'N'o more

Flint Southwestern taking strides to stamp out N-word

By Erik Fields

27 January 2008

greatlakeshoops.com

This is the second in a series of columns written by Erik Fields, journalism student and starting guard at Flint Southwestern Academy.

John Davidek, a teacher at Flint Southwestern high school, has initiated a student movement bent on the abolition of the 'n'-word. What follows is a brief summation of the movement's origin and goals.

The Movement

For the past few decades hip-hop culture has accepted the 'n'-word into its vocabulary. The word "nigga" is defined by some as a friend, a homey or a buddy. The term branched off from the word "nigger," which is defined in the dictionary as “an ignorant person of color," and was used in slavery times to describe African-Americans. The word was given to African-Americans by white slave owners and was used to degrade and oppress Black people.

After the Civil Rights movement, the word fell out of favor for a little while. But, during the 1980s and early 1990s a new culture movement was brought to the fore. Dubbed hip-hop, it was driven, primarily, by Black artists.  Baggy pants, big t-shirts, guns, gangs, violence, nice jewelry and cars were a parts of the new style--the images were everywhere. The culture made some anti-social behavior borne out of poverty seem cool; but, it also sort of made its own dictionary, and its star word was "nigga."  Though some of those styles have faded, one that hasn’t is the use of that charged racial epithet.

For the past few years, many people have tried to abolish and bury the 'n'-word with little success.  One local teacher, John Davidek, feels he has the tools and ideas to make that change.  On staff at Flint Southwestern, Mr. Davidek teaches Social Studies and Sociology.  He has been all over the world and taught for a semester in Africa; the origin and birthplace of African-American Culture. 

I had the chance to interview Mr. Davidek to discuss his perspectives about his initiative to abolish the “n”-word.

Fields: What motivated you to take on this issue?

Davidek: As I indicated in the Flint Journal article, I was in an airport men’s room returning from Florida; there was a young, African-American, fellow talking on his cell phone.  He was talking loudly to a friend, I suppose.  His conversation was peppered with the 'n'-word.  It was bothersome to me that the 'n'-word seemed to weigh so heavily in his talk...it was obnoxious to me that his vocabulary was so limited and he, in my opinion, was unable to express himself without using the 'n'-word so profusely.

Fields: Is this the first movement of its kind?

Davidek: We knew about what other groups had done relative to making an impact toward getting rid of the 'n'-word.  For instance, students in South Carolina actually buried the 'n'-word.  They used a real hearse and actually buried the word, using a cardboard 'n.'  We then came up with the idea of burning the 'n'-word.  The image of read flames on a black shirt was attractive, but eventually it seemed too violent and the fact that some lynching involved burning of victims seemed to be a negative.

Fields: Why use the word Mukoma?

Davidek: I was thinking about a more positive word to replace the 'n'-word one day.  The Zimbabwean Shona word for “respected brother” came to me: Mukoma.  It just seemed like a natural alternative to the 'n'-word.  I learned it from a Zimbabwean friend of mine--a teacher colleague from the South African school where I taught for a year in 2006.  To me, Mukoma has such a gentle, loving sound to it...as opposed to the 'n'-word. The project has another important component--the collaboration of our students with Flint City Council in writing a non-binding resolution denouncing the 'n'-word in the City of Flint.  When adopted it will surely spread the word about our effort.

Fields: How much are the the t-shirts? And where can one be purchased?

Davidek: The t-shirt sale has mostly been by word of mouth.  Rickey Hampton’s article spread the word online, since Journal readers can access it anywhere in the world.  Thus, we’ve had contact from people as far away as California. I need lots of help from students and others who know the technology of the internet.  I’m in touch with a webmaster, so we hope to produce an attractive website.  We’d also like to feature the shirts on Ebay.  In that regard, we need a lot of help from teachers, parents, and community activists. We now have a trademark for our products: “N 2 M” Productions.  The t-shirts are priced: small through large-$13, XX Lrg-$14, XXX Lrg-$15, and XXXX Lrg-$18.  We have also produced an attractive “Just don’t say it” sign that sells for $3.  Caps and hoodies might be next...depending on our success with the t-shirts.

For more information contact John Davidek at: jdavidek@flintschools.org