(upbeat music) - Hello and welcome to Prairie Pulse.

Coming up a little bit later in the show, we'll meet the 2024 North Dakota Poetry Out Loud Champion Circe Atkinson from Mandan High School.

But first joining me now is Dr. Art Malloy, the Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.

And welcome, we're glad to have you here today.

- Thank you very much.

I'm happy to be here also.

- Well, you're here today to talk about Black History Month, but before we get into that, tell the folks a little bit about yourself and your background maybe.

- Well, I'm originally from North Carolina, a little small city called Dunn, which is about 30 minutes south of Raleigh.

I have been in higher education for, gosh, more than three decades.

And I received my education in three different places.

Shaw University, the oldest, historically black university in the South, and that's in Raleigh, North Carolina, a BA in film and television, and then my master's degree from Ohio State University.

I didn't say the Ohio State.

And my master's degree was in African American history with a focus on politics and economics.

And then I went to the University of Georgia and got my doctorate in higher education management.

- Okay.

Well, we won't even talk about Ohio State anymore.

We already discussed that before we came on the air here.

Tell us about your job at UND, Vice President of Student Affairs.

What does that mean?

What do you do?

- Well, I started my career teaching African American history at Shaw University.

Did that for about two and a half years, and then I pivoted and went into student affairs.

And that is my passion, has been my passion for a long time.

And finally made my way, after working in several different universities, I finally made my way to the University of North Dakota.

As Vice President for Student Affairs, I'm the Chief Student Affairs Officer and I've been the Chief Student Affairs Officer at other institutions, also at Savannah College of Art and Design.

I was there for about 12 years.

And then I was at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke as the Chief Student Affairs Officer just before coming to the University of North Dakota.

And what I do, I have the privilege of working with a bunch of talented men and women who love students.

And our goal is to make sure that we prepare our students to lead when they leave the University of North Dakota.

And we do that in a variety of ways.

We do it in our residence halls by making sure that they know how to live with each other, that they know how to resolve conflict.

We also do it by making sure that they understand how to attend to their own wellness.

And that may be, if working with our counseling center, making sure that they are looking after their own nutrition in our dining halls.

It means perhaps spending time in our wellness center.

Just a variety of things that we do deliberately from the time the students meet with us for orientation until the time they walk across the stage for graduation.

We just wanna make sure that the process of student development begins as soon as they arrive and that they leave us better than better than they were when they showed up.

- Okay, well, we've asked you today to talk to us about Black History Month.

Can can you give us and talk about the origins of Black History Month, and why February?

- Well, Black History Month, for those who have who've looked into it, is a month that was put forward by Carter G. Woodson.

And Carter G. Woodson is often referred to as the father of Black history, and he actually chose the month of February back in 1926.

He chose the month of February to have what he was calling at the time Negro History Week.

And he chose the second week of February because the second week of February is the week that we celebrate the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas.

So that's how it started in 1926.

50 years later in 1976, it was recognized by, I believe President Gerald Ford.

And it was recognized as, it was actually recognized federally as one of the months that would be recognized.

So that's how we got to where we are today from Negro History Week to Black History month.

And next year in 2026, we'll be celebrating 100 years of celebrating black history in the United States.

- Okay, well, so is this a month only observed in the United States, or do other countries or areas in the world observe anything like this?

- It is observed in some other places.

I can tell you for sure that it is observed unofficially all over the Caribbean.

It is observed unofficially in gosh, and I was just there.

- [John] Well, it'll come to you in a minute.

We'll figure it out.

- Yeah, yeah.

But it is observed in a couple of other countries.

It is observed in the UK, and I think they've been observing it since the 1980s.

It is also observed in Ireland of all places.

It is also observed in Canada, and it's observed unofficially again in France because France has a large African population.

- Well, can you talk about this year's theme?

African Americans and Labor.

Tell us about that and why is that important?

- Well, it is very important, and I would say for obvious reasons.

When the slaves were brought here in the middle passage, millions of slaves brought to the United States in the Middle Passage, there was a reason to bring them here.

And that reason was because they were going to be utilized as a source of labor.

And at the time that they were brought here, the economy was basically based on agriculture.

So they were needed to work the fields.

They were needed to work on farms.

And I think it's a mischaracterization, it's a mischaracterization to think that everyone in the United States owned slaves.

The only people that owned slaves were the people that could afford them.

And these were normally the more well to do individuals who were here.

So slaves were not everywhere, but they were on the large plantations, they were on the large farms.

But they were a source of labor.

So it does make sense to me that one, labor is one of the themes.

But we can talk about when the slaves first arrived here and the economy was basically based on agriculture.

As time progressed and we moved into things like the industrial revolution and with the onset of the cotton gin, which you would think if you had the cotton gin and the cotton gin was mass produced, that there would be less of a need for slaves, actually wasn't the case, because the cotton was so popular, and one of the things that was being imported back to Europe, there was a higher demand than what anybody believed was gonna be the case.

So they had to go and get even more slaves after the cotton gin.

So, and then we moved right up into the Industrial revolution.

And you had slaves who were actually forced to work and to build factories.

You had slaves who were there and they were another source of labor for every aspect of the industrial revolution.

And that, I guess that's a good thing because they were actually learning, they were learning some skills then, but that was sort of short-lived.

And it was short-lived because the industrial revolution also brought a lot of Europeans who were looking for a better life here in what they called the New World.

- [John] Yeah, yeah.

Well, can you talk some about, I guess there's some distinctions in this year's theme, free versus unfree and skilled versus unskilled.

Why are those distinctions important?

- Well, I think those distinctions are important because throughout the history of blacks in the country, there would be a couple of categorizations, one, free versus unfree.

Free after emancipation, unfree prior to emancipation, but facing the same issues.

And that is that the slaves didn't own anything.

So the slaves were going to have to work for someone.

They were owned.

And then after the slaves were emancipated, they still ran into issues because by the time they were emancipated, we were coming right up upon the time of the Industrial Revolution.

So now they were having to compete for jobs even though they learned how to do some of these jobs when the industrial revolution began.

Now they had to compete with immigrants who were coming over from Europe.

But if you talk to most historians, what they will tell you is that America was built with a lot of the manpower from slaves.

They're gonna tell you that the railroads that were built by slaves.

I would say the railroads were built by slaves, but they were also built by a lot of the Chinese who had come over just to work on the railroads.

So it's been an interesting time because after the industrial revolution, we went right into what we call the Great Migration, and that's when blacks were leaving the south and moving to the north, and they were looking for jobs that required skill.

Some of them already had some of those skills, but they were moving to places where they could also be trained how to utilize the types of skills to do things like building cars, but also building the infrastructure for some of America's largest cities also.

- Yeah, well, you mentioned being of course in North Carolina, Georgia and Ohio State, but can you talk about the changes you've seen?

Mainly when I ask that, probably more in the deep South in your lifetime.

- Well, I can tell you, when I was born, segregation was still the rule of the day.

So I do remember as I was delivering newspapers, I do remember seeing faucets that were designated for coloreds.

I saw outhouses, I don't know if you know what outhouses are here, but outhouses that were also designated for coloreds.

So I've seen a great deal of change since then because I went to, by the time it was time for me to go to schools, I was going to integrated schools.

And I think that there's been a great deal of progress in the south.

And the one thing about being in the South, if a person did not like you, they told you that they didn't like you.

If they didn't want you around, they told you that they didn't want you around.

And I think when I was growing up, I had respect for that.

If you didn't want me to be there, then I didn't want to be where I wasn't wanted.

I think now, because so many of the kids went to school with each other, relationships have gotten to the point where we're used to being around each other.

You don't necessarily have to like each other.

But as long as you are respectful of each other.

And I think what you're gonna find in the south is that people are nice and if they don't wanna be bothered with you, they will let you know.

- Yeah, you know, is it important to teach sort of all history in schools, not just the European American point of view?

- [Art] Yes.

Here's what I think about, about black history.

You can't talk about black history without talking about American history.

You can't talk about American history without talking about black history.

And you can't talk about the history of America without talking about all of the different groups that are represented here.

It is important if you're gonna talk about someone like Thomas Edison, if you're gonna talk about what Edison was able to do with the light bulb.

If you're gonna talk about Alexander Graham Bell and what Alexander Graham Bell was able to do with the telephone, you also have to talk about Lewis Latimer, who is the common denominator between the two of them.

Yes, Edison, Edison... his invention was his own invention.

But he did have some help.

And I think as we talk about black history, and one of the reasons why it's important for me to continue to talk about black history is because I want to make sure that everyone gets the full story.

That there've been a lot of people that have contributed to making America the great country that it is.

Some of us are black, some of us are white, some of us are Asian, some of us are of Latin descent.

Some of us are or indigenous people, some of us are women, some of us are LGBTQ.

A lot of us have done that.

And so that's the reason why I think it's important to celebrate these awareness months.

And I don't want to just celebrate one.

I think we have to celebrate them all, and if we celebrate them all, and it's truly a celebration of what makes America great and you don't have to celebrate one by putting another down.

I've always simply believed that when you teach the real history of America, that you're teaching the history that's inclusive of all the people who who've made it what it is.

- What about some current or past African Americans who've inspired you?

You said you wanna celebrate 'em all, but now I'm putting you on the spot to name a few or a couple.

- Well, you know, I would say first it's easy for me to start with Martin Luther King.

I think that's a name that everyone's gonna recognize, Martin Luther King.

But I also recognize Martin Luther King's mentor, A. Philip Randolph.

And A. Philip Randolph is a name that is not very widely known.

And when we talk about the march on Washington that happened in the 1960s, that wasn't the first march on Washington.

The first march on Washington was in 1941, and A. Philip Randolph was the organizer of that march.

So when you look at pictures of the march on Washington in the 1960s, what you're gonna see is the person who is beside King is A. Philip Randolph.

So A. Philip Randolph is a hero to me.

He's a person who continues to inspire me.

Of course, I would say Martin Luther King, I would even say Malcolm X, but I would say Malcolm X that changed Malcolm X after he left prison, because he was not afraid to stand up for that which he believed in.

And he ended up dying for that too.

So, you know, even Barack Obama, I think Barack Obama is a very inspirational figure for me.

And if you know me, then most people know that I was the teaching assistant for Manning Maribel.

So Maribel is also one of those persons.

- Yeah.

Well, Dr. Malloy, we we're out of time, so if people want more information, maybe find out what's going on in Black History Month around the region or at the university, where can they go?

- Well, I would say if they wanna know what's going on at the University of North Dakota, then they can look at, they can go to our website and they can put in the Hilyard Center, and they will find out what's going on there.

I also know that our colleagues at North Dakota State University, they have some events that are going on also.

There are events that are going on in Grand Forks at the Empire Art Center also.

So I would say look at their websites also.

- Well, sorry, we're out of time.

There's a lot more I'd like to ask you, but thanks for joining us.

- [Art] Absolutely.

Thanks for having me.

- Stay tuned for more.

(upbeat music) Poetry Out Loud is a high school program that encourages students to learn about poetry while they master public speaking skills and build self-confidence.

Circe Atkinson from Mandan High School was the 2024 North Dakota Poetry Out Loud State champion.

- This is the one song everyone would like to learn, the song that is irresistible.

The song that forces men to leap overboard in squadrons, even though they see the beached skulls.

I've always loved poetry, I have always been a writer and I've also been writing poetry since I was little.

So it always has had an integral part in my life and it's really nice that now I get to share that with everyone now.

Poetry Out Loud is a competition.

Competitors from all across the United States come together to compete in a poetry competition where you memorize three poems and say them in front of the crowd and try to emulate the emotions that are in the poem.

The stages of competition starts off with the school competition and then it's the state competition and then the national competition in Washington DC.

They are looking for memorization primarily, but they're also looking for tone, emotion, understanding of what the poem is trying to say, good posture, not making too much movement on the stage and just trying to focus your energy on the poem itself rather than you as the person.

I have a big fear of public speaking.

That's what pushed me to do it 'cause I was like, I know this is something that scares me, but it's something that I should do just to push myself.

A lot of that nervousness was alleviated when the competitors started like conversing with each other and started congratulating each other and wishing them good luck.

It was like this really beautiful sense of community within the other contestants.

Like the sweet apple which reddens upon the top most bow, atop on the top most twig, which the pluckers forgot somehow.

Forget it, not nay, but got it not, For none could get it 'til now.

I think it is very important to choose more personalized poems because it helps you kind of connect with the poem more and fuel that emotion with yourself.

You're being very personal and it helps you connect with everyone in the audience because you are being so completely and utterly honest about everything in your life.

- [Emcee] The winner of this year's North Dakota 2024 Poetry Out Loud state champion is Circe Atkinson of Mandan High School.

(audience cheering) - [Circe] I was kind of shocked because the competition was fierce.

Everyone performed so beautifully well and chose amazing poems that kept the audience engaged.

I'm just grateful for the opportunity to do this competition at all, and also the opportunity to represent North Dakota in the national competition.

I think it's definitely helped me in the aspect of public speaking, but it's also increased my confidence in like advocating for myself, saying what I need.

There's been a lot self-growth in this process and I am in fact proud of myself.

Lemon Balm is for forgiveness.

Pull up from the root, steep in boiling water.

Add locust wings, salt, the dried bones of hummingbirds.

Drink when you feel ready.

Drink, even if you do not.

I would recommend other people look more into poetry because it is the essence of human existence.

People pour their hearts and souls into their writing, and poetry is an extension of that.

It's the rawest form of human connection and emotion.

And being able to perform it like I did today was such an incredible and inspiring experience that I think everyone should have the ability to do.

Siren Song by Margaret Atwood is about the capturing of a sailor.

It's basically the essence of why human beings act the way we do.

Oftentimes when we see someone in trouble, when we see someone in need, we rush to help them.

And in this poem we see the siren saying, I don't like doing this.

Please save me.

And that's what causes the sailor to fall for the trap.

On paper, it kind of sounds more like the siren loves what she does.

When I perform it, I choose to make it more regretful and remorseful and just full of sorrow.

Siren Song by Margaret Atwood.

This is the one song everyone would like to learn.

The song that is irresistible.

The song that forces men to leap overboard in squadrons, even though they see the beached skulls.

The song nobody knows because anyone who has heard it is dead, and the others can't remember.

Shall I tell you the secret?

And if I do, will you get me out of this bird suit?

I don't enjoy it here.

Squatting on this island, looking picturesque and mythical with these two feathery maniacs.

I don't enjoy singing this trio, fatal and valuable.

I will tell the secret to you.

To you, only to you.

Come closer.

This song is a cry for help.

Help me.

Only you, only you can.

You are unique.

At last.

Alas, it is a boring song, but it works every time.

(upbeat music) - Well, that's all we have for Prairie Pulse this week.

And as always, thanks for watching.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] Funded by the North Dakota Council on the Arts and by the members of Prairie Public.