ON THE BLACK UNIVERSITY I. Earlier Attempts Discussions and writings on the Black University reflect the difficulty which Black theorists face in overcoming the im- pact of Western thought and their es- sential distances- physically and dynam- ically=from the Black masses. While this is understandable, it is not necessarily excusable, unless such persons are willing at the same time to recognize that they have not yet unlocked the door leading to the au- thentic Black Univer- sity. This reporter would like to quali- fy this effort at the beginning. He can only hope to offer some clues, some sen-= sitizers, if you will, as to how an "ideal model" of a Black University might ap- peare A review of the literature on Black Universities suggest that most proposals thus far, have used the white-controlled anti-people educa= tional conStruct as a gous (a Such efforts have been re- actions to white schemes rather than articulation of Black enactments. The evi- dence for this asser- tion is seen in the, prolifergtion of Black Studies Pro- grams on white col- lege campuses; the confrontation and collective begging (not bargaining) to achieve a genuine re- sponse from such in- stitutions; and de+ sertions of such cam- puses, after the failure of negotia- tion to materialize, as is the case at Federal City College and Duke University. The Malcolm College (Durham, N.C.) has arisen out of the Such a position as- sumes that the major- ity of Black students have engaged in their own prior self—liber— ation before the con- frontation, It also is based on the as— sumption that, if white institutions approve the estab-— lishment of autono- mous Klack 3tudies Programs, such pro= grams can be effec- tively constructed overnight. A second waning as- sertion that might be made is that the ear-= lier innovators viewed the Black Uni- versity as being a replica of the white one--only in technicol- or. it dse@noe, and cannot be, It must, in the beginning and the end, become an endeavor that human- izes as it educates; 4t becomes a synergic might be made is that W. i. B. Jubois and booker T. Washington are viewed as being the essential proto-= types to follow, Either one chooses to de~racize and decolo- nize white sources (Du Rois) or else one agrees to master them in order to later replica of nei- thers (Tt: 1S: a synergic and natural social institution that arises out of the bowels of the Black experience. Its most cher- ished reward: the undying love of Black people. subvert them (‘Jashing- Its ultimate goal: ton). This observer would submit that few of the legitimate ar- chitects of the black University were fully educated within white institutions. They were educated at Selma, in birmingham, in Watts, in Harlem, in Newark and in De- troit-during the re- bellions. Few of them ever sought w hite-bestowed free- dom, Rather, they liberated themselves- even as they were and hujanizing educa-Few were willing to tional system. not a replica of whiteness or 4 rece tier to #<:; In the least, it is an in- strument for codify- ing the humenizetion process while build- It ignegotiate their own liberation with whites or even be- lieved that formal education alone was the gateway to free- dom. This statement may 4ng in the safeguardsbe read by some to to protect one's right to be human. It is not a reaction suggest that this ob- server is against formal educations the liberation and meaningful and collective survi- val of Billack, peo- ple. The ultimate test of validity: its-impact -on the lives of the Black masses. $m an earlier statement, this observer made a distinction be- tween Negro and Black history «> “He wrote: "Black history, a as I see it, takes locked behind bars.(3) . ji6o09k at the re- volutionaries, those who rejected. with their bodies and their minds white oppression. And Negro history is about those who tried to accommo- date themselves to Ltt}! The relevance of this distinction is thav it forces to oppression; it is That is a damned lies one to look at the an attempt to over- This statement is not come oppression with- about formal educa- out beeoming an op- pressor itself, It is not anti-white. It is an attempt to produce people who have no need to be anti-anything. tion; it is about how-to-learn to cre~ ate a Black Uni- versity. II. A Beginning It 18 pefinition. not an attempt to com- The Black Uni- targets of such an endeavor and its multi-dimensional and historical as- pects. James Boggs has developed a useful formulation for comparing Elack and white educa- ultimately de- sired product. One of the most interesting for- mulations was de- veloped under the leadership pf M. Lee Montgomery, Dean of the Black University con- vened in Atlanta, Ga. by the Nation- al Association for African American Education between August 20 and August 24, 1969, Montgomery sought to fedefine the concept of Black education from the traditional age- levels guides: from pre-school, elementary, and secondary and col- lege to childhood, youth,young adult and adult. His positior was that Blacks must be ed- ucated for life, not just school attendance and jobs. He believed that Black spiritually was an all-encom- passing concept. It embodied science, reason, culture, poljtics, econom- ics, physical and social issues, and the like. It could not be sub- mitted to analysis by westernized tools. The crit- iss of the "cul- tural revolution," then, not only were applying a westernized anal- ysis to an Afri- canized model; they also revealed their inability pete whth white insti-yersity already tional programs. (6) tutions. Rataer, it exists; it awaits Sidney Jalton, Jr. is an effort to build expansion, deepen- has recorded in a cooperativeness with- ing and codifica- chailenging docu- in the Bl-ck commu- tion. It exists ment (The black nity. Builders of on street corners, Curriculum) what Black Universities nn fect ic ana Black people must must comprehend that aicoholic self- begin to learn how the issue for Black treatment groups, +o perform, think people is not their within liberation and feel in order alienation from white schools, with to achieve the de-: people; it is their piack theater and sired goals. (7) {fsolation from other political action 3tokely Carmichael Black people. groups-and within Black Power Thesis The wee of the the minds of all is worthy of seri-~ white university set- ,i4cK people. It ous study and in- ting, format and form i; the underlying vestigation. (8) with slight revisions ravolutfonary’ zeal james Forman’ s to understand it. To understand the Montgomery paradigm was to be Black. The paradigm was completed by connecting the age-levelsguides, listed above, to the family, the neighborhood and municipality- and to the Black nation. It in= cluded everything Since the Black nation exists ment. Tt wil largely be misun- derstood because it destroys the concept of re- wards as under- stood by whites. Also, it asks Blacks to do what whites have plan- ned not to do: to view the Black Masses as being educable, human and worthy of su- perior effort and attention. Im- portantly, it asks Blacks to utilize themselves in helping the Black masses to achieve their own goals. The usual pattern has been for Black educators to achieve their own goals at the expense of the Black masses. The challenge within this statement rests on one's willing- ness to surrender his own goals of Western vintage. The challenge of- fered is to urge Blacks to link their destinies to those of the Black masses. This’ point is made with the full understanding that most of my readers are fol- lowing the guides listed in the "Negro College" column in the dia- gram. It fur- ther recognizes that Vincebt Harding's now fa- mous letter to Black college students will go largely unheeded. (22) The hope, here, however, is that some suggestions can be made that will initiate a learning-how-to- create-and-parti- cipate-in-a-Black University process. In the last analy- sis too few of us know what it is to These then, are be- ginning suggestions: A. Independent Black Study Project Every Black stu- dent should in- volve himself in a self-directed, non- accredited inde- pendent study effort of an issue of im- portance to Blacks. It should be of an historical, scien- Ei Tic. political or cultural na- ture but it should be engaged in as a means to having one's mind for use on Black issues. No such intel- tectual tradition exists in this country. B. Service to the Black Communi- ty Every Black stu- dent should be involved as a mem- ber (consultant, researcher, etc! with an indigenous- ly-based Black or- ganization through- out his college ca- reer. Black stud dents do not have to leave the Black community to a- chieve in the white world. “If they do, they will only have to learn how to come "back home." C. Writing Papers on the Black Condi- tion Black students should find them- selves writing pa- pers on Black-ori- ented issues no matter what courses they are taking. Lists of prospec- tive assignments should be loped for lation to students. no course cannot be levant to deve- circu- Black There is which made re- the Black condition. Scientific col- onization can be replaced by scien- tific humanism, l.e., science can be applied to hu- manizing the Black condition. One could assert that Black scientist whose people were Starving. (Carver probably refused great economic rewards for his discoveries be- cause he probab- ly understood the westernized in- terpretations of such behavior: money is much more an instrument of control than it is an instrument of meaningful Survival. Or else why are there so many Black people starving in the richest nation on the face of the earth?) D. Use of Stu- dent Funds to Purchase Land Within the Black Community Black students should be residing in, paying rent in, or collective- ly purchasing pro- perty within the Black community. As the number of Black students in- creases and co- operative owner- ship expands, Black communities can move closer to total control. Black athletes should demand "reparations," a share of the gate for Black Commu- nal developments. E. Codification of Black Humaniza- tion Technologies Black students should be engaged in efforts to codify ways and means for the Black community to humanize its ex- istence. How can Blacks learn-how- to engage in co- operative socio- economic rela- tionships with each other? How can Black men and' women learn-how-to humanize their rer lationships? How can Negroes, Su- per-Blacks, Afro- Saxons, Negro Mil- itants and the whites? How can slacks ex- tricate them- selves for a need to be an- noited as being "human" by whites and incorporate a need to convince each other each of their essential worth? IV. Summary The position here is that the Black University exists without the generalized con- sciousnesness of it by Black educators: It is a movement, not a physical building or a for- mal social institu- tion. It “hage-noe admissions re- quirements for Blacks. It*s tuition fees are known as dues. Its faculty and its students are one and the same. It exists where ever Black people are, It's not a replica of the white univer- Sity-nor does it discourage Blacks from attending such. On one le- vel it is the transformation of the Black world from oppression to liberation. It requires reason, effort, imagina- tion, skill and commitment. Black men, authen= tic ones, are teaching and learning in the Black University wherever they are. They are converting white entrepre- neurism into Black economic coopera- tion; white com- petition into Black communalism; and white-control- led Negro communi- ties into Black- controlled Black communities, In the last analy~ sis, the ulti- mate goal of the Black University is to liberate the Black world. only as a part of It will take liber- ated minds, hearts and souls to achieve this goal. 17 will take sustained participation in the Black Universi- ty to produce these kinds of individuals. ashes of the Duke confrontation. (2) The Black Education Program at FCC is now supposedly operating in the community. The newest cliche, then, as that ‘It is impossible to conduct a Black program on a white-controlled cam- pus." This is not only a possible cop- tent ; pan eRe maior Se eee coteiack nen ene ceekoe the Third werld the Blackness of has been tne major : oiWan | ; thrust of eerlier -r- ais ei articulates a new (7) chitects of Black Uni-.7. socio-economic TFt; versities. In genere contract between To-Do-It, al, the issue of cre- Black recipients It would be less dentials, course cred- and white donors. (9) than anguine to it, professional rank, And already, in suggest that the tenure, program several places, above statement scheduling and struc- efforts have begun j5 completely in- one who needs to create embryo + oi ture, financing, ets. . . : ryc telligible to all psychiatric Black universities have been major areas attention. (4) : * who read this, : (10) The diageammedieither would it of concern. The pre- The Blade Uns occupation with gate- versity is distinct table attempts to te fair to sug- Black bourgeoisie learn-how-to re- late meaningfully to the Soul Bour- geoisie, authen- tic Blacks, Afri- can Americans and Black revolu- tionaries? How can Blacks learn- how-to negotiate with each other " SFIZE" and monitor each THE behave, feel and think authentical- Charles Drew and ly Black so that a George Washington willingness and in- Carver were im- vestment in how-to- pottant determi- do-so can lead to nants in their revolutionary con- choices of scien- sequences. tific preoccupa- The following tions. A white Suggestions are be- doctor has no need ing made with the for blood plasma; recognition that A Black doctor most Black students concerned about his Learning-How You show me a Black man who isn't an ex- tremist and I'll show you out but essentially : put all: of these im : i pale 5 i keeping rather than . 2 - gest that, even will have to under- Blac rethren other as a means TIME an SEper™ bo We ak pei the feo Dies oleae ae ideas together as if understood, go a de-westerni- would have such an- to building a wee cee gates altogether re- ae ie Ee eal a means to pose the berinning con- aation, de-nigger- interester Nuc collective ac- ” THR t ol- i ss : : : : es? ; em veals a heavy Western a a ee eae Sone Cee e cept lends itself fication, de-colo- tritional uses for tion effort? How TIME lege. tion to neither; a Black conscious. and to suggest some guidelines for defining the peanuts, other than can Blacks learn- Is economic profit, how-to negotiate and when not-to would be a natural n concern for a neaotiate with nization, re-human- ization process as they seek self-li- beration. (13) to easy accommo= dation or attain- inflosnce. Another point that Now * at Page 5