Basically good article, but I'm
that the term soror was used.
Sorority looks at television, race, values
By CHRISMAS BAILEY & NIKKI SCHWAB
Staff Report
January 19, 2005
"The Cosby Show" is a well-known cultural depiction of a black family.
But the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. questioned whether it is a true representation of the black family at their Wednesday event, "The Black Family Through the Camera Lens: Does Prime Time Reflect Our Time?"
The members of the Iota Chapter hosted the event as one of the sorority's "Skee-Week" events. The program featured an episode of "The Cosby Show," followed by a discussion of the definition of the black family, how it varies from place to place, and how it has changed over time.
After viewing the episode, program coordinator and AKA soror Lauren Evette Williams split the audience into several groups, giving them quotations from a controversial speech Bill Cosby made to mark the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. the Board of Education judicial decision. Williams explained that the speech had been controversial because of how harshly Cosby criticized the black community.
"With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap, and all of them are in jail," Cosby said, "Brown versus the Board of Education is no longer a white person's problem. We have got to take the neighborhood back."
The groups were asked to compare what they'd seen in the television show, Cosby's speech, and what they felt were the real issues involving the modern black family.
Though "The Cosby Show" is known for transcending and revamping the model of a typical black family, several of the groups felt that the reality portrayed on the show was not, for most families, relatable.
Williams, also president of the Black Action Society, opened up the discussion to individual comments about the top issues facing black families.
"Family values aren't really getting passed down," said Angelina Riley, a graduate student from Carnegie Mellon University.
Another audience member, Pitt freshman Jennifer Blemur, felt the most pressing issue was the conflict between what young people see in the media and how they perceive their actual families.
"It's about perpetuating this image of what a 'baller' is," Blemur said.
Pitt alumna Nicole Cofer explained the importance of getting involved in politics. She pointed out that men can get their medical insurance to cover Viagra, but women cannot get insurance to cover birth control.
"The balance of women and things are not fair," Cofer said. She urged the audience to make political differences now.
Justine Wilmot, a Pitt senior, said that people know right from wrong, and that the black community needs to own up to its own mistakes.
"We need to do something better with our lives," Wilmot said.
The discussion of the black family was just one event in the weeklong "Skee-Week," sponsored by Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. The sorority sponsored an event each day dealing with education, the black family, health, economics and the arts.