The March 2013 Issue of Ego Magazine

“If you are going to think black, think positive about it. Don’t think down on it, or think it is something in your way. And this way, when you really do want to stretch out and express how beautiful black is, everybody will hear you.”

—Leontyne Price

EGO February/March 2013

“The individual who can do something that the world wants done will, in the end, make his way regardless of his race.”

—Booker T. Washington

“For I am my mother’s daughter, and the drums of Africa still beat in my heart. They will not let me rest while there is a single Negro boy or girl without a chance to prove his worth.”

—Mary McLeod Bethune

“You are young, gifted, and Black. We must begin to tell our young, There’s a world waiting for you, Yours is the quest that’s just begun.”

—James Weldon Johnson

“I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes. I do not mind at all.”

—Zora Neale Hurston

“To make our way, we must have firm resolve, persistence, tenacity. We must gear ourselves to work hard all the way. We can never let up.”

—Ralph Bunche

“The outside world told black kids when I was growing up that we weren’t worth anything. But our parents said it wasn’t so, and our churches and our schoolteachers said it wasn’t so. They believed in us, and we, therefore, believed in ourselves.”

—Marian Wright Edelman

EGO Magazine ISSN 1936-1793 Vol. 6, Issue 2 SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY Suite 1064 – T.H. Harris Hall P.O. Box 10180 Baton Rouge, LA 70813 225.771.5819 PHONE 225.771.5840 FAX

EGO

The magazine is written, edited and published by members of the student body at Southern University and A&M College.

EGO

The magazine is published fives times a year with a run count of 3,000 copies per issue during the Southern University – Baton Rouge campus fall, spring and summer semesters.

The magazine is free to students, staff, faculty every publication

EGO

morning on the SUBR campus. The magazine student offices are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday – Friday. The offices are located on the first floor on T.H. Harris Hall, Suite 1064.

Copyright 2012 by the Southern University Office of Student Media Services. The Office of Student Media is a Division of All articles, photographs and graphics are property of EGO magazine and its contents may not be reproduced or republished without the written permission of the Editor in Chief and Director of Media Services.

EGO

The magazine is the official student magazine of Southern University and A&M College located in Baton Rouge, La. Articles, features, opinions, speak out and editorials do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the administration and its policies. Signed articles, feedback, commentaries and features do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors, staff or student body.

Southern University and A&M College at Baton Rouge is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097, telephone (404) 679-4500, Website: www.saccscoc.org.

Contributing Writers Darryl J. Edwards, EGO Managing Editor Christie Carral, EGO Staff Writer Marcus Green, Digest Managing Editor Aristide Phillips, Digest Sports Editor Jessica Sarpy, Digest Opinions Editor Amechi Ugwu, EGO Staff Writer

Contributing Photographers Arielle Burks, Ego Art Director Trevor James, Jaguar Editor-in-Chief Ariana Triggs, Digest Staff Photograoher

Special Thanks to Wil Norwood, for his photographic expertise and knowledge Charles Hawkins II, for his continued assistance to Student Media Evan Taylor for her designing assistance

Student Media Staff Heather Freeman, Director Fredrick Batiste, Publications Assistant Camelia Jackson, Advertising/Business Mgr.

First things first Well here we are again with another

EGO magazine. This issue was a

doozey getting done because it is not only our Black History Month issue it also our largest issue to date. As many of you may have noticed the look and feel of the magazine is different to better accommodate the size of this one-time grand issue.

We decided to take the EGO magazine in a totally new direction by changing the amount of pages and paper to give it a whole new look and feel also we decided to take the this opportunity to celebrate Black History Month on a much larger scale than before. We take you back into time with vivid photographs of past trends dear to the black community in the 60’s and 70’s and walk you through a day in the life of two youngsters here at Southern University as they spark up an old school kind of love affair. We also bring to light the often overlooked and forgotten fame and glory of the men’s track team that was broke and set many records and were named the best track team of a decade by numerous national publications.

In honor of Black History we have features that speak on the aesthetics of what it means to be black and beautiful as well the beauty in strong black relationships, past and present.

This issue is our best attempt at time travel minus the DeLorean as we hop back and forth through the now and then of history past and history in the making. As always we had our resident tech guru bring you all the best information on the latest tech as he walks you through how to get the best out of your Windows 8 processor. We also have a feature highlighting the little known corner of the library here on campus which house one of the most impressive music libraries in the state as well as a music commentary comparing the music of the past to the music of today. Also in our effort to support our aspiring entrepreneurs in fashion we have a fashion spread by Truly Tuesday.

There is one story in particular that caused us the most stress, it started out as a story to dispel rumors about unfair professors here on campus but quickly evolved into a monster of a scandal when one professor decided to take this chance

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to not defend herself but to discredit anyone who mentions her in a bad light.

Also she, in attempt to discredit this publication, in an interview with our reporter she gave him information that was false and later admitted this fact to a classroom of students which sparked our interest to dig a little deeper into the maelstrom surrounding this professor and the further down the rabbit hole we dug the closer we found ourselves in a strange new place that we didn’t understand.

Outside of this small blemish we made sure to showcase the best of not only the black community but the Jaguar Nation as well as we highlight one students journey to the NFL and his determination to finish his education here on The Bluff.

We here at the EGO really appreciate the support and readership of those who pick us up off the racks each time we come out. Producing this magazine is an honor and privilege that we do not take lightly and we always strive to give the people not only what they want but need. We have often catch flack about the news we report here in student media because it does not always show the Jaguar Nation at our best however we see Southern University as a leader for all Historically Black Colleges and University across the nation and as a leader we should never shy away from our faults. Mistakes do not make weaker, denial of these mistakes does and turning a blind eye to them will not make us stronger. We understand that there are good stories out there but we are journalists first, and as journalists we have an obligation to the truth and will never turn our back to it.

We hope to continue to grow as a publication and become a large part of the SU community.

Norman J. Dotson Jr.

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Table of Contents

EGO Magazine

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2013

22 Trailblazers Speedsters in the flesh, record

breakers, and track superstars.

Southern University’s men;s track team of the 60’s were the best track team of the decade, hands down. However over the years their glory goes overlooked. Well let us jog your memory and give

this team’s fame a second wind as we take you back in time to when the

Jaguars were unstoppable on

the track with this cover feature...

4

Picture Perfect The EGO catches you up on

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More Than Music Tucked away from sight is

the latest happenings in and around

a very interesting and useful place

the university and surrounding

on the third floor of the

areas with this vivid and interesting

B. Cade Library here on campus

photo-gallery...

thats packed with various types

John

enjoyment...

34 Black Beauty A commentary on the aesthics, evolution, and trends of Black Beauty as well as its ever

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changing meaning to the new

music of the past to the music of the

generation...

present and how it has evolved with

Evolution of Music This commentary by the in

48 Technology: 10 Windows 8 tips, tricks, and hacks

Our resident tech wizard shows you how to optimize the use

Windows 8 processor and bend it to your will... of your

seems that she wears a cloak of invincibility...

84 Dreams To Reality

Jordan Miller sits down with The EGO and talks about his transition to the the NFL then back to school...

house music junkie compares the

listening to it...

87 Whose Blood A brief glimpse into the past at the tragic Smith-Brown shooting at Southern University...

66 Black Love A glimpse of Black Love past and present, to both fictional and non-fictional famous lovebirds...

90 Photo Feature: A Day in the Life, circa 1970’s

The EGO’s imagining of what it finding love at SU was like for two youngsters in the 70’s...

68 Truly Tuesday Daring to be different the creator of Truly Tuesday shows us his style...

100 A New Era, A New Leader, A New Nation

The New Nation of Islam’s leader, Son of Man, gives us

the times and times needs of those

38 Photo-Feature: Black Power

The EGO captures the essence and style of Black Power in the 70’s with this Collage of black pride and strength...

What is the mystery surrounding Lorraine Fuller as it

insight into the new era of the

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Ms. Untouchable?

Nation of Islam...

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Perfect PicturePicture Perfect

Southern’s Malcolm Miller, left, and Jameel Grace, center, celebrate with teammates following their NCAA college basketball game against Prairie View A&M in the championship of the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament, Saturday, March 16, 2013, in Garland, Texas. Southern won 45-44.

Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo

The Winning Team Southern University’s Alpha Tau chapter of Delta Sigma Theta celebrates after winnint the 2012 Bayou Classic Greek Show at the Mercedez-Benz Superdome. —Photo by Arielle Burks

Football goers and tourists from across America lands on Bourbon Street in New Orleans to watch Super Bowl XLVII and celebrate the culture.

Ariana Triggs

Baltimore Ravens Cheerleaders perform routines for the Superbowl XLVII

crowd on the boardwalk in New Orleans, LA Feb. 2nd.

The Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers 3431 Feb. 3rd.

Ariana Triggs

Higher Than Most

Wiz Khalifa (left) and New Orleans’ own Curren$y

rock the crowd during the Bayou Classic Fan Fest at Champions Square outside of the Mercedez-Benz Superdome. —Photo by Arielle Burks

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Friday in the city of New Orleans, a street perform

welcomes tourists and football goers alike to Super Bowl XVLII on Bourbon Street.

Ariana Triggs

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Ticket holders line up outside of the Mercedes Benz Superdome Sunday, Feb. 3rd in New Orleans, LA to go through a securityScheck to get inside the crowded stadium. weetand Victory riana Triggs The Southern football team celebrates its 38-33 win over archrival Grambling SAtate in the 39th Annual Bayou Classic, tying the overall series record between The Louisiana schools at 30-30. —Photo courtesy of Wil Norwood

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Stop The Violence March leading the Black history Club of Southern Unveristy, Criminal Justice Club, NAACP, and SGA Tuesday February 26, 2013 on Southern Unviersity Campus.

Arielle N. Burks

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Stop The Violence March leading the Black history Club of Southern Unveristy, Criminal Justice Club, NAACP, and SGA Tuesday February 26, 2013 meeting place in the front of the Smith Brown Memorial Union..

Arielle N. Burks

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Lyceum Series Speaker Featuring Prolific Writer and Oscar Nominated Director, John Singleton, Sunday March 3, 2013 4:00 p.m.

Southern Unviersity Student Union Royal Cotillion Ballroom.

Arielle N. Burks

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SU Concert Choir Performs Our “Rich” Africam American Heritage in Songs at the “Lest We Forget Our African American Heritage - Moving Forward” Thrusday, February 28, 2013 6:30 p.m. in Debose Music Hall Auditorium.

Arielle N. Burks

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Prolific Writer and Oscar Nominated Director, John Singleton, greets audience members who heard him speak at the Lyceum Speaker Series Southern Unviersity Student Union Royal Cotillion Ballroom.

Arielle N. Burks

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Trailblazers

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COVER STORY

Photos Courtesy of: Richard Hill and Alex Bookter

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The Long Forgotten Glory of the Record Shattering Southern University Men’s Track Team of the 60’s...

T

he Southern University Track team of the 60s was truly a decade of dominance.

The team had the best hurdlers in the world, back to back gold medalist, the best sprinters, the best quarter milers, best 600 meter runners, the best mile relay team on an eight lap track, 12 lap track, 15 lap track, and outdoors and the second best high jumper at that time.

During that time you could talk about Southern athletics without mentioning the track program.

Track and Field News, which is considered by its readers as the bible of track and field sports, honored Southern’s track team naming them the team of the decade for the 60s.

Over the years the team was feature in magazines such as ebony, Sports Illustrated, and Track and Field News.

Their coach was Dr. Richard “Dick” Hill, and in his illustrious career with Florida A&M, Southern, San Diego State, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology he was credited with 24 national championships and 34 world records were either tied or broken by his athletes The Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association recognized his achievements as a head coach

By: Aristide Phillips and will enshrine Hill into the hall of fame Dec. 19 of last year.

The hall of fame inductee came to Southern as a basketball, football, and track and field recruit. Hill saw how the weather was nice year around and looking through a yearbook, so he took a 39-hour train ride from Yonkers New York to New Orleans to Baton Rouge to come to school.

Upon graduating Hill landed his first coaching job at Florida A&M in 1963 and 1964, and in his two year stint at FAMU he coached the Rattlers to conference titles in both years while coaching the likes of Olympic great Bob Hayes who went on to have a hall of fame professional football career and win two goal medals in the 100 meters, setting a world record, and in the 4x100 relays.

“Bob Hayes was a good catalyst to lunching my career because he was such an outstanding career,” said Hill. “I had really good back ups with Robert Harris and Alfred Austin, those three were the nucleus of the team they could run multiple events and they could jump.”

At the same time a New Orleans kid out of Carver High School by the name of Theron Lewis was a year removed from winning the state championship in the 440-yard dash.

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Lewis was sold on coming to Southern after going to a college meet his sophomore year of high school, where he went to see the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship and he seen the Grambling State great Stone Jones and Major Adams of Texas Southern running.

“At the time I never been to a college meet,” said Lewis. “And being on a college campus at 15 years of age and going to a college meet and seeing those players running I wanted to run like that.”

Lewis was inspired to but when he got to the bluff on a work scholarship, the players that inspired him were gone, and scared at the fact that guys he would compete against were running 47 and 46 seconds in the 440-dash intimidated the freshman but going through the his rookie season would prove beneficial for the future United States Olympian.

“We went to the usual meets the meets the Florida A&M relays and Prairie View, and I had a slight muscle pull but I still ran in the pelican relays I ran in the heat against Ray Saddler who was the premier quarter miler at the time and I got christen real good but it gave me experience at the time I didn’t realize,” said Lewis.

At the end of his freshman year he pulled down his time from 49 flat coming out of high school to 47.1, which was third in the conference.

“At that point I realized that I can run, and what Southern did for me it gave me the opportunity to get me in the mix of a tremendous conference that had a lot of great athletes and I didn’t how good they were until I started competing against them,” said Lewis.

But it wasn’t until 1964 when Hill came back to his alma mater as a coach that stardom of the track team started.

Willie Davenport came to the bluff

off from duty in the military, and Davenport, an eventual Olympic Gold, Sliver, and Bronze medalist had an immediate impact with Southern.

“Willie had a Swagger, the California athletes were different they talked a lot we called him Breezes,” said Lewis.

Along with Davenport were, the Johnson brothers, Webster Johnson and Robert Johnson, Anthony Gates, Oliver Ford, Everett Mason, Willie Owens George Anderson, Elgy Sams, and Lewis and this nucleus of

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players developed a strong nucleus of Athletes.

In 1964 was the first of the Jaguars three consecutive SWAC track titles, but in the indoor season of 1965 was when they gain international attention as a team.

The Mile relay team of Johnson, Harris, Johnson and Lewis lit the track on fire running the time of 3:16.8 seconds. Lewis’s anchor leg was 47.3 seconds and a short time later in the season Lewis won the NCAA quarter-mile in 47.8 seconds the fastest time ever from a gun start

over the standard 11-lap track.

A from there the Jaguars foursome competed in New York, and won the mile relay in 3:16.0, then the meets in Boston, Baltimore and Detroit, the Jaguars swept them clean.

And if that wasn’t enough the same thing happened outdoors at the Drake relays SU won four baton events setting in the process three new meet marks In San Diego, Calif. At the National AAU Championships, Sprinter George Anderson won the 100-yard dash in 9.3 seconds, and hurdler Willie Davenport took first in the 120-yard high

hurdles with a time of 13.7 seconds.

Punctuated with a tied world record mile relay time at the Modestro Relays in Modestro, California.

“One of the real assets we always had and it was a characteristic of Southern most teams in the country and most of our competition always felt that we were one of the best baton passing teams in America,” said Hill. “The Baton would just fly and that was kinda our secret to doing well in the 4X100 is that we had excellent baton passing.”

The team’s work ethic was unmatched and it showed when they

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ran, Hill would teach his players about basic motion and physics so that they would know how and why they took first.

“Dick (Hill) really opened the whole thing up in getting us to run in big meets,” said Lewis. “His expertise was understanding the mechanics of running, you almost became a student of your event.”

For jumpers converting horizontal force into vertical lift, he didn’t make us learn all this stuff he talk with a different sense of what you were doing if I ran a 46 flat I knew why.

National R

Recogntion

As the year ended Anderson and Davenport were selected for the U.S.-Russia duel Track meet in Kiev, USS. Davenport won his event in 13.5, and Anderson took second.

“T-bird” Lewis, missed out on the trip but eventually got to Europe anyway as a member of the U.S. team touring the continent.

In Hill’s first full year as a head coach for SU his mile relay team, and his 800-yard relay team was ranked first in the world by Track and Field News.

And that could be a testament to competing in the tough conference that was the SWAC at the time.

“The SWAC probably had some of the best athletes in the world, Alcorn had Willie McGee an excellent 2-mile team, Grambling had a

40 flat 4X400 team the SWAC was stack.”

How stack was the conference at the time?

Sprinters were on the brink of world record times running the 100-yard dash 9.4 and 9.3 times and the world record at the time was set by Hayes at 9.1 seconds.

“I remember at the SWAC meet my junior year Evert Mason ran a 46.3 in the 440-yard dash and didn’t make the final in the quarter, said Lewis. “It was like that, it was world class every race, in the 4X100 you had to run 39 something or 40 flat to win.”

And the Jaguar team dominated the conference and the NAIA; (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) Southern went on to win five straight NAIA National Champion-

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ships in outdoor (65’, 66’ 67’), and indoor (66,’ 67’) During that decade of dominance Southern owns multiple SWAC records in the triple jump, Javelin 440-yard relay, one mile relay, 440yard hurdles, 120-yard high hurdles and 440-yard dash.

“They say winners find a way to win, and they had a lot of similar characteristics they had a lot of confidence in the fact that if they work hard that there be some benefits and when they met the competition they felt that no one was going to out train them,” said Hill. “They always felt that they would be as well trained or better than anyone else so there was a degree of self confidence with them.”

And that mindset the athletes had the Students recognized, students

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would come in loads and pack the then University stadium (now A.W. Mumford stadium).

“It had a football atmosphere,” said Betty Kyles, who was a student and close friend to the track team.

“When they ran nobody wanted to miss there races if you wanted to get something to eat you weren’t going to miss them run. When their event was coming up nobody was moving and they would make their competition look like they were standing still.”

Even the state of Louisiana government notice their dominance, providing the University with a state of the art “Tartan Track,” the all-weathered track was a resilient liquid resin when hardened, provided a soft rubberized running surface was the first of its kind in Louisiana and at the time was considered by many to be the fastest track surface in the world.

The guy that came to Southern on a 39-hour bus ride to get his undergrad and post graduate degrees turned a good track program into an elite program, during his time as a coach.

The talent that he coached such as Davenport, Lewis, Anderson, the Johnson brothers, Ford, Mason, and the other supremely gifted athletes led to strong publicity.

Ford was the most outstanding performer 68’ and 69‘ and ran 100yard dash 200-yard dash, 400-yard dash, and 4X100 relay and at the National Championships he ran the 100-yard dash and tied Bob Hayes world record of 9.1 seconds and turned around 25 minutes later after a false start where the runners were half way down the track and tied the world record again.

Davenport was the U.S. Open Men’s Trackman of the year while he was at Southern and in 1971 Rodney Milburn was also Track and Field

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News U.S. Athlete of the year.

Robert Johnson was a cover athlete in the April 1966 issue of Track and Field News Magazine.

Also on other covers of Track and Field News magazine were Davenport (May 1970) and Milburn who appeared twice in June 1971’s issue and January 1972.

But after Hill left in 1972 to coach at San Diego State where he would stay for nine years coaching two time Olympic Decathlon gold medalist Daley Thompson, twotime Olympic gold medalist in the 400 meter hurdles Edwin Moses, and Olympic gold medalist and long jump world-record holder Bob Beamon. He came back to his alma mater as an Athletic Director.

“I was always proud of going back to southern University as a coach and being a head coach and an undergraduate I’m hopeful that all of that was a big catalyst on every student athlete that I had a chance to touch and going back to southern as an AD was like going back to your roots,” said Hill.

From 1981 to 1986, Hill came back to Southern as the Athletic Director and led the Jaguars to three SWAC All-Sport Trophy victories.

When asked if there were any athletes at Southern that left a lasting impression on him he couldn’t name one, he spoke of his team as a whole.

“The impressions that the guys made on me in terms always in regards to degree of their self confidence and the belief that they trained very hard to get to where they are on any given week or at the end of any given championship or local conference or national meet that they could win,” said Hill.

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BLACK BEAUTY

By: Jessica Sarpy

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Photos by: Arielle Burks

O

ur misconceptions about “black beauty” come from slavery days. Slave masters favored the slaves with straighter hair “good hair”, lighter skin, and slender bodies.

Blacks in America never had their own definition of beauty, because we adopted another races heritage, ideals, customs and preferences. We were culturally brainwashed into thinking that we were ugly, undesirable, and unattractive. The effects of cultural brainwashing is still in effect today. Blacks have been brainwashed to deter from our natural selves by the media, decades of slavery, and sometimes by our own family members.

“If you’re black, stay back; if you’re brown, stick around; if you’re yellow, you’re mellow; if you’re white, you’re all right.”

Color preference is a cousin of racial prejudice, and like prejudice it is closely linked with the urge to obtain and keep power over others. Colorism refers to discrimination based on skin color. Colorism disadvantages dark-skinned people, while privileging those with lighter skin. Research has linked colorism to smaller incomes, lower marriage rates, longer prison terms and fewer job prospects for darker-skinned people. What’s more, colorism has existed for centuries both in and outside of black America. That makes it a persistent form of discrimination that should be fought with the same urgency that racism is.

The celebrities that we admire such as Rihanna, Beyoncé, and Nicki Minaj are adored by the black communities, but these women look nothing even remotely close to a natural black woman. Blonde or red hair, narrower noses, cheek implants, and lighter skin are all features that were bought or adopted. To get these features they go through highly unnatural processes such as, skin bleaching to lighten their skin tone, plastic surgery to preserve their faces and bodies, and hair extensions to achieve the “good hair” look. We’ve all seen the ‘My Black is Beautiful’ campaign, but what exactly does it mean to be black and beautiful?

Jennifer Mason a sophomore general study major from Houston says “To be truly beautiful means to embrace everything about you despite whatever anyone else may think, at the end of the day you’re still going to be you… May as well embrace it.”

But do we really embrace it?

Hair has been and will always be a hot issue; it’s a serious matter. Black women and their hair are like men and sports. Even if a woman cannot afford plastic surgery, almost

anyone can afford a $8 - 15 box of relaxer.

When it comes to appearance, hair is the easiest and sometimes cheapest thing to change.

When Africans were forced to be slaves and transported to America, a lot of our heritage and culture was lost.

We were told by Whites that we were subhuman and could never be as beautiful as the white women. Now fast-forward to the present day. Most black women are chemically altering their hair at ages as young as five. Is our desire to constantly change a form of self-hatred? Many women say no.

The theory is that black women chemically alter their hair so they will have more Eurocentric features, thus making them look beautiful. This subject is very sensitive for a lot of black women because if they do apply a chemical relaxer to their hair they get accused of hating themselves and wanting to look more like European-Americans.

Why are black women altering their natural hair type to make it straight? Some black women say they don’t feel beautiful with their natural hair type so they chemically alter it to make it straight. Other black women say that applying a chemical relaxer to their hair makes it more manageable and easier to deal with.

Black women are known to be audacious when it comes to hair. Billion dollar businesses have emerged from our need to color, straighten, curl, braid, and weave. Hair means a lot to Black women, but it can mean even more to your career.

Your appearance does not affect your ability to do a job, but it does impact your success.

Can hair prevent you from attaining your dream job? Most importantly can it influence your salary as much as your work experience?

Sylvia Smith a junior Mass Communications major from Shreveport, Louisiana says “In my opinion straight hair is not a selfhate thing. We change out hair because we are forever changing and getting to know ourselves. It is always fun to switch it up sometimes. I know people who have natural hair and flat ironed it for a job interview only because they felt it would give them an edge.”

Contrary to popular belief there are plenty of naturals in the work place now a days.

In all probability, it isn’t the greatest idea to waltz into an interview with a fullblown afro. You don’t have to change your hair by straightening it or resorting to wearing a wig to impress anyone. There are plenty of alternatives like flat twist outs, sleek styles and low or high buns. Keep in mind you might run into issues or even discrimination, but don’t let it deter you

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from being your natural self. So what is the answer? By leading by example we can expel the stereotypes regarding true black beauty. We have to be the example of natural beauty to other blacks, and most importantly to our children. By not feeding them false misconceptions of what it truly means to be beautiful, we are slowly leaving that brainwashed mentality behind.

One thing about the black woman that has become timeless is our bodies. Women of other races pine over the black woman’s curvaceous body type, from our big bust to our bootylicious bottoms. When it comes to the black woman’s form, the term “Thick” is most commonly used. Thick is a slang term for a girl who is not fat or skinny. A “thick” girl has a curvy/slim waist with a big behind, hips, and thighs.

Black women are beautiful. I love their thick, black hair and thick lips, their high cheekbones, almond-shaped eyes and the wonderful shape of their bodies. They have the best bodies by far (This post is only about their outer beauty, not their inner beauty).

Ja’von Turner a psychology major from Baton Rouge, Louisiana says “Different men like different sorts of women. There are beautiful women in all races and all countries. I know that too. But for me black women are the most beautiful women in the entire world. They are the only ones with the curves and facial features that I love. Skin tone and hair texture aren’t an issue when dealing with a beautiful black woman. In my opinion what makes a black woman, as well as any woman beautiful, is their attitude. A woman is here to nurture and spread love and confidence. Those qualities in any woman definitely makes her a keeper.”

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the natural looks of black people. Cultural brainwashing has weakened a bit in the more recent years, black women are now embracing their darker skin tones and curvy bodies, the afro came into fashion, and day by day women are using less makes up. If we, black women continue to relate our beauty with annihilating our natural selves by bleaching our skin, and conforming to the European ideals of beauty, then we can’t then condemn a black man for choosing to date a woman who naturally has straight silky hair, blue eyes and light skin.

We are only fortifying and agreeing with the brainwashing that there is only one type of beauty, one that does not embrace us. Beauty comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors. I hope that more black women take the initiative to understand the importance of embracing our natural black beauty, instead of depending on mainstream media to mandate what is beautiful.

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Photo-Feature

Creative Direction by: Arielle N Burks

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Technology

10 Windows 8

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8 tips, tricks and hacks Take control of Windows 8 and manipulate as you see fit By: Darryl J. Edwards

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C

ONGRATULATIONS!!! You've just installed Windows 8 yourself or bought a new PC with it. Unfortunately, you're now faced with an unfamiliar operating system. At first glance, it seems more diďŹƒcult to customize than earlier versions of Windows, but you don’t have to settle for the default settings straight out of the box. There are plenty of ways to tweak, hack and make Windows 8 do things you wouldn't think were possible. After reading this, you'll see how to compile together your own quickand-dirty Start menu as well as customize the hidden Power User menu. I'll show you how to use so-called "God Mode," hack the lock screen and Start screen, master File Explorer and much more.

1. Put "goD MoDe" in easy reaCh

You wouldn't know it by looking at the Desktop or Start screen, but Windows 8 practically bristles with settings you can customize. The problem is that they're scattered throughout Windows 8, and it can be time-consuming to track them down individually.

However, there is one way to find them all in one place: You can use what some people call "God Mode." While the term "God Mode" has a powerful ring to it, the truth is it's not a separate mode that you put Windows into.

It's really a hidden folder that gives you fast access to many settings spread out across Windows 8. It's easy to put that folder right on the Desktop.

First, make sure that you can view hidden fi les in File Explorer, the system navigation app that in earlier versions of Windows was called Windows Explorer. Run File Explorer, click the View tab, and check the boxes next to "Hidden items" and "File name extensions" in the Ribbon at the top.

Then right-click the Desktop and select New --> Folder. That creates a folder on the Desktop named "New folder." Rename the folder:

GODMODE.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} (Note that the "GodMode" text isn't what turns the folder into a special folder; instead, it's that long string of letters and numbers inside the curly braces. You can use any text you want before the period just ahead of the opening brace, and it still points to the same folder and everything works the same.)

Double-click the icon, and you'll launch a folder fi lled with dozens of actions, tools and tweaks, from "Change Automatic Maintenance settings" to "View update history." They're organized by category. Expand or shrink each category by clicking the small triangle next to it. Each category displays a number next to it, showing how many settings there are in it.

To start any action or tweak, double-click it in the list. In some cases you'll follow a wizard, in other cases you'll need to fi ll in dialog boxes, and in yet other cases you'll be sent to the Control Panel or another Windows location to do the work.

2. Put a QuiCk-anD-Dirty start Menu on the taskbar Particularly high on the list of things that annoy people about Windows 8 is the omission of the Desktop's Start menu. Microsoft did its best to stomp it to death -- but it didn't quite succeed.

You can actually build your own quick-and-dirty one in no time. You won't get the full traditional Windows Start menu with Search button, recently run apps, the Control Panel, your network and so on. Instead you get a menu that lets you browse through applications and launch them.

First make sure that you can view hidden fi les in File Explorer, as outlined in the tip before.

Now right-click the Desktop's taskbar and select Toolbars --> New Toolbar. From the screen

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that appears, navigate to

C:\USERS\USERNAME\APPDATA\ ROAMING\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\ START MENU where username is your account name, and click the Select Folder button. That will place a Start Menu toolbar on the far right of the taskbar. Click its double arrow to display a variety of folders (such as Programs and Computer) that you can browse through until you see the item you want; click it to launch it.

By the way, you may have noticed that when you right-click the taskbar and select Toolbars, there are other pre-built toolbars you can put on the taskbar. Here are your choices and what each does: Address: Adds a box on the Taskbar into which you type URLs. After you enter one, press Enter and you'll head to the site in Internet Explorer.

Links: Displays your Internet Explorer favorites on the Taskbar.

Touch Keyboard: Displays a keyboard icon on the Taskbar. Click it to display an onscreen keyboard.

Desktop: Displays a list of every icon on your Desktop. It even displays some items that aren't visible on the Desktop, such as

Homegroup. For any item with a subfolder beneath it (such as Homegroup and Network), you'll see an arrow next to it. Move your cursor to the arrow to see all of the subfolders beneath it.

To turn off any toolbar, right-click the taskbar and choose Toolbars, then uncheck the toolbar.

3. use anD haCk the PoWer user Menu

In Windows 8 it took away the Start menu, but it also provided a very useful new tool: the Power User menu. Right-click in the lower-left corner of the Desktop (or press the Windows key + X) and up pops a textbased menu that gives you access to 16 tools, including a Run box, a command prompt, an administrative command prompt, the Device Manager and plenty of other useful power tools.

Most choices are self-explanatory, but not all.

For example, click "Programs and Features" and you get sent to a Control Panel applet that lets you uninstall Desktop programs, look at Windows updates you've installed and turn certain Windows features on or off.

The Mobility Center sends you to an applet that lets you do things such as change your

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display brightness, screen orientation, presentation settings and so on. And in case you didn't realize that the Control Panel still existed, there's a link to that as well.

Another nice thing about the Power User menu: It's hackable. You can delete items you don't want to appear there and add items you do want to appear there, such as programs you run frequently or even individual fi les.

To do it, you'll first have to make sure that you can view hidden fi les in File Explorer, as outlined previously. Then go to

C:\USERS\USERNAME\APPDATA\ LOCAL\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\ WINX

where username is your account name. You'll see three folders there: Group1, Group2 and Group3. Each has shortcuts to the apps that appear on the Power Menu. Group1 contains the Desktop; Group2 contains the Control Panel, File Explorer, Run, Search and Task Manager; and Group3 contains two for the Command Prompt (one of which is an Admin command prompt), Computer Management, Device Manager, Disk Management, Event Viewer, Power Options, Programs and Features, System and Windows Mobility Center.

Look back at the Power User menu. Notice

that there are three groups separated by two faint lines? They correspond to the folders in the WinX folder. The app in Group1 (Desktop) is at the bottom, then there's a line, then there are the apps in Group2, then there's a line, and then there are the apps in Group3.

To edit the Power User menu, just make changes to the contents of the folders Group1, Group2 and Group3. Delete a shortcut and it vanishes from the menu; add a shortcut and

it appears on the menu.

Delete a shortcut as you would any other shortcut: Select it and press your Delete key.

(When you delete a shortcut, the fi le it points to isn't deleted; only the shortcut goes away.)

To add a shortcut, open the folder into which you want to place it, right-click on an empty spot, select New --> Shortcut, and follow the wizard that appears.

After you've finished deleting shortcuts and adding new ones, sign out of Windows and then sign back in. Your new Power User menu will be waiting for you on your return.

4. CustoMiZe the loCk sCreen When you boot up your PC or wake it from sleep, it heads right to Windows 8's lock screen. Along with a large image, the screen displays the time and date as well as

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notifications and status updates from certain apps -- email, social networks, calendar and more. It provides a quick rundown on things you might be interested in seeing without having to sign into Windows 8. Just wake up your Windows 8 device and the info is there, waiting for you on the lock screen.

By default, the lock screen shows notifications from the Messaging, Mail, Calendar and Weather apps. But maybe you'd like to see Twitter updates or info from another app, or you'd like to change the image. You can easily customize all that.

The place to go to do it is the Lock screen settings screen. To get there, press the Windows key + C to display the Charms bar, and then select the Settings icon. Click "Change PC settings" at the bottom of the Settings pane. The "PC settings" screen appears. Under Personalize, choose "Lock screen."

You'll see your lock screen image at the top of the screen. Just beneath the image are other images you can use. Click one to make it the new lock screen image. To find other images you can use for the lock screen, click the Browse button and browse through your pictures. Select the one you want to use and click the "Choose picture" button to make it your new lock screen image.

Just below the image on the Lock screen settings screen is the "Lock screen apps" section. Here you'll find icons for the apps that automatically display notifications and updates on your lock screen.

Over to the right of them are several plus signs. Click a plus sign and you'll see a list of apps that can display notifications and updates. Pick one and it will display alerts and other information on the lock screen.

Note that when you click a plus sign, you'll see both the apps that are already displaying notifications and alerts on your lock screen as well as those that aren't currently doing so. If you choose one that already displays its notifications on the Start screen, nothing new happens -- the app still displays notifications, with no change. To stop an app from displaying notifications, click it and then click "Don't show quick status here."

Underneath that section is one that's a little more baing: "Choose an app to display detailed status." The app in this section displays more information on the lock screen than other apps.

Only the Calendar app and the Weather app can show this kind of detailed information, and only one at a time. To change from one to the other, click the icon that's there and select the other icon. From then on, that app will show its detailed status.

If you want neither app to show detailed status, click the icon and select "Don't show detailed status on the lock screen." Neither app shows detailed information, and the icon changes to a plus sign. If you want to reinstate detailed weather or calendar information, click the plus sign and select either app.

5. loCk the loCk sCreen iMage If you share a Windows 8 PC with others

and don't want them messing with the lock screen image, you can lock it so that it can't be changed. To do it, though, you're going to have to get down and dirty by editing the Registry.

Caution: Keep in mind before trying this that you can do damage to your system if you use the Registry incorrectly, so if you don't feel comfortable with Registry editing, stop right now.

For those who do feel comfortable, when you're on the Start screen, type regedit, click Apps on the right-hand side of the screen, then click the regedit.exe icon that appears on the left side of the screen.

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A security window appears asking if you want to allow the Registry Editor to make changes to your PC. Click Yes, and the Registry Editor launches.

Now navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\POLICIES\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\ See if there's a key called Personalization there. If the key already exists, don't create another one. Instead, follow the instructions in the next paragraph. If the key doesn't exist, you'll have to create it. To do so, click Edit --> New --> Key. That creates a new key, but it will have a name like "New Key #1." You have

to rename it. Right-click it, select Rename, and rename it Personalization.

Now that the Personalization key is there, create a new DWORD value under it called NoChangingLockScreen. To do that, rightclick the Personalization key and select New --> DWORD (32-bit) Value. Rename the DWORD value NoChangingLockScreen.

Double click-it and change its value from 0 to 1. Now exit the Registry Editor.

Log out of Windows or restart it, then log back in. The lock screen background shouldn't be changeable -- consider it locked. If you want to allow the background to be changed in the future, use the

Registry Editor to change the value of NoChangingLockScreen from 1 to 0.

6. kill the loCk sCreen altogether Not a fan of the lock screen? There are plenty of people who don't find it useful and would prefer to bypass it so they can just sign into Windows and get straight to work. You won't find a setting to do it. Instead, you'll have to use the Registry Editor.

All the caveats about using the Registry Editor outlined in the previous tip apply here, so keep in mind it could be dangerous to use it. However, if you're comfortable using

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the Registry Editor, follow the instructions in "Lock the lock screen image" above to launch the Registry Editor, and, if you haven't already done so, to create a Registry key called Personalization in

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\POLICIES\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\

Create a new DWORD value under the Personalization key by right-clicking it and selecting New --> DWORD (32-bit) Value.

Rename the DWORD value NoScreenLock.

Double click-it and change its value from 0 to 1. Now exit the Registry Editor.

The new setting should take effect

immediately. The next time you reboot or wake your PC, you won't see the lock screen.

Instead, you'll go straight to the Windows sign-in screen.

7. benD File eXPlorer to your Will Windows 8's File Explorer fi le manager is different from the old Windows Explorer in more than just name. It's gotten a complete makeover, notably by the addition of a Ribbon interface that puts many tasks, features and views in easy reach. Following are my favorite ways to get more out of it.

But first you need to make sure that File Explorer displays the Ribbon, because it might not be turned on. To turn it on, press Ctrl-F1 or click the downward-facing arrow on the upper right of its screen. The Ribbon displays, and the downward-facing arrow turns into an upward-facing arrow. To turn it back off, press Ctrl-F1 again or click the upward-facing arrow.

Turn panes on and off File Explorer has several useful panes you can turn on and off. Click the View tab to find them. You'll find ways to turn them on and off on the far left-hand side of the Ribbon. Just click the pane you want turned on, and if there are options, select options from the menu that appears when you click the arrow next to the pane's icon.

The first basic choice is whether to use the Navigation pane. That's the pane on the left-hand side of File Explorer, and it's what you use to navigate through your hard disk.

Click its icon on the View tab and uncheck "Navigation pane" to turn it off, or check it

to turn it on. There are also several other options available, such as whether to show favorite folders such as Desktop, Downloads and Recent Places.

There's another choice there: whether to use the Preview pane or the Details pane, or neither. (You can't use both at once.) Either pane lives all the way over on the right-hand side of File Explorer. If you select the Preview pane and then click a fi le, you'll see a large thumbnail of the fi le in the pane, or else the

actual contents of the fi le, as long as you have an app that runs or reads the fi le. (For example, OďŹƒce for displaying .doc fi les.)

If you instead choose the Details pane, you'll see details about the fi le, such as its size, when it was created, its fi le name and more depending on the fi le type. (For example, for pictures it displays the dimensions.)

Click the Preview pane or Details pane icon in the Ribbon to turn it on, and click it again to turn it off.

Display hidden fi les and folders Microsoft assumes that most people don't want to see the plumbing of Windows, and so hides many system fi les and folders, as well as fi le name extensions. But if you want to tweak how Windows 8 works, you'll need to see that plumbing.

It's easy to display it. On the View tab, check the box next to "Hidden items" to display hidden system fi les and folders, and check the box next to "File name extensions" to display

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those.

Hide fi les and folders To hide those fi les and folders again, simply uncheck the "Hidden items" checkbox again.

Want to hide more fi les and folders? Simply select them, then click "Hide selected items" near the right edge of the Ribbon's View tab.

Then, when the "Hidden items" checkbox is unchecked, you won't be able to see those items.

Change icon sizes While you're on the View tab, you can change

Select the four that you don't want to delete, and then click "Invert selection." Now all the fi les that you selected are no longer selected, and the other 26 are selected. You've inverted the selection, and you can now mass-delete the 26 fi les.

8. use (anD tWeak) the all aPPs sCreen One of the most disconcerting things about Windows 8's dual interface is that it's diďŹƒcult to see in one place all the apps you can run -- both Windows 8 Store apps and Desktop applications. You can find the Windows 8 Store apps on the Start screen, but all of your Desktop apps don't necessarily appear there.

And because there's no longer a Start button on the Desktop, you can't find all of your Desktop apps there, either.

However, there's a way to see all of them in one place: Go to the All Apps screen. To get there, on the Start screen either right-click an empty space or press the Windows key + Z. That opens the App bar across the bottom of the screen. There's only one thing you can do on the bar: click the "All apps" button at the right.

That displays the All Apps screen, which, as the name implies, shows you all the apps on

the size of the icons that represent fi les and folders. You'll find these options just to the right of the icons for turning panes on and off.

Add columns By default, when you open a folder, File Explorer shows three columns of information about each fi le in the folder: date modified, type and size. But you can add columns that show other information, such as the date it was created, its author, tags and more. Just go to the View tab's "Current view" group and click the down arrow next to "Add columns" to add them.

Use the invert selection feature On the far-right side of the Home tab, there is a group of commands called Select. The "Select all" option selects all fi les in a folder, and "Select none" deselects them. The third option, "Invert selection," is confusingly named but surprisingly useful.

Let's say that you've hand-selected certain

fi les in a folder by holding down the Ctrl key while clicking them. Once you've selected them, you can perform a task on them all -- delete them or copy them or move them somewhere else, for example.

Now imagine that you've got 30 fi les in a folder, and you want to delete 26 of them. The obvious way to do it would be to tediously

hand-select 26 of them one by one and then delete them. Here's where "Invert selection" comes to your rescue.

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your system. On the left you'll find all the Windows 8 Store apps, and to the right, the Desktop apps.

Click any to run it.

The Desktop apps on the right-hand side are organized into groups -- Windows Accessories, Windows Ease of Access, Windows System, and so on. If you've installed soft ware, those apps might be in their own groups as well. But you can rearrange the apps in these groups if you like.

Here's what you need to know.

The organization of the Desktop apps on the All Apps screen mimics the structure of two hidden Windows folders:

C:\PROGRAMDATA\MICROSOFT\ WINDOWS\START MENU\PROGRAMS

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and

c:\uSerS\uSernaMe\aPPdata\ roaMing\MicroSoft\windowS\ Start Menu\PrograMS where username is your Windows 8 account name. The first folder has all the apps that all users of the system will see, while the second has those that show up for an individual user.

Any subfolder in those folders shows up as a group -- such as Windows Accessories -- on the All Apps screen. And all the shortcuts in those folders show up as apps inside the groups on this screen -- for example, Calculator and Character Map. To change the organization of Desktop groups and apps on the All Apps screen, you only need to change the folder and shortcut structure in those two folders.

First, make sure you can view hidden fi les in File Explorer, as outlined earlier in the story. Then go into those folders, and add any folders that you want to show up as groups on the All Apps screen. In those folders, add shortcuts to any apps you want to show up as part of those groups. Delete any folders and shortcuts that you don't want to appear. That's all it takes. The changes will be reflected on the All Apps screen.

(Note: You can also rearrange and regroup the apps on your Start screen. To find out how, see "Customize the Start screen" in the Windows 8 cheat sheet.)

9. Build an applications FoldeR FoR Quick pRogRaM launching FRoM the

staRt scReen oR desk-

top There's an even quicker way to access all your apps, whether you're on the Desktop or the Start screen: Create an Applications folder to house them all.

First, run File Explorer. Navigate to the Desktop and create a new folder. After you create it, rename it:

aPPlicationS.{4234d49B0245-4df3-B7803893943456e1}

On the Desktop and in File Explorer, the folder will be called Applications. Doubleclick it to see a list of all your applications, including Windows 8 Store apps, traditional Desktop applications and many system apps such as Control Panel. To run an app, double-click it.

There's still one problem, though: The folder doesn't show up on the Start screen. It's simple to put it there, though. Right-click it

on the Desktop or in File Explorer and select "Pin to Start." It's now pinned to the Start screen, though it might not be immediately visible there.

To find it, scroll all the way over to the right, and it'll be there. Click it, and the folder opens with all your apps. If you like, you can move it to a more prominent location on the Start screen by dragging it to the left.

10. Fool the Mail app into using pop Mail The Windows 8 Mail app has a surprising shortcoming -- it won't work with email accounts that use the POP3 mail protocol.

Instead, Windows 8 Mail works with Webbased mail accounts such as Gmail and Outlook.com and accounts that use IMAP. However, there's a workaround that solves the problem. You can tell either a Gmail or an Outlook.com account to get POP3based mail from a POP3 account, and then tell Windows 8 Mail to get mail from that account.

Of course, you'll also have to consider whether your POP email account might contain sensitive correspondence that you don't wish to share with an additional cloudbased service. If you're willing to route your mail through Outlook.com or Gmail, keep reading for how to do it.

Configure Outlook.com to get POP3 mail Got an Outlook.com account? You might have one without knowing it. The service was formerly called both Hotmail and Windows Live Mail at various times in its history, and those accounts have been converted to Outlook.com automatically. So if you've got an old Hotmail account, for instance, just go to Hotmail.com and log in; you'll be redirected to Outlook.com.

If for some reason your account hasn't been upgraded, just log into your Hotmail or Windows Live Mail account, click Options, select Upgrade to Outlook.com and follow the instructions. Your messages, rules and so on will be brought over.

If you don't have an Outlook.com account,

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sign up.

Once you're logged into Outlook.com: 1. Click the Settings icon in the upper-right of the screen, and then select "More mail settings."

2. Under "Managing your account," click "Your email accounts" and then select "Add a send-and-receive account."

3. From the screen that appears, click "Advanced options." Here's where you enter the information you normally need to access your POP account, including the server address, port number and so on. If you don't have it, check with your email provider.

You can also check whatever mail client you normally use for the information. If you're using Outlook 2010, for instance, select File --> Info --> Account settings --> Account setting and click the E-mail tab. Double-click the account, and you'll find the necessary information.

4. Make sure to pay attention to a setting that's easy to overlook: whether or not to leave copies of your mail messages on the

server. If you're planning to have Windows Mail be your only mail client for accessing your POP-based mail, consider having the messages deleted from the server. However, if you're going to have multiple devices access the mail, make sure to leave the messages on the server. Click Next.

5. On the next screen, you'll be asked whether you want to create a new folder for the mail or keep it in your Outlook.com Inbox. Make your choice and select Next.

6. A verification email will be send to your POP account. Click that link. You'll be sent to a page on Outlook.com telling you that you're set up. You're now ready to tell Windows 8 Mail to get mail from Outlook.com (see below).

Configure Gmail to get POP3 mail To configure Gmail to grab POP3 mail from an existing POP3 account: 1. In Gmail, click the gear icon on the upperright corner of the screen and select Settings --> Accounts and Import --> Add a POP3 mail account you own.

2. On the screen that appears, enter your email address.

3. On the next screen, enter the information you normally need to access your POP account, including the server address, port number and so on. If you don't have it, check with your mail provider.

You can also check whatever mail client you normally use for the information. If you're using Outlook 2010, for instance, select File --> Info --> Account settings --> Account setting and click the E-mail tab. Double-click the account, and you'll find the necessary information.

Configuring Gmail to get POP3 mail.

4. After you're done, click Add Account.

From the screen that appears, tell Gmail that you want to send messages from the account, not just receive them. You'll have to enter your outgoing email settings and have Gmail send the account an email to verify that it's yours.

5. When you receive the verification email at your POP3 account, click the link and follow the instructions for verifying the address.

That's it; Gmail will start retrieving your POP3 mail. You're now ready to tell Windows 8 Mail to get mail from Gmail.

Configure Windows 8 Mail to get mail from Outlook.com or Gmail Run the Windows 8 Mail app, press the Windows key + C to display the Charms bar,

and select Settings --> Accounts --> Add an account.

To get mail from Outlook.com, select Outlook on this screen. Enter your Outlook. com email address and password, click Connect, and you'll start getting the POP mail via Outlook.com.

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To get mail from Gmail, select Google on the Add an account screen. Enter your email address and password and click Connect.

You'll start getting POP mail via Gmail.

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Story and Photos by: Amechi Ugwu

N

estled away on the third tier of the John B. Cade library lays a place forgotten by time. A rich, serene place where you can explore a world with endless nuances in a way that has since its introduction become antiquated. The Music Listening Center has become Southern’s hub for all genres of music from Mozart to Bob Marley and houses over 12,500 albums, 1,100 cassettes and 1,300 CDs. This collection comprised of donations from the state library as well as LSU’s radio station and SU alumni have helped grow this department since its start. All of these formats are available for use by students, alumni, and local community members.

The center was established to enhance music research in partnership with the Southern University’s Music Department, but has since been made available for everyone to enjoy. JoAnne Jones, an alumnus of SU and the overseer of the MLC. sat down with

me to give more insight on the history and direction of the center.

Ms. Jones is no stranger to music as it was her major as a student here. While attending Southern, she was granted the opportunity to not only perform with the “world famed Human Jukebox,” but tour the United States with Ella Fitzgerald and sing at what is now the Allstate Sugar Bowl! Ms. Jones tells {us} that she welcomes all students to come and enjoy and utilize the space and equipment. Although she would not view the student attendance in the MLC a struggle, she acknowledges that the digitalization of music and technology that makes music more accessible has made visiting places like the music listening center obsolete. Through my personal experiences and trips, I’ve discovered qualities that may prove to be redeeming for the MLC. If you’re a true lover of music, you can appreciate experiencing it in its highest form.

Before moving forward, let’s establish that original (live) sound is analog by definition and a vinyl record is an analog recording, CDs and DVDs are digital recordings. A

digital recording takes snapshots of the analog signal at a certain rate (for CDs it is 44,100 times per second) and measures each snapshot with certain accuracy. This means that by definition, a digital recording is not capturing the complete sound wave. It is approximating it with a series of steps. To some, this can make a cardinal difference in the music listening experience. The MLC offers the option of enjoying this quality sound in the record room or in a personal cubicle through headphones. Another service offered is the conversion of hard-tofind albums from vinyl to digital recordings, this has made the MLC a reliable source for schools looking for music to accompany plays and productions that require specific sound tracks and students taking music courses that call for the acquisition of particular musical items. If all that isn’t enough for you, this is simply THE best place on campus to get away and study! This is a jewel that our campus is lucky to have and I would strongly encourage everyone to utilize this resource more often, because it’s more than just music.

The Evolution of Music...

By: Trevor James Photos by: Amechi Ugwu

H

ow would you compare Old School music to New School Music? That’s a tough question considering no matter how old old school gets, it always will have a presence in new school music. Old school did have a certain type of groove to it. When a song like “Cause I Love you” By Lenny Williams comes on you have no choice but to nod your head, sing along with the song as if you were the one going through some real life relationship drama, almost if not exactly like his.

However, now it has been used for a different reference. “I Do” by Young Jeezy being one of the more recent ones that sampled Lenny Williams and greatly heard, telling that young woman that you have your eyes on in the club “Girl, I’d marry you!” Comparing Old School and New School can almost be personified to a mother and a child type of relationship.

Over the years by sight of our eyes and or by vibration of our ears we have watched music change, becoming a dance, a party, the

mood setter, the mind settler, the hope giver if you will. One could recall music being a live band, with a four or five man or woman singing group with ONE microphone.

Someone else might call music the favorite rapper standing on stage with half of his posse on the stage, a DJ booth and everyone on the stage has a microphone. No matter what the two will always end up coinciding with each other. Old school music being the visual and audible motivation and sometimes inspiration to the new school music; it serves as the mother feeding the child.

One of the finest examples of a sampler could get no bigger than Kanye West. Mr. West has made countless club rocking records utilizing old school music. A song commemorating his ever desire to rap no matter what condition he was in “Through The Wire” was a track that sampled Old school Chaka Kahn. How could we ever forget “Slow Jamz” he had with Jamie Foxx and Twista? A song that practically set every party off into a new vibe, with a sample from the Late Luther Vandross’ “Still In Love.”

I pointed those things out to focus in on the one point that each of the songs mentioned previously were all songs of completely different meanings, but in each of the songs were powerful tools of almost direct enticement to your body to move something.

You either sing along, nodding your head or just tapping your fingers to the rhythm of the beat.

One could also consider the song “Pop that”

By French Montana to be a New School song with an Old School song sample that puts a little dance on you when you hear it. That’s a sample of Uncle Lukes “I wanna rock (doo doo brown.)” Now some might not consider that to be an old school song but, to someone ages 20-25 may think so considering they were a kid when that song came about.

That could be their definition of Old School.

The most important thing about music would be its message. To someone like myself

the messages are different via the track, but fairly the same in what they are trying to say. Artist like Aretha Franklin were almost futuristic with their songs. “Respect” told her man what she wanted as blunt as possible, spelling it out so he could not miss what she was saying. Ironically enough Hip Hop Artist Webbie took the exact same method spelling it out in his song “Independent.”

Now considering he may have had a different way of saying it, he just did what Aretha Franklin did in his own way.

We couldn’t ever forget Marvin Gaye, sending us a basket of gifts with his voice. Hit after hit we loved something about his music; “I

Want You,” one of his very powerful songs that had a bit of an all-natural euphoria to it when you heard it. Message simply put “I want you, the right way, I want you and I want you to want me to, want you to love me baby, just like I love you.” The finest most similar example to that would have to be “I Want You” by Cee-Lo Green same message, different melody and lyrics, same euphoric feel.

Of course, music has changed very much, by the way it’s made, the way it is shown to the public and even the way it sounds. However, the truth of the matter is this, despite how often it changes or how it may seem to sound.

Music will always be the same; it will have its same goal. The goal to make sure people dance, feel good, bring a little happiness or hope to the few who can look past the differences old or new. Past music may seem different, but in truth it was just the one who taught present music how to keep the goal alive.

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T

he term “Black Love” has different meanings for different people.

Black love means to some, a couple who went through something together and overcame an obstacle, like Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz and Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King. Others identify black love with TV shows, like The Cosby’s and the Jeffersons.

Our President Barack Obama and his wife, First Lady Michelle is another couple that some look at that show black love in the rare form.

Marriages that are in the spotlight often times have to deal with lack of privacy, long periods of separation, gender issues, and temptation. The marriages Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz and of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King were no different than any other.

Malcolm X’s services. She converted in 1956, changing her surname to “X” to represent the loss of her African ancestry. Betty X and Malcolm X were married on January 14, 1958, in Michigan. The couple eventually had six daughters. In 1964, Malcolm X announced that his family was leaving the Nation of Islam. He and Betty X, now known as Betty Shabazz, became Sunni Muslims.

Martin Luther King, Jr. and

Black Love in the Civil Rights Movement

Bla L The Cosby Show

Coretta Scott King Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King met over the phone in January 1952, in Boston. A mutual friend introduced them to each other. The next year, on June 18, 1953, they were married in Marion, Alabama. The Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. performed the wedding ceremony. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King had four children.

Famous TV shows have influenced the definition of Black Love.

Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz Betty Shabazz was born Betty Dean Sanders.

In 1953, upon graduating college at Tuskegee Institution, she left Alabama to study at the Brooklyn State College School of Nursing in New York City. During her second year of nursing school, Betty was invited by an older nurse’s aide to a dinner party at the National of Islam temple in Harlem. She enjoyed the evening, but declined to join the organization at that time. During her next visit to the temple, Betty and Malcolm X met and she found out that Malcolm X was her friend’s minister. Betty then began attending

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The Cosby Show is one of the most well known black shows that ideally shows the black family and the experiences that takes place in the family. The parents, Dr. Heathcliff “Cliff” and Clair Huxtable ideally shows what black love is.

Dr. Heathliff ‘s background is that he lives in Brooklyn, New York. He was born in October 1937 in Philadelphia, making him 47 years old at the beginning of the series. In his high school and college years, he was an athlete who played wrestling, football and track.

He later served in the Navy before going to medical school. He is now (on the show) an OB/GYN who runs a practice from the office annexed to his home. In the show, most characters, outside of family and friends, refer to him as “Dr. Huxtable”, and he is well respected in the community.

Cliff is married to Clair Huxtable. Both Cliff and Clair attended the fictional Hillman College. Together, they have five children: Sondra, Denise, Theodore (Theo), Vanessa, and Rudith (Rudy).

Cliff enjoys live jazz, has an extensive collection of albums, and tries to eat junk food whenever he can get away with it. Cliff is also very competitive, often making bets with Clair over various things. Cliff is very eccentric and silly to most people around him, especially his family.

Despite this, he is very kind-hearted and

ack Love an extremely dedicated father with a strong sense of humor. Although he and his wife fostered a tight-knit, loving family, a running gag throughout the series is his thwarted attempts to get the grown children to leave the house.

Clair Olivia Huxtable (née Hanks) is the very eloquent, elegant wife of Cliff. Clair is playful, sometimes silly, and yet very assertive. She is articulate and remarkably intelligent. Clair is a great debater and rarely ever loses an argument on the show. She is a lawyer. Although she is very strict, she is a very loving mother to her family. The character is loosely based upon Bill Cosby’s wife.

By: Brittany Patterson of American television. The show focuses on George and Louise Jefferson, a wealthy Black couple living in New York City. The show was launched as the second spin-off of All in the Family on which the Jeffersons had been the neighbors of Archie and Edith Bunker.

George’s career as a dry-cleaner began in the first season of All in the Family, in the episode “Oh, My Aching Back”. After his car was rear-ended by a bus, he filed a civil action and won enough to open his first store.

Black Love in the 21st Century Our President and First Lady Michelle met in 1989. They were working at a downtown law firm in New York City. First Lady Michelle Obama was assigned the role of advisor to the summer associate from Harvard, Barack Obama. He reportedly didn’t have much interest in corporate law, but did have a lot of interest in Michelle.

The Jeffersons The Jeffersons is another famous TV show that shows black love. The Jeffersons is one of the longest-running sitcoms in the history

beautifully planned. Under the decoy of an evening to celebrate finishing his bar exam, President Barack took First Lady Michelle out to a romantic candlelit dinner. He slipped the engagement ring to the Maitre’D at the start of the meal.

When the waiter served the dessert course, Michelle was shocked to discover a beautiful diamond ring. Barack asked Michelle to marry him right then and there.

Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois performed Michelle and Barack’s wedding ceremony on October 3, 1992. Barack and Michelle have two daughters. The oldest is Malia Ann Obama. She was born in 1998.

Their second daughter is Natasha “Sasha” Obama. She was born in 2001.

After refusing to go out with President Barack Obama for a month, First Lady Michelle Obama agreed to spend one day with him. They went to an art institute, had lunch at an outdoor cafe, walked and talked, saw the movie Do the Right Thing, and had a drink on the 99th floor of the John Hancock building.

The evening of their proposal went quite

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Fashion

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Matthias Brown, Senior, architecture, Atlanta,Ga, Truly Apparel is a brand for the individual. Customized to each individual to dress how he/ she feels, not limited to fashion trends and social norms, being diifferent is being youself where your swag truly represents who you are. visit us at www.trulytuesday.com

Creative Direction by: Arielle N Burks Special Thanks to SUMA for allowing us to shoot inside the museum

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Ms. Untouchable?

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Lorraine Fuller, whenever her name is mentioned, mystery is not far behind. After being denied tenure on all levels in an unprecedented turn of events she somehow fights to gain it. But, was it due to a flaw in the system or unseen negotiations? What started out as a story to give professors a voice to defend themselves against rumor and allegations quickly became an investagation of a professor who on the surface seems to be untouchable...

By: Charles Hawkins II and Norman J. Dotson Jr. Documents were obtain from source with intimate knowledge of the situation

F

aculty at Southern University and A & M College have to follow a set of policies and rules similar to students, however some gain immunity in special case situations.

In the case of Mass Communication Professor Lorraine Fuller the question is where the line is drawn between special case and clear breaking of policies and rules or yet in Southern Universities case possible nepotism.

After being denied tenure on September 19, 2008 Fuller was awarded tenure and promotion nearly two years later in the June 18, 2010 meeting with her lawyer Mr. Anthony Marshall present.

Diola Bagayoko, Professor and Chair of Physics department was the Chariman of the handbook committee at the time of Fuller’s granted tenure and promotion.

Bagayoko asserted he wanted the position to see to it that when faculty members are evaluated for tenure and promotion that this will be one area where facts and figures, actual qualifications, performance, actual results will be the only thing that comes in to play.

“The book is clear, that at every level every individual every level is supposed to evaluate package and not go by what the one before you said or done, Bagayoko said.

Something seemed wrong to Bagayoko about this case once he began to evaluate the process.

“I was deeply shaken to the point I had difficulty believing it, said Bagayoko.

What was shaken me, what I had difficulty believing was the evaluation points from

various people, department faculty members whatever, the points she got there compared to the actual points.”

So Bagayoko discussed the Appendix B Guide for Quantitative Evaluation: Promotion and Tenure for Faculty.

This covers six core points in which the basis of the evaluations that are stated as 1. Teaching excellence,

a. Chairperson’s evalution

b. Peer evaluation

c.Student evaluation 2. Research publications, and creative activity

a. Research Competedes

b. Research in progress 3. Professional trying and experience

a. Educational attainment

b. Experience

c. Non-degree study 4. Professional activities and community service

a. Service as an officer in a leading

professional organization at the

b. Service on a committee of a

professional organization

c. Presentations at seminars,

conventions, or conferences

d. Community service over past five years

e. Particiapiton in community

service activities

f. Participation in a civic service, or

religious organization voters

leagues, scouts, Kiwanis, sociality 5. Professional activities

a. Chairperson of a standing

committee at

b. Acitve member, other than chair

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person , of standing committee

c. Sponsor of campus organization

d. Member of University Ad Hoc Committee

e. President of fauclty senate

f. Other officiers or committee

charispersons for faculty senate

g. Member of fauclty senate

committee who is not an officer or chairperson

h. Acting as consultant for or

participating in University

i. Participation in organized student

recruiting efforts.

6. Mentoring, Including Advisment

a. Demonstration of knowledge of

available academic programs

b. Ready availability to students for counseling

c. Demonstration of timely

knowledge of oprfoessional and

graduate opportunities

d. Demonstration of concern for

student’s development and welfare

e. Making available one’s experience Bagayoko explained the mathematical process of the point system for tenure and promotion.

“The teacher evaluation is 40, and the chair evaluation is in the package.

You calculate how much a person gets from the chair; you divide by five, then multiply by 12.

Peer evaluations are from one to five.

Suppose someone gets average of four, you divide that by five and multiple by 12.

That will give you the total that person got.

Suppose someone got evaluated, and the

person got four out of five you would divide five then multiple by 12 would give you 9.6 out of a total of 12.

This same formula would relate to peer evaluations as well.

The guide states that an Associate Professor to Professor she must get 32, and she had well over 32, “ said Bagayoko.

Based on the evaluation that was in her package She was way over the 32, and far over the 14, as well as the 18 required for other sections.

Bagayoko said they do not decide what evaluation they get because it is transmitted by the department through the dean and vice Chancellor. “ In a teacher evaluation two people cannot get two different numbers unless they are utterly unethical, and that’s the part where I was shaken, “ said Bagayoko.

He later said he thought as faculty members and professionals that whether we liked someone or not we have some basic ethics.

However before going to the Southern University System board meeting for the initial denial Richard Webb, former Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities,

wrote in a letter to Johnny Tolliver, former Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, on April 9, 2008 where he said, “the unanimous decisions by the retention and Tenure Committees of the Department of Mass Communications and the College of Arts and Humanities to recommend that she not be granted tenure and thus not continued in her faculty position.”

Webb says that, that both the department and college committees had questions regarding alleged irregularities surrounding the submitted peer evaluation summary for 2007, and in the comments called for an investigation of the peer evaluations for Fuller.

“Numerous irregularities were reported to me, ranging from signatures with slight differences to non-matching styles of 'bubbling in' answers and pages that appeared suspiciously similar,” Webb said in letter to Tolliver.

In a letter from Webb to Tolliver he stated a professor said, “he had given negative evaluations each year had his missing for every year except 2005 and that form shows a “ perfect” evaluation of all 5s.”

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However letters from the former Dean of the Arts and Humanities, and faculty members tell another story than Bagayoko’s claims.

With the Mass Communication department & The Dean of Arts and Humanities seemingly against the awarding of tenure to Fuller, Webb was not willing to comment on the investigation for legal reasons despite no longer being employed by Southern University A & M College.

Fuller appealed this denial, and moved the process to the next level despite the denial by the Retention and Tenure Committees of the Department of Mass communications and the college of Arts and Humanities.

In section 4.7 under section E entitled “Levels of Review” it is stated, “in case of a negative recommendation at any level of the review process, a statement setting forth the reason(s) for disapproval must be attached to the application, and transmitted to the next level of authority.” The handbook says that the applicant should receive written notice of the outcome at each evaluation phase, and in addition the applicant shall be provided the opportunity to submit a written response to a negative evaluation at any phase which shall

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be taken into consideration at the next level of review.

The letter to Tolliver by Webb from April 9, 2008 ends with Webb declaring, “I stand by concurrence with the non-tenure recommendation from the departmental and college committees, as well as my own negative assessment of Dr. Fuller’s candidacy.

I do not support her appeal and do not think that any of the additional documents provided on December 19, 2007 warrant reconsideration of the recommendation.”

At the September 19, 2008 Southern University System board meeting the Board of Supervisors denied Professor Fuller tenure at the end of her probationary period as an Associate Professor.

In the most up to date Southern University faculty handbook available it states in section 4.7 section C part 2, “ At the end of the fourth year, if tenure is to be denied written notice of termination, to be effective at the end of the subsequent academic year, will be given.”

Members of the department of Mass Communication as well as the Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities were confused when the subsequent year ended without the termination of Fuller.

In an email to Cecilia Golden, Assistant

Provost, Dean Richard Webb wrote concerning why no action had been taken in this process because of the faculty handbook stated on actions in this situation should be.

He stated that in his 18 years as Dean he had never seen denials extended by default.

“Members of the department and college Retention tenure, and promotion committes have been contacting me regularly to ascertain the status of this situation because the negative recommendation on this case was unanimous at all levels (except for the 3/2 vote of an ad hoc appeals committee Dr. Tolliver appointed to advise him and the Vice Chancellor subsequently submitted a negative recommendation from his level), procedurally done according to the faculty Handbook and the Board vote ultimately approved the denial of tenure and promotion, “ wrote Webb.

"Having this colleague extended through Fall Semester would be a student retention disaster, whenretention is one of the four current major university priorities," Webb stated in the email sent December 2008.

Webb also expressed how he "looks forward to" recieving a copy of the official notification letter ending Fuller's appointment with the university that academic year so that the department and college will be able to move

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forward.

So far since her appointment over the grad From this point on January 26, 2009 Mwalimu Shujaa, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost took over this situation in a letter to January 26, 2009 in requesting that the Board of Supervisors review Fuller’s application again because the information available to the Board was incomplete.

Another University official was attempting to ensure proper research of the situation to come to the correct solution, and he responded February 19,2009 in a letter to former Chancellor Kofi Lomotey.

Shujaa wrote that he was notified of Fuller’s application of tenure and promotion being acted on prematurely, nonetheless he writes the lack of the Appeals Committee’s evaluation or grounds for the recommendation that decisions at all other levels be over ruled. “ I have look at the existing record and her department faculty committee recommended that she be denied tenure and promotion. Her point totals at that level were presented as a part of the report and fell well short of what was required to achieve promotion and/or tenure,” Shujaa wrote.

Shujaa described the University Appeals Committee recommended that she be granted tenure (4-1) and promotion (3-2) even though there was not any information in report of an “evaluative nature.”

He lastly wrote, “I support the recommendation of the Mass Communications faculty, department committee and chair and dean of the College of Arts and Humanities to deny the application of Dr. Lorraine Fuller for Tenure and Promotion.”

Without any action carried out members of staff of the Departmental Promtoion and Tenure Committee had decided to speak up.

A letter dated May 14, 2009 and signed y the members of the Departmental promotion and Tenure Committee which included Marilyn goff ; Associate Professor, Mary Joseph Perofessor Emeritus-English , Michael Kabel; Assoicate professor , and Terry Kennedy ; Associate professor stated,” If the employee is allowed to remain on the pay roll as a faculty member after tenure is denied, all key officials up to the top leadership will be perceived as guilty of an illegal activity either by omission or by commission.”

More than a year later nonetheless Dr. Fuller was awarded tenure and promotion.

Was Fuller wronged or has a rule faculty handbook been broken?

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DREAMS TO REALITY QUIETLY, JORDAN MILLER STORMED HIS WAY THROUGH FROM THE CLASSROOM, THROUGH THE SWAC INTO THE NFL, AND NOW BACK TO THE CLASSROOM TO FINISH WHAT HE STARTED. MILLER DETAILS HIS BEGINNINGS AT SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY, THE TOUGH DECISIONS MADE TO GET TO THE NEXT LEVEL, AND THE EVEN TOUGHER DECISION TO COME BACK TO COMPLETE HIS DEGREE...

By: Norman J. Dotson Jr. Photos Courtesy of: The Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers

H

umble, modest, down-to-Earth are the words that come to mind when speaking with Jordan Miller about his seemingly miraculous football career in college and yes, even in the Nation Football League.

A former Southern Jaguar football player, Miller made a name for himself on the field without drawing attention to himself as a regular student. Away from the Saturday Night Lights, illuminating the A.W. Mumford Stadium, the bellowing cheers of the Jaguar Nation, and constant battle from end zone to end zone, Jordan lived a peaceful life of an average student and not much has changed since his return to The Bluff to complete his degree during his off-season.

Miller began his journey by walking on to the team in 2007, having only played the game since his senior year in high school; his first two years were dedicated to furthering his knowledge of the sport. In his junior year with the Jaguars, he had five and half sack and 11 tackles for a loss, however he improved the next season with nine sacks and 15 tackles for a loss. Unfortunately, the team’s losing season and two other defensive tackles in the SWAC garnering more attention, overshadowed his hard work and impressive progression.

As a man of great faith and perseverance, Miller did not let this slow him down as he sought out an opportunity to train at an athletic facility in Atlanta geared towards preparing NFL hopefuls for a chance to prove their worth to scouts at what’s called Pro Day. “Oh man, getting prepared its extremely difficult, your mindset has to be different from just being in college. You know, in

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college you kind of see your competition, who is in your conference and who you want to be better than,” Miller says. “When you are preparing for the pros, you are not preparing for people from Jackson State or anything like that, your competing with guys from the top schools around the nation. You have to be that much better.”

Admittedly, Jordan says his ignorance at how hard it would be helped him make it through.

Knowing how hard it would be to get into the NFL before hand, Miller said that he would have always had that thought at the back of his head and it could be overwhelming.

He was forced to make a tough decision concerning his academic career, in order to obtain the preparation needed he would have to sit out a full semester. After some encouragement and reassurance from his parents and former coach Stump Mitchell to follow whatever path he wanted Miller decided, with only 15 credits between him and taking the oath as alumnus, he packed his bags for Atlanta to train. After months of grueling training day in and day out, Miller returned to Baton Rouge to participate in Pro Day where he performed astonishingly alongside former teammates and impressed many of the scouts in attendance.

“I talked with my parents about it and they were behind me in whatever I decided,” Miller said thankfully. “I also spoke with [former] Coach Stump and he told me that school would always be here but this chance wouldn’t.”

His hard work paid off and landed him on the practice squad of the Chicago Bears, but the work didn’t stop there. From there he pushed and fought for a spot on the active

roster with the Bears where he played for the final few games of his first professional season.

Miller, being from a handful of NFL players hailing from an HBCU, didn’t feel any added pressure from this fact. He does, however, find himself defending the Gold and Blue on many occasions a point that he is all too happy to make.

“I find myself always defending SU, which I’m always happy to do,” Miller said proudly with his chest out. “Some of the guys from big name schools are usually bragging about how their team would beat the other, but I always make a point to say ‘Southern would’ve beat them anyway’,” Miller said grinning from ear to ear.

Tragedy struck when Jordan found himself released from the team.

“I loved Chicago, it’s a beautiful city and a place I could have seen me spending the rest of my career,” Miller said in an upbeat tone that soon sunk into a monotone, “but…when new management came in they had a new vision for the team and people were brought that fit into that vision. I, unfortunately, was let go.”

Now unemployed with his newly sprouting

career loosely blowing in the wind, he moved back home into his parents’ basement.

“I spent weeks in that basement praying for something to happen,” Miller said. “Then I got a call that the Green Bay Packers were willing to ‘look’ at me, and fortunately I thought enough of myself to keep in shape those weeks.”

The Packers flew him out and tried him out at a few practices and offered him a spot on their practice squad, which he accepted.

Miller stayed on the practice squad for a short time when he received a call that the Bears were interested in taking him back on the team. Having grown to like his new team and remembering what happened in Chicago, Jordan was understandably reluctant to leave as well as this putting pressure on the Packers to decide how badly they want to keep him.

Miraculously the Packers decided to offer him a spot on the active roster to keep him there.

“It was just amazing that they decided to offer me a chance, at first they didn’t have room on the active roster, but they had to release a player which opened up the door for me,” Miller said full of awe. “I decided to stay in Green Bay because I felt that I would

be appreciated on a team who took a chance on me.”

Miller played with Packers this past season until the end off their season, then he made another difficult decision… he returned to Southern University this spring after sitting out of a classroom for nearly two years to finish his degree during the offseason.

“It’s a difficult transition going from doing whatever you want for the past two years to having someone, a teacher, telling you what to do,” Miller said laughingly. “I hadn’t really had anyone outside of my parents or a coach telling me to do so it’s an adjustment.”

However, nothing has changed in the way he lives, never being one for the spotlight Miller continues the same he way he did before joining the NFL. Quietly and humbly he goes to and from class as a normal student.

Nothing extravagant or attention stealing, dressed in sweats and flip flops carrying a backpack Miller, on the outside, looks to be your average student but he conceals a extraordinary story that has yet to fully unfold. Underneath his modest and silent appearance is a NFL star just trying to walk across the stage at graduation.

Historical Editorial

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Narration and Photos by: Arielle Burks

The Civil rights movement was active, voices were trying to be heard all over the country.

Protest after protest.

Southern University students were trying to set a tone that would shake the walls of the administration.

A storm of confusion came on the campus and an awakening was about to change the lives of many.

Blood, Blood, and more Blood would be the mood in this case.

After November 16, 1972 Denver Allen Smith and Leonard Douglas Brown would no longer be with us physically but surely remain spiritually.

Both students assumed 19 wounds and 10 bullets were recovered from their bodies. Also the walls of the J.S. Clark administration building, where the tragedy happened, indicated that shotgun bullets struck the walls.

What started this violent event?

Early November 1972 an organization “Student United” were conducting a press conference at that time where they blamed the administration for calling the sheriff’s deputies and for its poor governance of the university in general. Students started protesting and boycotted against President Netterville.

A student in 1972 Edward Pratt, presently the Assistant to the Chancellor for Media Relations,

described the event at the 40th anniversary of the deaths of Smith and Brown.

“Two of his friend were sitting in the union at the time and one of the student leaders came into the union and he unplugged into the jukebox and said ‘we need all the students to the back of campus.’ Demonstrations were going on all-day but we knew something serious was going on.” Upon arriving to the back of campus Pratt and his friends were greeted by a sight they never thought they would have to bare witness to. “The Sheriff had tanks back there and tear gas and gun shots were going off and it was a scary site.”

This horrific scene ended with numerous students injured and two slain. Smith and Brown were cut down in their prime fighting for what they believed in.

Equality and Southern University…

After this disturbance, the question would be asked, Whose Blood?

Why were bullets in a shotgun?

Was a psychological tact to cause confusion knowing that the FBI and attorney general will never give a direct or correct answer?

These questions however would be left unanswered, but, Smith and Brown soul lives and waiting for the new generation to solve these question.

Photo-Feature

A Day in the Life, circa 1970 Photos by: Arielle Burks

A New Era, A New Leader, A New Nation...

Story by: Marcus Green Photos by: Wil Norwood

The Son of Man gives insight to the birth of the New Nation of Islam and how it differs from the old nation. He also tells how his past guided him to where is now at the forefront of a New Nation...

Before speaking before Southern University students, The Son of Man, the leader and teacher of the New Nation of Islam sat down and talked about his role and mission to open the minds of others.

He talked about how his upbringing in the church by his mother and his having knowledge of the bible allowed him to understand his purpose. “I was chosen, I was the Son of Man even before I knew him (God).”

The Son of Man talked about Black History and how these days, the

whole truth about things isn’t being revealed, especially concerning the Nation of Islam.

“It wasn’t called Black History Month, it was called Negro History Week. You go through Black History Month, they’ll mention Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman and all of them, but they never mention the honorable Elijah Muhammad,” he said.

He talked about how when he grew up, he used to be ashamed of his black skin and how he used to put on bleaching creams and skin lighteners.

“People could call you “nigga“, but if they called you black “nigga“, you were ready to fight. Nobody wanted to be black,” he said.

Son of Man followed by talking about how black people have nothing to be ashamed of because they are the original people and that all races after came from them.

He referred back to Black History explaining how black peoples’ inability to come together in unity is holding them back.

“What we look like talking about

we hate slavery, but we won’t help each other get up out of it. Talk is cheap but it’s getting more and more expensive,” he said.

He said that he wants people to acquire the knowledge so that they will be able to think for themselves which take them further in life.

“Crowds of people don’t come to my meetings because I don’t tickle peoples ear. I don’t tell people what they want to hear, I tell them what they need to hear in order to ac-

complish what we are here to accomplish.”

He stated that the biggest misconception about the New Nation of Islam is that they’re exclusive. He cited Barack Obama when the president said America and Islam are not exclusive but they overlap.

He said that the scripture in the bible referred to the New Nation of Islam as New Jerusalem and that Jerusalem means founded in peace.

“It’s not so much The New Nation of Islam attracting people as it is the word of God. Everybody who’s attracted to the word of God, I have no doubt that I will be able to reach,” he said.

Son of Man stated that he simply wants to help the people who follow him while only expecting reason-

able obedience in terms of God. “If it ain’t reasonable, I don’t expect you to do it.”

When asked if The New Nation of Islam followed any groups or other trends, Son of Man replied by saying “We follow the word of God.” “My mission is to first unite my people and then our mission will be to unite the world. If I can get the attention, then I can give my people that which will empower them and make it impossible for anyone to deceive you or manipulate you. That’s all I want,” he said.

Son of Man also explained the comparison between the Nation of Islam and The New Nation of Islam. ”The Old Nation was the Foundation, The New Nation

is the building,” he said.

Speaking of buildings, The Son of Man mentioned some new projects the New Nation of Islam have in the works.

He said they’re currently working on a new school that they hope to christen in two or three months.

He also spoke on a theater that they have and his desire to open a skating ring as well. “When building a nation, it’s nothing that you can’t use. We got to have our own poultry, eggs, milk, butter, farming, we need everything,” he said.

Towards the end of the interview, Son of Man talked about how important the power of knowledge was especially for young black college students.

“Your knowledge is the most valuable thing you have. You can lose everything, but as long as you get the knowledge that you had to get it, you can always get it back,” he said.

He continued by pointing out that he has certain skills that he possesses that others may not and so do the students around campus.

“Those that can do what they know should do it, and those that can’t do something should leave it to the one’s that can,” he said.

Son of Man spoke on many different topics, but finished the interview talking about the correlation between the diffusion of black people and the resources that’s out there to stop it.

“We will be become a productive and independent people when we get qualified, and the only thing that will qualify us, is knowledge in our head,” he said.

ONE MORE THING...

After all that hard work and those late nights getting this issue done I figured I would take this opportunity to add one more thing for everyone who reads the EGO. As most of you know I am no stranger to the Office of Student Media joining the staff my freshman year way back in 2006. Since then I have earned recognition from many organizations, led each publication here, obtained a Bachelor’s Degree, Graduate Studies experience, a chance to work on a second Bachelor’s Degree and blah blah blah... let’s just say a lot has happened to me since my crossing the hump over to the Bluff which has become my second home. I love this university and all the experiences I have gained has changed me into a person I never thought I would be. I can say that here I have truly grown up and have taken a step closer to becoming a more complete person.

My grandfather, a proud Southernite, always regailed my brother and myself with stories of his glory days on The Yard which led to our unrivaled dedication to not only Southern University but to all Historically Black Colleges and Universities at very young ages. I, like my brother and grandfather before me, became a Jaguar with the hopes of joining a community that would be about the betterment of one another but recent years have shown me a much darker side to this community.

I witnessed Jaguars left and right try and tear each other down, discredit, harm, and obstruct one another.

I also witnessed what it true nepotism is and how it poisons the very foundation in which this university stands on.

“Son, if you want to go somewhere where there are people who care about your future more than you do, who will dust you off when you fall, guide you through your mistakes, and help make ways

for you to succeed where at any place else you would surely fail... then Southern is the place for you,” are the words my Grandfather preached till his dying day at the dawn of this new year. I was only eight at the time that I decided that Southern University would be choice for education.

Eight year old me, innocent and a bit naive, saw a eutopia where nothing but success and knowledge where in abundance. Eight year old me, bright eyed and shy, imagined a place of togetherness and unity.

But eight year old me was a child and could only envision that which was in the realm of child-like wonder unsullied by the truth that this world is not all that we concoct in our minds.

Once eight year old me grew into eighteen year old me entering into his second semester of college I soon came face to face with reality...

WE ARE FLAWED. Until we, Southern University Community, accept this then and only then can change happen. Accepting that we all have made our fair share of mistakes does not weaken us, it shows us what we are lacking, that thing that we are missing that hinders us from forward movement.

In my time as a leader in the Office of Student Media I have constantly strived to make SU better, not by coddling it or sheilding it from the ugly truth, but by making it face that truth head on. I have reported on many issues that do not put us in the best light and yes I have experienced great scrutiny for doing so.

“I wish you all (The Southern Digest) wouldn’t print so many bad stories about the university, it makes it hard to recruit new students.”

Well tell Southern to stop doing things that warrant unfavorable press, we are journalist who are at the mercy of the truth. We don’t like reporting on negative news just

as much or even more than the regular person likes reading it but its a neccessity to not hold punches for the home team so that we can improve.

But I digress...

We in the Office always strive to give the public what it wants and needs, after hearing a few complaints through the grapevine we figured it would be great to hear what the demands of the people.

So we created a survey to gauge to needs and wants of the audience. I’ve also heard the phrase picture book thrown about to describe the EGO Magazine and we although we are trying our best to follow the trends of nationally recognized, visually heavy publications (Vogue, Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated) we are always opened to story ideas of the public. Our next issue is the Anunual Art Issue, so if you or someone you know is interested in being apart of submitting some art or ideas for stories please do not hesitate to stop by the office, Suite 1064 Harris Hall, and drop leave your contact info and we will be more than happy to include you.

We thank everyone for their support and we hope you enjoyed this Black Pride Issue of the EGO which is also our largest issue to date.

Yours Truly,

Norman J. Dotson Jr.

We Want To Hear From You...

1. How often do you read The EGO magazine?

2. Are the stories we produce relevant to you?

3. In what ways, if any, could The EGO improve to better suit your interests?

4. What would you like to read about or see in The EGO magazine?

PLEASE RETURN SURVEY TO SUITE 1064 HARRIS HALL, EITHER BY MAIL OR DROP-OFF. MANY THANKS,

THE EGO

“None of us is responsible for the complexion of his skin. This fact of nature offers no clue to the character or quality of the person underneath.”

—Marian Anderson