Negro Digest - Freedom Archives

else suggests that the group is back
where it started from, people begin
to walk out, and the meeting takes
on a desperate character .
The concept of the Black University
does not resolve these tensions
. On the contrary, it verifies
their existence and confirms their
significance, thereby providing a
conceptual framework in which
resolution can occur . The Black
University is indeed the product
of visionaries, who affirm the validity
of Black experience and recognize
that the celebration of what is
vital and true in the lives of Black
people requires institutions free
from the corroding effects of extraneous
influence . But the Black
University is also the product of
practical men who recognize that
the pressure generated by Black
people in response to Black dreams
is a primary factor in the evolution
of local mechanisms for the alleviation
of oppressive conditions . That
has certainly been true of the activities
of Black students on hostile
campuses in this country. Black
students at Howard University, at
San Francisco State, and at Brandeis
were not "programmed" in advance
.
In fact, at Brandeis the most
significant component of the "program"-the
plan for an autonomous
institute of Afro-American
NEGRO DIGEST March 1969
studies-was adopted during the
strike . Since the Black University
is concerned more with "process"
than with "place," it can accommodate
simultaneously the most outlandish
visions of Black glory and
the most pragmatic attempts at instant
remediation. In short, the
Black University exists implicitly
wherever and whenever Black people
join together for a Black educational
purpose .
As process, and as people, the
Black University has only two critical
characteristics : freedom from
extraneous influence, and committed
responsiveness to the educational
needs of Black people .
Operationally, within any given institution,
these characteristics become
the bases of institutional
structure, the "credentials" of staff,
and the guidelines for program development
.
The problems involved in implementing
Black University policy
are roughly the same all over the
country . The critical ones at this
juncture are lack of funds, lack of
staff, and lack of administrative
flexibility . The money ought to
come from the federal government,
not in the form of an annual dole,
but as permanent endowment for
several comprehensive institutes of
Afro-American studies, located
regionally and designed as major
centers of Black learning . The governing
boards of the institutes
would be self-perpetuating and
broadly representative of the Black
community . Ten such centers
could be endowed at a total cost
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