2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
"We've Got Issues..."
The Need For Political Discourse
4/13/07
Nation & World
Nation & World
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“We’ve Got Issues...” will appear in The Hilltop every other Friday. Produced in part by Project Voice, “We’ve Got Issues...” will look at a particular topic that is pertinent in our community. It will also present the basic facts and the perspectives of the conservative and liberal wings. Then it’s your turn: after reading both perspectives, tell us what YOU think.
Issue:
The “Project Voice” campaign was designed to be a vehicle for the silent minority, of any political persuasion, to voice their opinion of policy issues in question in a section provided by the Hilltop titled, “We’ve got issues!” Opinions that, in effect, were to provoke and encourage greater political discourse, participation and understanding of policy and the political process among Howard University Students. After covering a multitude of issues this year the writers of “We’ve got issues” requested the last issue to encourage the Howard University community to take the next step.
Question:
What’s The Next Step in Fighting to Improve The Status of Blacks?
Lift Ev’ry Voice:
The fact still remains that African Americans are still a disparate racial group– facing the highest rates of poverty at 25 percent; representing 49 percent of new HIV/AIDS cases; constituting a disproportionate prison population of over 800,000 black men, a number that exceeds those in college; adult and child illiteracy and a host of other social ills.
To mitigate these barriers to black advancement, Project Voice charges every son and daughter of Howard University to consider these facts, embrace an issue and become its champion, because “We’ve Got Issues.” We challenge every son and daughter of Howard University to accept the responsibility of being proactive advocates of their people, and not reactive bystanders of the cause. We call upon every son and daughter of Howard University to lift every voice and sing the struggles of its people, so that they too can prosper. But don’t just sing it – live it, fight it, change it.
-Nyron Crawford
Seek Knowledge, Then Act:
In the autobiography of Stokely Carmichael [Kwame Turé] (Peace be unto him) titled Ready for Revolution, he reflects about his time as a Howard University undergraduate student when he confirmed his determination to “struggle with and for his people.” He wrote, “In struggle one not only fights against something- injustice, oppression- but one must struggle for something equally real but positive.”
Turé hinted at the reality that there is more to activism than identifying an issue and providing solutions. When struggling for something “equally real but positive,” extensive collaborative preparation must take place if the attempt is to be successful. This year, we as Howard students received a diminutive glimpse of what is still possible when preparation (individually and collaboratively) meets opportunity.
There have been numerous organizations and departments, who have contributed to the cultivation of political discourse nationally and internationally on campus. As these Howard University departments and organizations continue to reach out and engage students in political discourse it is important that we as students do not leave our interest for political change in those meetings, programs, rallies, etc.
If one is looking to become a change agent they must do what Bobby Seale, Co-Founder of the Black Panther party, alluded to earlier this semester, which was to “…know your information frontward, backwards, sideways and inside out.”
-Marcus Coleman
*These opinions are not the those of The Hilltop. Project Voice is a student organization dedicated to increasing political awareness on the Howard University campus. For more information on Project Voice, and to give us YOUR opinion, e-mail us at ProjectVoiceHU@gmail.com.
Issue:
The “Project Voice” campaign was designed to be a vehicle for the silent minority, of any political persuasion, to voice their opinion of policy issues in question in a section provided by the Hilltop titled, “We’ve got issues!” Opinions that, in effect, were to provoke and encourage greater political discourse, participation and understanding of policy and the political process among Howard University Students. After covering a multitude of issues this year the writers of “We’ve got issues” requested the last issue to encourage the Howard University community to take the next step.
Question:
What’s The Next Step in Fighting to Improve The Status of Blacks?
Lift Ev’ry Voice:
The fact still remains that African Americans are still a disparate racial group– facing the highest rates of poverty at 25 percent; representing 49 percent of new HIV/AIDS cases; constituting a disproportionate prison population of over 800,000 black men, a number that exceeds those in college; adult and child illiteracy and a host of other social ills.
To mitigate these barriers to black advancement, Project Voice charges every son and daughter of Howard University to consider these facts, embrace an issue and become its champion, because “We’ve Got Issues.” We challenge every son and daughter of Howard University to accept the responsibility of being proactive advocates of their people, and not reactive bystanders of the cause. We call upon every son and daughter of Howard University to lift every voice and sing the struggles of its people, so that they too can prosper. But don’t just sing it – live it, fight it, change it.
-Nyron Crawford
Seek Knowledge, Then Act:
In the autobiography of Stokely Carmichael [Kwame Turé] (Peace be unto him) titled Ready for Revolution, he reflects about his time as a Howard University undergraduate student when he confirmed his determination to “struggle with and for his people.” He wrote, “In struggle one not only fights against something- injustice, oppression- but one must struggle for something equally real but positive.”
Turé hinted at the reality that there is more to activism than identifying an issue and providing solutions. When struggling for something “equally real but positive,” extensive collaborative preparation must take place if the attempt is to be successful. This year, we as Howard students received a diminutive glimpse of what is still possible when preparation (individually and collaboratively) meets opportunity.
There have been numerous organizations and departments, who have contributed to the cultivation of political discourse nationally and internationally on campus. As these Howard University departments and organizations continue to reach out and engage students in political discourse it is important that we as students do not leave our interest for political change in those meetings, programs, rallies, etc.
If one is looking to become a change agent they must do what Bobby Seale, Co-Founder of the Black Panther party, alluded to earlier this semester, which was to “…know your information frontward, backwards, sideways and inside out.”
-Marcus Coleman
*These opinions are not the those of The Hilltop. Project Voice is a student organization dedicated to increasing political awareness on the Howard University campus. For more information on Project Voice, and to give us YOUR opinion, e-mail us at ProjectVoiceHU@gmail.com.
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