53 years of integration
The Auburn Plainsman: Black History Month Thursday, February 2, 2017
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VIA AUBURN UNIVERSITY
Kamau Bell kicks off Black History Month Staff Report
The University's Jay Sanders Film Lecture and Black History Month Kickoff event, held Feb. 1 at 6 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom, will feature W. Kamau Bell, a sociopolitical comedian who will present his one-man show, "The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour." Bell is host of the Emmy Award-nominated CNN docuseries, United Shades of America. In its first season, United
Shades of America was nominated for a Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in News and Information. Before United Shades of America, he was best known for his critically acclaimed FX comedy series, Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell. Bell, an American Civil Liberties Union Ambassador of Racial Justice, sits on the advisory board of Race Forward, a racial justice think tank, and Hollaback, a non-profit movement to end street harassment.
The event is co-sponsored by the Office of Inclusion and Diversity Cross-Cultural Center for Excellence, the School of Communication and Journalism, the University Program Council and the Office of University Writing: Miller Center and the ePortfolio Project. Editor’s note: Bell had not yet performed at publication time on Wednesday afternoon. For coverage of the event, visit ThePlainsman.com.
Thursday, February 2, 2017
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The Auburn Plainsman: Black History Month
GUEST COLUMN
A letter from the Black Student Union President Kayla Warner BLACK STUDENT UNION PRESIDENT SGA SENATOR OF DIVERSITY AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIR
Many people ask, "Why is there a Black History Month?" As many times as I have heard that question, I can still never understand why someone would ask it. Black History is like a stain to some, that can not seem to be washed out of the fabric of American History. So many have become accustomed to the whitewashing of the history of this country that we have become numb to the noxious fumes of the bleach surrounding us all. For instance, when I visited the Universi-
ty of Alabama I toured the President's Mansion. The tour guides said that the home was completed in 1841 by "workers." My mind began to race to put the pieces together. 1841. Alabama. Slaves built this home. In this moment, I gagged from the odor of the bleach. And in this moment, I remembered the weavers. Weavers are patient, steadfast and proud. Weavers meticulously thread black history back into the fabric of our consciousnesses. Weavers are people like my Sunday school teacher Ms. Jackson. Ms. Jackson made her students participate in the Black History Month Trivia Bowl every year. Every year she was met with the same adolescent ambivalence. She was patient with our angst, steadfast in quizzing us every week and proud whenever she saw a student answer correctly. Weavers are all around us. On this cam-
About BSU About: Parent Organization: Auburn University To represent the interest and concerns of Black Students at Auburn University and to bring together all aspects of Black Student life for the purpose of improving the campus environment and encourage involvement of Black students in ALL campus activities. Discourage and abate institutional and individual acts and symbols of racism and promote the Auburn Spirit and tradition of Excellence and Heighten awareness and friendship between races. Meeting Day: Monday Meeting Time: 5 p.m. - Student Center Room 2222/2223 Dues: None Staple Events/Programs: Breakfast 4 You, Back to School Luau, Mr. BSU Pageant, Jazz & Poetry Night
pus, members of the Harold A. Franklin Society are weavers. They meticulously weave in their green and black threads into the fabric of the Auburn community. They do this to uphold the legacy of Harold A. Franklin. On Jan. 4, 1964, Harold A. Franklin became the first black student to attend Auburn University. But, so many in the Auburn family are blinded by the fumes of the bleach that they do not even know who Harold A. Franklin is. While this reality is disheartening and disappointing-- it does not have to be our truth. Weaving in history does more than delight the eye and soul with color-- weaving adds strength. We are stronger when we acknowledge and celebrate all of our history. I challenge us all to become weavers, to empower the history that is easily washed and ripped away.
We become weavers by educating ourselves and others. Black Student Union, Black Graduate and Professional Student Association, Harold A. Franklin Society, Ladies Society of Collegiate Success, NAACP, National Pan-Hellenic Council, National Society of Black Engineers, Untamed-- and, so many more are all weavers. Join us in weaving our Auburn fabric. Join us in weaving, so that we can gaze upon the beauty that is of past, present and future. Together, we can weave something so stunning and breath taking that no one will ever feel the need to ask "Why is there a Black History Month?" Together, we can mend the fabric of our country and consciousness, so that we only ask "Why did we ever hide something so beautiful?"
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The Auburn Plainsman: Black History Month Thursday, February 2, 2017
Barrier Breakers HAROLD FRANKLIN
In 1964, Harold A. Franklin became the first African American student at Auburn University. Franklin was admitted under heavy guard and was kept isolated from other students in campus housing. Although obstacles of the era prevented Dr. Franklin from completing his degree at Auburn, he went on to earn a master’s degree in history at University of Denver. He taught and held administrative posts at Alabama State University, North Carolina A&T University, Tuskegee Institute and Talladega College from 1965 until retiring from education in 1992. In 2001, 37 years after leaving the university, Harold Franklin was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Auburn University. He is currently a resident in Sylacauga.
Henry Harris
Henry Harris was Auburn’s first black scholarship athlete in 1968. Harris started for three years for HARRIS the Tigers from 1969-72. He averaged 11.8 points and 6.7 rebounds a game. He was named third-team All-SEC as a senior, but the serious knee injury he’d suffered his junior year hurt his chances of playing as a pro. Harris died in 1974.
Josetta Matthews
Josetta Brittain Mathews was the first African-American student to receive a graduate degree from Auburn in 1966. A retired Tuskegee University professor, Matthews was also Auburn’s first African American faculty member. Matthews enrolled in graduate school at Auburn in 1965 and earned her master of education degree in August 1966. With the master’s degree, she taught political science and French language at Tuskegee until she returned to Auburn for the doctoral program in social science education in 1971 and earned her doctorate in 1974.
MATTHEWS
Thursday, February 2, 2017
The Auburn Plainsman: Black History Month
Housing Fair February 10th | 11am-2pm AU Student Center Enter to win a
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TOP: Obstacles of the era prevented Harold Franklin from completing his degree at Auburn, he went on to earn a master’s degree in history at University of Denver. BOTTOM: Franklin was admitted under heavy guard and was kept isolated from other students in campus housing.
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The Auburn Plainsman: Black History Month Thursday, February 2, 2017
Famous Black Alumni: Athletics Charles Barkley Attended Auburn from 1981-84 Barkley is a retired professional basketball player and current analyst on the television program Inside the NBA. He was named the All-Star MVP in 1991. In 1993, he was voted the league’s Most Valuable Player and during the NBA’s 50th anniversary, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. Barkley is a two-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
James Owens Attended Auburn from 1969-72 James Owens, Auburn’s first African-American football player, died last year. Owens signed with Auburn in 1969 and was a varsity fullback for the Tigers from 1970-72. Owens’ legacy lives on at Auburn, where the school established the James Owens Courage Award in 2012.
Thursday, February 2, 2017
The Auburn Plainsman: Black History Month
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Famous Black Alumni: Arts and Entertainment Octavia Spencer 1989 graduate Spencer is an actress. Her breakthrough came in 2011, when she starred as Minny Jackson in the Civil Rights film drama The Help, for which she won the Academy Award, Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA, and Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Thom Gossom Jr. 1975 graduate Gossom played college football for the Auburn Tigers. He was a cast member of the TV series In the Heat of the Night. He has appeared in multiple movies, including the 2003 sequel to Jeepers Creepers, as well as guest roles in CSI and other TV shows.