Pembroke Hill High School - Raider Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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L I desperate man. But all that has been smoothed over now, everything is still O.K. He is still where 'he' be- longs, which for the most part is out of the awareness of our wonderfully 'content' institution of higher education. One of the uphill battles the black person has yet to fight, along with the complacency mentioned above, is a conflict in identity: individual identity versus communal identity. This is a difficulty not identified with problems any black might have in realizing his humanhood. The goal is humanhood for all people not by integration of black into white but by the creation of homogeneous society, devoid of race distinction. I firmly believe that before I am white, or middle class, or American, I am a person. Where smaller groups of blacks are concemed there seems to be a unity, a brotherhood, that exists, an en- viable built-in identity based on their common blackness. But is that more beneficial or detrimental? Is it passing or lasting? Certainly it is beneficial, and needed, in fighting the 'devil white man,' and it is hopefully lasting. But this unity is also limiting. There is ametaphorical ball and chain hooked onto the black who is not all consumed with his peopleis common social situation. In this historical period it is the peculiar posi- tion of the white person to be able to concentrate on oneis self, to pick and choose philosophies, to divorce himself from the people around him. The black person, on the other hand, is not allowed to place personal goals and philosophy above the needs of the black community. A It is obviously my belief that any person's realization and pursuit of their autonomy is more beneficial to the culture of the race than the complete abandormient of his individuality. Certainly some people's in- dividuality or autonomy is established through direct help and contact with people. But, the person not formed in the pursuit of that kind of direct help and contact where as it may be very helpful, should not al- low a heightened race-consciousness to rule his life. In the end the decision is up to the individual, and not open to review by others. All of this, of course, isn't to say a time doesn't come when activities must be sus- pended to deal with a clear and present crisis. This is very simply a difficult time. Still fighting the prejudice of many white people when race-consciousness is found, the black man is faced with a fight to remain auton- omous. It is my belief that race-consciousness is important, especially in the case of the black person who as he found his consciousness began to break from the stigma of the many years of bondage. But, as argued, hypersensitive race-consciousness is a block to the development of a person, and in this heightened form will draw racial distinctions in an even deeper fashion. Thus the ideal becomes not forced integration, but mutual acceptance of the other's stance, devoid of racial distinction. The most important facet of being here is, above all, the people. We have a rather interesting assortment of thought lines--a few who are racial provincials, a very few radicals on either the social or political fringe. We also have the usual scholastic alignrnents--jocks, hairs, and that great formless blob of don't knows or not too sures . Along with the people come their attitudes. There are those who do care about their fellow human beings, and there are those who are concerned with little more than how their favorite sport is or what college they get into. Obviously, not everyone's motives are this clear-cut, however, one can sense the orientation of someone's mentality in a particular direction at a particular time. There is also the school's relation to the overall community. What relation? The great majority of us probably is very isolated from parts of the city not identical to our own. I believe that we should try to keep this from happening. We should attempt to reach beyond the phony barriers set up by the society that many Pem-Day whites are a part of and come to terms with our city and those people who happen to be outside the Pem-Day social circle. If we are to lead, then we must be aware of whom we are leading. As for the school itself, I feel that the school climate is as agreeable as I could find in another school, maybe better than most others. I do find myself involved in many acitvities here, which can be very gratifying. After all is said and done, what it boils down to is this: I think that Pem-Day is a good school. Our problem is that we need a little more in the school to community relations department. By the way, what- ever happened to tutoring? Sandy Smith

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ln contemplation of a fruit-fly one C2,3,4. . .Q realizes that their eyes are a multitude of silverfish-like reflections, perhaps dwelling on the seamy lewdities of solubility equilibria. My work here in the department of has been, will be, should be, something of a green, growing thing bearing rather blue and orange fruit.I look at the bluely psychotic progress sketch, when my mind comes to the brink of, the teeter-tottering edge of that wonderful circular file, in the sky or the earth, de- pending on where our sympathies lie. A green banana can be extremely potent eating fone of our editors has forsworn them foreverj which brings to mind fand soulj the depravities of God and country and bandannas and bicycles and the death of Willy Loman, may the Almighty rest his soul, of hills and valleys and books, and men, and the Chase-Manhattan Bank. In terms of a bank, solid orange dirt with gaping holes manu- factured courtesy ofthe Chipmunk Freemason's Club at no cost whatsoever to political andfor social institutions.I think of --' the wonderful sense ofhumor displayed by the Pem-Day Cam- pus in masquerading as a school and Paul Klee, and Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley. fEveryone knows that if Oscar had lived before Klee then Beardsley would have written a serious novel about the Wonders of Life on Earthj In the in- visible side of the American Profile, the prolific dandy-dandy lion-lion raging about, eating of the flesh of sidewalks. But, Rosseau, Thoreau, Cocteau, wedged in between the Cross- roads of America by a one-legged flamingo, know. Nemo, Nihi, the Masked Avenger would and still does be- lieve in the actual beauty of four years in the whole hole, wholly sacred depot of one's preference. And God said: let there be light, and theirs was light, or at least lighter than mine. Of course the grass is green- er and greener and greener and greener, and may it always smell of DDT and technological death. As for life, I pulsate, therefore, am I? And as the Good Book says, reading Marxist literature can really get one in trouble. So, in view of the previous future, as one cannot tell the water from the steam of the trees from the bushes, or the right from the left, confusion sets in? But take solace in that age-old adage when thinking of Biafra in depressing terms, anything more than a mouthful is wealthy. God bless us all. Yours for the Raider, Pem-Day, and other various divine and profane accouterments of life in our times, James D. Smith People shocked, horrified, and challenged by the various movements for freedom that surfaced in the 1960's can now say, 4'That was productive era, occasionally we need to be challenged. Q yet after all, nothing has changed. The status quo has been maintained: the middle class remains as mediocre as ever, the upper class as opposed to change, the government as bureaucratic, the intellectual as stuffy for trendy, as the case may bel, and each more unassailable in its absurd pronouncements. A much talked-about content- ment has returned especially to the Pem-Day-Sunset Hill community, a contentment based on complacency rather than on any kind of productive action and reaction. At this point I overstep my bounds. As a white person I will speak of blacks. The American black person at this point in history seems to be facing major problems with vast repercus- sions. People of my age must remember the end of Reconstruction was less than four generations ago.With our very limited historical perspective we might remember the summer of riots or the death of Martin Luther K.ing,J r. But it can hardly be said that we were actively aware of these events and it certainly cannot be said that we could discriminate enough to formulate valid conclusions. Any thoughts most probably are stereo- typed based on biased perceptions. What I am saying is simply that most people, all of 18 years ofage, do not have enough experience to draw valid, comprehensive conclusionsg keep an open mind on what I am say- ing. The black man of the late 1960's was a man at the end of his rope screaming, Notice me. A

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Many, given this space, might comment on Pem-Day's numerous strengths and advantages. I won't. I am proud of our virtues but it is our faults and how we might eliminate them that concerns me most. One of the unfortunate results of Pem-Day's all male nature is a permeating attitude of machismo , a John Wayne-ish concept of masculinity that severely stunts a boy's social and creative development and, thusly, has no place in a school. This machismo probably figures with the fact that PCD, a school which is so comprehensive and advanced in other fields, has only two art teachers for some five hundred students in thirteen grade levels. It mani- fested itself in the hair and dress codes of recent years: we don't want our boys lookin' like girls. And, its assumption of male supremacy can be blamed for much of the friction between Pem-Day and Sun- set Hill. Indeed, this macho 'mind-set' seems to breedlack of respect and a subtle contempt for females altogether. With a woman teacher, students here are less willing to acknowledge her competence, accept her authority and respect her as a person than with her male counterparts. And Sunset students attending classes here can always expect stares, evaluations, and under-the-breath remarks as they walk through the halls. For the crowning touch, there is the patronizing spectacle of the Homecoming routine. Anyone who has ever attended a livestock show would notice startling similarities, the entries are exhibited before a judging audience, their assets glowingly enumerated, and are paraded around a ring, perhaps to 'show' them from all sides. The winning specimen receives some bauble or token like flowers or a ribbon and its keeper might give it a loving pat or even a kiss. Of course, PCD is not unique in having all of this: every school has its Homecoming ceremony, catcalls in the halls, and this machismo is almost a universal affliction. However, at Pembroke it is all amplified, made more acute, because we are basically a male environment, co-ordinated or not. Actually, the co-ordination program is a highly laudable effort. It has made many technical changes that could conceivable render the Pem-Day scene near-normal, sex-wise, in a few years if allowed to proceed unhindered. It must be remembered, though, that material change alone will not greatly improve things. This machis- mo is a sub-conscious mental attitude that can only be erased willingly, through a process of education and enlightenment, by treating the scars of misconception. This wouldnit be that difficult. What one must realize is that the sorriest aspect of the mascho attitude. other than the way it regards females, is the way it regards malesg the do's and dont's of male behavior are even more rigidly ascribed than those of females. No, perhaps I should say the most disgusting thing about machismo is that it dictates and limits any human existence at all, regardless of gender. lt is psychological slavery, pure and simple, and who wants that? All I urge is freedom of personal choice and open-mindedness. As I see it the only real man' is the one that has fashioned his personality and style from his own beliefs and impressions, not from a stereotypic image seen in war movies, westem television programs, spy novels and cigarette advertisements. Well, the sermon is over. But please remember, the sooner the Pem-Day community rids itself of this constricting behavioral mold, the better off the school will be. Yes friends, what PCD really needs is H men's liberation, movement. . John Biggar Expeditions from the National Museum to the Great West Continentn have turned attention to newly discovered traces of a tribe, heretofore a mystery. They were unknown to literate civilization, save in the le- geendary tales of seemingly non-descript neighboring peoples. The predominant glyph,orinscribed symbol, is that of the daisie C a type of flower?J. The daisie, known for its occasional bursts of brilliance, was commonly confused in their botany with the rose Qlinguistically this may more properly be 'd0Se,'? Or 'doze'?, to sleep intermittenly 0' a bloom attributed with great beauty and superficial coarseness. We may base our introductory speculations about the cultural life of the daisies on these scattered glyphs, volumes of scribings, hastily completed wall inscriptions, and some ruins. Perhaps most striking at the outset is the strict segregation by sex and possibly, age. This system appears out of harmony with what we know of the rest of the culture of WE.1 One would not want to characterize the daisies as hostile people. Where they recruited their women might have remained a mystery, until S0m6 10blegerst-Levy, Nat-The Weans ftrans. R. Nathnanj fN.Y.: 19611.