Editorial Contributors this issuc WELL, IT IS THAT TIME AGAIN, AND WE HAVE PRODUCED another lovely colours special issue. Well it isn’t really an issue. It is more of a pull-out, as you can you see. This time around, once again, we got a colourless colour issue. We tried...we tried real hard to get colour in it, but to no avail. So we made do with what we had. We tried to make this issue a little more multi- cultural, and we had some additions from different people of different nationalities to write for us. With the support of some nice people from Burnaby Mountain to Aldergrove, we created an informative coloured issue, talking about old news, new news, dead news, alive and kicking news. Included in this issue are a few pieces relating to the upcoming Black History Month, Starting off we have the famous “I have a Dream” Speech by Martin Luther King, We also have added some local Black History Month pieces. The Association of Students of African Descent, also known as ASAD, from Simon Fraser mercifully sent us information”about their association as well as the Afro News sent us information about Saltspring’s first black teacher. So we hope you enjoyed this issue as much as we enjoyed breaking our backs making it. Production ~ Gweny Wong - others@op.douglas.bc.ca - Michael Pierre — op_webmaster@op.douglas.bc.ca Johnson C.H. Tai, Kameka Headley of ASAD, Michelle Lee Williams of The Afro News, Ruby Isaac, David Tam, Kristina Holtz, Monique Tamminga, Holly Keyes, and Anonomous guy “ARE OUR LEADERS ACTING OUT OF PERSONAL INTEREST OR SOCIAL CONCERN?” by Ruby Isaac Ww hen I hear of First Nations agencies or leaders being called into question about their motives, many questions come to mind. First, are they special interest groups, with specific agendas that do not include the best interest of all First Nations, or are they looking out for the interest of the public? Are they being open and inclusive to the public whom they are supposed to represent? Sadly enough, there are a number of cases where organizations claim to be working in the best interest of the public, but when people try to receive services or obtain information from such organizations, the acceptance of their requests is narrow and exclusive to those involved in making decisions. The part that burns me is that these people often represent power and authority—something First Nations people have learned to not question or challenge (Thanks to Colonization and Residential Schools). Unfortunately, this leads to the same paternalistic decisions being made FOR many by FEW. Again, the First Nations people are being told what they need, instead of being consulted and given the opportunity to have input on what THEY feel they need. During colonization, the Europeans told us what was best for us, and we had no say. Today, some First Nations political leaders, organization leaders, directors, and presidents, etc., continue to oppress the people by telling us what THEY think we need. But we no longer have to accept this type of dictation. QUESTION EVERYTHING! Yes, we need to learn to trust, but we must ensure we do not become naive either. Do not take it as the gospel just because someone else says this is what is best for you! We need to ask ourselves, “Does this feel right? Are my needs being met? Is my community happy with these services?” What are the organization’s goals and objectives? Do they concur with the needs of the commu- nity? If not, then get involved! Go to a meeting, and invite others who share your concern to join you. Check out the policy manual and mission statement. If it is a public interest group or organization for the 12’ Pole Commissioned by Aveda Corporation of Minneapolis. Carved by Fah Ambers community, then you SHOULD have a right to see this information. We need to ask ourselves, “are they following their own goals and guidelines?” If not, then we need to question them about it. It may be that they have just got a little off track and need a community member like ourselves to help steer them straight again. I believe that it is ok to be critical—not cynical. Being critical to me is to QUESTION if 1 am getting what my leaders say they are giving me. To be cynical is to just ASSUME that I’m not. By speaking up, we are taking care of ourselves and our community, and letting our leaders know that we have not left them to forge ahead - on their own. After all, power does come in numbers, right? @ Association for Students of African Descent Reflections on the Journey: Looking Back to Move Forward January 23, 1998 How did we get here and where are we going? These are few of the questions ~ members of the Association for Students of African Descent (ASAD) at Simon Fraser University (SFU) ask themselves during Black History Month, and all year long, With this in mind, ASAD will present Our Journey: Looking Back to Move Forward, a series of films selected take the viewer through history to the present day, speaking to the importance of looking to the past, and learning about one’s history, before making the journey into the future. The films, to be presented on February 11th and February 25th, March 11th and March 25th at the Harbour Centre Campus, will follow the journey from Africa * to the Americas and include Sankofa, the story of an African- American model’s journey to Africa and though time; Hogan’ Alley, the previ- ously undocumented history of women of Vancouver's Black community from the 1930s to the 60s; and Rude, a representation of today’s reality through the eyes of three members of a Black community in Toronto. “The series will extend beyond the confines of Black History Month,” explains Kameka Headley, ASAD president. “We have made every effort over the years to create learning «“ ; Learning about our past does not begin and end in February, butis a continuous, ongoing process of self- » awareness, growth and development. experiences through a variety of activities. Learning about our past does not begin and end in February, but is a continuous, ongoing process of self-awareness, growth and development. John Craven Jones: Saltspring’s first teacher By Michelle Lee Williams John Craven Jones came from a remarkable family: His father Allen was born a slave. He bought his own freedom while on a plantation in North Carolina. All through his life the concern for a good education was foremost in his mind and as a free man he tried to establish a school for Black children in North Carolina but local whites burned it down three times. He moved his family to Oberlin, Ohio, where four of his sons graduated from Oberlin College. Three of them, including John, came to the Northwest during the gold rush. John stayed on Saltspring Island—his brothers William and Elias moved on to the mainland. Elias eventually returned to the United States—William spent the rest of his life as a dentist and mining investor in the Cariboo: Saltspring Island was uninhabited Crown land in 1859. Governor James Douglas had reportedly turned down a request to form a Black colony on the island, favouring instead an integrated settlement. He gave his approval to settle the island, July 26, 1859 and authorized 29 settlers to pre-empt land on Juan Island—as Saltspring was sometimes called. To this mountainous, wild but beautiful island came John Craven Jones, a widely admired and respected man. The Black settlers built an unbarked log cabin in 1861 which served as schoolhouse and church. John taught school here three days a week then walked a long and dangerous route to Begg’s Settlement where he taught the white children for three days. His dedication and commitment being (as was his father’s) to the education of young minds. He was to teach all the children on the island, both Black and White, for nearly 10 years—without any pay. While travelling from one area to another he was often sniped at and occasionally beaten up, but he did not let anything deter him from his vocation. The first elected body on Saltspring office. In an effort to raise awareness about the need for a Studies in African Heritage Program at SFU, the Association also produced a series of 12 lectures, inviting speakers locally and across North America to speak on a variety of issues. Lectures included ‘African Art and Art of the African Diaspora,’ by Melinda Canadian Children,’ by Ms. Yvonne Brown of the University of British Columbia. Formed in the summer of 1992 to was a three-man school board which included Abraham Copeland, a Black. The Board asked repeatedly that John Jones’ teaching be officially recognized and that he be paid a salary. His teaching commitment had left no time for him to even farm his land, and he had to depend on the parents of his students. John Jones was, after all, a college graduate and he did hold a first class teaching certificate. The Government's slowness to recognize his profession and pay him for his services was disgraceful. Finally 1869, after nearly ten years of unpaid work, he was officially appointed and thus paid a salary of $500.00 per year. He was also suggested as a possible candidate for the House of Assembly in Victoria, but he declined to run for the He returned to Oberlin in the mid 1870s. At age 51 in 1882 he married bring together students of African descent and to provide opportunities for forming alliances and friendships between students from Continental Africa and the Diaspora, ASAD aims to foster academic excellence and to address common goals and obstacles, while promoting intellectual and cultural Mollineaux of the Emily Carr School of — experiences. Art and Design; ‘Afrocentricity’, by Molefi Kete Asante, from Temple Contact: University; and “Educating African- Kameka Headley, Association for Students of African Descent (604) 944-5985 or headley @sfu.ca. Almira Scott (who was also an Oberlin grad) and they moved to Tarboro, North Carolina, where he taught for the next 25 years. He reportedly also became a lawyer during that time. In 1911, after four years of retire- ment, Saltspring’s first teacher died of blood poisoning in Greensboro, North Carolina. He was 80 years old. There are no available pictures of John Craven Jones, but, until a few years ago, on a wall ofa hotel on Saltspring Island there was a large mural depicting John Jones teaching little children. The mural included an inscription. The inscription read: Say!! Without Any Pay For 10 years to teach school One must be drunk or a fool ~ John C. Jones was neither He was a teacher THE OTHER PRESS 1S LOOKING FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR OUR NEXT SPECIAL ISSUES FEB. 11 & MAR. 4 FOR QUEERS & WoMYN'S Submission deadlines for the QUEER & IWD issues is eight am. on Monday, Feb. 2 & Feb. 23. Please address the articles with your name and number on’a printed copy and a floppy disk to the Other Press, Rm 1020, New West., V3L 5B2, Fax 525-3505, Email: submit@op.douglas.bc.ca 2 January 28 1998 The Other Press