Nubian Message, Oct. 5, 2016 — Michelle Obama: Flotus' call to action

NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY | RALEIGH, NC | THENUBIANMESSAGE.COM | wednesday, OCTOBER 5 2016

flotus’ call to action

wednesday, OCTOBER 5. 2016 | 2

THISISSUE 3 STAFF EDITORIAL Our opinion on current events on campus

4 MICHELLE OBAMA Our First Lady comes to campaign for democratic candidate

5 BLM PROTEST AT FOOTBALL GAME Students protest racial injustices

5 RACIAL CLIMATE TOWNHALL

A open discussion on race issues of NC State

6 GUEST COLUMN An outside view on NC State’s racial tension

6 TOWN HALL OPINION A brand redefining the word ugly.

7 FREDESSA HAMILTON A look at an inspirational professor on campus

The Sentinel of the African -American Community at N.C. State Since 1992.

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Editor-in-Chief

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Only with the permission of our elders do we proudly produce each edition of the Nubian Message:

Dr. Yosef ben-Yochannan, Dr. John Henrik Clark, Dr. Leonard Jeffries, The Black Panther Party, Mumia A. Jamal, Geronimo Pratt, Tony Williamson, Dr. Lawrence Clark, Dr. Augustus McIver Witherspoon, Dr. Wandra P. Hill, Mr. Kyran Anderson, Dr. Lathan Turner, Dr. M. Iyailu Moses, Dokta Toni Thorpe and all those who accompany us as we are still on the journey to true consciousness.

OPINION

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2016 | 3

STAFF EDITORIAL nubian staff Our Response to No Response The latest events at NC State have left us puzzled, disheartened and disappointed. We have been made to believe that NC State has held their students to a certain caliber. We believed coming in as freshman that we were going to be attending a school that wanted only the best, that only expected excellence from their students and fostered diversity. We didn’t realize until attending, that mindset was only applied to academics and not each student’s moral compass. The students who made those comments in those screenshots have not been disciplined. We understand that the law prevents the university from punishing the students, but we feel that NC State should be ashamed at what has been said about people of color and to students of color on their campus. The university should feel the need to address this issue with more than just a short letter, or a video message uttering teleprompted words from Chancellor Woodson, who was just trying to avoid a lawsuit or the elite 1% alumni retracting their donations. Without repercussions, how are the students to know what they did was wrong? Regardless of the legal aspect of it, we are personally tired of hearing nothing more than legal jargon.

EXAMINING ALL SIDES OF THE NC STATE NARRATIVE At this year’s convocation the school boasted about how they had an olympic gold medalist represent the university this year, but failed to mention the fraternity that was suspended last year for an offensive notebook showing both racist and sexist comments or the fraternity that hosted a racially offensive themed party.

You can’t pick and choose who represents NC State after they’ve been admitted. If Ryan Held represents State, then so does every student in those screenshots.

We just want NC State to make it feel like we actually matter on campus, and that we’re not just here to boost racial demographics and to be pictured in diversity brochures. It was especially sickening for members of our staff to witness Chancellor Woodson’s apathetic behavior at the most recent racial climate town hall.

His lack of attention to students of color spoke volumes about the university’s so-called commitment to diversity.

Atrocious Media Coverage We were then stunned by the lack of coverage and extreme under-representation of the events that have transpired. These coverage mishaps were so blatant they almost constitute a flagrant and intentional disregard for the african american community on campus.

After breaking the groupme incident two days after the fact and choosing to not incrementally report the events to an uninformed student body, the Technician

focused on the apology of the students rather than the actions that made the apology necessary in the first place. A few days later was the protest at the football game against Wake Forest, which was also covered by the Technician. The fact that the Technician would use the powerful image of black students mid protest to draw in readers while only devoting a meager 213 word staff report that didn’t even cover half a page is disrespectful. To put this attempt of coverage in context, most forum posts here at State require at least 250 words.

When a professional news source like ABC 11 fails to provide accurate facts to the public, it is a direct discredit to their credibility. The expectation for coverage of events like this is that it be both timely and precise. For the most part, the errors were minor and seemed incidental in nature but they were still disheartening. Mistakes like these are the reason that the Nubian Message was created in the first place. However, we have come a long way from 1992 and we expect better from other media outlets.

BLACK LIVES DO MATTER Ani Iyer, one of the students in the Sullivan GroupMe, stated “I’m a fan of BPM. Black penises matter” to which Brennan Smith, already notorious for his comments, responded “BPM is better.” It is far too often that black men and women are fetishized for our bodies and appreciated for what we can do, whether it be sexual or athletic, but are undervalued, underrepresented and under-defended in all other aspects of life.

We very much doubt those same students who didn’t feel safe with BLM protesters on campus feel threatened when watching NC State’s own football team, which (to the naked eye with no research into the ethnicities of the players) is roughly 65% black, win games and bring money to the university. The fact that these statements are left unchallenged sends the message that black bodies matter when black lives do not.

Think and Do It is time for all of us, students, faculty, staff, whether you are a person of color or not, to challenge these injustices, small or large and let it be known that they cannot be allowed to continue. This past week has shown what many have known all along, that though we have come far as a people, as a nation, we still have far to go. The fact that NC State has no policy in place for dealing with hate speech is intolerable and must be amended. If they can be nothing else, we need to let these events be the catalyst that ignites a fire under the a---- of our administrators to begin bringing about change. If we are truly a school of innovation, it is time for us to start anew and make an effort to truly be a diverse and inclusive campus.

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news

First Lady Michelle Obama inspires miLlennial voters zoe wilson CORRESPONDENT On Tuesday, Oct. 4 the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama spoke to a crowd of approximately 6,000 at Reynolds Coliseum to campaign for Hillary Clinton and encourage everyone, especially millennials, to vote in the upcoming election.

Typically younger generations have the least amount of voter participation, but the First Lady wants to change this and made a point to say, “Elections aren’t just about who votes, but who doesn’t vote. That’s especially true for our young people like many of you.”

North Carolina is a swing state and this means no single candidate or party has overwhelming support in securing the state’s electoral college votes. Wake County is one of the top 25 swing counties in the country.

Therefore every vote, or lack thereof, will impact the final results on Nov. 8.

“Any of you who might be thinking your vote doesn’t matter, or that one person can’t make a difference, consider this,” urges Mrs. Obama, “Back in 2008 Barack won North Carolina by about 14,000 votes. That sounds like a lot, right? But when you break that down the difference between winning and losing this state was a little over two or three votes per precinct.”

If those few people in each precinct decided to stay home instead of voting in the 2008 election, North Carolina could have easily supported the opposing party. In the last election only about 17 votes per precinct determined the winning presidential candidate. This shows how close presidential elections can be and how everyone’s vote actually matters.

The First Lady alluded to the citizens who are not planning on voting in the upcom-

ly impact this election, but only if each citizen chooses to vote.

Mr. Steven Greene, a professor of political science said, “The truth is young people love Michelle Obama, and to have her come out on Hillary Clinton’s behalf is smart campaigning and I suspect pretty effective, especially sending her to a college campus where you have so many young ponential Clinton voters that she needs to turn from potential to actual voters.”

According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, in the 2012 election only 55.1 percent of registered voters ages 18-25 Bryan Murphy/Nubian Message First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama addresses the crowd during her showed up to cast their speech at Reynolds Coliseum on Oct. 4, 2016. Obama spoke about her endorsement of vote in comparison Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton and urged everyone to get out and vote in this election. to the 76.6 percent of citizens over the age of 65. If the percentage ing election because they do not like either by not voting, we are essentially helping the of millennials voting candidate and said, “it’s not about voting for candidate who might not be the best fit.” increases to match the older generations the perfect president. There’s no such thing According to the News and Observer, it could dramatically affect the presidency because presidents are human.” about ten years ago there were less than a outcome, especially in North Carolina.

Becca Green, a sophomore who is studymillion independent registered voters, but “Even kids need to get involved in this ing psychology said, “We’re at the age where today the amount of unaffiliated voters election because it’s that important for evthese issues, like affording college, really now outnumber those who are registered eryone’s voices to be heard and not just the start affecting us, so we have a responsibility as affiliating with one of the major two grown ups because we all have reasonable to be proactive and choose who we feel will political parties in more than half of North answers,” said nine-year-old Sage Rose after benefit us the most. Although each candiCarolina’s counties. Because there are more meeting Mrs. Obama. date is not perfect, we have to choose which unaffiliated voters now than ever in North one will be the best fit for our country, and Carolina, undecided voters can dramatical-

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NEWS

Students take a stand for equality On Saturday, Oct. 1 at the NC State vs Wake Forest, over 50 NC State students came together to protest racial inequality and injustice. The students wore black to show solidarity, raised their fists during the national anthem and sat during the alma mater.

Achaia Dent, a freshman studying animal science and an organizer of the event, said, “The purpose of the protest for me was to act against the message of the national anthem. The national anthem has an entire stanza dedicated to romanticizing the killing of slaves and I cannot support that.”

For Stevie Thompson, a junior studying business administration, the purpose was closer to home. He referenced the recent release of racist GroupMe messages from NC State students. “I feel like more people on campus should be made aware how offensive those comments are and how it affects us. It definitely had an effect on me,” said Thompson.

Sitting during the playing of the alma mater was meant to protest the use of the word “dixie.” According to Dent, “Dixie refers to the mason Dixon line which separated the free States and the slave states.

Dixie often coincides with the confederacy and what they stood for. I do not support the enslavement of my people so having that word casually in our alma mater is sending a message I don’t agree with.”

Articles detailing the event were posted on the facebook group Wolfpack Students and attracted diverse reactions. Some were confused and questioned the wisdom of protesting during a game where the rival’s colors matched that of the protesters.

“Yeah, I think it was kinda a bad day to do it bc Wake’s colors were black so it kinda didn’t stand out like I think they wanted it to,” said Ashleigh Reith, a freshman studying criminology.

To explain the color choice, Dent said, “We wore black to make a physical statement to show solidarity with each other and to separate us visually from the crowd... We wanted people around us to notice what we were doing and it worked.”

For Thompson, the choice of color had historical significance. He talked about Malcolm X and the protests that defined the Civil Rights Movement. Black was the staple color of the movement because, Thompson said, “A lot of American people in black makes a statement.”

Anahzsa jones managing editor

Some outright disagreed with the nature of the protest, including Eric Low, a freshman in the life sciences first year program. “Disgusting. If you hold that much contempt for your school, I’m sure UNC is still taking transfers,” said Low. In addition to the students in the stands, two members of NC State’s marching band, Lorenzo Melton, a junior studying technology engineering and design education and Parker Gagnier, a sophomore studying philosophy and ethics, took a knee during the national anthem in protest.

According to a member of the band who wishes to remain anonymous, “on Monday after rehearsal, the director noted that threats had been made if students were to take a knee during the national anthem.

They have been forwarded to a higher power and are being taken seriously. Students have been encouraged to not protest for the safety of their fellow band members. Band staff and students are working on a compromise so that the voices of those who desire to protest are heard while maintaining the safety of the other 300+ members of the band, especially following the events at ECU this past weekend.”

Peaceful protest has long been the most advocated for form of bringing attention to injustice, and that is what these students were attempting to accomplish. While it is true that some disagreed with the method or message of the protest, Dent was not fazed. “I didn’t ask for permission to do it because quite frankly, I don’t care if you disagree. I am standing for what I believe is right, if you aren’t going to join me, get out of the way.

It’s time for a change.”

mitchell Burleson/Nubian Message Sophmore, Maya Davis, a Philosophy of Law major, participates in the black out at the Football Game on October 1st.

Student’s air grievances about racial tensions to officials STEPHANIE TATE editor-in-chief On Sep 29, 2016 students, faculty, staff and administrators alike gathered in Stewart Theatre for the second Racial Climate Town Hall. The town hall was planned by Student Government’s University Affairs Chair Soraya Russell and is a part of a series of town halls planned by Russell and her committee members.

Russell, a junior studying international studies and finance, said that the biggest goal of the town hall was to “create a space where students can address their concerns to faculty, staff and administrators.”

This year, faculty members addressed the community first as a follow up to action items presented at last year’s town hall.

Dr. Tracey Ray, Assistant Vice Provost for Student Diversity, spoke about a new diversity peer educators program called DEPTH. The program aims to discuss issues of diversity and inclusion on a peer to peer level and is a facet of the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity (OIED).

Ray also emphasized the presence of

prayer spaces around campus, including the new interfaith prayer space that recently opened in Witherspoon Student Center.

Barbara Kirby, Associate Vice Provost of Academic Programs and Services spoke about the request for mandatory diversity courses for students as a part of the US Diversity requirement.

According to Kirby “U.S. Diversity GEP requirements have been a bit problematic for some time.”

Next, Deborah Felder from Student Involvement spoke on the mandatory diversity training for all registered student organizations. The training, entitled SOLE, requires that student organizations send representatives to participate or risk being unregistered in the following year.

Reggie Barnes, the new Directory of Campus University Centers, explained the concept of the Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT). “ If we call ourselves an inclusive and safe campus, we want to be able to provide

evidence that is the case.” Barnes said.

However, Barnes emphasized that BIRT exists to act as an addition to not a detraction from other incident reporting processes.

The faculty presentation segment of the town hall ended with Beverly Williams, the Director of Training and Education in OIED who highlighted ongoing diversity training for faculty and staff.

The second portion of the town hall was geared towards allowing all those who attended to air their grievances with the general racial climate of campus. However, most of the comments pertained to recent GroupMe messages that were made public via social media. These messages contained racial slurs and other offensive phrases.

Chancellor Woodson made an appearance after not attending last year’s. Woodson addressed the GroupMe messages with, “It was clear from the advice of the legal team and DASA that this did not

reach that standard of violating student conduct.” Students audibly groaned at this statement.

The climax of the event occurred when Matt Smith, one of the students from one of the GroupMe messages spoke on behalf of the GroupMe “Enginerds 2020.” He remarked that the group was not overtly racist. This statement was met with yelling from the crowd.

Garrison Rountree, a junior studying Agricultural Business Management disagreed with the fact that the university could not punish the students.

“Going here is a privilege, not a right.

Just like you can earn the privilege, you should be able to lose it” Rountree said.

If the crowd could agree on nothing else, they agreed on this as many people took to their feet to clap.

wednesday, OCTOBER 5, 2016 | 6

OPINION

Guest column: How NC State’s administration can help tania luma guest columnist

Tania Luma is an attorney and an adjunct professor at DePaul University.

How a university responds to its students sets the tone for the campus--it sets the expectations. In regards to recent racist comments by students, North Carolina State University acknowledged racism is wrong. However, the university stated through several officials it could not act further because of First Amendment rights to free speech. The university set a tone. Nothing can be done when racism is exposed. When you expose racism, we can’t act.

To examine this issue as just a First Amendment issue disregards the humani-

ty of the students.

The students have been wronged. They have been judged and demeaned for being black. They have been disrespected for supporting social justice issues. Though, there is no punishment for making racist comments due to the First Amendment, it is too simplistic to move on and concede nothing further can be done. Students want actions that exhibit the university believes racism is wrong. Students want actions exhibiting that racism is not tolerated on campus. When considering how the university should exhibit such values, perhaps other issues of importance should be considered. Examine other issues where

universities are clear about not tolerating certain actions--because it harms the greater whole. These issues are discussed in orientations, faculty/staff are trained to deal with the issues, forums are held for campus-wide communication, handbooks and policies are written and student input is sought. These are just some ways important issues are addressed.

Simply stating that punishment is not an option when students display racism disregards students of color and their collective value to the university. It implicitly encourages the maltreatment of black students. The reaction from the university results in further feelings of helplessness,

anxiety and tension surrounding race relations.

However, universities typically recognize value in treating its students as humans that deserve respect and consideration.

They set a tone where students feel safe.

They provide leadership. It is your job to create an atmosphere where they can live on campus and attend classes with affirmation that university is looking out for their best interests. I encourage university officials to examine a better way to respond to racist behaviors. Even greater, collaborate with students to create methods that exhibit racism is not tolerated by the university.

TOWN HALL OFFERS LITTLE HEALING TO STUDENTS OF COLOR kenton gibbs STAFF WRITER Due to the screenshot scandal and the response, or lack thereof, the town hall was seen as a pivotal moment for race relations on this campus. Student Government’s Racial Climate Town Hall took place Thursday, Sept. 29.

The town hall was held in the Stewart Theatre and it brought out a large and varied group of people. The theatre was filled with administrators, students, the brickyard preacher, alumni and pretty much every other classification of person on or around this campus. This event was originally meant to discuss progress made between the last year’s racial climate town hall and now.

The event opened with various staff members speaking on behalf of the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity.

These staff members spoke about what their roles were and how they are working to make NC State’s campus a more inclusive environment. Following this, students were allowed to speak.

No more than two students in, Chancellor Randy Woodson addressed “the elephant in the room.” He spoke about the legal ramifications of punishing these students. He went on to say his hands were tied and that unfortunately, he could not punish the students.

I had a suspicion that this was not going law prevents him from kicking out racists. to be the last time legality was mentioned.

Then we had to sit through him saying My suspicion was confirmed when later in the same thing at the town hall. Now a the event, Vice Provost of OIED, Linthird time of the same thing, just from a da McCabe Smith, came out with this different source. At some point it began statement: “Despite what you think of the to feel like an insult to all of the students’ Chancellor’s intelligence. decision, I would be he’s right. remissed if I Continue to didn’t menhave the contion Randy’s versations behavior while but work on he was there. changing the Even though law.” he showed I was one up physically, of those that many students disagreed left feeling with her that his mind assertion, was elsewhere. but she was At one point, Kaydee Gawlik/Nubian Message Kamri Risku, a right. All of the protests, An estimated 500 people were in attendance at the Racial junior studyClimate Town Hall in Stewart Theater on Sept. 29. ing political die-ins, marching science, called and singing in the universe would not him out on his apathetic demeanor by saybring on serious change. Although I must ing, “You haven’t looked at any one of the admit that she was spot on, I was utterly black students who have spoke about their disappointed in the redundancy of it all. experiences.” I personally was not paying First, we had to hear Randy’s half-baked, enough attention to him to notice. If true, poorly teleprompted speech saying the this is disgusting and disappointing on so

many levels.

One of the biggest plot twists at the town hall was Matthew Smith, a member of the “Enginerds” group chat, coming and speaking to the crowd. One of the first things he said was, “We are not an overtly racist group.” Well, it must be nice to commit an act of blatant racism then say I’m not racist. If only that same logic applied to people who said or did other inflammatory things. What could be the harm in letting someone who was caught stealing say “I’m not a thief ”?

The town hall gave me a mixed bag of emotions. Immediately afterwards, part of me was elated. That part of me was overtaken by sadness caused by administrators screaming first amendment while all students, especially black students, were hurting. That sadness gave way to anger.

That anger spouted from the fact that a young man who has not even been on this campus for two months was forced out of his room due to discomfort because of his suitemates’ racist remarks. My takeaway from the town hall is that while some students may have felt great that we had our moment to speak candidly to administrators, our message may very well have fallen on deaf, apathetic ears.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2016 | 7

features

BLACKADEMICS: Dr. Fredessa Hamilton A professor helping illiteracy in America keilah davis staff writer “This is, technically speaking, my retirement career,” Dr. Hamilton said as she turned down the volume on a Major League Baseball radio broadcast. Her team was winning.

Dr. Fredessa Hamilton, a 61-year-old undergraduate academic advisor and lecturer in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, earned her Ph.D. in Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media from NC State in 2014. She’s the first black graduate of the program.

Hamilton has dreamed of teaching college since she was nine years old, however, her journey to academia was not a direct one.

“I have always dreamed of having a career in radio. I’m not a TV person; I’m a radio and music person,” Hamilton said. “I fell in love a long, long time ago listening to baseball on the radio and pretending to be a DJ.” Hamilton, a first-generation college student, earned her B.A. in Religion with enough credits for a second B.A. in English. Duke University, Hamilton’s alma mater, did not have a communication program. She had been teaching Sunday school at her church since 8th grade, so religion seemed like a good choice.

Black students were first admitted to Duke 10 years before Hamilton began her freshman year in 1973.

“It was a unique experience to be going to school at a predominately white institution,” Hamilton said. “They were still getting used to us. The two professors I remember most vividly were so open, welcoming, and nurturing.

As I would expose my experiences in my assignments, I got a lot of appreciation and reinforcement from those professors and that was a really good thing for me.”

While at Duke, Hamilton had her own radio show at Duke’s student radio station. Her show was so successful that she kept it until a year after graduation.

Hamilton’s first job was at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Her boss showed her a 1-year master’s program for minorities and women in telecommunications at Ohio University.

“Communications is broadcasting–TV and all that stuff,” Hamilton said. “Telecom is more infrastructure. It talks about fiber optics, satellites–all of the stuff that makes communications work.”

After earning her master’s degree, Hamilton worked as a program manager for government projects in Washington, D.C. She managed projects for the defense industry, ran multi-million dollar projects, and headed the team that managed the first satellite communication to the south

pole.

Hamilton balanced her career with working and volunteering at public radio stations in top 40, news, special reports, engineering, and production.

Although Hamilton had fulfilled one dream, she still had a desire to teach at the university level and be called “Dr. Hamilton”.

“You cannot ever let go of the dream because it will beat you over the head sooner or later and you’ll have to pursue it,” Hamilton said.

one rural. She learned a lot from sitting down every week next to people who couldn’t read and write.

“There are a lot of people who can’t send a text because they can’t write. Who couldn’t read one if you sent them one because they can’t read,” Hamilton said. “And if they can’t write and they can’t read, and every job application is now online, then they got problems…If that’s the case, then they will be trapped in very low-income work. And I’m talking about English-speaking Americans, not even the ESL population, which is a whole ‘nother deal altogether.”

Dr. Hamilton still has some research interests that she would like to reinvigorate.

“I am now pretty much committed that the phase two

“You cannot ever let go of the

dream because it will beat you over the head sooner or later and you’ll have to pursue it.”

-Dr. Fredessa Hamilton

Photo Contributed by Fredessa Hamilton Hamilton taught at community colleges and enrolled in the Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media (CRDM) Ph.D. program at NC State.

Dr. Hamilton’s dissertation focused on low-literate adults in North Carolina.

“The sad part is 35 million people in America can only read and write up to a 2nd-grade level,” Hamilton said.

“That’s a lot of folks and the numbers are extremely high in North Carolina. I’ve always had this concern because my dad only went to the 5th grade and I’m a first generation college student.”

Dr. Hamilton completed her research while tutoring adult students at two community colleges: one urban and

of my research is to try to work on applications and even software modifications to help adult students learn how to read and write, and jump into the computer age at the same time,” Hamilton said.

Dr. Hamilton credits her family as her inspiration.

“I had no real role models for college, but I did have role models for education,” Hamilton said. Her grandmothers taught her about the Bible and supported her pursuit of a college degree. Her mother went to “beauty school” and always encouraged Hamilton to pursue education and independence.

Dr. Hamilton currently teaches communication courses at NC State and is an undergraduate academic advisor.

“The media concentration is my natural academic home. It’s where I feel most comfortable,” Hamilton said.

Dr. Hamilton also teaches at Wake Technical Community College.

“I’m planning to teach for the rest of my life.”

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