Black History Month ended Friday, Feb. 28, at 12:30 p.m. in the University Center Faulkner Lounge with a ceremony sponsored by the Office of Minority Affairs and the Black Student Association.
The speaker for the occasion was University of Memphis alumnus Gerald Bond.
Bond spoke of growing up in Brownsville, Tenn., in the Jim Crow South.
“Black people were less than second class citizens,” Bond said. It was a “crime for just being black.”
Bond told of the respect he and other blacks felt for the freedom riders and Rosa Parks.
“We cheered when Mrs. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man,” he said. “We saluted the freedom riders.”
Bond also spoke of his experience trying to obtain a good education but being hindered at every turn. He also remembered the tattered and torn books he received as a black child trying to receive an education in America.
Bond said his parents, who were avid readers “placed a great emphasis on education.”
In 1961, Bond graduated from high school and entered the Army. Yet while he served, he wondered why he and other black soldiers were fighting abroad for freedom and democracy that their own government didn’t bestow on them. Bond said the soldiers saw themselves as one people when they served together, but back home they were different.
“We had trained together, played together, expected to die together, we were soldiers,” Bond said.
In fall 1966, Bond entered then Memphis State University. He said he was apprehensive about coming to Memphis because he had been arrested here for going through the front door of a McDonald’s to buy a hamburger. However, he spoke fondly of his interaction with other black students in a small section of Jones Hall.
“We talked about the reality of black being really beautiful,” Bond said.
Bond graduated from MSU, began a 29-year career with Kraft Foods and married his wife of 33 years, Beverly Bond. Mrs. Bond is director of The U of M African/African-American Studies program.
“I grew up in a family proud of our heritage,” Bond said. He said his family also knew their struggle.
Bond challenged students to “remain vigilant — protect the accuracy of our history,” and said accomplishments by blacks are too important to be forgotten.
During the closing ceremony, senior elementary education major Undria Q. McClendon was awarded the Authur S. Holmon Scholarship. McClendon is vice-president of The U of M chapter of The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a resident advisor for Richardson Towers North and a member of Black Scholars Unlimited.
Friends, colleagues, alumni and supporters of Dean Authur Holmon provide the scholarship to establish a permanent endowment fund within The U of M Foundation. Recipients must be full-time students with a minimum GPA of 2.5 and must demonstrate leadership qualities and financial need.
McClendon thanked God, her family and friends for their “love, support and kindness,” after receiving the scholarship.
“I believe it (Black History Month) was a success,” said Black History Month Committee co-chair, Timothy Stout. “It is definitely going to be hard to top next year. The events were well thought out and planned by the chair (of the committee).”
Jeffrey Freeman, a 20-year-old sophomore engineering major, said he enjoyed Black History Month and tried to attend as many of the events he could.
“I think it did a lot to inform myself as well as other African Americans of the issues that we face in today’s society, and it encourages us to strive to make situations better for us and for children,” Freeman said.
