Campus Notebook

Outside Harvard, Black nationalism is on the rise: Nation of Islam membership is up, Spike Lee is making a movie about Malcolm X and rappers are coming out with videos like Public Enemy's "By the Time I Get to Arizona."

And in the College this year, some observers believe that the Black Students Association (BSA) is taking an increasingly militant and Afro-centric stance.

BSA officials last month invited controversial City University of New York professor Leonard Jeffries to speak--an event which provoked a 450-person protest.

Also this year, the BSA has helped bring rappers Chuck D and Sister Souljah to campus, along with Nation of Islam representative Conrad Muhammad and Dorothy Fardan, a white sociologist who has been affiliated with the Nation of Islam and the Black Panthers.

A New Nationalism

In past years, says Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III, the BSA has oscillated between what he called "integrationist" and "nationalist" positions.

"What's new about the BSA this year is that its leadership seems more interested in presenting the Black nationalist perspective, say Epps.

Zaheer R. Ali '94, vice president of the BSA, says he believes that "Black people as a whole and especially Black students...[are] becoming more aware of the problems was face."

"I think a lot of Black students feel it's time for us to do something for ourselves," Ali says. "If we don't, we certainly can't expect other people to do things for us."

But Ali and BSA President Art A. Hall '93, say that the group has not adopted any kind of new position. Rather, this year's leaders are especially committed to giving students a chance to examine all perspectives, they say.

"We were interested in exploring various viewpoints that exist within the community," says Hall.

Hall says BSA has invited a wide range of speakers this year, but only the controversial ones have received widespread media and student attention.

The organization's membership reflects many different outlooks, Ali says.

"We're not all integrationists, we're not all separatists, we're not all nationalists, we're not all Afro-centrists," he says.

Strained Relations

The BSA's invitation of Jeffries and of other speakers espousing a more Afrocentric viewpoint has strained the group's relations with other campus organizations, notably Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel.

Several of the speakers have been criticized by individuals and organizations for statements regarded as racist, anti Semitic, homophobic or sexist.

For instance, Jeffries has been called anti-Semitic for making statement's alleging that Jews financed the slave trade. In his February speech, Jeffries claimed that most of his controversial comments have been taken out of context of misquoted.

Hillel Coordinating Council Chair Shai A. Held '93, who organized the anti-Jeffries protest, says he is certain that "[BSA officials] are not inviting anyone for the sake of hurting people."

But Held says Hillel's relations with the BSA have suffered "a wound" because of the Jeffries speech, and other organization leaders have expressed similar sentiments.

New Role for Black Table

In the wake of last month's events, the Freshman Black Table has stepped in to bring about dialogue between the various minority groups.

Immediately following the Jeffries speech, the Table sponsored a discussion on Black-Jewish relations after other groups' plans for such a gathering failed to materialize.

More recently, the table has begun work on an upcoming forum on race relations, designed to bring together representatives of various campus minority organizations. The forum is still in the planning stages.