Black
families conference topic
By
Betsy Truberg
On-line Forty-Niner
"Reviving
the Black Family" was the theme of
the 24th Annual Black Consciousness Conference
held Thursday through Saturday at the University
Student Union Ballroom.
Each
year, the conference has a theme of a major
problem within the African-American community.
President of the African Student Union,
Leilani Ford said this year's conference
was intended to help reconnect family structure
by addressing issues such as divorce in
black families and the masculinization of
black women.
"The
family unit needs to be more close-knit,"
she said. "The goal of the conference
is to realize where we've been, and to grow
in a positive direction."
Brett
Waterfield, adviser to the ASU and assistant
director for Student Life and Development,
said he hoped the conference would bring
useful information to individuals about
their own family development.
"Each
year the theme revolves around an issue
that needs to be digested," he said.
"The main focus now is on the family
and the issues that affect family development."
The
three-day conference included nine guest
speakers. One speaker, Jawanza Kunjufu,
spoke on the issue of there being significantly
more black females on campus than black
males. According to Kunjufu, the ratio of
black females to black males is equal in
kindergarten, but by college it is approximately
400 to 100.
"I'm
concerned about what happens to boys that
causes this," he said. "I believe
it is a lack of fathers in the homes and
the lack of black male teachers in the classrooms."
The
annual event was not intended to address
specific campus-related problems that African-American
students have. The theme of this conference
was planned a year in advance, Ford said.
She said the conferences usually "indirectly
encompass some problems on campus,"
but that it is "more of an educational
event."
Although
the discussions are meant to maintain the
focus of the year's theme, "some discussions
go back to campus issues, such as how black
males and females relate to one another
on campus and the value of education,"
Waterfield said.
Student
Claire Gauthier, 19, attended the discussion
called "Sisters in the Struggle: A
Tribute to Women Liberators" led by
Merira Kwesi. Gauthier said the conference
"lets people be aware of what is going
on and what has happened in the African-American
community."
She
said the event is important because it creates
diversity.
"Some
people are not brought up to be aware,"
she said. "Things like this will help
them understand others' cultures."
Ford
said that the discussions do increase awareness,
but the organizers do not expect to solve
all the problems within the African-American
community.
"We're
more interested in starting an open dialogue,"
she said.
Waterfield,
who attended the first Black Consciousness
Conference at CSULB as a student, feels
that the conferences' successes in meeting
the goals each year vary, but that the event
is always successful in empowering African-Americans
with knowledge about their culture. He also
said that since the first conference, "attendance
has had its peaks and valleys." The
attendance has grown since the first conference,
he said, but
he hopes for even more attendance at the
future conferences.
Ford
said she expected 200 to 300 people to attend
Friday's conference.
"The
event usually has a good mix of students
and people from the community in Long Beach
and the surrounding areas."
"The
family unit needs to be more close-knit.
The goal of the conference is to realize
where we've been, and to grow in a positive
direction."
-- Leilani Ford, African Student Union president
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