4 The Hampton Roads Messenger Editorial


Remind Students: There Is Still Money Available for College


about how they are going to pay for college. Grants and loans should be a last resort; however, with careful planning and diligence, they should not be necessary.


Although there are scholarships BY ANGELA JONES In recent years, some universities,


companies and organizations have had to return scholarship funds to their coffers because no one is applying for them. On the other hand, some students are not able to accept all of the scholarship funds offered to them because they were awarded more than enough to pay for their college expenses. Students going to college this fall, and later, should be reminded that there is an over abundance of funds available for all types of students, including those with mediocre grades.


The funds that are available to


students attending college today are as varied as each individual student. Money for college can be gleaned from sources like corporations, associations, foundations and essay contests. While some scholarship funds have ceased to exist, others are overflowing with money for deserving students.


The amount of time and effort it


takes to successfully secure money for college also varies. Some scholarships, like the Gates Millennium Scholarship, demand a great deal of time and effort, requiring students to write thousands of words to answer thought provoking essay questions. Other scholarships may give students the option to include an essay.


There is a plethora of essay


contests that give awards, from $500 up to $10,000, to student winners. Students can begin participating in certain essay contests as early as the 9th grade. It is never too soon for parents and children to start thinking


in existence for all types of students; it is important for students to try their absolute best to make good grades in high school so that they will be accepted into college. All of the scholarship and essay contest funds awarded will not serve any purpose if the student is not accepted into a college. Furthermore, the better a student’s grades are, the more options they will have for securing money for college. Students should be encouraged to maintain good grades throughout high school.


Parents should be discouraged


from taking the lead in finding scholarships for their children. If a student has no interest in taking part in the search for funds to pay for college, they probably will not take a serious interest in doing their best in college. With all of the funds available to assist students who want to attend college, parents should make their children aware, as early as possible, that they expect them to secure funds for their college education through means such as scholarships and essay contests rather than loans. It is amazing that parents are willing to spend their hard earned money to pay for their child’s education when scholarships have already been set aside by organizations whose purpose is to give away money.


Children do not have to risk their


health and safety playing sports in order to get a scholarship for college. Sometimes the amount of time required to perform well in these sports takes away from the amount of time a student needs for his or her studies. Applying for college, and for scholarship money, can also be time consuming; while it is important for students to be well rounded, they should be discouraged from having too many distractions while in high school. A few years of hard work can pay off exponentially for the rest of their lives.


The Hampton Roads Messenger


lists scholarship information in each edition and on hamptonroadsmessen- ger.com.


Volume 7 Number 12


August 2013


Nikki Giovanni at 70 Grieves for Trayvon, Rocks for Hip-Hop


BY BARRINGTON M. SALMON WASHINGTON, D.C.--Aware


that jurors in Sanford, Fla., were deliberating in the George Zimmerman murder trial on July 13, Washington radio talk show host Newman asked poet Nikki Giovanni what she thought about the case.


“There’s no question in my mind


that Mr. Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin,” she said soberly during a talk about her forthcoming volume, Chasing Utopia, held at D.C.’s Busboys and Poets bookstore and cafe. “If it hadn’t been for the outcry, the state of Florida would not have even charged him. America was a good idea but I don’t think it’s there yet. We’re so far in the other direction -- I try not to be discouraged.”


One person she’s disillusioned


and extremely disenchanted with is President Barack Obama.


“I’m really disappointed in the


president,” she said. “I don’t think that the President of the United States is there as a clerk. You’re supposed to change the conversation. His election hasn’t proven anything. We’re still running around killing people. Bad language is drones, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize and then sending 30,000 people to war.”


“If you go around Northwest,


all you see is barbed wire to protect people. Money is something I don’t understand; I’m a poet. We’re spending so much money killing people and we don’t have a domestic policy.”


Giovanni said that when she


supported and voted for Obama, she didn’t think she was getting Bush IV.


“… I’m not a politician, just


a writer. I don’t think I have to say I agree with what’s going on. I’m disenchanted with this administration. My expectations were different. It’s very unfortunate that we haven’t had change. The color of one’s skin doesn’t make a difference.”


Established 2006 Angela Jones, Publisher Chris Parks, Editor


Rae Willis, Graphic Designer Ida Davis, Contributing Writer


PO Box 10414 ● Norfolk, VA 23513


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Track from Spirituals to Hip-Hop Giovanni, who turned 70 last


month, is an avid supporter of hip-hop


and has talked and written a lot about the art form and its relevance particularly to those who produce the music.


“There’s a railroad track between


spirituals and hip-hop,” said Giovanni, who has been bestowed with more than 20 honorary degrees. “Spirituals are the vernacular which is incredibly important to people. The enslaved were great people who found a way to tell a story. We have tried to silence these good men and women. They are using us to find their voice.”


“What they want to do is separate


us, say what’s good and bad. They have not just the right but the responsibility to develop their craft. NWA was important.”


She spoke lovingly of Tupac


Shakur. “I was distressed when Tupac


died,” she said. “When he was shot the first time I thought, ‘This will come to a bad end.’ He was incredibly talented and committed, and committed black men tend to get killed. Then there was the shooting in Vegas. I was so depressed and needed to do something.”


So Giovanni went to a tattoo


parlor and had the person there ink “Thug Life” on her inner forearm.


“I talked to my mother, trying


to make sense of it and I heard other people saying bad things about him. They needed to shut up,” she said.


The New York Times heard that


she had a tattoo and visited her to write a story. Shakur’s mother, Afeni, found out what Giovanni had done and sent her a letter saying how much she appreciated Giovanni’s support of her son.


What thrills her most, Giovanni


said, is that young black musicians and rappers have wrested their destiny from the hands of other people.


She explained, “We gave selflessly,


but they are now entrepreneurs, have wealth and know how to handle their money. Bing Crosby buried Louis Armstrong. That won’t be happening with them.”


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