In the continuing celebration of Black History Month, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity presented a discussion of "Black Love and Self-Respect" yesterday afternoon.
The discussion session featured Assistant Director of Career Services Abraham Hunter and Assistant Dean of the College Sylvia Langford as speakers.
Hunter and Langford spoke for a half-hour to an audience of about 15 students and then participated in an hour-long discussion.
Langford's speech centered on the importance of self-love, self-respect and the continuing fight against racism.
Hunter told the story of how he met his second wife and the precepts they used to maintain a stable family.
Langford began yesterday's forum by quoting civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., who said, "If we don't learn to live together like brothers and sisters, we should die together like fools."
"Self-love is the root of all love," Langford said. "It leads to self-respect."
Langford stressed the importance of self-reflection and assessment.
"Before you can love anyone else," she said, "self-love and self-respect must be present."
"We must follow our own agendas and ignore those who seek to demean and hinder us," Langford said.
"By demeaning us, they only demonstrate their own feelings of low self-worth," she explained.
Langford described racism as a "cancer that is difficult to cure."
"There is no time for black-on-black disputes," she said. "Otherwise, Martin Luther King's words will become a reality."
She continued by talking about the importance of friendship, but warned that "some friendships are not good for us. Not everyone is healthy enough for a front seat in our life."
Hunter began his speech by discussing the ordeal of losing his first wife, who died in 1983, and the contrasting joy in meeting and eventually marrying his second wife, to whom he has been married for seven years.
Five "precepts" are essential to marriage, Hunter said, and they are: trust, confidence and truthfulness, respect, meeting difficulties head-on and honesty.
Hunter said that altering his expectations of his first wife versus his second wife was also essential, as well as the fact that both pursued a commitment to having a strong spiritual Christian faith.
