(bright music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Hello, everyone, and welcome to "Black Nouveau."

I'm Earl Arms, and this is our edition for November.

This month we'll take you to a conference on Black women's health issues that was held recently here in Milwaukee.

UW Parkside's Al-Haj Jameel Ghuari was one of the few Muslims to play basketball on the international scene.

He was recently inducted into the Racine County Sports Hall of Fame.

James Causey talks with former "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel" reporter Lee Hawkins about his new book, "I Am Nobody's Slave: How Uncovering My Family's History Set Me Free."

And speaking of history, later this month, PBS begins airing its latest epic, "The American Revolution," a six-part, 12-hour documentary series from Ken Burns.

(gentle music) - [Speaker] To believe in America is to believe in possibility, possibility worth fighting for.

- The possibility of a different kind of world.

(bright orchestral music) - America is predicated on an idea.

Everything that we believe in comes out of the Revolution.

Our ideas of liberty, equality, it's the defining event of our history.

- The American Revolutionary movement served as a model around the world.

- These are not English liberties, these are transcendent liberties.

These are liberties that all individuals have by the nature of being human.

(majestic music) - The American Revolution changed the world.

(bright music) - That's part of the trailer from the new Ken Burns documentary, "The American Revolution."

It begins on PBS stations across the country on November 16th.

Now, given what's going on in the nation, it should spark a lot of interest.

I have not seen the documentary though, and neither has our guest though, Dr.

Marcus Allen, professor of history at UW Milwaukee, where his areas of interest are African American history, the history of capitalism, urban history, and the history of labor.

Dr.

Allen, welcome.

Thank you for joining us.

- Thank you for having.

- All right, so let's talk about this picture that Americans seem to have of the American Revolution, particularly with Africans.

Is it accurate just, you know, in your quest as a teacher, in your journeys, what have you seen?

- Well, a lot of times, especially during the era of the American Revolution, a lot of times we focus too much on slavery.

African American people were enslaved, but there was, there were many different kind of nuances to slavery.

So even before the American Revolution, even before the period of gradual emancipation, you had a number of slaves who were entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, a number of slaves who were artisans and craftsmen.

And you had a number of slaves who were able to save money and buy themselves or buy their, you know, pay for their freedom, pay for the freedom of their spouses, pay for the freedom of their children.

So I think we, and then even during the American Revolution, I see some of the evidence of that are some of the freedom petitions that we see.

So there's this misconception that even though, true, a number of Africans and later African Americans are illiterate, there's still a ton of entrepreneurial activity going on, and there are a ton of things that are being done even in spite of that.

- So you talk about the emphasis on slavery, which you know, maybe shouldn't be the case.

And then thinking about your specialty with 19th and 20th century history, just in thinking about that, why are some of the powers that be, or why is there an interest seemingly to deny the progress that's been made by Africans during that timeframe?

- Well, I think too many times, I think those narratives, they are effective for moving along certain agendas.

I think they are effective for, trying to get to know people and their history takes a lot of work.

So it's easier if we can fall back into some of these misconceptions and some of these other narratives.

And I'll leave it at that.

- (laughs) Well, what are some of the other mistakes that we might make when it comes to teaching history, whether it's Black history, African American history, whatever.

- Right, right.

And while I'm thinking about it, another thing I think, a misconception of the era is, you know, the African American community developed differently by region.

So the area of the Chesapeake area, the Virginia area, this is really where the African American culture develops the fastest.

The New England area, it develops slower.

And the low, the deep South or the low country area, the South Carolina and Georgia area, African culture is actually sustained in more higher concentrated.

So some of the other misconceptions, I think that we also, before the American Revolution, Black people were influential in the Great Awakening.

And so I think that when you think about Richard Allen and you think about the movement of Blacks founding their own churches, one of the things we may lose sight of is that there was tons of intimacy between Black slaves and whites at camp meetings and in other areas.

And so there's actually a unique history and a unique past between Blacks and whites, even before you get to the American Revolution.

And I think that we spend too many times, I think, thinking about ourselves divided, and we need to think more about different narratives where we see ourselves together and working together.

One of my favorite little stories from a kind of a pre-revolutionary story, I believe this is pre-revolutionary, it's Sam, the preacher, Samuel Davies.

And slaves come to him at three in the morning singing these spirituals.

They're singing these songs because they love him because of his preach, because of his preaching, and because of his love for them.

And so there are tons of stories like that, that I think we forget and that are just kind of, you know, brushed under the rug because we like to focus on the inferior status of Blacks socially, or the superior of, or we like maybe wanna focus on some of the things that slave, you know, the evils of slavery, the evil of white men and slave owners and these kinds of things.

And there's a place for that.

But there's so much other history out here.

- We have about a minute left, so talk about some of those things that we should be teaching, right, some of the things that we're (indistinct)- - Well, it's gonna, right, it's gonna sound maybe strange, but I really think we need to go back to slavery.

I think we need to go back and study slavery again.

Some of the things that were done, there is so much triumph and so much value in the life of the, in the slave cabin.

I think too many times we have gone too far past the slave community, and we've lost kind of the foundations, or if not lost, we've forgotten some of the very foundations, the Harlem Renaissance, the Negro Spirituals, Black Church, all of these things, you go back to the slave cabin and you see the foundations there.

So I just think that there's so many, you know, Black men, Black women, Black children, and Black family in slavery.

I think we need to revisit that.

- Dr.

Allen, thank you so much for joining us here on "Black Nouveau."

- Thank you for having me.

(upbeat music) - [GiiGii] Recently, the Milwaukee chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists joined the National Association of Health Services Executives for a Black women's health panel.

- We know that Black women face some of the greatest health disparities in this country.

When you talk about maternal mortality, heart disease, breast cancer, you know, it hits us the hardest.

And so the thing is, we've been taught to push through pain, that it's okay, you know, "Oh, girl, you can keep going, take an aspirin," and we don't stop to think about self-care.

But really practicing self-care, prioritizing our mental health, you know, and self-care, it's not weakness.

It's really an act of love and empowerment.

- [GiiGii] Although the turnout was less than hoped for, five professionals shared their important insights on wellness, mental health, and self-care in our community.

- We do have to take time for ourselves.

This day was developed to encourage us to get involved in our health, to overcome mental health disorders and incorrect diagnosis.

It is critical to have skilled and compassionate mental health providers.

The issues and trauma that we encounter are unique and they must be treated accordingly.

Today, our purpose is to empower Black women and those who care about us with vital information, resources, and a supportive community.

And I want us to remember as Black women, that we have people that care about us.

We gotta let them care about us.

- So mammograms, yeah, probably was developed by a male, but so, so, so important.

And every woman that walks out of this room, I want you to put aside that and just know it's so very important.

It's our gold standard.

And there's a reason why, because it can find cancers so very small and very early, and that's where we wanna find it.

If we've gotta have it, we wanna find the earliest possible breast cancers.

And it can also find or see clearly what you may or may not feel, but it may be there significantly, but you just can't feel it because maybe you have larger breasts.

Breast tissue is kind of funny because it can fold over on itself and hide.

And so that mammogram pressing out and pulling that tissue apart so that you can really see is extremely important.

Women come in all shapes and sizes and backgrounds.

We try to get the word out as best we can that it exists, but they come to you not necessarily when we want them to, when they're first diagnosed, come to the support group and meet these other women, but they need different things.

And so we just want to know what, that we are there for them, that they have the support if they need it.

Some women, one of the facilitators tells a story years ago, she had a woman to contact her, and all she wanted to do was see her face.

She wanted to see an African American woman that could stand in front of her and say, "I've had breast cancer and I'm still living."

Because she really thought that her diagnosis was a death sentence.

And that's all she needed.

So sometimes it's lots of needs, and sometimes it's just some small things.

- The stigma, making sure that we treat mental wellness differently, it is not a luxury.

It is your right and responsibility, just like going to that dentist.

Number two, you are absolutely right about therapists that look like us in our Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in our United States, as well as in the world.

There are only 4% of us that are African American.

There's only 1% African American male.

So when you talk to people about, I need a Black therapist, there are many of us in this community, but we're communal people, so we have to talk about it.

We've always been word-of-mouth people.

There's some advertisement, some social media, but I have my pulse on a whole list of them.

There's something called the Black Clinicians.

Look them up on FB, social media, Instagram.

They will have a list.

And some of the therapists, like myself, will be like, "Hey, can anyone see an African American woman who was just diagnosed with breast cancer, who has three kids, and they have United?"

There you go.

You are the head of your treatment.

- Yes, yes, yes.

(audience applauding) - I cannot say and stress how much mental health resources and systems need to invest in mental health resources.

Because you don't know when you need them.

I can talk very personally about that.

When I was diagnosed, it was a, okay, you're diagnosed, okay, great, you're gonna do this and this and this and this.

Sure, I'll go to the support group.

Great.

You're still gonna do this, this, this, this, this.

And finally, I can remember the day I walked into the mental health professional's office, and I sat there and I cried for two hours straight.

Not a word came out of my mouth except for just ugly crying and saying, I'm sorry, and just kept on going.

Because you don't know when you need those resources.

And yes, they're not quote, unquote, money drivers, and they don't quote, unquote, pay the bills.

But they are essential to women coming out of the situations positively.

- Fear is there, and it looks different for every woman.

Cost, the deductibles that are out there.

And as she talked about, just with the landscape now of health systems, and the lack of knowledge of resources.

And so please, please, please know that the Wisconsin Well Woman Program is alive and well in this state for 31 years.

And it is still there.

It looks different than it did even five years ago, but it is there and it's a resource.

And I wanna keep talking about all of the resources so that women know that there is hope.

(upbeat music) - Al-Haj Jameel Ghuari was known as Chuck Chambliss during his days as a guard playing basketball at Park High School and at UW Parkside, eventually making his way overseas as a professional.

But as his son explains, it was later in his life where Ghuari found his faith and his calling.

- Just be able to come here, represent his legacy, and what he meant to the community here in Racine.

And I know he had a huge effect on the community here in Racine, just by pouring into the youth, pouring into his, especially the inner city.

I mean, it goes further than just basketball.

It goes all the way to politics, being able to help voters get registered for the first time, help people protect their rights, being able to feed people meals when they need it over at the George Bray Neighborhood Center, from his work at Taylor Home to the NAACP, he's been a staple in this community.

And he's been around the world.

And sports is what he is going in the Hall of Fame for today as far as basketball, but he was just so much bigger than that.

But basketball has always been a tool and a vehicle that he's used to, you know, put his impact on people's lives and just pour into people.

- [Earl] Sharif Chambliss had a pretty accomplished basketball career himself and is currently coaching the men's team at UW Madison.

On this night, he made his way back home to accept the induction for the man he says was an ultimate competitor, among other things.

- Dad was highly energetic.

If he believed in something, he was gonna stand on that.

I kind of explained him as a little rough around the edges with a good heart and super giving.

You know, when I was younger, I always tell this story, like, I felt like he was always pouring into other people.

And I'm like, "Yeah, I don't get all of my dad."

And as I got older, I just kind of understood what it was and that he was a father figure for a lot of people that probably needed it.

And, you know, just to have him as my dad, I've always been proud of that.

- [Earl] Ghuari's life journey eventually led him to the Islamic faith, which shaped the later years of his life.

- The first part of his name, Al-Haj, means he took his pilgrimage, he went over to Mecca, and he took his journey, he saved his money, and was able to go over there.

He went over there with I think two other guys and, three other guys, and I think a couple of 'em passed away just 'cause of heat exhaustion.

So it's a daunting task that you have to go over there and do if you know you're really all in on it, and he did that.

He had a chance to really go up there and submit.

And for him that was everything, and he always talked about it.

Later in his life, he held basketball camps, him and the Ahmadiyya Muslims that were around.

And it was cool to see, even though I grew up with my mom and we grew up Baptist, just to see and be able to have opportunity to see both worlds.

What he did, and I know he prayed five times a day, and again, I know how much his faith meant to him.

And yeah, he learned it actually when he was on a trip over there playing basketball when he was playing professionally in London.

So it's pretty cool to see his stories and all the effect that he's had on people, not only on the court, but off the court.

- [Earl] Chambliss says if there's one thing people should know about his father, it's that he loved Racine.

- With basketball taking you around the world and it being a vehicle for you to see different parts of the world and experience different things, he wanted to come back and really dig his feet in here and help his community that he grew up in.

The George Bray Neighborhood Center was probably eight blocks from where he grew up at, less than eight blocks.

He wanted to make sure that his people, that he could help them in any way he could.

And I definitely, he was definitely, when you talk about a lot of different religions, no matter what it is, it's servant leadership.

And my dad definitely, you know, poured into that and leaned on his servant leadership to guide him in his life.

And, you know, as a Muslim, I think, you know, you ask, was God pleased at the end of the day for him?

Was Allah pleased?

And I think he was with my dad.

- [Earl] And what's the biggest lesson you've learned from him?

- Hmm.

(gentle music) (exhales sharply) You know, I had a chance to ask my dad (exhales sharply) what advice would he have for me, his son.

I got a couple brothers and a sister.

And he said, "Your relationship with God will determine if your life was a success or a failure."

And him knowing that I was, you know, that I was Christian, and him being Muslim, I think no matter what you believe in, if you put your all into it, and I'd be a fool to think that he'd be going to Paradise and somebody else, my family wouldn't, you know?

So he submitted his all into it.

And I just, you know, I got it on video, so it's pretty cool.

Loved his grandsons and... Love and... He had his paperweight on his desk, and I was gonna talk about it in his speech, but love for all, hatred for none.

And we need more of that in this world.

We need a lot more of that in this world, no matter where you come from, how you grew up, what color you are, you know, what political side you stand on, none of that matters.

More love and less hatred.

(upbeat music) - In his book, "I'm Nobody's Slave: How Uncovering My Family History Set Me Free," author Lee Hawkins emphasized the importance of learning about our history as the holidays approach.

He suggested the best way to gain insight into our backgrounds is to engage in conversation with elders in our lives.

Through these discussions, we can uncover not only how our parents and grandparents came to be, but also the significant events that shaped their lives.

Joining us to discuss the importance of learning our history is Lee Hawkins, who joins us virtually.

Lee, thanks for joining us for "Black Nouveau."

- Glad to be here, James.

- Good, good.

So, I guess the first question, what prompted you to write about your family history?

- My father was from Alabama, and he was raised in the 1950s there and then left when he was 12.

But he would never talk about why he left Alabama to move to Minnesota.

And like a lot of parents who went through Jim Crow segregation and apartheid, he just didn't want to speak about it.

And I think that there are a lot of people who are the children of people who moved north who lose out on a lot.

You know, not all of us get the opportunity to go and meet our cousins and spend summers there.

And so there was a real kind of, you know, void in my life, because I really wanted to know my family down South, and I wanted to know what it was that made it so difficult for my father to discuss Alabama.

And so I opened up, and I was able to really spend about 10 years, 8 to 10 years researching it, and it really helped me out tremendously.

- You suggested that talking to the elder in the room is a good way to start that conversation, but about learning about your history, but what if that elder really doesn't want to talk?

Where do you go from there?

- You know, James, I thought the same thing when I did this.

I thought that a lot of the elders would still be locked in that those really difficult tense kind of feelings toward talking about family history.

But I find that as they start to get older, not all of them, but the vast majority of them are eager to talk about the past.

A lot of them want to talk about the past because they think that we've, you know, we slid back so far, you know, they want to talk about the good old days and the things like the memories of family get-togethers and talk about their parents and their brothers and sisters who passed on.

And so yeah, I think it's good to try.

And it doesn't mean that you have to delve into the hardest parts of the story right away, but at least bring that recorder, get your phone, and get people to start talking about the town they were from, and get them talking about the things that they want to talk about.

And that then opens up, and I think a lot of them think it's fun too.

- Which elder influenced you the most?

- Well, besides my father, I had a aunt, she was actually my cousin, and she was in her 80s.

Her name was Rosalie Moore.

And she was the daughter of my uncle Ike, who is a big part of the story, who was the person who we interviewed when we actually did take a trip in 1991 to Alabama.

And at that time he was like 92, so he really had family information going all the way back to the 1800s.

So it was his daughter who was our eldest living relative, and she convinced and persuaded a lot of other people to talk to me and talk to me a lot about the family history.

And she was just really a heavy influence.

It was a very, very impactful thing to lose her, because I realized that she had done so much to try and advocate for this book.

- I understand that, you know, uncovering history can also unveil some painful truths.

How did you manage your mental health during this time?

- I worked with a therapist, which I think when you're working on a book like this, it's very important to have somebody to talk to that's not necessarily your best friend or your partner or your spouse.

And so that really helped me.

You know, yesterday, last night I was up until very late because I discovered that an aunt who I was always curious about, or a cousin who I was always curious about, had children.

And I get the sense that those children may have been placed for adoption at some point.

And so I see that some of them are alive.

And these kinds of things can be heavy, but it also starts to give you clarity about, you know, maybe some of the difficult parts of why things were the way they were.

In my book we talk a lot about corporal punishment and why the belt was used as discipline.

And I think understanding and going back into my family history and leaning into the hardest parts of the story was something that allowed me to forgive and to start to understand the historical context behind, and then understand what my obligation is to break the cycle so that future generations can take the best of what our elders gave us and our ancestors gave us, and then leave the toxic parts of it behind.

- Now, I understand you're working on a new book.

Can you tell us a little bit about that?

- Yes, so it's called "Murder at Mile Marker 39."

Hopefully we'll find a publisher for it.

But the key, James, is as I was investigating these murders for "I Am Nobody's Slave," there were eight, there were, since 1837, I had a family member murdered every generation.

And it really started to help me understand why my father didn't wanna talk about Alabama, because I had to learn that Jim Crow was not just segregation, but it was apartheid.

And so in stumbling across a lot of these murders, I wanted to, I realized that I needed to dig deeper into it to give dignity to the murdered because there were so many people whose lives were taken in our family that people never talked about.

And a lot of those people had children who had to live with the hard parts.

And so there was one cousin in particular who is a Jane Doe in Cleveland right now, and I was contacted by the FBI because I took a DNA test and it matched my family.

And so we are currently trying to identify her.

And so this is not true crime as much as it is what I call restorative true crime, which is not just writing about the gory details, but also trying your best to identify, you know, Jane Does, or try to get cold cases reopened, trying to get people exonerated for crimes, that kind of thing.

- Well, Lee, thanks for joining us for "Black Nouveau," and great book, and congratulations.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

Love the show, and I love Milwaukee.

Thanks a lot, James.

- Take care.

- And before we close tonight, a reminder to check us out across all of our digital sources.

James Causey interviews Andre Lee Ellis about the upcoming Tuxedo Walk planned for December 13th.

And there's more from our previous interview with Milwaukee Native and filmmaker, Michael Schultz.

From the "Black Nouveau" team, I'm Earl Arms, wishing you and yours a good evening and a happy Thanksgiving.

(upbeat music)