Coming up next on "American Black Journal", we're gonna talk about African-Americans in higher education and the controversy over university tenure for African-American journalist, Nikole Hannah-Jones.

Plus we'll look at the impact of Detroit's disastrous floods on churches and profits, and a Detroit hip-hop artist connects with fans during the pandemic.

Stay where you are, "American Black Journal" is next.

ANNOUNCER 1: From Delta Faucets to Behr Paint, Masco Corporation is proud to deliver products that enhance the way consumers all over the world experience and enjoy their living spaces.

Masco, serving Michigan communities since 1929.

ANNOUNCER 2: Support also provided by the Cynthia & Edsel Ford Fund for Journalism at Detroit Public TV.

ANNOUNCER 1: The DTE Foundation proudly supports 50 years of "American Black Journal" in covering African-American history, culture and politics.

The DTE foundation and "American Black Journal" partners in presenting African-American perspectives about our communities and in our world.

ANNOUNCER 2: Also brought to you by AAA, Nissan Foundation, Ally, Impact at Home, UAW, Solidarity Forever, and viewers like you.

Thank you.

♪♪ Welcome to "American Black Journal", I'm Stephen Henderson, and as always, I'm glad you've joined us.

First up, today we're gonna talk about the controversy over a university's initial failure to grant a tenured position to a Pulitzer Prize winning African-American journalist.

Nikole Hannah-Jones of the New York Times saw her application for a tenured professorship at her alma mater, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, denied.

The school later reversed its decision after national protests and cries of racism, but Hannah-Jones surprised just about everyone and turned the position down instead accepting a faculty position at Howard University.

I spoke with Dr. LaWanda Ward, who is assistant professor of education at Penn State University, about the tenure and promotion process and about the plight of black academics.

So I was really struck like most people were I think, by Nikole Hannah-Jones decision to turn down her alma mater, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and go to Howard University, a historically black college.

Maybe, I think folks from Howard would like me to say the most premiere historically black college (LaWanda laughs) that we have, I'm sure.

But it reminded me of this tension that I think exists for all African-American academics.

Do you fit in enough at predominantly white universities or are you more comfortable going to a place where some of the challenges that you certainly face at predominantly white institutions don't exist?

Talk just a little about how you handle that tension.

Yes.

So, you know, Stephen, it's been about, what, 50 years, you know, with the Civil Rights Movement, we have federal law that protects us in terms of employment discrimination, but we're still having challenges.

And so the situation with Nikole Hannah-Jones, it resonates with me as a black woman on the tenure track at a historically white serving institution.

You know, as black people, we represent about 13% of the U.S. population, we're maybe 6% in the academy.

And so the same sort of challenges that we see on the news that are happening in everyday society, myself and others encounter those challenges, you know, being questioned, being isolated, really feeling as though you don't belong or that you have to work twice as hard.

And so even though many of these institutions have made a commitment, including UNC Chapel Hill to increase diversity and inclusion, the societal challenges that have not been addressed, we all still face them.

Yeah.

So talk about the ways in which, you know, tenure, which is academic gold, right?

It's what everybody in the academy really wants, talk about the ways in which it plays out differently for African Americans than it does for others.

I mean, I think, obviously the discrimination that exists in society, you know, doesn't leave itself at the university doors, but talk about the ways that you see race and racism affecting decisions like who gets tenure.

Yes.

Well, you know, so for starters, in terms of the makeup of the tenure and promotion committees at historically white serving institutions, they are mainly comprised of white individuals, and if they don't have a type of racial literacy around the unique experiences, I would say, of black faculty, they can purposely or unintentionally fall into this notion of questioning whether our work is quality or if we're a good fit.

And those types of concepts, you know, while on the surface they seem like they wouldn't cause any harm, they can.

You know, as the only black woman in my program I'm very well aware, and fortunately for me, several of my white colleagues, they do have a racial literacy so they do recognize, you know, sometimes when students write things on my evaluations that don't have anything to do with my teaching, but maybe more so about the way I look, or a comment about maybe me not seeming friendly, which is a stereotype that can be placed upon black women if we don't smile, if we're not caring, and of course all those expectations are connected to historical notions of seeing black women as caretakers and mummies and those types of things.

So another thing with the tenure and promotion committees is that for those of us who go before them, we don't know about the conversations that are taking place about us.

And so someone could be motivated by discrimination to speak against me getting tenure.

One, I wouldn't be able to defend myself because those meetings are typically private and confidential, and then how do I defend myself anyway, against someone who has a discriminatory perspective about me as a black woman?

So those are just some of the challenges that we face in terms of when we go up for tenure, which of course for those of us that are seeking tenure, that's a lifetime appointment where we're no longer in a probationary period.

So I wanna talk a little about the student experience too, which is affected of course by the makeup of faculty.

I have an incredible amount of admiration for what Nikole Hannah-Jones did.

She said, "Look, I'm gonna go to a place where they value me, but also where they value African-American students."

And that's great, but we still do need African-American academics to be at predominantly white institutions because A, there are African-American students there, but they're also white students who also need to have exposure to black academics and black thinking.

There's a tension there that I think is kind of interesting in terms of what's the right place for a black academic in terms of making sure that students everywhere get that experience?

I agree.

And, you know, for me, Stephen, so I'm originally from the South, I'm from a family of educators, and so I've only know being educated and actually teaching in historically white serving institutions.

And I agree with you.

You know, for those of us who are committed to social justice, like Nikole Hannah-Jones' Project 1619, like those types of projects and specifically for her to incorporate that into her teaching, that's for all students.

You know, we live in the U.S., we have this very mythical way of thinking about history.

You know, history is from one particular perspective that's dominant, and, you know, part of her project was to center the experiences of black Americans to say there's more to the story than what we get around these white figures who really have soiled past because many of them owned slaves or they weren't at the forefront advocating for the eradication of slavery and racism.

So definitely for me teaching at a historically white institution, it's my plan to continue doing that because I know that it not only benefits black students, but all students benefit from knowing the truth about the work that we still need to do for the U.S. to reach what I consider to be right now still a fantasy of being a place where equality and justice dominate and where people feel like their dignity is affirmed.

We are still in a place where we're striving for that.

And so when you make that decision, are you consigning yourself to a professional life of struggle?

I mean, is it that you will never sort of realize the kind of freedom or the kind of support that you might get at a historically black college or university?

Is it that your institution in your mind could never be what an historically Black college or university might be for you?

So, you know, Stephen, even when I think about HBCUs, and there was recently one of the faculty members at Howard who wrote an open letter to Nikole Hannah-Jones, letting her know that even Howard the Mecca has its own challenges with his treatment of faculty around pay and long-term contracts.

And so really for me, the type of work that I do in the areas that I study around law, higher education and just U.S. society, you know, all institutions of higher education are working under a capitalistic system, and it doesn't lend itself to affirming people's humanity at its core.

So, you know, while I would absolutely love to work at Howard University, would love to do that, I also recognize it has its own challenges.

And so for me, I don't tell myself a story about what it means to be in the middle of Pennsylvania, around a lot of people who don't look like me, but I'm not discouraged by that.

Because historically when you think about black educators who started off, you know, they didn't even have the federal legislation that I have the benefit of.

They worked in these institutions because again, they believed that they could make a difference.

I don't consider myself to be able to necessarily find quote, unquote, happiness, you know, by what a historically white institution and all this bureaucracy will do, but I do find joy in teaching my students, all of my students, especially the ones that have social justice at the forefront of why they came to take my classes.

So I'm encouraged by that.

Yeah.

Okay.

Dr. LaWanda Ward of Penn State University it was really great to have you here with us for this conversation on "American Black Journal".

Thanks for joining.

Thank you Stephen.

Residents in the Detroit area are still dealing with the aftermath of the flooding that left homes and freeways and streets underwater.

The heavy rains also caused huge problems for churches, nonprofits and other institutions that serve the community.

Producer AJ Walker checked in with the Church of the Messiah and the Charles H. Wright Museum to see how the flooding affected their operations.

BARRY: Even during this time we're still hopeful, we're standing in faith, this too will pass.

(choir singing) On any given Sunday you can find Pastor Barry Randolph delivering a word of hope, faith and encouragement at the Church of the Messiah.

But today it's his own faith that's getting him through one of the most difficult times in the church's history following the devastating floods that washed through Detroit in July, leaving behind unprecedented damage to the basement of the church.

The majority of our ministry is in the basement.

The doctor's office is in the basement, the candle company, the tea beverage company, the bike shop, the clothing line, the video production company and our internet service, and the employment office is all in the basement.

AJ: Pastor Barry says, although he worries how all of the different businesses and services offered out of the basement will fare now that it's in ruins, he also wonders how the flooding will impact the church and their good works long-term.

And by the time we really get this right and rebuild it, I'm hoping some of the stuff will still be able to do.

Don't know what it's gonna take to replenish, to put back all the computers, all the desks, the refrigeration, so you've gotta remember it.

The boiler is gone, the furnace is gone.

I mean, what's the price of a boiler now, 60, $70,000?

Thank God we had flood insurance so that we can rebuild this.

AJ: As pastor Barry tours the damage, he reflects on how seemingly instantly everything changed.

We were just in here, we had all the entrepreneurs in this room, it was a Tuesday, and that Saturday there was five feet of water in this room.

We just met with the folks, now it was five feet of water.

And when I saw the water actually meet me at the stairs, I said, "Oh my God, I know we got a problem."

AJ: He says he's more emotional looking at the damage in this room because it was special.

The reason why this room is so powerful because it was named after a young man, an incredible young man by the name of DaMarkkus Washington, who actually unfortunately was murdered.

He was not the intended target, but he was murdered, and he was one of the people who helped put this room together so we named a room after him.

So we call it the DaMarkkus Washington Employment Center.

AJ: But all of the rooms at the Church of the Messiah hold special memories, even the kitchen.

From here they fed thousands of people in need over the years.

What do you think right now looking at this Kitchen?

I think about all the incredible meals we made in here, and I'm thinking about hopefully what we're gonna be able to do again but it is hard to look.

Well, I got this behind me.

AJ: Although it's hard, Pastor Barry says he's staying strong and looking to the future, but he's doing that with caution.

We're going to redo it, but it is gonna be a little bit different.

I'm a little leery about putting all the stuff back in this basement.

So we may put it in other parts of the church and kind of try to figure out what we're gonna do with this space.

The only thing I'm concerned about is will this be normal?

And I think it is.

I think it will be normal.

I don't believe the, "Oh, this is a once in a 100 year thing."

I think this is going to become commonplace.

I'm afraid this is climate change and infrastructure issues in the city.

AJ: The flooding at the Church of the Messiah caused pain for a lot of people.

And they're not alone, many homes, businesses, and treasured places around Detroit were devastated by those flood waters.

The Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History is home to valuable paintings, sculptures, and other precious works of art.

Now it's also the site of a major cleanup effort after floodwaters made its way into this building jeopardizing precious artwork.

Yeah, to walk into this building, you would not have recognized it because it was under several inches of water.

We had several feet of water in our Orientation Theater, but it really, really did damage to several offices, exhibits, artifacts, and our entire lower level, including our Wright Community Gallery and the Orientation Theater.

AJ: Ed Foxworth, director of External Affairs, shares how the flooding caught the Museum staff off guard.

It ruined two of our outreach vehicles, it really round up rising to a level that had many caught off guard.

So we could not have imagined this kind of impact from this rain.

AJ: As Foxworth looks over precious paintings in the museum, he talks about how important it is to preserve and protect these pieces.

You know, in this exhibit is Mario Moore's artifacts and artwork under the title of "Enshrined: Presence + Preservation" which really is apropos because that's what we needed to do in this facility is preserve all of these fine artworks.

AJ: The flood forced a museum to shut down for several weeks.

And now its leadership team is thinking of ways to protect it from future flooding.

We'll have to repair some things and to make sure that we put processes in place should we have additional rains like this so that we're not impacted so severely.

It has impacted us being open to the public.

This is a very busy season for weddings and family reunions, and now we've had to close our doors for two to three weeks in order to remediate all of the water, take up carpeting, tile, wood, you know, just a whole variety of different things that are associated with keeping the building open and making sure that the air quality is good for those that are coming to the museum.

AJ: As the Charles H. Wright Museum and the Church of the Messiah focus on rebuilding, Pastor Barry says he's optimistic about the future.

BARRY: We've been through it all, but we'll be okay.

Detroit is resilient, we always come back.

And finally, today we're starting to see events like large concerts return after being shut down for more than a year because of the pandemic.

During that time though, Detroit hip-hop artists and activists, Deirdre D.S.

Sense Smith, came up with new ways to connect with her audiences.

She created what she calls a quarantine concert series.

One Detroit's Will Glover has more.

(upbeat music) ♪ One love you and I ♪ One love you and I To give people a little bit of sense (laughs) as to, you know, who you are, what you've been doing, how long have you been an artist musician in Detroit?

Close to 20 years I would say.

I started as a teenager hitting the open mic circuits and I was essentially a vocalist, RnB, Neo soul, that wave was big then, but I'd always been an emcee at heart.

And oddly enough I was nominated for a Detroit Music Award for best RnB.

And around that time, I was really itching to step into the waters of hip-hop.

♪ And it's off limits ♪ I guess it's just us ♪ Mission just fit since this ain't it ♪ ♪ Been this way since I could grab mics ♪ ♪ Why you wanna act like I ain't the best doing this ♪ ♪ I'm looming and smashing And I'm more comfortable as a hip-hop artist.

So for the last 20 years or so, I've been really pushing that hip-hop agenda.

♪ Yes (man laughs) ♪ The feeling is just incredible don't you agree ♪ ♪ It's just music Your latest release is "Cooper St. Chrysalis".

First of all, tell us about the name of that album, "Cooper St. Chrysalis", what brought that about?

Yeah, well, that's my homestead.

I'm a native Detroiter, an East Side girl, and that's what my family home is.

Cooper Street is home to me, it always will be.

My family was one of the first black families to integrate into the neighborhood that was primarily Jewish and Italian at the time.

Oh, wow!

And so my roots run deep on the East Side of Detroit.

Artists are always open to a challenge to something new, to something changing, whether it be good or bad, there's a way for an artist to participate, to distill, to translate.

And you did something recently with taking us through "A Walk in The Park", so tell us a little bit about what that was and, you know, what got you to the point in wanting to put this out.

Much like the rest of the world, my world had gotten a little quieter.

I'm naturally reclusive, a bit introverted, and so I really felt like this was the time to show the rest of the world how to operate in such quiet and stillness.

I think that if you change your perspective about what this time is about and search for the silver lining if you have the guts to, you'll find this is an opportunity to reinvent yourself, to tap into those facets of yourself that was your plan B.

And artists know all too well about plan Bs and being told to consider your plan B.

Well, now plan Bs are at the forefront.

Being an artist, I got up with my plan B self, and I show my audience how you can make lemonade out of it.

♪ And walk on a whole new journey ♪ ♪ A love where we all feel worthy ♪ ♪ Chucks I blush when you say I'm pretty ♪ ♪ No biggy ♪ You blush when I say you're pretty ♪ ♪ Yeah if this is gonna work If you feel like you're in a place of despair, what better way to get yourself out of that than to take in the artistry of nature.

Look around at the colors.

Listen to the sounds of that first and foremost, and within that, you'll find something to draw on.

You'll reinvent yourself eventually, or come back to yourself.

Whatever you need to do with yourself, you'll eventually do it if you get out in nature.

And so those that were a little more reluctant to come out, I decided to come out.

I decided to walk the streets.

I decided to walk the park.

Those that are in the fear of isolation, I decided to show them what isolation looks like when you choose to change your perspective.

(energetic upbeat music) Isolation isn't loneliness, it's an opportunity to get to know yourself.

And that's all I was doing.

I was taking folks on a ride with me.

As I got to know myself, I reinvented myself, they were familiar with my long locks and I cut those and I cropped my hair and I want I to be just as naked and vulnerable as I'm being a vocalist maybe.

What is one of the things that you're looking forward to most?

I'm looking forward to the alleviation of fear.

I wanna see those people that have seen a certain amount of fear come over them, I wanna see them free and certain again.

I would put out little videos on Instagram and I would say, "I can't wait to see you on the other side of this."

Just anybody who would view the videos, I would always end it with, "I can't wait to see you on the other side of this.

I look forward to seeing you on the side of this."

And so I wanna see those that make it on the other side of this along with me.

And you, Will, I wanna see you smile again, I wanna see you confident again, I wanna see you hug again, (laughs) I wanna see you kiss again, I wanna see all those things that make us human again.

That is gonna do it for us, thanks for watching.

You can get more information about our guest at americanblackjournal.org, and you can always connect with us on Facebook and on Twitter.

We'll see you next time.

♪♪ ANNOUNCER 1: From Delta Faucets to Behr Paint, Masco Corporation is proud to deliver products that enhance the way consumers all over the world experience and enjoy their living spaces.

Masco, serving Michigan communities since 1929.

ANNOUNCER 2: Support also provided by the Cynthia & Edsel Ford Fund for Journalism at Detroit Public TV.

ANNOUNCER 1: The DTE Foundation proudly supports 50 years of "American Black Journal" in covering African-American history, culture and politics.

The DTE Foundation and "American Black Journal" partners in presenting African-American perspectives about our communities and in our world.

ANNOUNCER 2: Also brought to you by AAA, Nissan Foundation, Ally, Impact at Home, UAW, Solidarity Forever, and viewers like you.

Thank you.

(bright music)