What Black college students think about sex, money & civil rights; student editors say new generation is poised and ready to meet the challenges - Interview

Ebony, Sept, 2003 by Darran A. Simon

Eight editors said rappers were either too vulgar, too anti-women or both. But two of the eight editors praised rappers whose songs give positive messages.

An overwhelming majority of editors said leaders with the fervor of Black college students of the Freedom Movements of the 1960s would reemerge. "Our generation is determined to keep the basic freedoms that we have right now. That determination is what will be the driving force to create the next generation of civil rights leaders," says Gramblinite editor Amecia Taylor.

Eight editors said they are optimistic about the future, considering the state of the world and race relations. The remaining four editors are pessimistic. Nine of the editors agreed that this generation is willing and able to defend civil rights gains of the past and will rise to the occasion if needed.

"We are more than able," says JCSU Student News editor Monica Simpson. "The problem is finding the willing people to do so. We have to keep going."

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NAME: Carah Herring AGE: 19 SCHOOL: Bennett College TITLE: Co-editor of The Bennett Banner HOMETOWN: Lansing, Mich.

NAME: Jonty Leak AGE: 23 SCHOOL: Livingstone College TITLE: Acting editor of The Stone HOMETOWN: Chapel Hill, N.C.

NAME: Amecia Taylor (left) AGE: 22 SCHOOL: Grambling State University TITLE: Editor of The Gramblinite HOMETOWN: Kansas City, Kan.

NAME: Sebrina McClinton AGE: 22 SCHOOL: LeMoyne-Owen College TITLE: Editor of The Magician HOMETOWN: Humboldt, Tenn.

NAME: Josef Sawyer AGE: 20 SCHOOL: Howard University TITLE: Editor of The Hilltop HOMETOWN: Columbia, Md.

NAME: Misty Brown AGE: 24 SCHOOL: Lincoln University (Pa.) TITLE: Editor of The Lincolnian HOMETOWN: Charleston, S.C.

NAME: Monica Simpson AGE: 24 SCHOOL: Johnson C. Smith University TITLE: Editor JCSU Student News HOMETOWN: Wingate, N.C.

NAME: Christian Nwachukwu Jr. AGE: 21 SCHOOL: Morehouse College TITLE: Editor of The Maroon Tiger HOMETOWN: Manson, N.C.

NAME: Ruth Caine AGE: 32 SCHOOL: Medgar Evers College TITLE: Editor of Adafi HOMETOWN: Brooklyn, N.Y.

NAME: Gabrielle Maple AGE: 21 SCHOOL: Southern University TITLE: Editor of The Southern Digest HOMETOWN: Baton Rouge, La.