Spelman

here is a picture with a handful of Spelman students we did a talk with in Cosby Hall on the Atlanta campus. We had a really eye-opening to hear how issues of black masculinity play out on the Atlanta University Center campus. The most dramatic part of the talk came when one of Nat M. childhood friends, MikeFlo, was barred from entering Spelman's highly secured campus--he finally got in but not until having to wait for a half-hour outside. Tyroninity indeed. He felt especially resentful about being treated like a suspect being that he went to Clark Atlanta and is a taxpaying resident just blocks away from campus. The Spelman prof Dr. Cobb took the blame for the incident because he forgot to let the guards know we would be speaking; But he explained that there is a good reason why they keep the campus on lock--all kind of crazies coming on campus jeopardizing the women's safety. One Spelman student piped in that her dad is hassled a lot too, but he's happy beacuse that means his babygirl is safe. It was sweet when one student apologized to him and said she understood how he felt. At the heart of it it was a town v. gown issue relevant to most college campuses, complicated, of course, by perceptions of black masculinity.