Athen's Religious Leaders Encourage Discussion on the Subject of Homosexuality and Religion

University Union, a student-run organization at the University of Georgia, held a forum last night on faith and homosexuality in the Miller Learning Center. Over 250 students attended this panel discussion in order to better understand the issues facing homosexuals in Christianity. Three religious leaders from the Athens community, both liberal and conservative in their spiritual beliefs, presented their views on homosexuality and its representation in the Bible. Parker James a Presbyterian pastor of the University Church represented conservative views on the subject. "Love your neighbor as thyself" recites Parker as he explains his tolerance of homosexuals. Despite his compassion for the gays in society, he still maintains a fairly strict following of the Scripture. In his interpretation of Bible, he explains the story of Adam and Eve: God created man and out of man came woman. It is upon the story of creation and God's intentions for men and women to procreate that Parker lays his foundation of religious belief. "I welcome homosexual people but would challenge their practices," he claims. He continues to say that he takes a "stance of submission to the Scripture." He explains that Christianity should be "transformational" whether a person is gay or straight. "Find a church that calls you to change and enables you to become holy," he conludes.
Representing a more liberal stance, Reverend Daniel Brown of the Episcopal Center at the University of Georgia claims that societal problems with homosexual practices are rooted in fear. He explains that the issues concerning gay people are not solely issues for people of religion. In fact, some people unaffiliated with a particular religion or church still have problems with homosexual relationships. In response to a question inquiring about the steps a homosexual should take in order to become more accepted in the church, Brown recited the words of God: "Don't be afraid." He explains that God has the capacity both to love and forgive all of his sons and daughters.
Reverend Renee DuBose of Our Hope Metropolitan Community Church, also takes a liberal stance on Christianity. Being openly gay herself, she personally understands the struggles of homosexuals in the Christian society. "I hold the Scripture as an authority, but not the only authority," she explains when asked about her thoughts on using the Bible as a guide for which to lead your life. She goes on to explain that she believes that the Bible "has been used as a weapon toward minorities and underrepresented groups." She finds it more important to focus on bigger issues like poverty and making a change in the world. In her concluding statements, DuBose confessed her faith in the young generation of the world. She believes that we live in a perfect time to make the changes that are needed for homosexuals both in society as well as in Christianity.

The Age of Inequality

After asking for a moment of silence to acknowledge the recent tragedy in Mumbai, Palagummi Sainath began his lecture by explaining the meaning of pictures that played in a slideshow before he spoke. “They are portraits of farmers who have committed suicide and the families they have left behind.”

The number of audience members far exceeded the number of seats in room 200C of the Geography Building, but those without a seat were content to line the walls or sit on stairways to listen to Sainath speak about the farm and food crisis facing India and the role the media played throughout the turmoil.

Sainath, 2007 winner of the Ramon Magsaysay award for journalism, spoke at the event sponsored by the Geography Department. He has chosen to focus his work on the economically underprivileged of India and had a simple explanation for the resilience of the general population of Mumbai after last week’s terrorist attacks. “For 65% of the population, if you don’t go to work that day, you don’t eat.” That startling statistic, he explained, shows the growing distance between the rich and poor of India.

While the country has the fourth highest number of billionaires according to Forbes magazine, a United Nations survey ranks India at 128th in human development. In fact, India has set the poverty line at 24 cents a day. 200 million Indians no longer seek medical attention of any kind because they cannot afford it. It seems that as the number of billionaires grew, the quality of life for the majority of citizens declined. “There is astonishing disparity,” Sainath explained. “53 people, those Forbes billionaires, make up 31% of India’s GDP.”

Sainath believes that modern governments choose to intervene on behalf of the rich and the elite, citing the Wall Street bailout as evidence of such. “There has been an unprecedented rise of corporate power, and they wield incredible influence.” Using California’s 11 billion dollar deficit as an example, he predicts there will be cuts in social welfare and education among other things. “All across the world there is a transfer of resources from poor to rich, it just happens in different ways.”

Because of the world food price crisis, even middle classes families had to start worrying about food prices for the first time, according to Sainath. He attributes the price increases to corporations overtaking the agricultural industry not only in India but also across the world. He explains this is because corporations have taken control of pesticide and seed sales, and over the past few years companies have increased the price of such goods by as much as 700%.

These price increases have made it very difficult for farmers to make any profit. In the past, the vast majority of Indians made their living off agriculture and food crops. But between 1991 and 2006, 8 million people quit farming. Those who continue farming are incredibly impoverished and often times can’t even get a small crop loan from the bank.

According to Sainath, every 30 minutes another farmer in India commits suicide. In fact, over 166,000 farmers have committed suicide since 1991. “Most of the suicide households are neck-deep in debt and the farmer sees no other way out,” Sainath explained.

“But has the media shown much interest in this?” Sainath asked. He believes they did not. Sainath lamented the media’s lack of interest in such troubling issues and cited them as being part of the problem. “The media has been a part of that incredible rise of corporate power. Where we should have told stories, instead we sold products.”

Georgia Women Speak of Poor Conditions for Kenyan Women

Young girls are married off by the age of 15, many to men almost 30 years their senior. Sixty-nine percent of women are considered literate and less than 12 percent continue their education past eighth grade. Mothers walk up to eight miles per day to retrieve the freshest water for their families from still polluted streams and rivers. The women of the Maasai tribe in Nairobi, Kenya live lives of conflict, hardship, and burden.

Female leaders from around Athens and the University of Georgia led a discussion Tuesday afternoon at the school’s Visual Arts Center concerning life in the Maasai tribe. Sponsored by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government International Center, the discussion focused on a recent two-week trip taken by ten Georgia women to Kenya.

The discussion, titled “Women of the Maasai: Empowerment and Networks,” highlighted the rough cultural expectations and quality of life for a woman in Nairobi. Speakers included the Athens Mayor, Heidi Davison, a Stay Safe activist, Joan Prittie, and Njeri Marekia-Cleaveland, a public service assistant from the Carl Vinson Institute.

Throughout their discussion, many of the women voiced the conflict of changing the Maasai way of life without threatening to change the culture.

“It’s hard to do,” says Marekia-Cleaveland. “They don’t want to change their culture, even if it’s for the betterment of their life.”

Marekia-Cleaveland went on to describe the constant struggle among women within Maasai society. With men “wandering around with their cattle all day”, she says, the women are left with the hardships of caring for the family.

She described chores such as milking cows and creating beadwork. The women will fulfill both chores, but since the man is the one allowed to sell them to factories and markets, he will pocket the money.

In addition, the woman will take care of the land, children, and food—further taxing her and increasing her hardships.

Joan Prittie, who is also a public administration and policy professor at UGA, says that it is hard for many Americans to understand why these women have yet to escape their circumstances. She says that to consider their status, you must also consider their culture.

“There is a certain level of accepted violence,” she says.

Many young girls are subject to early marriage, some as soon as 10 years old, and Female Genitalia Mutilation (FGM)—both are illegal in Kenya. The Maasai culture deems a woman pure once she has gone through FGM, a procedure that risks her life and makes childbirth more complex, risking the life of the unborn.

Many members of the 25-person audience gasped and suddenly raised their hands to their mouths in terror. Prittie responded to the shock by claiming, “They either have to face this direct violence or become secondary citizens.”

How African American Women Speak out in Rock Music

ATHENS, Ga - African American hip-hop is a growing sector within American's music scene, however, African American rock-music seems to be hidden, especially women's involvement within Rock-music. 

Dr. Lesley Feracho, whose focus of study are Romance Languages and African American studies, spoke to a crowd of 20 in the African American Center of Memorial Hall on Wednesday. Feracho's lecture entitled, Womanism and Rock-music, focused on the invisibility and empowerment of African American women within the Rock world. 

"A Black woman metal head does not make sense," Feracho said. "For the African American Rock musician, I want their music and message to be heard." 

How do these musicians make a stance within the music industry, when there is a lack of support?

According to Feracho, African American women in the Rock industry have strategies in creating a community and venue to get their music heard. This is where the idea of Womanism comes into play. Certain stereotypes are created when a person thinks of Rock music. An African American women is not one of them. 

Throughout the lecture, Feracho discussed four main African American Rock musicians. Feracho explained how the music created by these women has underlying meanings in the lyrics. 

Cree Summer, who combines Rock aesthetic with Native American influences, was one of the women Feracho discussed. "This song proves history can be erased. The lyrics to this song go all the way back to slavery," Feracho said about Summer's song, 'Curious White Boy.' Feracho pointed out one line of lyrics that read,"Inside the petting zoo, was it good for you?" Feracho believed these words show an objectification of women and stereotyping African American women. The song according to Feracho, "creates a voice for Black women and the awareness of Black history." 

Musician, Tamar-kali, was another African American woman Feracho discussed. Tamar-kali's song, Boot, addresses the social issues of all women. Trina Meade, the lead singer for the band Three 5 Human, sings songs with themes ranging from women's self esteem to women's relationships, according to Feracho. The band title, Three 5 Human, gives reference to the Three Fifths Compromise of 1850, which referenced slaves as being three-fifth human. 

"The Noisettes music is a celebration of the identity that defines the norms for African American women, as a women and also a musician," Feracho explained after playing the tunes of another Rock group. The Noisettes are a Rock-band out of England. According to Feracho, the Noisettes establish a female centered musical, emotional, and spiritual link within their music. "They use music to talk about issues," Feracho said. 

Feracho's dream is for African American women in Rock-music stand out. She concluded the lecture by saying, "hopefully my passion will lead to future projects." 

Gailey Speaks about Contribution of Author to Building Racial Sympathies

"How many of you have heard of Joel Chandler Harris?" asked last Friday's Institute for Women Studies speaker to a room full of 50 students and faculty members. 

 

A few people raised their hands, and Amanda Gailey, a second year assistant professor in the University of Georgia English department, chucked as she recognized that it was only her colleges and own students that were aware of her favorite author.

"Not many," she said as she sipped hot coffee. "Good, I was hoping you wouldn't already know."

However, this lack of knowledge is baffling to Gailey. Only 100 years ago was Harris, better know as Uncle Remus, the second most popular author in America only to his good friend Mark Twain. 

"Both men made outstanding literary careers. But Harris fell to obscurity, while Twain remained popular," said Gailey.

Harris took on many  more risks than Twain, or any other author in his time according to Gailey. Harris's writings promoted domesticity, loyalty to family and gave a sense of humanity to people, including black men and women, which much more closely aligned with what Gailey repeatedly referred to as traditional "women's fiction."

Harris and his son Julian Harris also spoke out against the Ku Klux Klan, a secret society in the South designed to promote white supremacy through violent acts and terrorism towards African Americans and other minorities. These writings caused Julian Harris to not only go bankrupt, but to also win the Pulitzer Prize, said Gailey. 

Harris also took risk by starting the "Uncle Remus Home Magazine." According to Gailey, this risk proved to be a smart one because by the end of the first year Harris's subscriptions had jumped from 100,000 to 240,000 subscribers. 

The magazine itself also was very different and took risks that were aimed at accomplishing Harris's goals of promoting family and "building racial sympathies," said Gailey.

The magazine had a women's section, book reviews- one even under a female pen name, articles by Billy Sanders- Harris's white alter ego, an Uncle Remus tale, and other sections that would be fitting with a domestically centered "Home" magazine in the early 1900s. 

Harris had a strong editorial hand in the magazine, as well as in his books. He strongly believed in showing "dignified pictures of minorities" in order to soften the racial barriers, and refused to work with Edward Kemble in his book "On the Plantation," said Gailey.

Kemble was a renowned illustrator of his time, and worked closely with Twain on several of his works, reported Gailey. 

"Kemble felt the negro to be [his] specialty even though he had never been to the South, and used a white child as his model," said Gailey as her audience laughed at the ludicrous irony of Kemble's beliefs. 

Harris preferred to work with A.B. Frost on illustrations both for his children's books and his magazine. Frost's work showed pictures of a dignified black male, who was normally clothes, and seemed nurturing and approachable. 

These drawings were in direct contrast with the Kemble examples Gailey showed. Gailey pointed out that Kemble depicted African Americans as scary, screaming characters with "monkey-like features," instead of the dignified and "real" pictures Harris required. 

The "Uncle Remus Home magazine" continued for five more years after Harris's death under the supervision of his son Julian Harris.

However, according to Gailey, Julian Harris "did not use the same editorial powers as his father."

Instead he allowed Kemble to submit drawings, and published advertisements featuring African Americans in a derogatory light. Some articles even mocked their religious beliefs and songs.

However, this is not the real Harris and Gailey thinks that people can learn a lot from this once famous author. This is why she has started a project "that keeps growing," in her opinion. 

The project will create an archive that will digitize Uncle Remus books and other Harris writings to make them "searchable."

She believes that not only will this archive help people like the ones in the classroom last Friday learn about Joel Chandler Harris and his contribution to society, but also about other authors who had similar impacts.

The archive has no official scheduled completion date, but will focus on "how adults wanted children to think about race during the Gilded Age (1865-1909)," said Gailey.     

Georgia Native’s Works Soon to be Digitized

ATHENS, GA - Who is Joel Chandler Harris? Between the years 1865-1909, he was the most popular author next to Mark Twain. But no one knows who he is. In a class of about 40 people, mostly women, only a few of them have ever heard of this writer, and that is only because of Amanda Gailey’s class.
As part of the Women’s Studies Friday Speaker Series, Amanda Gailey, an assistant professor of English at the University of Georgia, spoke Friday about her upcoming project. “It is a big project and it just keeps growing!” said Gailey. Gailey specializes in humanities computing and in knowledge of 19th century printing press. She also has a large interest in Whitman and Dickenson and has contributed to both of their digital archives. Gailey took a sip of her Jittery Joes and spoke of the life and times of Harris.
In the times of Joel Chandler Harris, he was overshadowed by author and friend, Mark Twain. In the year of Harris’ death in 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt thought Harris should be remembered because he loved the author from Eatonton. Being second to Twain in popularity during that time, Harris’ fame should have lasted, but Twain’s stories have endured time and are a part of most high school curriculums. Huckleberry Finn, though put through much scrutiny in high schools because of the book’s seemingly racist matter, has continued to be a very important part of American literature and has left Harris’ Uncle Remus Tales in the dust.
In Harris’ stories, he took more risks with race than Twain, featuring African Americans as kind and caring as opposed to Twain who had them shown as clowns and inferior. Twain’s stories were about white boy’s fantasy of escaping domesticity, like in Huck Finn, while Harris humanized African Americans to white readers. Harris was shocked to know that Twain’s illustrator had never visited the South and used white boys as a model for his black boy pictures. Meanwhile, Harris’ illustrator, A.B. Frost, had toured around Georgia to see what real African American people looked and acted like.
In 1907, Harris founded the Uncle Remus’ Magazine with his son, Julian. Within its first year, it went from 100,000 to 240,000 subscribers. Harris created male and female, white and black personas in the magazine that wrote monthly articles. Unfortunately, Harris’ untimely death came a year after the magazine started. Julian kept it running for the next five years, to appease his father’s wishes, but it was not the same without Harris. Advertisements featuring African Americans were not portrayed well. They were either seen as very superstitious or as slaves. Harris depicted Black women as caring and nurturing and made seem more Harriett Beacher Stowe and less Mark Twain. He believed that one should embrace family and domesticity and not run away from it.
In this new digital database, Joel Chandler Harris’ stories will be the first and most abundant of the searchable database. Most of the stories feature African dialect that is hard to read and understand. The database will feature regularized spelling searches to find the modern spelling of the word in the story. A question arouse on how children of that time understood the words in the stories. “Reading aloud gave the children the knowledge of the correct accents of words that are so hard to crack now,” said Gailey. There will also be many images in this new database. “We have so many illustrations to upload and they are very difficult to get digitized,” stated Gailey.
Her project is Race and Children’s Literature of the Guilded Age, a digital archive of illustrated American literature published between the end of the Civil War (1865) and the foundation of the NAACP (1913). The archive will start with Joel Chandler Harris, the author of the Uncle Remus Tales, who lived in Eatonton, Georgia. Gailey is working in collaboration with Dr. Gerald Early, Merle King Professor of Modern Letters at Washington University. The professors will use the project to help students and scholars to examine how adults wanted children to think about racial difference during this pivotal period in American history. The project brings together methods in humanities computing, literary criticism, art history, illustration and printing technology to form an interactive database for cross-disciplinary study.

No Challenge too Large for Education

“In a time when the public has lost confidence in many institutions, including our government, American higher education continues to garner praise for its quality, its achievements, and its stature,” Molly Corbett Broad said.

This was the main message that rang through the University of Georgia Chapel at the 20^th annual Louise McBee Lecture on Nov. 14.

“In cities across the country including, of course, Athens, Ga., local institutions of higher education are the economic and cultural bedrock that determine the quality of life in their communities,” Broad said.

“Colleges and universities continue to be seen as credible institutions, places of opportunity and big ideas; institutions that are here to serve others, to teach, to empower, to mentor, to solve problems,” Broad said.

Broad stressed that this is crucial at a time when resources are dwindling; public trust and support for the future determines available sources for colleges and universities.

Broad addressed that today’s economy has placed strain on the university system, its students, and their families. Universities are facing budget cuts and reductions in donations and investments. Faculties have fewer resources and face cutbacks; there are declining numbers of tenured professors and more part time staff in the university system.

Students are being offered less assistance and fewer resources yet having to find ways to pay rising tuition as college savings accounts’ values decrease and student loans become harder to obtain.

Students’ families are dealing with job losses and decreasing values of homes, freezing their line of credit.

Economic changes challenge universities to develop individual and resourceful leaders. They are needed to “question our nation’s capacity to build social and cultural consensus and form new compacts between higher education and government,” said Broad.

The economic landscape that universities are functioning in has changed drastically. Globalization has changed our economic geography in the past few decades. The fall of the Berlin Wall and creation of independent states from the Soviet Union caused trade barriers to fall in addition to diminishing trade barriers in China and elsewhere. These occurrences added 3 billion consumers to the world trade market Broad quoted from reports.

The population and reach of universities is also globalizing. Student mobility has increased and programs and institutions are building overseas, especially in Asia and the Middle East. The change that this international mobility has sparked is important in a broader context, said Broad.

Broad cited the most powerful force in the economy today is human capital. The economy of the mid 20^th century was 65% low skill jobs; today’s economy is composed of 65% high skill jobs. This supports the growing dependency on human intellectual capital as America’s dependency on natural resources and manufacturing vanishes.

Broad wants people to frame higher education as a long term investment. She gave statistical evidence to prove the rate of return on higher education is significantly high and enough to cancel than the opportunity cost of wages earned in addition to dependency cost while in college.

“No one moves up from the loading deck to the corner office anymore,” Broad said quoting a fellow education academic, “educational attainment determines access to learning and technology on the job.” There is a direct correlation between education and life long learning or educational access.

In 1967, 70% of those with a high school diploma were part of the middle class; in 2005, 50% were in the middle class with the other 20% dropping to lower income classes according to statistics Broad cited. In America today more than 40% of the population does not have any post-secondary education. The demand for educated employees must be met to prevent further hollowing out of America’s middle class.

To increase the number of college educated employees, the discrepancy of educational attainment by class and race must be solved. With whites projected to be a minority of the U.S. population in the coming years it is important to begin a trend in the Hispanic and black communities of higher educational obtainment.

Colleges and universities are also going to have to find ways to educate a growing population of grey-hairs at a time when college age students’ numbers are stagnant. It is beneficial to encourage those not wanting to retire at 56 to maintain or gain education and continue productivity in a workforce that is seeking skilled employees said Broad.

Broad stressed the critical situation Americans face today; the American Dream is in danger of being lost. “The American Dream, in which each generation will be better off than the generation of its parents is at its tipping point,” Broad said, “we now risk older generations having higher level of educational obtainment than younger generations.”

Though the speech took place on a dreary morning, it seemed miles away from the bright crowd joined in the Chapel. Before and after the speech the crowd bustled about reuniting with old friends and colleagues. Many handshakes and hugs were shared and introductions extended. It was a joining of like minds, not to be disconnected from the speaker and current UGA President.

“We will have no discussion as to whether the University of Georgia or the University of North Carolina was the first public university,” Broad said, after praising University of Georgia President Michael Adams and thanking him for an impressive introduction

President Adams gave an honorable introduction before Broad walked to the podium. They were acquainted from Broad’s 25 years at the University of Georgia and position as a Georgia Representative, chairing the House Higher Education Committee. “She has served on virtually every board and commission for higher education,” Adams said.

Broad is the president of The American Council on Education, and served 9 years as the president of the 16-campus University of North Carolina. She also held positions in the California University System and Arizona University Systems. She served the New York State Commission on the Future of Postsecondary Education, the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, and the International Council for Distance Education.

The Louise McBee Lecture is an annual event in honor of Dr. M. Louise McBee, vice president for academic affairs emerita of the University of Georgia. This year marked the 20^th anniversary of the annual lecture which is one of few in the United States to focus solely on higher education. Broad, as each lecturer in this series, visited the University campus to deliver lectures, conduct seminars, and take part in the life of the University.

By: Katherine Durham