Vel Phillips Papers (Teaching, Box 3)

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of his statements and questions were thought provoking even if I did not fully agree with them. I have had stimulating conversations with people outside of class when we have discussed some of Law's ideas on a free economic system. He opened up a totally new and different field of interest for me.

Vel Phillips

When I first saw the handout for Vel Phillips I thought we might be leading the class and she would be doing little except after each group saying a few words. However, during each group discussion one was aware of her presence.

This course was very educational for me because I had never studied anything about Black Politics or Blacks in general. By each group going over a chapter in Chuck Stone's book Black Political Power in America I learned and remembered more than if I had just read it myself.

I was not aware of the number of Blacks that held public office after the Civil War. I also learned new terms such as gerrymandering, revolving-door Negro as well as understanding what and whom are Uncle Toms, ceremonial Negro leaders and true Negro leaders.

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Vel Phillips was very frank with us and through her stories and discussions I was able to get a better understanding of what problems Blacks, and in particular Black politicians, must face. Getting Blacks to register to vote, having them vote for people who will help them economically and politically instead of just for a particular party, and having them have confidence in and vote for Blacks in spite of years of being told Blacks can not handle the job, are a few of the problems that face the Black Politician.

There was never a dull moment in the class when Vel Phillips was speaking. She had many interesting stories to relate to us─ serious and humorous. I am glad I took the course for just to hear Vel Phillips was worthwhile.

Improvement of January Term

I have very few complaints regarding the January Term. I have really enjoyed it. It gave me the time to get to know people better, do craft projects and relax. Actually, my biggest complaint

Pat Miller

business and I gained some insight from what Mr. Law told us of his business. Some of the time, I must admit, Mr. Law talked right over my head. I am not a business or econ major and my technical knowledge of economic past that of everyday living is nil. But I did enjoy his part of the course and I feel I gained something out of it.

From Vel Phillips I feel that I acquired some new knowledge regarding blacks in political power. Before reading Chuck Stone, I was unaware of the number (and lack of number) of blacks in political power. I also wasn't aware of the important roles many blacks have played in forming our society. I also never really stopped to think that discrimination actually still played a part in our society. Unfortunately it is a sad, but

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true fact that many blacks are left out of many factions of life simply because they are black. Ms. Phillips was a very personable and interesting speaker. Many of her stories about her family regarded subject that I never considered, one of these being her son thinking that black was bad without realizing that he as well as his family were black. Ifeel that Ms. Phillips enlightened me to the blacks' struggle for political power and of there importance in contributing to our society. I really enjoyed her part of the course and I wholeheartedly agreed with her speech the other evening on women's liberation.

3. On the whole I would say January term was pretty good. It was what you put into it. I did not know what to expect and as a result by the time I

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got into the swing of things I had wasted half the month. I do feel that CAB did a fairly good job on having many different activities planned to please a large amount of people. I would have enjoyed, which they didn't have, a square dance, more popular, current movies and another trip roller skating. I tried it for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed it.

In regards to my class I was very disappointed that the second scholar couldn't come. I did learn something by finding a cholar of my own, but I am somewhat interested in ecology and would have enjoyed hearing from a professional. I also feel that the first part of the course was poorly outlined, which resulted in much of the apathy on the students' part. The last part of the course was followed

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