Mirror - Vol. 18, No. 06 - November 04, 1993

              The
FairfieldMIRR®R Volume 18, No. 6 Thursday, November 4, 1993 The Image of Fairfield
Visiting Scholar Speaks About
Struggle Of African People
Caitlin VVhelan
Staff Writer
"The Spirituality of
African Peoples" was the subject
of Dr. Peter J. Paris' lecture last
Wednesday night, part of the
University's Visiting Black
Scholars Lecture Series. The
program, established in 1986,
has previously included such
scholars as Derrick Bell, Leslie
Kin-Hammond, and Nikki
Giovanni.
Dr. Paris is the Elmer
G. Homrighausen Professor of
Christian Social Ethics at
Princeton Theological
Seminary. He is the author of
numerous publications on social
and Christian ethics, and is the
President-elect of the American
academy of Religion. Dr. Paris
has traveled and lectured widely
throughout Canada, Nigeria, and
South Africa.
"The life and death
struggle of African people
everywhere is rooted in a central
spirit of self-respect and
communal loyalty," Dr. Paris
began. Through the history of
suffering experienced by
African people, particularly
through the transatlantic slave
trade and European colonialism,
Dr. Paris stressed, African
people have depended on their
spirituality for preservation of
human dignity. "African people
never believed in an
anthroplacentic universe," he
said, "Humanity is surrounded
by arealm of spirits." In African
spirituality, he continued, exists
the widespread belief that God
is the preserver and creator of
all reality. Monotheism, he
added, is not a solely Christian
belief; "All life originates from
God and is returned to God.
Nothing is ever really lost."
Spirituality is the
energizing principle ofcommon
life, Paris said. Throughout the
struggles of the African people
through the slave trade, "packed
like sardines into the bellies of
slave ships," their spirituality
was expressed through their
words, song, music, and stories.
Encompassing their spirituality
was the belief that "all life is
created , recreated, preserved,
and affirmed by the supreme
God. It is a human responsibility
to create, recreate, preserve, and
Dr. Peter J. Paris photo: PR
affirm in comminucation with the
supreme God." It was through
this communion with God that the
African people were able to
"endure, resist and transcend the
evil forces they experienced."
Slavery constituted the
greatest of all misfortunes, said
Dr. Paris. "The strength and
meaning found in spiritual
resources were brought from the
homeland." Through the
sufferings endured in slavery,
however, "none of the traditional
forms ofresistance were adequate.
For the African people, the only
thing Europeans could not fully
invade and conquer was the
internal spirit."
The African people
formed a community through their
common experiences of
spirituality and suffering during
European colonialism. "The word
community itself — Common
Ethos—is a shared life of money
and power grounded in a shared
source ofpower and money," said
Paris. In the community ofAfrican
people formed, 'humor, mimicry,
parody, songs, the chief views of
expression reached their fullest
reality in the gradual development
of slave religion — an amalgam
of Christian and African
elements." Out of this religion
came a new form of spirituality,
leading to the movements to create
individual churches, mission
schools, and cultural societies.
This new form of African
spirituality demanded to end all
forms of inequality, said Paris,
carried on into the twentieth
century with leaders such as
Martin Luther King, Jr. and
Malcolm X.
Dr. Paris went on to
speak ofthe further development
of independent black churches,
including those beyond the
borders of the United States.
Speaking on one of the African
Baptist Churches in Nova Scotia,
the movement worked toward,
"making the church independent
ofa predominantly whiteboard.:
Moving away from the history
of economic dependence on
predominantly white members,
he said, was the "pacesetter for
further black independent
churches." Furthermore,
"having become a self-determining
church gave them a
sense of dignity and pride in
their own achievements." Such
a philosophy of freedom lay the
groundwork for independent
black societies in Canada.
The spirituality Dr.
Paris spoke of did not from the
consciousness ofAfrican people
the injustice they had lived
through. Dr. Paris brought up
the theory of W. E. DuBois,
"Africans are bi-cultural,
embodying African and
American aspects constantly in
strife., they are two warring
ideals in one dark body."
Through this longing to attain a
self-conscious manhood, Paris
asked "why can't we have the
two living together in harmony,
rather than have the two living
in strife with one another?"
Slavery and
colonialism not only produced
the bicultural aspects of African
descent, but also biracial, said
(continued on page 3)
Students Promote
Cultural Diversity
Karen LoCurto
AssistantNews Editor
Fairfield University
celebratedmulticulturalism this
past weekin the Barone Campus
Center. The activities of
Cultural Awareness Weekwere
organized by AHANA (Asian
Hispanic African Native
American) Student Council.
This council, which
consists of members of ASA
(Asian Student Association),
Umoja, and SALSA (Spanish
American Latino Student
Association)was newly enacted
this fall. The office of Multi-
Cultural Relations sponsored
the week in order to promote
cultural diversity on campus.
The purpose of
Cultural Awareness Week was
to expose students to ethnically-oriented
clubs such as ASA,
SALSA, and Umoja.
These clubs sought to
share their cultural traditions
with the campus community.
Their main emphasis was
teaching students about the
differences found in various
cultures.
A different club set up
a table in the Campus Center
lobby each day ofthe week.. On
Monday, ASA displayed
different arts and crafts from
Asian students on campus.
Japanese students showed how
to create Origami figures and
Chinesecandy was given out as
well. In addition, a student
modeledtraditional Cambodian
dress.
ways of promoting cultural
diversity on campus. This
program may be run again next
semester. Absent from this
week were clubs such as the
Irish Society and the Italian
Club. Lyra Espineli, '95, said
"Itwould have been nice ifthese
clubs had participated also."
As part of Cultural
Awareness Week, a Lecture
was sponsored Wednesday
October 27, "The Spirituality
ofAfrican Peoples" by Dr. Peter
J. Paris.
In addition some
Resident Advisors on campus
had floor programs in order to
have students share their
experiences and help explain
what these clubs are about.
Cultural Awareness
Week was another promising
step towards exposing students
to ways in which cultural
diversity can help unite the
students ofFairfield University.
Election Victory for
Knauf, Knauf, and
Pilkerton
The winners. photo: campaign PR
They did it! Juniors Andrew
Knauf, Christopher Knauf, and
Christopher Pilkerton won
Tuesday's election for District 4
seats in the Representative Town
Meeting.
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Sexual Assault
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"Cityscape" is
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Lady Stags
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