Sisters Chapel Special Events

Join Us for the
Elders Send-Off
Thursday, April 28, 2005
5:00 p.m., Cosby Academic Center Auditorium

The Elders Send-Off is a ritual of blessing, laying on of hands and sending forth. The sending forth is received by seniors and non-returning faculty and staff as a sign of transition, initiation and welcoming into the next phase of life.

The sending forth is given by a Council of Elders who have been instrumental in the leadership, spiritual and academic development of Spelman seniors. Last year, Dr. Tatum and other senior staff members helped to inaugurate the ritual.

We hope that this service will become a Spelman tradition, similar to the Wake-Up Call which takes place during the week of first year orientation. During that service each young lady is awakened before dawn to enter Sisters Chapel and add her name to the legacy of leaders that have traveled through Spelman's gates. In a similar vein, students will be adding their names at dusk, four years from when they were awakened, to receive blessings from elders present and past.

Make plans to attend the
Senior Worship Service
where seniors will provide religious leadership as well as words of inspiration on May 1, 2005 at 10:00 a.m. in the Cosby Academic Center Auditorium

Class of 2005 Speakers
Clanci Cochran
Sayida Peprah
Danielle Nellis
Maxine Thompson
Fallon Wilson

Spelman’s WISDOM Center
and the National Center for Human Rights Education
Sponsor the premiere of a play written and directed by Spelman senior

Fallon Wilson

Sunday, April 24, 2005, 7:30 p.m.
Living Learning Center II Auditorium

Don't miss the premiere of “Spiritual Fire! Reclaiming Our Bodies, Resurrecting Our Stories, and Mothering Our Daughter’s: African-American Women’s Reproductive Struggles.”

The play examines how African-American women’s reproductive capabilities have been abused and exploited. Historically, African-American women have been labeled bad mothers by white patriarchal images characterizing the black woman as inferior, poor, salacious and lewd --Jezebel, Mammy, Matriarch, and the Welfare Queen. These images legitimized the control of the black woman’s body.

According to Fallon Wilson, “The play tells the story of motherhood, but in a renewed understanding of what mothering means. Motherhood is not seen solely as a biological function because it would exclude the stories of black women who cannot conceive because of sterilization, infertility or personal choice. In the play, motherhood is seen in the act of storytelling . . . intergenerational dialogue among African-American women.”

Spiritual Fire! is Fallon’s final project to complete her Sisters Chapel Scholar Fellowship. Sisters Chapel Scholar Fellowships are awarded to five Spelman students each academic year. Each scholar receives $5,000 toward tuition and school fees.

The community is invited to this play. Tickets for Spelman students are $3.00 and tickets for the general public are $5.00.

All proceeds from the play will be given to the National Center for Human Rights Education. The National Center for Human Rights Education “works to bridge the gaps between all social justice movements, encouraging activists to move through the singularity of identity politics to all inclusive politics based on the commonality of our humanity.”

Purpose of the Play

To increase campus and general public awareness of African-American women’s reproductive issues
To probe personal reflections on reproductive beliefs (e.g. abortions, contraceptives, and forced sterilizations)
To create an ongoing dialog on Spelman’s campus concerning African-American women’s reproductive rights
To reaffirm Dr. Tatum’s LEADS Agenda, Advocacy Through the Arts and Service Learning & Civic Engagement
To bridge both academia and the performing arts arenas
To explore the power of women storytelling in healing the feminine wound created by patriarchal norms
To show how the creative arts (e.g. drama, dance, visual arts, and music) can be used as forms of political protest against multiple systems of oppression that seek to comprise African-American women’s reproductive health
To continue to uplift African-American’s Oral History tradition
To show how African-American women’s intergenerational dialog is needed in confronting negative stereotypes
To celebrate women's stories by deconstructing his-story so that Her-story is made evident

For more information, contact Sisters Chapel at
404.270.5729 or SistersChapel@spelman.edu