1

Vol. 2 First Edition August 27, 2014

Black Consciousness
Promoting Freedom of Thought


Quote of the Day:
Theres always something left to love. And if you aint learned that,
you aint learned nothing.
Lorraine Hansberry


Table of Contents
F.E.R.G.U.S.O.N (Incomplete)....................Jahi Beal
Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice..........................Destiny Privott
Dreamers & Doers.....Rashieda Witter


With a special thank you to Rashieda Witter, Rafael de Mendona,
and Kendall Josey for everything that you have contributed to BC.

Copyright Black Consciousness Newspaper
F.E.R.G.U.S.O.N (Incomplete)
F is for friends who do stuff together. U is for you and me. N is for
anywhere and anytime at all down here in the deep blue sea.
F is for fire burns down the whole town. E is for eternity. R is for the
rash violence towards us and G is for the guns that I see. U is for
uniforms of blue that scare me into Ssubmission. But O lets me know
that oppression sees hands up, down and pointed out as the exact same
thing. So my response is N. Never again. Never again shall you take
my humanity, cause like mike, I just wanna be free. Free to reach for
the stars above me or walk the streets of my own community. Free.
89.2014 brought flashbacks of a Clint Eastwood cowboy scene, a
lynching, kidnappingwhere black bodiesblack life have no
meaning. But I too have a dream! I too am a King. So dont shoot me!
But if you do, aim between my eyes and dont miss. Cuz I will take my
vengeance and sing I Shot the Sheriff, refusing to get arrested
because Ive done nothing wrong. The deputies have failed me. The
deputies have failed we. So we shall protect our own community. I
wished a copper would then a copper did. Now I gotta do what I gotta
do - a life for a life. An eye for an eye does not make the whole world
go blind, its just two less eyes. We have 7 billion chances to get it
right. But this, right now is for mike brown. It wont bring him back
and it might not satisfy his soul but I cant, I wont do nothing. I will
write, speak and protest violently and nonviolently by any means
necessary. To show the country that we will fight for our liberty and to
prove to our children that we were the best we could be.
Editor-in-Chief, Jahi Beal
3







Contact Us:
Meetings: Tuesdays at 7pm. Glass Room. Third Floor of the Union
Online Paper: Scribd.com/BlackConsciousness
Facebook: BCNewspaper
Twitter: @BCNewspaper
Email: BCNewspaper@yahoo.com
Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice
Sugar, spice, and everything nice...These were the ingredients
chosen to create the perfect Woman. But an extra ingredient was
accidently added to the concoction - Blackness.
This Black woman, born onto the land beside man, yet societally
branded with two strikes: (1) being Black and (2) being a woman,
has been slept on for far too long. Not because she is weak, but
because she is too strong. So who taught you to fear a strong
woman? Ironically, humans are not born with a single fear so I ask
what experience frightened you. Does strength plus breasts equate
to a necessary misogyny? Or is there some underlying reason for the
hate women receive?
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie recites a similar thought and challenges
the ideas of a male dominated society in her following Tedx Talks
speech:
We say to girls: You can have ambition, but not too much
You should aim to be successful, but not too successful
Otherwise, you will threaten the man
We raise girls to see each other as competitors
Not for jobs or for accomplishments, which I think can be a
good thing, but for the attention of men.

Our battles were fought before the cotton fields and continue to be
won today, especially by women. Although women were trampled
upon time and time again, we ascended higher towards the heavens
every time we stood up. James Baldwin explains this idea in Fire
Next Time, enlightening the audience to the notion that when one
survives the most wretched situations life can throw, one eventually
5

ceases to be controlled by fear or hate. It is the simplest explanation
that scratches the surface of how Black women, not just the men,
have endured and thrived in this cruel life. The warriors we call
women conquer every obstacle in the way of their success. From
1865 to 1920 the foundations of America were tested when Blacks,
gained the freedoms that were rightfully theirs.
Nevertheless, in 2014 the war rages on as the weak are weeded out
in classrooms and professional work places. Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichies story exemplifies this perfectly. She was the fifth child
born in Enugu, Nigeria to Grace Ifeoma and James Nwoye Adichie.
Her father was a statistics professor and her mother spent her days
running the registrars office at the University of Nigeria. Through
the eyes of outsiders she seemed to live a more privileged life than
most, but no one could truly know what conflicts Adichie overcame.
At the age of 19, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie flew to the United
States and gradually pieced together what she felt was the American
Dream. Graduating with the honors of Summa Cum Laude under
her belt, Adichie wrote her first novel Purple Hibiscus, which was
awarded the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book. In
my opinion, Adichie is the modern definition of a strong Black
woman. She didnt yell on a reality show to have her voice heard,
yet the words and teaching of this incredible woman are loud and
clear empowerment. All you need to thrive is determination and a
dream. No one is flawless, but Black women sure do come closest.
Destiny Privott
Dreamers & Doers
Can we dream together? This seemingly simple request has become
one of the many powerful proverbs popularized by the revolutionary
organization, The Dream Defenders. Following the tragic murder of
Trayvon Martin, founding activists Phillip Agnew, Gabriel Pendas,
and Ahmad Abuznaid collaborated to orchestrate a march from
Daytona Beach to Sanford, Florida demanding the arrest of George
Zimmerman. This sparked the idea for Dream Defenders and since
then these civil crusaders have created a political-petitioning
powerhouse. According to their official website, the Dream
Defenders mission is to bring social change by training and
organizing youth and students in nonviolent civil disobedience,
civic engagement, and direct action while creating a sustainable
network of youth and student leaders to take action and create real
change in their communities. The Defenders are well on their way
towards accomplishing just that with 6 chapters throughout Florida
(including one at our very own University of Central Florida) and
the initiation of several state and nationwide campaigns. One of the
most essential campaigns is Trayvons Law, which seeks to
dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline, cease the over
criminalization of youth, end racial profiling, and repeal the Stand
Your Ground law. The UCF DD chapter is currently tackling private
prison divestment issues here on campus, aiming to discontinue our
university from allocating funds to investment companies that
finance private prisons.
Inspired by previous civil rights leaders and organizations that
made substantial impacts on society, the Dream Defenders intend to
7

continue that legacy. By educating, empowering, and organizing
youth, there is no doubt that the Defenders will soon be juxtaposed
to the NAACP and the Black Panthers, while still creating a lane of
their own. The Dream Defenders represent good kids in mad cities
all across the United States and beyond, and our support is vital to
their efforts. As John Lennon stated, A dream you dream alone is
only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality. So lets all
make a better effort to not only be dreamers, but doers as well.
Connect with DD on Twitter @DreamDefenders or at their website
www.dreamdefenders.com. Also be sure to link with the UCF
chapter @DDODUCF and on Facebook by searching Dream
Defenders UCF/Orlando to find out information about meeting
times.

Peace & Blessings,
Rashieda Witter
SimonsofHopHop.com
#EclecticSouls2014