(Vol. 114 No. 1) Text (PDF) - Spelman College: Home

Journalists convention in New York.At the time, Arkansas native Calvinwas an editor in Detroit, soon tobecome assistant managing editorat The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.Their collection of storiesincludes many famous names -Congressman Jesse L. Jackson Jr.,publisher Earl Graves, Gen. ColinPowell, writer Iyanla Vanzant - aswell as everyday people you mightpass in the mall without knowing.Among these “truly great couples”are several associated withSpelman.The Rev. Dr. Norman and LauraRates, now celebrating 53 years ofmarriage, have spent 43 of them atSpelman College. Rev. Rates was collegeminister and chair of the Departmentof Religion and is now associatechair of the Department of Philosophyand Religion; Laura Ratesworked in the registrar’s office and isnow a part-time volunteer in theSpelman College Museum of FineArt. Still lovey-dovey, sharing walksand household chores together, theirexplanation for their maritallongevity is this: “We committed ourselvesto a lifetime. There was a commitmentto God also - that a promisemade is a promise to be kept.”Pearl Cleage and Zaron Burnett,Jr., took another route to marriage.Pearl, novelist, playwright andSpelman grad and teacher, andZaron share duties runningAtlanta’s Just Us Theater Company.Once married to others, their workbrought them together as friends.Pearl, a free-spirited feminist, onceclaimed “monogamy is the death oflove,” and Zaron, known as Zeke,held his own reservations aboutmarriage. But eventually they realizedthey had something reallygood going on and tied the knot.Former Spelman College PresidentJohnnetta B. Cole and Arthur J.Robinson, Jr. renewed their childhoodlove and friendship after 35years of separation. In the interim,there had been marriage, childrenand careers for each. Their courtshipresumed in 1987, just weeks followingDr. Cole’s assumption of the presidency.They were married by the Rev.Norman Rates, in Reynolds Cottage,the president’s official residence oncampus. Now teaching at EmoryUniversity, Johnnetta and Arthurdescribe their union and blending ofstyles and families as “It’s aboutcoming into, on countless occasions,a very exquisite communion.”Rachel and Freddie Cook met in1966 while he attended MorehouseCollege and she was a student atSpelman. They married in secretbecause Rachel was still a student,and they believed marriage wasagainst school rules. Freddie grew uppoor in Atlanta, while Rachel was a“Black American Princess.” But theirlove overcame those differences andmore, as Rachel supported Freddie’sentrepreneurial ventures throughoutthe years. “I guess we’ve created apretty good balance.” Rachel says.“I’m stable, consistent andgrounded, and he has brought a lotof excitement to my life.”Actress Ruby Dee, married to OssieDavis for 50 years, wrote in the foreword:“I remind myself that there’s nosuch thing as too much love....Marriageis - at its best - a process, a dailyvow, an overcoming, a tough gig, atender treat, an inspiration, an aspiration,a divine pursuit.”ANGELA BROWN TERRELL is BooksEditor for Gannett News Service inArlington, Va.Good ReadingE LOISEM. ABERNATHYThe Piano Manby Debbi Chocolate(Walker and Company)Before she became a writer, Deborah NewtonChocolate, C’76, worked as an editor of children’s books. She read so manybooks that, when time came, she found it easy to sit down and create a storybookof her own. The first book she wrote was published immediately.The Piano Man is the story of a girl’s bond with her grandfatherthrough their shared love of music. A Book of the Month Club selection, it isbased on theater stories that were told to Ms. Chocolate by her mother. Theauthor of Imani in the Belly and other award-winning tales for children,she is a member of the Children’s Reading Round Table.Time Change: New “Life” Poemsby Kupenda Auset (Joette Harland Watts)(Soulstice Publishing, Inc.)Kupenda Auset, C’89, wrote this book of poetry at a transformational timein her life. She was crossing the threshold of her 20s, embarking upon her30s, and significant life changes were going on all around her. The subjectand content of this collection of poems document this time in her life. Buther thoughts and feelings are not hers alone. They are ones with whicheveryone can identify. Love, social change, creativity, relationships, identity,womanhood and self-reflection are explored with a captivatingrhythm. Also the author of an earlier collection of poetry, Ms. Auset hasstudied under the tutelage of women writers such as Pearl Cleage, C’71,Judy Gebre-Hiwet, C’65, Mari Evans, Sonia Sanchez and former Spelmanprofessor, Gloria Wade-Gayles.Generations of Black Life in Kennesaw andMarietta GeorgiaBy Patrice Shelton Lassiter(Arcadia Publishing)After years of hearing family stories told to her by her grandmother, PatriceLassiter, C’85, began researching her family history in 1996, after the birthof her daughter. She had heard about generations of college graduates andfamily members who owned land and voted, an unusual nineteenth andearly twentieth century history for a black Cobb County family. After findinga publisher specializing in pictorial histories of American communities, shebegan searching deed and tax records and spending hours at the state andnational archives. The result is Generations of Black life in Kennesaw andMarietta Georgia, which provides documentation to support the oral storieshanded down to her by her grandmother. In addition to connecting Lassiter’sfour-year-old daughter to her family’s past, the book has garneredattention from the Cobb School Superintendent, who plans to use it as a referencebook in the school system.W I N T E R / S P R I N G 2 0 0 09