Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons^™

Brown, Roscoe, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

INTERVIEWER: Mark Naison

INTERVIEWEE: Roscoe Brown

SUMMARY BY: Patrick O’Donnell

Roscoe Brown is the head of a Center for Urban Education at CUNY. He grew up in Washington, DC during the Great Depression. Educated at Dunbar high school in DC and Springfield College in Massachusetts, Brown joined the Tuskegee Airmen in 1943. At Springfield, Brown was one of only 15 black students. He studied Pre-Med and played football, basketball and lacrosse—in fact, he was one of the first black lacrosse players in America.

Brown flew 68 missions with the airmen, and participated in the longest mission of all time: a …

Program: Jacksonville Urban League 35th Anniversary Equal Opportunity Luncheon.

Textual material from the Rodney Lawrence Hurst, Sr. Papers

An Equal Opportunity Luncheon on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront.

Senghor, Olivia, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Olivia Senghor, born in 1978 in Senegal, Dakar, is a musician and makeup artist living in the Bronx. She is of the Serer ethic group, and her primary languages are French and Wolof. She was raised as a Catholic, and is the granddaughter of the first president of Senegal, Leopold Sedhar Senghor. At the age of 8, her family moved to Paris, where she lived in a neighborhood primarily inhabited by Jews and Asians. Both of her parents were very well educated—her father had a law degree, and her mother held an MBA. Consequently, they expected Olivia and her siblings …

Otibu, Johnson, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Johnson Otibu (b. 1955) is the proprietor of the Sahara African Caribbean market in the Bronx. He came to New York from Ghana in 1978, at the age of 23. Otibu left a good job in the social security business in Ghana in order to try out the opportunities in America. When he immigrated, the exchange rate was 2 American dollars to every Ghanaian dollar, so Otibu arrived with more money than most immigrants. Initially he settled in Harlem on 150^th St. and lived off of what he had brought. However, he soon realized that it was much harder …

Boadu, Mary, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

INTERVIEWER: Mark Naison, Jane Edward

INTERVIEWEE: Mary Boadu

SUMMARY BY: Patrick O’Donnell

Mary Boadu was born in Koumase, the Ashanti region of Ghana in 1988. At the time of the interview, was a student at Columbia University. When she was three years old, Mary’s mother got the chance to work in a nursing home in the United States, and she left her family in Ghana. Mary was raised by her father and cousins until 1995, when her father got the opportunity to join her mother in the States. Mary’s mother was pregnant when she left Ghana, and she gave birth …

Brewington, Dean, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Dean (Thomas Norwood) Brewington

Interviewer: Maxine

Date of Interview: October 8^th, 2008

Summarized by Michael Kavanagh

Born Thomas Norwood Brewington in 1937 in Goldsboro, North Carolina, he ventured to the Bronx by train at four years old. While growing up in the Bronx, he had the opportunity to meet and play with the best jazz musicians of all time. Also known by names Norwood and Dean, he currently lives in Minnesota and regularly does musical gigs at local clubs in Minnesota and around the country.

At four years old, his relatives put him on a train from …

Press Release: Rodney Hurst "It Was Never About A Hot Dog And A Coke", Ron Miller

Textual material from the Rodney Lawrence Hurst, Sr. Papers

A press release about Rodney Hurst's book "It was never about a hot dog and a coke." In addition, it advertises the Amelia Island Book Festival on October 2-4, 2008.

Jawo, Omar, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

INTERVIEWER: Dr. Mark Naison and Dr. Jane Edwards

INTERVIEWEE: Omar Jawo

SUMMARY BY: Andrew O’Connell

Born in 1952 in the Republic of Gambia, Omar Jawo, comes from the Fulani, an ethnic group in Gambia known primarily for agriculture and the raising of livestock. Seeing as how the Fulani placed little to no emphasis on formal education, Jawo followed his uncle to a Catholic Mission, where he attended elementary and high school, to pursue scholarship. Although a Muslim by religion, Jawo claims that he felt no pressure to convert at this mission school.

Following his education on the mission, Jawo become …

Bonsu, Sonia, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

INTERVIEWER: Mark Naison, Jane Edward

INTERVIEWEE: Sonia Bonsu

SUMMARY BY: Patrick O’Donnell

Sonia Bonsu was born in the Bronx on March 16, 1977. She attended public school in the Bronx, then the Calhoun School in Manhattan, and Harvard University as an undergraduate. She then attended law school at Fordham University, and she is currently the Director of Annual Giving at the Calhoun School. She was raised by both her parents, who were Ghanaian immigrants (Ashanti people). Her father had come to the Bronx in 1969 on a student visa for a job and brought his wife with him shortly thereafter. …

Armstrong, Gregory, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

INTERVIEWERS: Mark Naison, Oneka LaBennett, Christina Grath

INTERVIEWEE: Gregory Armstrong

SUMMARY BY: Andrew O’Connell

Gregory Armstrong, born on September 18, 1970 in the Bronx, spent his most formative years growing up in the Bronx River Housing Project at 1455 Harrod Ave. The son of a legal secretary and a father who worked in the Sanitation Department for 27 years, Armstrong recalls a time when growing up in the projects proved tough, but lacked some of the more malicious qualities that they might possess today. While Armstrong admits that violence occurred regularly in his neighborhood (though never directly in front of …

Jones, John E. (Sc 1773), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and full text-scan of paper for Manuscripts Small Collection 1773. Paper written by John E. Jones titled "The Political Status of Negroes in Warren County." Includes quotations from community leaders as well as statistics related to the number of qualified African American voters in each voting precinct.

Amosso, Agossou And Comlanvi Bamezon, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

INTERVIEWER: Jane Edwards

INTERVIEWEE: Agossou Amossou, Bamezon Comlanvi

SUMMARY BY: Patrick O’Donnell

Agossou Amossou and Bamezon Comlanvi both immigrated to the US from Togo. Amossou, who works as a security guard in the Bronx Museum and is earning a bachelor’s degree in French from Lehman college, came to the Bronx in 2004. Comlanvi also works in security and came to the Bronx in 2002. He is also studying French at Lehman College. During the interview, both men discuss the difficulties and differences they have experienced in relocating from Togo to the US. Foods, music, religion, languages, and family life …

Faith In Action: The First Citizenship School On Johns Island, South Carolina., Amanda Shrader Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the first Citizenship School, its location, participants, and success. Johns Islanders, Esau Jenkins, Septima Clark, Myles Horton, Bernice Robinson, and the Highlander Folk School all collaborated to create this school. Why and how this success was reached is the main scope of this manuscript. Emphasis is also placed on the school's impact upon the modern Civil Rights Movement. Primary sources such as personal accounts, manuscripts, and archive collections were examined. Secondary sources were also researched for this manuscript. The conclusion reached from these sources is that faith was the driving force behind the success of the Citizenship …

“A Small Revolution”: The Role Of A Black Power Revolt In Creating And Sustaining A Black Studies Department At The University Of Minnesota, Jared E. Leighton

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis examines the Morrill Hall Takeover of January, 1969, and the creation of the Afro-American Studies Department at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Further, it follows the process of sustaining a black studies department including acquiring qualified professors, maintaining student interest, negotiating the relationship to the black community and overcoming funding shortages, as well as other bureaucratic difficulties. The events at the University of Minnesota are placed in the larger context of the long-term development of black studies, the rise of the Black Power Movement and Minnesota’s tradition of liberalism. This work draws on reports from the University of …

Certificate: 2008 Sabrina Awards Best Non Fiction And Top Three Pick.

Textual material from the Rodney Lawrence Hurst, Sr. Papers

A winner for "It was Never About a Hotdog and a Coke!" at the Sabrina Awards, July 31, 2008

Seymone, Robert, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Robert Seymone (b. January 22, 1951) is originally from the Bronx, the son of an African-American mother from Little Rock, Arkansas and a German-Native American father from Pennsylvania. He is a theater, film, and television actor by trade, although he also has an informal background in music and dance. His mother was a dancer and performer who was heavily involved in show business. She was in the 1945 black film Big Timers, which starred Stephen Fechit, as the exotic dancer Tarzana. Robert’s mother frequently performed as character throughout New York, and she was backed by an all-female African-American band. She …

American Commemorative Panels: Vintage Black Cinema, United States Postal Service. Stamp Division

Rodney Lawrence Hurst, Sr. Stamp Collection

Informational page for Vintage Black Cinema Commemorative Stamp – American Commemorative Panels, includes images of the stamps and information regarding the history of Vintage Black Cinema. First issued July 16, 2008.

Stephen James On The Battle For Welfare Rights: Politics And Poverty In Modern America By Felicia Kornbluh. Philadelphia: University Of Pennsylvania Press, 2007. 287pp., Stephen James

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Battle for Welfare Rights: Politics and Poverty in Modern America by Felicia Kornbluh. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007. 287pp.

Fleet, Michelle, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Michelle fleet is a dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company who grew up in the Jackson Houses in the Bronx. She was born on September 24, 1977.

Growing up, Fleet remembers the vast array of empty buildings. Her mother would warn her to be in by a certain time because of how dangerous the area was. Fleet says that hearing gunshots was not an uncommon phenomenon.

Fleet cites her father as her musical influence. He would often play while in the house and invite his band mates over for jam sessions. Her father played funk alternative style of music …

Magassa, Bandiougou And Fofana, Lassana, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewer: Mark Naison

Interviewees: Lassana Fofana, Bandiogou Magassa

Summarized By: Eddie Mikus

Lassana Fofana and Bandiogou Magassa are two immigrants to the Bronx from the African country of Mal. Their story stands as an example of the challenges that immigrants face when arriving in a new country.

Fofana and Magassa grew up in a rural part of Mali which did not have electricity or television. Fofana attended school in Mali up until the ninth grade while Magassa attended through the 12^th grade (although Magassa enrolled in Martin Luther King High School after arriving in the United States). Magassa cited …

Prisons Sex And Drug Side Effects: A Look At Hiv Transmission, Prevention, And Treatment Behind Bars, Taylor Cuffaro

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

Studying the transmission, prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS in prison is incredibly important. it is reported, "that 2.3 percent of all prison inmates are infected with HIV. The rate of confirmed cases of AIDs in the inmate population is more that six times that of the U.S. [general] population. Approximately one in every three inmate deaths is AIDS-related and AIDS is the leading cause of death among state inmates after 'illness and natural causes.'"¹ Twenty-five percent of all HIV positive people in the United States, at one point make their way through the correctional system. With numbers …

Ahead Of The Pack: The New York Pioneer Club & The Integration Of Track And Field In New York City, Joseph Blankenship

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

When people think of the Bronx, they think of a few things–the Yankees, Hip Hop, and Jenny from the block. What they generally do no think about, however, is an international powerhouse in track and field. This powerhouse has produced many great athletes and instilled pride in the community. The names Joe Yancy, Ed Levy, Larry Ellis, Ted Corbitt, and Fred Thompson are names most people outside of track and field would not know. Inside the world of track and field, however, they are all legends connected to one organization: The New York Pioneer Club.

Everich, William, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

This is a very personal account of Mr. Everich's youth and his involvement in collectives and as a community activist. His parents are Ukraninan and he grew up in the Bronx, in a mixed neighborhood. His father was a violent man, beating his wife and children. He was also a racist man and it was this attitude, juxtaposed with the kindness of the very neighbors that he criticized, that convinced the young William of the injustices of prejudice. Everich discusses his school days and the games they played in the neighborhood, from wiffle ball to building scooters from milk crates. …

Sanchez, Ivan, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Ivan Sanchez

Interviewer: Dr. Mark Naison

Transcriber: unavailable

Date: 05/02/2008

Summarized by: Daniel Matthews

Ivan Sanchez is the author of Next Stop: Growing Up Wild Style in the Bronx. Ivan was born near 170^th Street off Jerome Avenue on 9/21/1972. His father is from Puerto Rico, while his mother was born in New York and has Puerto Rican ancestry. He has an older brother, a younger sister, and seven stepsiblings by his father. He was close to his Titi, whom he considered a second mother. He spent much of his time at her home on Bailey Avenue near …

Ghanaian Immigrants In New York City: Negotiating Cultural And Identity Transformations, Darren Ornitz

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

There have been many studies conducted pertaining to the process of identity formation among immigrants in the United States, but very few focus specifically on Ghanaian immigrants. The goal of this thesis is to continue the debate on the nature and manner on which Ghanaian immigrants in New York City construct their identities. By so doing, this paper aims to explore and identify the ways in which traditional culture and values are preserved, transformed, or lost amongst the Ghanaian immigrant community in New York City. It discusses the role that Ghanaian and American culture and values plays in the process …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 83, No. 52, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. Articles:

• Rowell, Larry. Emergency Plan Completed to Be Tested This Month
• Ulber, Emily. ONE Campaign Concert
• Ryan, Eileen. College Democrats Inactive as Primary Approaches
• Ulber, Emily. Students Rally to Prevent Instructor’s Termination – Shannon Schaffer
• Sharrett, Luke. A Thousand Words – Onur Demir, International Student
• Ryan, Eileen. O.C. Star Visits Campus – Ben McKenzie, Elections
• Day, Michelle. Brad Cowgill Resigning as Council on Postsecondary Education President
• Wilson, Laurel. City to Hear on Funding Report for Downtown Redevelopment
• Erskine, Anne. Editorial Cartoon re: Marsupial Awards
• Marsupial Awars: The Good, the …

Ua12/2/1 Walk The Line, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Special commencement edition of the College Heights Herald.

• Department of English Graduates
• Thanks
• Music Department Graduates
• Davies, Chris. I Will Always Look Back on My Western Experience – Soccer
• Smallwood, Kathy. I Am Sad to Leave Behind My Home – McLean Hall
• Stinson, Kelly. This Moment Is Finally Here
• Schedule of Events – Commencement
• College of Health & Human Services Graduates
• Johnson, Jeanne. It Was the Most Unbelievable Experience – Student Government Association
• Redmon, Ben. Leaving the Party at 10:30 – Interfraternity Council
• Bell, Michelle. I Will Always Be A Hilltopper
• Sorce, Jeff. Fall in Love with a Small Town …

The Good, Bad, And Ugly: Doctoral Educational Experiences Of Selected African American Women, Augusta Deneal

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the complex phenomena of African American doctoral persistence. Specifically, this study described the experiences of eight African American women in terms of how they preserved, persisted, and succeed in their doctoral programs. This research study used the Critical Race Theory as a theoretical foundation with insights particularly from Black Feminists (Collins, 1990, 1994; Forman, 1997; Hooks, 1984) and rising minority scholars (Green & Scott, 2003; HowardHamilton, 2003; Jarmon, 2003; Johnson-Bailey, 2003; Jones, 2005). Grounded theory methodology (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1990) was used to generate a theory of doctoral …

"I Don't Want To Let People Down Who Are Really Counting On Me": A Study Of Black Men At A Predominantly White Institution, Elonda V. Ervin

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the persistence strategies used by Black men attending a predominantly White institution (PWI), classified as sophomore, junior and senior. In order to determine these persistence strategies, a phenomenology qualitative research approach was selected. The selection of the participants of this study was accomplished utilizing network sampling. A total of six Black men participated. Interviews were conducted and 11 major themes were identified and are used to discuss the findings: I) time management: 2) get involved; 3) build a bond; 4) social networks; 5) communicate; 6) its not failure just determine what you …

Hip Hop Is Dead: The Rhetoric Of Hip Hop, Kalyana Champlain

Senior Honors Projects

There is no doubt that Hip Hop has become a most influential international force. This animal has had many faces: two of these faces have been as a political tool as displayed by Public Enemy, and as a therapeutic release-- as I discovered while in AmeriCorps interning at AS220 for a program called Hip Hop 220, in which we took underprivileged youth and helped them to channel their energy through this art form. However, there is a dark side to this culture that includes extreme misogyny, self- sabotage, hatred, and an unhealthy obsession with status. As I reflected on these …