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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 2001)
Coleman continued from page 1 ing complexes consisted of tiny square rooms with one bathroom and thin walls. “They were like cracker boxes with holes in them,” Coleman said. “They were supposed to be tempo rary housing until the war ended.” But even after World War II, the buildings remained full of families. From about 1940 to 1948, Cole man lived in Oakland, Calif., where he learned how to navigate the streets without showing fear.In the 1960s, Coleman found his place in the civil rights movement in San Francisco and Berkeley, where members of the Congress of Racial Equality perfected civil disobedi ence tactics. “You learned how to protect yourself and the back of your head,” Coleman said, describing the tucked non-violent position sit in activists would use to guard themselves from arrest and police assault. He also learned how different the racial climate was on the West Coast compared to the East and the South. Coleman said Berkeley and San Francisco were both liberal towns, but Berkeley had an advan tage for black people. “If you were out late at night and didn’t want to be hassled, you made sure you stayed in Berkeley,” Coleman said. Despite Berkeley’s progressive environment, Coleman and many other black people were denied ac ceptance to University of Califor nia, Berkeley. But Coleman still managed to beat the odds. He com pleted his college education at San Francisco City College, went into the Air Force and later earned his doctorate in theater arts at the Uni versity of Oregon. For three years, Coleman played the bass violin and traveled with folk groups such as Peter, Paul and Mary. “Music has been a way of con necting with good mental health in a real unstabilized world,” Cole man said. According to Coleman, America is still unstable in terms of equality. “America is supposed to be what our Constitution talks about,” Cole man said. “Life, liberty and the pur suit of happiness — that’s all black people want.” Coleman said the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. is an impor tant reminder of what this country has been through to achieve civil rights. Coleman said King has be come a symbol of the struggle of black people. King “was not a saint,” Coleman said. “His message and his preach ings were representative of the lives of African-Americans and touched { { They were like cracker boxes with holes in them. They were supposed to be temporary housing until the war ended. Edwin Coleman professor, English the lives of white people.” Coleman has applied King’s teachings to his own life. “I have been fortunate enough to have made some roads out of the trenches,” Coleman said. “But I am not free until everyone is free. That’s what King is saying.” Coleman’s insights are respected by students and faculty alike. In Coleman’s name, the Multicultural Center created the Dr. Coleman Speaker Series to ensure Coleman’s legacy would not fade on campus. Guest speakers, educational insti tutes and facilitated workshops will be featured at this year’s con • MLK continued from page 1 part of Dr. King’s message,” Malveaux said. “But King was a crit ic of capitalism as we know it.” Malveaux said King’s economic messages back in the 1960s are something people need to apply to today’s economy. “We can have the illusion that everyone is OK and economically stable, but they’re not,” Malveaux said. “Diversity is important, but it won’t change the way wealth is dis tributed.” Malveaux said that in order to fur ther the message that King stood for, people need to stand together against corporations and govern ment factions that continue to dis criminate and turn the civil rights movement backwards. “Our expanded economy has al lowed us to adjust ourselves to in ‘ equality,” Malveaux said. “Corpora tions are able to use demographic change against minorities. They just want your money, so they will focus on minorities because of this, in stead of trying to increase diversi ty-” Audience member Roy Samuels said Malveaux’s speech was a real { C I never realized how white corporate America uses discrimination in reverse. Roy Samuels audience member “eye opener” for him. “I never realized how white, cor porate America uses discrimination in reverse,” Samuels said. “They act as if they are trying to eliminate dis crimination when they are just us ing a different form of it.” Malveaux argued that discrimi nation still largely exists in the workplace, with 96 percent of up per managers being white males. She also touched on issues such as the upcoming Bush administra tion’s effect on economic justice, the conditions of prisoners in America and the need of Americans to ad Inventions continued from page 3 when it happens, not just in eco nomic good times,” he said. Gerhart said entrepreneurial ac tivity can sometimes pick up during slow economic periods or reces sions, because people are more open to new ventures when existing business opportunities aren’t stable. “You often see startup activity in crease if people begin to lose their jobs, because they want to start over,” he said. Gordon Melby, maintenance su pervisor for University Housing, in vented a mobile loft bed designed to work primarily in University resi dence hall rooms. He said he worked with the Office of Technolo gy Transfer to establish-a patent, and because they found a manufacturer for the product, the bed was on the market for a few years. Melby said the first manufacturer went out of business, and he is cur rently looking for another company C ( You often see startup activity increase if people begin to lose their jobs, be cause they want to start over Don Gerhart director, Office of Technology Transfer ▲ ▲ to develop and market his invention. He said he is not working on any ad ditional designs right now, but it is good to know the office is there. “I think it’s true of everyone here. We rely on the office to take care of a lot of our up-front costs,” he said. dress the rising number of poor peo ple. “I’m a political junkie, and I be lieve we all have to lift our voices against injustices,” Malveaux said. Audience response to Malveaux’s speech, and the evening’s festivi ties, was positive overall. “It made me realize that diversity is just the starting point towards greater justice,” audience member Scott Franzen said. Malveaux said it’s not just the holiday celebrating King that is im portant, it’s what people take from it for the rest of the year. r ference, set for April 18-22. Coleman ‘‘has a tremendous wealth of information and lived ex perience that, as we get further and further away from the civil rights movement of the 1960s, we tend to lose sight of,” said John Shuford, Martin Luther King Jr. planning co ordinator. Shuford and Mark Tracy, assis tant dean of students, said the cam pus community can learn from Coleman’s wisdom. “He brings to campus a historical perspective of events that this gen eration only knows about in books,” Tracy said. Coleman “gives a personal account of the steps that PHOTO 1 specials! ■ JANUARY 15-21 " REPRINTS & ■ ENLARGEMENTS: ■ 3x5-6 for $.96 g 4 x 6 - 5 for $1.00 g 5x7-2 for $1.50 B 8 x 10/12 - $1.50 ■ From 35mm color negatives. Allow 3-5 working days for 3x5 and 4x6 prints, 5-10 working days for 5x7 ■ and 8x10/12 enlargements. FUJICOLOR we [took] to get where we are to day.” From the Emancipation Procla mation of 1863 to MTV special re ports on hate crimes in 2001, Tracy said black people have waited pa tiently for change. “White, male society needs to step up and start taking responsibil ity for situations,” Tracy said. Coleman also said change in so ciety must be prompted by white people. “Minorities don’t have that pow er. It’s the privilege that makes the power,” Coleman said. “The power structure in this country is still in the hands of white men.” ALLDAY TUESDAY pizza 2673 Willamette • 484-0996 cover your butt, better yet, help cover your [tuition] College can mean maneuvering through a lot of different obstacles, but tuition payments shouldn’t be one of them. In Army ROTC, you’ll have a shot at a scholarship worth thousands. And make friends you can count on. Talk to an Army ROTC advisor today. We’ve got you covered. ARMY ROTC Unlike any other college course you can take School's on us! 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