By: Marquise Drayton (’19), Creative Director
Death is as natural as taking a breath. Cherish & appreciate each one you take.
It was disheartening to receive the news that UNC lost Leroy Frasier towards the end of winter break. Frasier, along with John Lewis Brandon and Ralph Frasier, was one of the three African Americans who paved the way for black people to have an undergraduate education at UNC-Chapel Hill in 1955. A long-time English teacher, he passed after suffering heart failure on December 29th at a hospital in New York. Less than a month later, on January 22nd, we lost Brandon to complications from cancer. Before then, Brandon had his master’s degree from UT-Clear Lake and worked at Dow Chemical. He is survived by his son, daughter & wife. This one honestly hurts more. How long do the remaining black pioneers have left? Visiting the Carolina Black Caucus event for Black History Month with Carolina Women’s Basketball this week, I discovered that Professor Hortense McClinton, the first black UNC faculty member, is 99 years old. To all the living black & blue Tar Heels; thank you. To all the current undergraduates; please keep them in your prayers. We would not be here without their determination & grit during the mid-1900s.
The first African-American students endured much turmoil then like outright violence from the community and systematic racism from the institution, and 60 or so years later, we are still fighting to be respectfully recognized in UNC’s history. There are many roles one can assume as black alumni are taking on the University with #HarktheDrums, a rebuttal to the financial campaign “UNC For All Kind.” Here are just a few ways for you to get involved and keep the pioneer’s pyre alive and well.
- Demonstrate
- Demonstrations and protests can be uplifting and empowering and can help students feel like they are part of a larger movement. When preparing, consider what your goals are in attending the event and think through what message you want to convey.
- Social Media
- In recent years, the use of social media to raise public awareness has been largely driven by young people. A useful vehicle for raising issues and effecting change, Twitter, Instagram and GroupMe are just a few examples of how words travel fast online and can incite quick and effective action.
- Raising Money
- Raising money is a concrete way for students to contribute to community or national efforts to address injustice. Fundraisers can include selling items, auctions, entertainment, sponsoring events and more.
- Writing Letters
- Students can reach out to companies or organizations that they feel have done something unfair or biased. In crafting a well-written letter with evidence and a clear statement of what needs to change, students learn useful skills in persuasion and at the same time, it has made a difference.
- Education
- As students learn about an issue they care about, their natural instinct is to share their new knowledge and insight with others. Encourage this by providing live and online opportunities for them to teach others, including their classmates, younger students and adults in their lives. This can include school assemblies, teach-ins, discussion panel and social media forums.
