Pearl Cleage began her poem asking the sudience to reflect on their first day of Spelman. To remember coming in as first years and walking through the gates. Moving into their first dorms. It was a beautiful poem. My first day of Spelman involved me wandering around Five Points MARTA station asking how to get to Spelman. Which bus to take. I remeber it was a cold January morning and all I had was a flier that said come to orientation. I didnt have housing, or a place to live, just the admission letter and 1000 my dad had given me to find a place to live. The bus driver missed my stop and gave me a pass to turn around and go the other direction. I wandered through what I thought was Spelman which was actually Clark. School hadnt started so the campus was ghost. I squeezed my tiny body through the gates and found Cosby.
I found my way to lower level Cosby- hte girl politely handed me a transfer packet. 6 pages long and handed me a folder for my parents. I told them my parents werent able to come and she was like 'well thats okay'. I walked in the room with 15 other girls and their parents and sat in the back row. I was sad, though not that much. I was grown. For the first time I was anxious. With no place to live or my parents I was suddenly scared of getting lost. When the nurse pulled me aside and said i needed health clearance. I told her that I had no idea where my vaccination record was. She looked at me and told me that I would not be able to stay on campus in emergency housing until I retook those 12 shots. Thr shouts were going to cost 500.00 if i got them done at Spelman. She suggested I go to College Park and get them all done for 200.00. Yeah, but where the hell is College Park and I dont have a car.
Thats not what stands out in my mind about my first day. Another girl from Ohio needed to get some shots too. she and her entire family had driven down from Cincinatti to drop her off. Her mother saw the nurse talking to me and she asked me if i needed a rided to the clinic in college park. I said, sure. We squeezed in her car and drove down to the first clinic. They were closed. Droce to the second clinic, they didnt have the meningitis shot. Drove to the third, and the mother ,a pharmecutical saleswoman for Merck, somehow managed to talk the nurses into staying just a little longer so that we could get our shots. When she saw me counting cash, she instructed me to pay as much as I could and she would pay for the rest. I put down 100 she put down 200.
And she didnt even know meSpelman College turned 125 today. 5 generations 9 presidents. Still educating Black women. 125 thats old but thats young. in 1981- the school turned 100. I look at old pictures in the archives, stare at Harriet Giles old faded journals and listen to the hollow steps of Rockafeller. I see pictures of my old dorm room in old pictures and think about the women before me. Maybe thats just me- I am in love with history. But it means something to me....
Spelman College, this is not the Oscars
Yesterday the college hosted its grand celebration at the Ocean Ballroom of the brand spanking new Georgia Aquarium. It was 250.00 a head. Moya, with some strategic planning, managed to sneak me in through the backdoor and seat me at a table in the front row between Susan Taylor and Mc Lyte.
Words cant describe the venue.( I'll try my best to describe it in words becaue my shoes made my feet hurt and low batteries made it impossbile to walk around and get good images) The walls were actually fishtanks to the aquarium so every so often a big beluga whale or giant sea turtle would float past. The stage had a cascading waterfall with the Spelman logo projected onto it. The ceiling would change color throughout the night while maintaining this beautiful sea Blue. There were video feeds and closed captioning. A five course meal with wine. I recieved a gift bag with signature Spelman pen and other goodies.
Mostly alums in their shimmery dresses. Felt like a bougies ass prom. It was supposed to run from 7:30-10pm. yet it didnt start until 9pm and lasted until 12am. I'm sure theyll have pictures on the website soon. but here are a few of my own.
