Author, activist Sister Souljah urges unity, education in black community

Speaking as part of the Black History Month Event series, Sister Souljah delivered a hip-hop-infused, candid discussion on identity crisis, education, love, respect, racism and other issues affecting the black community.

An eager audience packed the Commonwealth ballrooms Monday evening to hear the author and activist speak, ask her questions and voice their concerns. Some clutched copies of her best-selling novels “The Coldest Winter Ever” and “No Disrespect,” hoping to get them signed later.

Black History month, Souljah said, celebrates the “we people” in history who made sacrifices, not for themselves, but on the behalf of their community. Referring to African tradition as a “we tradition,” she encouraged the audience to think collectively and dialogue with one another.

Souljah also expressed her concerns about the weakened state of the black community, saying that the mainstream does not judge or treat blacks as individuals, but as a collective group. A single person’s actions, she explained, reflects on the whole community.

Education gives people a context to understand events happening around them, Souljah said. Black people who lack education, she cautioned, develop problems with their identity and adapt the identity of the dominant culture.

Instead of looking to American culture for examples, she advised blacks to strive to pattern their values after ancient African civilizations that taught the definition of manhood and uplifted the woman.

A Q&A session following the author’s lecture touched on topics such as racism, the ‘n’ word, the ‘miseducation’ of blacks by blacks and sagging pants.

Jessica Smith, junior theatre education and African American studies major, asked, “What was greatest gift Africa has given to African-Americans?”

“Africa has given the world so much,” Souljah replied, adding that human life originated in that continent.

“The beauty of the African presence…is that we gave birth to civilization.”

While stressing the importance of college to the students, Souljah advised them to extend their education beyond the university’s classrooms and challenge the norms of what institutions of higher learning offer. She reminded the crowd that people can be academically advanced and culturally retarded.

Robin Jones of South Richmond implored Souljah to convey the seriousness of college to the students.

“The university is a very, very valuable resource and I think that we all should take advantage of it,” Jones said, lamenting that she did not fully appreciate it when she was in college.

Jones, who has taken classes at VCU and attended college in Dallas, said the night’s lecture also provided a chance to meet with other black people in the community.

Dr. Napolean Peoples, director of the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, said after the lecture that Souljah addressed social issues in a way that everyone in the room could relate to.

“As a people, we need to have more unity, more spirituality, more morality, more self-determination and more respect for each other. We need to understand and be able to work together collectively,” Dr. Peoples said.

When Janelle Courtney, senior social work major, asked the speaker if she received death threats, Souljah recalled her days as a student activist attending Rutgers University.

There, she said she received lowered grades from professors for asking questions that strayed from the text and death threats from people wanting to silence her activism. The Rev. Jesse Jackson visited Rutgers to persuade its president to provide protection for her safety, she said.

When asked where she drew the line between embracing one’s blackness and being racist, Souljah stated that she did not believe blacks have the power to be racist.

Souljah defined racism as producing privilege for a particular people and solidifying it through institution.

“If you were a black person who was angry, what you would be is an angry black person.”

Souljah’s aimed her strongest message of the lecture to women in the audience, urging them to have self-respect and reject the mainstream media’s objectification of females and their roles in society.

Women, she said, have been trained by American culture to believe that being “cute and stupid” is attractive.

Stupid women, Souljah explained, do not know the power of their womanhood. African women, she warned, are at a crossroads of their identity and losing their families, minds, morals and spirits, she told the audience composed predominantly of black women.

“Pattern yourself after powerful African women who have a purpose and a point,” Souljah said, adding that they should not confuse the entertainment they see on TV with education.

Some women in the audience nervously shifted in their seats when the author turned her discussion to college women who on the weekends shed their studious behavior and adopt promiscuous tendencies, becoming “cute and stupid” for parties.

A few more jaws dropped when Souljah touched on hypocrisy and animosity among black sororities. She urged their members to become more unified like the sisterhoods in Africa.

Jonathan Quigly, first-year student, said he came to hear Souljah’s perspective on hip-hop and how her struggles shaped her.

“I wish that every single sorority girl was here. These girls need to have respect for themselves,” he said following the lecture.

Deanna Jones, first-year political science major, said she has long been a fan of Souljah’s.

The author’s lecture, she said made her “want to learn more, read more and do more once I graduate.”

Sister Souljah, the executive director of Sean Combs’ Daddy House Social Programs Inc., said that she is currently working on the sequel to her smash hit, “The Coldest Winter Ever” and is planning on developing a movie based on the novel. The author is also penning a non-fiction book, as well.