Skip to content

Black Issues Forum 2002

About

Black Issues Forum is a recruitment program sponsored by the Colorado State University Admissions Office. The purpose of the Forum is to provide students a vehicle to demonstrate their written and oral communication skills and to enhance their leadership potential. Participants have the opportunity to meet and interact with community leaders and University faculty as they discuss and evaluate important issues that affect the Black community at the local, state, national, and/or global level. This program, which began in 1992, focuses on exceptional high school students completing their high school junior year. Initially, the program was for students who lived in Colorado, however, the program accepts participants from all over the United States.

Program Highlights and Goals

  1. experience in a university library;
  2. training in research methods;
  3. interaction with faculty, staff, and currently enrolled students of Colorado State University;
  4. workshops facilitated by business, church, and community leaders from Black communities in the state of Colorado; and,
  5. participation in social activities including: awards banquet, student recreation center, focused rap sessions, talent show.

Contact

For additional information about Black Issues Forum, contact the CSU Office of Admissions at 970-491-6909.

BIF has a significant library research component. BIF participants spend several hours in the University Libraries researching pre-selected (current) topics. Information is disseminated either through presentations, debates, or town meetings.

Current Topics

(with links to separate pages on the topic)

Hip Hop Language: "It's all Good" or "Wack"? Advisors: Craig Chesson, Benita Phillips | Library Staff: Dorothy Leising, Allison Level, Michelle Mach | Peer Mentors: Yoseph Assfea, Delijah Shead, Sabrina Black, Billy Williams

Over the past decade Hip Hop language has had a tremendous impact on the African American community. Words such as "Ni***", "Bi***", and "Ho's" are used interchangeably to refer to one another. Terms of endearment like "my brotha" and "my girl" have been replaced with "my ni*** and my bi***." It appears that a significant part of the Black community has adopted this language, despite its negative connotation. Chris Rock uses the "N- Word" in almost every one of his acts as did Tupac in his music. Several Hip Hop artists would argue that they are reclaiming and "desensitizing" these words by using them freely. Bill Cosby has been outspoken about this type of language and feels it hurts the image of the African American community. Is it appropriate to use these terms as part of our language because it's "acceptable" within the Hip Hop community or is it a disgrace to have these words formed from our lips?

The Blacker the Berry, the Sweeter the Juice - Is Skin Color Still an Issue in Black America? Advisors:
Shawanna Kimbrough, Teresa Neely | Library Staff: Dean Hendrix, Sari Keilman, Judy Mitchell | Peer Mentors: Summer Roper, Adam Sartin, Brittany Eskridge, Brandon Eubanks

Has this situation changed? Did the "Black is Beautiful" revolution change our perceptions? Is skin color still an issue in America? This issue has stayed with the Black community into the 21st century. This topic is debated at the dinner table, playground, high school cafeteria, and with "highly educated" journalists. This is the family secret that won't go away - the mumblings of high-yellow and redbone, high brown, medium brown and blue black. Do fair skinned Blacks have an advantage socially and professionally? What about dating? What do you think? Is skin color an issue?

Where Have All the Brotha's gone? - Is the Black Man's Failure to Graduate from Higher Education Institutions an Issue? Advisors: William King, Jason Wimbley | Library Staff: Lou Anderson, Sarah Myers, Awilda Reyes | Peer Mentors: Charles Johnson, Vendria Sirlona, Nichelle Jones-Reynolds, Robert Lewis, Rori Robinson

Based on tests given by the National Assessment of Educational (NAEP) in 1996, it was determined that women account for 56 percent of college enrollment in America. This is not due simply, as some feminist claim, to older women returning to school. Among 1997 high school graduates, 64 percent of boys and 70 percent of girls went on to college. Female college freshmen are also more likely than men to earn a degree in four years.

These differences do not cut across all racial and social lines. The gender gap in higher education has reached truly startling proportions among blacks. From 1977 to 1997, the number of bachelor degrees awarded annually rose by 30 percent for black men but 77 percent for black women; among 1996-97 college graduates, black women out numbered men almost 2 to 1. The "man shortage" among college-educated blacks, which has contributed to tensions over interracial dating, was singled out as a "cause for concern" in the National Urban League's report "The State of Black America 1999." In 1998, according to the Census Bureau, 48 percent of white college students under 35 were male. But for Blacks and Hispanics, a female to male ratio of 3 to 2 persists even when older students are excluded.

Black Wealth in America - Myth or Reality? Advisors: Blanche Hughes, Margaret Rollins, Jessie Council | Library staff: Joan Beam, Allison Cowgill, Kevin Cullen | Peer Mentors: Kellen Allen, Laura Martin, Krista Roper, Nicole Easley, Reggie Jones

"Don't look now, but there's a movement afoot, we ought to know - we started it nearly three decades ago" --Earl G. Grones from his article entitled, "Let Wealth Be Our Legacy."

Many individuals believe African Americans are becoming one of the wealthiest ethnic groups in the country. "Black Enterprise", a literary journal that addresses finances in the African American community, printed the conclusion of a study on black wealth in its August 2000 issue, which called for blacks to join the Black Wealth Initiative (BWI). The BWI is a campaign aimed at challenging African Americans to join the black wealth-building movement by committing to specific principles of disciplined savings and investing. However, there are those that believe the opposite. Others consider blacks as the most impoverished group in the world. Hugh Price, President of the National Urban League, says, "One of the most glaring gaps between African Americans and mainstream America is the 'wealth gap.'" Based on this summary, does Black Wealth exist or not?

 

Research Help

Previous Topics

The theme for Black Issues Forum 2001 was"Meeting the Challenges of the New Millennium While Keeping the Past Real." Topics included:

Helpful Colorado State University Links

General Subject Links