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Second Annual CLASP Black History Essay Contest presents winning essay,
Through the power of words, change will come: Honoring Zora Neale Hurston
BY ZAKIA HAUGHTON
CLASP CONTEST WINNER
Black History Month has
been celebrated for many years
throughout schools all over
America. When I was asked to do
this essay, I automatically thought
of the typical well-known African
Americans: Martin Luther King
Jr., Rosa Parks, and Harriet Tub
man. But what about all the others
who were influential, the others
who fought for social justice, the
others who sat in the front of the
bus, and the others who fought
for our freedom.
They too deserve a voice. As I
sat here thinking about what Afri
can Americans influenced my life,
none came to mind. So, I decided
Twenty-nine Penn State Harrisburg students inducted into NHS
BY CHARLOTTE SPECTOR
CAPITAL TIMES CONTRIBUTOR
CXS 1 @PSU.EDU
Twenty-nine undergraduate
students were inducted into Penn
State Harrisburg's Theta lota
Chapter of Alpha Sigma Lambda,
a national honor society for adult
students in higher education, on
Sunday afternoon February 28,
2010. This was the 18th year for
the campus' annual ceremony
honoring the outstanding
academic achievement of its adult
undergraduate students.
Students who were invited
to become members met the
national organization's eligibility
to do some self-analysis. What
is something I do in my life that
I absolutely love? I know, writ
ing! In writing, one can express
themselves through the power of
words while thoughts, memories
and ideas are turned into poetry.
Continuing to brainstorm, I re
membered a book I read in Eng
lish class during my senior year
of high school. The book that for
ever changed the way I thought
of writing; that book was called
Their Eyes were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston.
This was the first time African
American literature was intro
duced into the curriculum at my
school. During my experience
with this book, my perception of
writing had been changed, my
Access Student Program (CLASP) Black History Essay Contest
requirements of being age 24 or
older, having at least 24 graded
credits in a Penn State bachelor
or associate degree program,
and being in the top 20% of that
group. Ninety students initially
met those eligibility requirements
and twenty-nine accepted their
invitation to membership.
The new members received their
membership certificates and pins
from: Charlotte Spector, Career
Services Specialist who serves
as the chapter's advisor; Donna
Howard, Assistant Director of
Campus Life and Cultural Affairs;
and Dr. Libby Tisdell, Professor
of Adult Education in the School
of Behavioral Sciences and
Education.
knowledge of African American
literature had shifted, and my
writing found its home.
In the midst of my realization,
empowerment became my new
motivation to educate myself
more on this phenomenal woman
who had such an influence on
the love of my life. Shortly after
browsing the internet and finding
nothing, I decided to go straight to
the books. Amazingly to me, the
library had everything I was look
ing for. As I scrambled through
each shelf, I stumbled across an
autobiography titled A Biography
of the Spirit by Deborah G. Plant.
This book was written in honor of
Hurston and comprised her life in
the words of someone she influ
enced. While reading, I embraced
her life story and developed a
newfound appreciation for her as
well as her writing.
In my life, writing gave me a
voice in which my actual voice
could not project. Growing up
as a child, writing allowed me to
express myself in ways that were
not verbally accepted or under
stood. In Hurston's life, expres
sion through words was not yet
deemed a freedom for women,
especially not black women.
Throughout the beginning of the
eighteenth century, woman writ
ers were not accepted nor were
they acknowledged.
During this time, women would
hide their writings or dispose
them so that they could not be
Dr. Tisdell discussed with the
students and their guests her
own research into learning styles
and encouraged everyone to be
aware of the different ways of
acquiring information and to use
them all to enhance their lives and
education.
Also participating in the new
member induction ceremony was
Tianna Segneri, chapter President,
a Communications major who
was inducted in 2007. Ms. Segneri
welcomed and congratulated the
new members and encouraged
their participation in chapter and
campus events.
The new members were also
informed by Ms. Spector of some
of the ways ASL participates on
found; they had no voice. Yet, de
spite the ongoing struggles of so
cial injustice and racism through
out the South, Hurston decided
to become that voice and make a
breakthrough. Her influence dur
ing the early eighteenth century
and the Harlem Renaissance has
forever changed woman writers
of the past and the present. She
created a future for woman writ
ers and has earned acceptance by
African American scholars as well
as American scholars today. Her
work has now been implemented
into high school curriculums and
is also being studied in African
American studies classes in many
Colleges and Universities.
Hurston is not just an African
American writer, but also a folk
lorist and a founding foremother
of woman writers and African
American anthropology today.
She has inspired so many young
women, as well as me, to deny
race as a clutch and allow their
words to become the manuscript
of their life. With words, one can
define life in ways teaching can
not do. With words, individuals
can self-educate themselves and
break the idea that education is
only through schooling.
In A Biography of Her Spirit,
the author explored Hurston's
motivation which came through
her inner spirituality: "She con
sidered race consciousness to be
the scourge of humanity and ob
served such dispositions as the
campus, including sponsoring
the upcoming "Web, Sizzle and
Roll" event March 15- 18 from
5 -6 pm. The event will feature
hot snacks and hot career website
information. In addition, ASL
sponsors and awards several book
grants to adult students annually.
The Book Grants program is
funded by the group's ongoing
participation with Karns Markets
"1 for the Schools" program,
where they rebate 1% of the
value of purchases made and tied
to Karns' Fresh Rewards card.
Participation in this fundraiser
is open to everybody simply by
registering their Karns Fresh
Rewards card and designating
"PSU-Alpha Sigma Lambda" as
preoccupation of little minds. She
was inspired by the possibilities of
greatness within the human spirit,
and how that greatness might be
achieved, and focused her atten
tion accordingly."
Hurston encouraged me to not
see race as a setback, but to focus
on the power within the human
spirit and to know that greatness
is possible if one can look within
themselves. I know that African
Americans have suffered a great
deal in the past and are still suffer
ing today, but it is time to change
our perspective to become a bet
ter people; we must attack our
suffrage in a positive light.
In the words of Alice Walker,
"...we can turn our attention
away from our oppressors un
less they are directly endangering
us to our faces and work on the
issue of our suffering without at
taching them to it." If wholeness
and healing are to be achieved,
WE as a people must work to
gether and stop blaming our op
pressors for being oppressed, and
strive towards finding an active
nonviolent solution to coming out
of oppression and creating a truly
equal reality. Not just a better re
ality for us, but raising the stan
dards for generations to come.
Through the power of words, one
can define a world much deeper
than what we see on the surface;
for surface minds did not gain us
freedom, nor will they shape our
future.
the recipient organization.
Questions may be referred to
Charlotte Spector at cxsl@psu.
edu.
Photo submitted by Charlotte Spector