News Briefs

Kwame Ture dies at 57

Kwame Ture, who coined the phrase "Black Power" and was active in several movements including SNCC, the Black Panthers and Pan-Africanism, died this week of prostate cancer. He was 57.

Ture visited Oberlin on several occasions in recent years, bringing debate and controversy with him.

Ture emerged on the political scene in the '60s, when he was known as Stokely Carmichael. He was originally a member of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and soon became a leader during the "Freedom Summer" of 1964. He became chairman of SNCC in 1966 while becoming increasingly frustrated with nonviolent protest and moderate activism.

He coined the phrase "Black Power" in 1966, both energizing blacks and making adversaries of moderate blacks and whites, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As he became more radical in his views, he became part of a new movement in black liberation that favored black separatism as advocated by Malcolm X. He became an honorary prime minister of the Black Panthers in 1967 after he had toured the U.S. and the world lecturing on racism in the U.S.

Ture severed connections with the Panthers not long after saying they were too eager to recruit support from whites. He moved to Guinea in 1969 and became involved with the Pan-African movement, supporting the socialist ideals it embodied. He spent his last 30 years in Guinea.

Ture founded a pan-African group, the All-African People's Revolutionary Party, which upheld anti-Zionist views.

It was these views that infuriated some Oberlin students when he visited in 1989 and 1996. In his anti-Zionist speech in 1996, 30 of the approximately 800 students attending stood and turned their backs on him.

Some of Ture's views that were particularly inflammatory were "the only good Zionist is a dead Zionist," and "If the Zionists want to protest against us, that's fine. It will make them turn against Zionism."

His visit prompted two all-campus mailings from College President Nancy Dye, who said she did not invite Ture to campus but reminded students of the free-speech issues involved.

by Abby Person

Landlords' appeal overturned

Oberlin city's housing renewal commission has rejected an appeal from two landlords in regards to a total of five rooming houses, ruling in favor of city building officials, according to the Oberlin News-Tribune. The officials had found violations in rooming housing belonging to both Betty Baxter and Van Kirkendall.

The two landlords formerly appealed on Oct. 20, but the commission decided that national property maintenance codes were properly applied. The commission granted Kirkendall permission to operate properties at 131 and 107 Groveland as rooming houses, on the condition that no sleeping quarters are allowed in the basement of either house.

Baxter had previously won an appeal to the Ohio Board of Building Appeals. Both can appeal again to the Oberlin city council is they wish.

Rooming house owners Carol Graham and Glenn Gall appealed their cases to the city's planning commission on Thursday night. Kirkendall and Baxter also appeared before the planning commission.

The planning commission and housing renewal commission deal with different aspects of the building violation decisions.

by Russell Menyhart