience of 20 people in the Faculty Lounge. Lara used his past experiences on how he escaped Cuba at the age of 16 without speaking English, without family, money or a home to currently being a CEO of A. Success Training, former president of Inspiration Magazine, an author, nationwide speaker and millionaire. “You have to get off your anatomy and take action” Lara said. GOYA is an acronym that he got from one of his

former professors. Lara spoke on the struggles that he went through when he was a college student and was constantly getting knocked down. He urged the audience not to let others, friends or family get in the way of reaching goals. “Move forward with or without,” Lara said. Lara showed the audience how they can overcome many barriers and ultimately achieve success by getting off their anatomy and taking action. The event was sponsored by the Office of Multicultural and Minority Affairs.

UNISON

By: Chanel Langley

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MLK event remains successful during blackout

UNCP kicked off The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. event on Jan. 17th in the UC Annex, after a major power outage on campus. Due to the blackout, many thought the program would be canceled but Robert Canida, Director of the Of-fice of Multicultural and Minority affairs thought other-wise. “Since people showed up, I figured we have some partial lighting and candles, why not make the best of it,” said Canida. Scheduled performers that showed up got their chance to perform. UNCP professor, Dr. Willie McNeill recited Dr. King’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech. A student performed “The Negro National Anthem.” During the event, Canida gave a speech on “The Importance of

Believing in A’s” (Attitude, Action, and Achievement). “I was telling our students no matter what you do in life make sure you achieve,” Said Canida. The power finally returned after Mr. Canida pre-sented the keynote. When the lights came back on, the Dr. Collie Coleman Scholarship was awarded to UNCP student and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity member, Keedric Woodard. Housing and Resident Life served refreshments after the event ended. Despite the circumstances, Canida said the event was a success. “The fact that the program was done by candle-light, I think made the event more intimate,” Canida said.

By: Brandon Wiggins

Mr. Robert L. Canida, II,DirectorWeb Information Coordinator Email: canida@uncp.eduPhone: 910.522.5790

Mrs. Lisa Gonzalez Bullard,Administrative AssociateEmail: lisa.bullard@uncp.eduPhone: 910.521.6508

Contact Us!

Mission Statement:The Office of Multicultural and Minority Affairs of UNC Pembroke provides programs and services that sup-port the academic mission of the Uni versity by enhancing the educational, personal, cultural and social devel-opment of UNCPs diverse student populations. As an agent of change, the Office of Multicultural and Minority Affairs seeks to value cultural diversity in order to promote an empowered society.

Office of Multicultural and Minority AffairsPO Box 1510Pembroke, NC 28372

Phone: 910.521.6508Fax: 910.521.6742Relay: 910.521.6508Email: oma@uncp.edu

Diversity Committee:Dr. Veronica Hardy Dr. Michele FazioDr. Shilpa Pai Regan Dr. Kevin Freeman Mr. Virgil OxendineMs. Nicolette Campos Mr. Robert L. Canida II, ChairMs. Ashley ColemanMs. Daria BannermanMs. Jessica Smith

Newsletter Editors:Chanel Langley Brandon WigginsRudolph Binder

Contributing Writers:Ashley Williams

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