#WeAllWeGot

 

In May 2017, the Bethune-Cookman graduating class defied the presence and rhetoric of Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, as she attempted to complete her commencement speech. They literally turned their backs, on DeVos as she offered her remarks to the chagrin of the college’s administration gathered on the stage. Administration later threatened to withhold their degrees from them. 

 
 

We teach and train our students to be critical thinkers, members of a global society who can (and should) contribute to social change. How then can we attempt to silence them when they put what we teach them into action? The graduates and students had every right to protest the presence and participation of DeVos during their sacred moment. I, myself a then HBCU professor, wanted to send a public show of support to and for the students. So I put out a call to my colleagues:

Within a few hours, Dr. Camika Royal and Dr. Treva B. Lindsey had penned the letter below and 216 college faculty from across the country (and the world) responded and offered their signatures in support. 

#WeAllWeGot:
OPEN LOVE LETTER TO BETHUNE-COOKMAN 2017 GRADUATES FROM BLACK FACULTY

Dear Graduates of Bethune-Cookman:

First, congratulations! We are so proud of what you have accomplished. You have studied, prepared, planned, learned, and have earned what our parents, grandparents, and ancestors have had to fight, scrape, and die for in this nation. We are proud of you for that!

Beyond becoming graduates, we are floating this morning thinking about how you stood up to your university and protested the woefully under-qualified Secretary of Education who attempted to address you at your graduation yesterday. Watching you stand and turn your backs to her makes us elated. Overjoyed. Humbled. It was a day and a moment that should have been about celebrating you and what you achieved.

The world watched you protest the speaker you never should have had. We cheered as we saw so many of you refuse to acquiesce in the face of threats and calls for complicity. Your actions fit within a long tradition of Black people fighting back against those who attack our institutions and our very lives with their anti-Black policies and anglo-normative practices. Betsy DeVos’ commitment to dismantling public education and her egregious framing of historically Black colleges and universities as “pioneers” in school choice are just two examples of why she should never have been invited to speak at an event celebrating Black excellence.

We shared your outrage when it was announced that DeVos would serve as your commencement speaker and receive an honorary degree. As your administration hid behind the rhetoric of “learning from people with divergent perspectives,” current students objected. Alumni petitioned. We watched from a distance wondering how but knowing why this moment was taken from honoring you.

But then, you turned it around, figuratively and literally. We beamed with joy as we watched videos and read tweets of how you took your graduation back to honor yourselves. To honor your founder. To honor our ancestors. To honor us all.

You represent the best of Mother Mary McLeod Bethune who took the little she had and built an institution that remains committed to bringing out the best in us. You are the best of us. We, the undersigned, are Black professors and college administrators— some of us at HBCUs, some of us at PWIs, some of us HBCU alums— and we thank you. We salute you. And we love you.

Hail, Wildcats!

Signed,

  1. Yaba Blay, PhD, Dan Blue Endowed Chair in Political Science, North Carolina Central University

  2. Camika Royal, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Urban Education, Loyola University Maryland (North Carolina Central University, Class of 1999)

  3. Treva B. Lindsey, Associate Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, The Ohio State University

  4. Imani Perry, Hughes-Rogers Professor, Princeton University

  5. Brittney Cooper, Assistant Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Africana Studies, Rutgers University (Howard University, Class of 2002)

  6. Susana Morris, Associate Professor of English, Auburn University

  7. Robin M. Boylorn, Ph.D., Associate Professor (of Interpersonal and Intercultural Communication), University of Alabama (and The Crunk Feminist Collective)

  8. Blair LM Kelley, Associate Professor of History, North Carolina State University

  9. Dr. Kaila Adia Story, Associate Professor in Women’s and Gender Studies and Pan African Studies and Audre Lorde Endowed Chair in Race, Gender, Class and Sexuality Studies, University of Louisville

  10. Melanye Price Associate Professor, Africana Studies and Political Science, Rutgers University New Brunswick

  11. Mark Anthony Neal, Duke University

  12. Marc Lamont Hill, Steven Charles Endowed Professor of Media, Cities, and Solutions, Temple University

  13. Dr. Arturo Lindsay, Professor Emeritus, Spelman College

  14. Jessica M. Johnson, Assistant Professor of Africana Studies and History, Johns Hopkins University\

  15. Tanisha C. Ford, Associate Professor, University of Delaware

  16. Jim Harper, PhD, Chair, History, North Carolina Central University (North Carolina Central University, Class of 1994 /Class of 1997)

  17. Charles D. Johnson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History and, Director of the Public History Program, North Carolina Central University

  18. Patrick Douthit aka 9th Wonder, Artist in Residence, North Carolina Central University / Duke University

  19. Baiyina W. Muhammad, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History, North Carolina Central University

  20. Lydia Lindsey, Associate Professor of History, North Carolina Central University

  21. Gloria Ladson-Billings, Kellner Family Chair in Urban Education, University of Wisconsin (Morgan State University, Class of 1968)

  22. Akinyele Umoja, Professor and Chair, African-American Studies, Georgia State University

  23. Fahamu Pecou, PhD, Artist Scholar, Emory University/ Adjunct Professor of Art, Spelman College

  24. Guthrie P. Ramsey, Jr., Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Music, University of Pennsylvania

  25. Charles McKinney, Director, Africana Studies, Associate Professor of History, Rhodes College

  26. Lester Spence, Associate Professor of Political Science and Africana Studies, Johns Hopkins University

  27. Mat Johnson, Full Professor, University of Houston

  28. Regina N. Bradley, Assistant Professor English and African Diaspora Studies, Kennesaw State University

  29. Asia Leeds, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of International Studies, Spelman College

  30. Akissi Britton, Ph.D., Lecturer, Sociology/Anthropology, Pace University

  31. Takiyah Nur Amin, PhD, Assistant Professor, Dance Studies, UNC Charlotte

  32. Ashanté Reese, Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology, Spelman College

  33. Dr. Khalilah L. Brown-Dean, Associate Professor of Political Science, Quinnipiac University

  34. Charles H.F. Davis III, Ph.D., Director & Assistant Professor, USC Race and Equity Center

  35. Fanon Che Wilkins, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Global Studies, Morehouse College, Kyoto, JAPAN (Morehouse University, Class of 1991)

  36. Lumumba Akinwole-Bandele, Visiting Assistant Professor, Pratt Institute/Adjunct Lecturer, Lehman College/CUNY

  37. Emir Lewis, Adjunct Professor, Film & TV, Tisch School of The Arts, New York University

  38. Aimee Meredith Cox, Associate Professor of African American Studies, Fordham University

  39. Tiffany D Pogue, Assistant Professor, Teacher Education, Albany State University

  40. Dr. Kimberly J. Chandler, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, Affiliate Faculty, Women’s Studies Program, Xavier University of Louisiana

  41. Racine R. Henry, Ph.D., LMFT, Visiting Assistant Clinical Professor, Drexel University

  42. W. Michelle Harris, Assoc. Professor, Interactive Games & Media, Rochester Institute of Technology

  43. Renee Baron, Associate Professor of Liberal Arts and American Studies, The Juilliard School

  44. Shari Robinson-Lynk, LMSW, ACSW, Professor of Practice, SW@S, Simmons College

  45. Kinitra Brooks, Associate Professor of English, University of Texas at San Antonio

  46. Twayla Eason, MSW, LCSW, Assistant Professor of Social Work, Shaw University

  47. George Derek Musgrove, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History, Affiliate Professor of Africana Studies, University Maryland Baltimore County

  48. Nikki R. Byrom, Instructor, University of West Georgia

  49. Heidi R. Lewis, Associate Director & Assistant Professor Feminist & Gender Studies, Colorado College

  50. Josie Pickens, Coordinator of Developmental Writing, Texas Southern University/HBCU Grad

  51. Michael Leo Owens, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Political Science, Emory University

  52. Dr. Antonia Randolph, Assistant Professor, Winston-Salem State University

  53. Gwendolyn D. Pough, Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Dean’s Professor of the Humanities, Syracuse University

  54. Lisa B. Thompson, Ph.D., Associate Professor of African & African Diaspora Studies, University of Texas at Austin

  55. Najja K. Baptist, Instructor, Political Science, Howard University

  56. Amrita Chakrabarti Myers, Ph.D., Ruth N. Halls Associate Professor of History and Gender Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington

  57. Melina Abdullah, Pan-African Studies, Cal State LA

  58. Kristine Wright, Ph.D., Faculty – Sociology, Los Angeles Southwest College

  59. Sam Vernon, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Art, Vassar College

  60. Aisha Tandiwe Bell, Adjunct Professor, Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC)

  61. Christina M Greer, PhD, Associate Professor, Political Science, Fordham University

  62. Brandi Blessett, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University-Camden

  63. Tia Sherèe Gaynor, Assistant Professor, Marist College

  64. Camille Z. Charles, Walter H. and Leonard C. Annenberg Professor in the Social Sciences Director, Center for Africana Studies, University of Pennsylvania

  65. Devon R. Johnson, Ph. D., Faculty Teaching Instructor, Department of Criminology, School of Social Justice, Rutgers University

  66. Danielle M. Wallace, Assistant Professor, William Paterson University

  67. Rachel Watkins, Associate Professor of Anthropology, American University

  68. Dr. Shaunna Payne Gold, Associate Director, Student Development & Assessment Programs, University of Maryland

  69. Tennille Allen, Associate Professor and Chair of Sociology, Lewis University

  70. Marta Moreno Vega, Adjunct Professor NYU Art and Public Policy Department

  71. Koritha Mitchell, Associate Professor of English, Ohio State University

  72. Noel A. Cazenave, Professor of Sociology, University of Connecticut

  73. Scott Poulson-Bryant, Assistant Professor of English, Fordham University

  74. Anita Thompson, Adjunct Lecturer, African/African-American Studies Program, Eastern Kentucky University

  75. Krystal Strong, Assistant Professor, Education, Culture, and Society, University of Pennsylvania

  76. Suzanne Henderson, PhD, Independent Scholar of African American Studies

  77. Jasmine Mitchell, Assistant Professor, State University of New York-Old Westbury

  78. Candice M. Jenkins, Associate Professor of English and African American Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

  79. Jillian Carter Ford, Associate Professor of Educational Equity, Kennesaw State University

  80. Natasha Lightfoot, Associate Professor, History, Columbia University

  81. Crystal R. Sanders, Associate Professor of History and African American Studies, Pennsylvania State University

  82. Dr. Rashawn Ray, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Maryland, College Park

  83. Linda Chavers, Ph.D., Temple University

  84. Dre Domingue, EdD, Visiting Lecturer, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

  85. Siobhan Carter-David, Assistant Professor of History, Southern Connecticut State University

  86. Derrais Carter, Assistant Professor, Portland State University

  87. Kesi Amandla Augustin, PhD Candidate, New York University

  88. Tracey Lewis-Giggetts, MBA, MFA, Professor of English and Creative Writing, Community College of Philadelphia

  89. Bayeté Ross Smith, Associate Professor, NYU Tisch Dept. of Photography and Imaging (FAMU 1999)

  90. Karla FC Holloway, James B. Duke Professor of English, Professor of Law, Duke University

  91. K.T. Ewing, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History, Tennessee State University

  92. Apryl A. Alexander, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Denver

  93. Courtney R. Baker, Associate Professor, American Studies, Occidental College

  94. Shanté Paradigm Smalls, PhD, Assistant Professor of Black Literature & Culture, St. John’s University

  95. Anita W. Plummer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Howard University

  96. Dr. Rose Brewer, Professor, University of Minnesota

  97. Tabitha Chester, PhD, Denison University, Visiting Assistant Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies & Black Studies

  98. Ramon Goings, Ed.D., Assistant Professor of Education Leadership, Loyola University Maryland

  99. Adanna Johnson-Evans, Associate Professor of Psychology; Director of African & African American Studies (Prairie View A&M University, Class of 1999)

  100. Heather Z. Lyons, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Loyola University Maryland

  101. Adell Cothorne, Professional Development Schools Coordinator, Loyola University Maryland (Morgan State University, Class of 1994)

  102. Jay Morrow, Webmaster, University of the District of Columbia (North Carolina Central University, Class of 1995)

  103. Sherie Randolph, Associate Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology

  104. Ed Brockenbrough, Associate Professor, University of Rochester

  105. Lynnette Mawhinney, Associate Professor, The College of New Jersey

  106. Jay Sanford-DeShields, Associate Professor, Temple University

  107. Aishah Shahidah Simmons, Visiting Scholar, University of Pennsylvania

  108. Michael Dumas, Assistant Professor, University of California, Berkeley

  109. Vanessa Dodo Seriki, Assistant Professor of Science and Urban Education, Loyola University Maryland

  110. Lionel C. Howard, Ed.D., Assistant Professor of Educational Research, The George Washington University

  111. Robert D. Bland, Assistant Professor, St. John’s University

  112. Genyne Royal, Ph.D., Neighborhood Director, Student Success Collaborative, Michigan State University (Shaw University, Class of 1995)

  113. Jennifer Williams, Assistant Professor, Morgan State University

  114. Tanya Maloney, Assistant Professor, Montclair State University

  115. Shannon King, Associate Professor of History, The College of Wooster

  116. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer, Associate Professor, Purdue University

  117. Eric Darnell Pritchard, Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, Class of 2002)

  118. Ifeoma Ike, Esq., Adjunct Professor, Political Science and African/Africana Studies, Lehman College

  119. Dr. Adisa A. Alkebulan, Associate Professor, Department of Africana Studies, San Diego State University

  120. Rema Reynolds, Assistant Professor, Eastern Michigan University

  121. Keon McGuire, Assistant Professor, Arizona State University

  122. Chinonye Chukwu, Assistant Professor, Wright State University

  123. Sharita Jacobs, Independent Scholar of History (North Carolina Central University, classes of 1994 and 1996; Howard University, class of 2009)

  124. Melissa Haithcox-Dennis (Dr. H-D), Adjunct Professor, Department of Health Education and Promotion, East Carolina University (North Carolina Central University, Class of 1997)

  125. Khadijah Costley-White, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University

  126. Shameka Powell, Assistant Professor, Tufts University

  127. Sheena Harris, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History, Tuskegee University

  128. Alexandria Smith, Assistant Professor, Studio Art, Wellesley College

  129. Leslie E. Wingard, Associate Professor of English, College of Wooster

  130. Dr. Arica L. Coleman, Independent Scholar

  131. andré carrington, Assistant Professor of English, Drexel University

  132. Mendi Obadike, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Humanities and Media Studies, Pratt Institute

  133. Keith Obadike, Associate Professor of Communication, William Paterson University

  134. G. Clausen, Visiting Faculty, UNC School of the Arts

  135. Tanya Mears, Associate Professor, Worcester State University

  136. Jeffrey Q. McCune, Jr., PhD, Associate Professor of Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies and Performance Studies / Director, Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program, Washington University

  137. La TaSha Levy, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, American Ethnic Studies Department, University of Washington

  138. Debra T. Wiley, Associate Professor, Albany State University/COE Teacher Education

  139. Wahneema Lubiano, Associate Professor, Department of African & African American Studies, Duke University

  140. Marcia Jones, Professor of Art, Art Institute Charlotte (Clark Atlanta University Class of 1990)

  141. Yolonda Wilson, Howard University

  142. Weldon McWilliams, PhD, Assistant Professor of History, SUNY Dutchess Community College

  143. Dr Tempii Champion, LIU Brooklyn

  144. Ashley Farmer Ph.D., Assistant Professor, History & African American Studies

  145. Dr. Charles Peterson, Associate Professor of Africana Studies, Oberlin College

  146. Dr. André E. Key, Assistant Professor of African American Studies, Claflin University

  147. Elliott H. Powell, Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota

  148. Don C. Sawyer III, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Sociology, Quinnipiac University

  149. Sureshi M. Jayawardene, PhD Candidate, African American Studies Instructor, International Studies, Northwestern University

  150. Abigail A. Sewell, Assistant Professor, Emory University

  151. Piper Anderson, Adjunct Professor, Gallatin School, New York University

  152. Brandy Thomas Wells, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History, Department of History, Anthropology, & Philosophy

  153. Yolanda Vivian Williams, M.Ed., M.A., Eastern Illinois University

  154. Matthew J. Countryman, Associate Professor of History and American Culture, University of Michigan

  155. Chryste L. Johnson, ACSW, Lecturer, Department of Social Work, Humboldt State University

  156. Regina M. Moorer, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Auburn University-Montgomery

  157. Sharanna Brown, English Instructor, Alabama State University

  158. Efeya Sampson, Adjunct Lecturer in the Dance Department, Sarah Lawrence College

  159. Grace D. Gipson, Visiting Lecturer in African American Studies at Georgia State University

  160. Kasandra Pantoja, Sociology, Passaic County Community College

  161. Anedra Jones, Professor of Instruction, Department of Mathematics, University of Akron

  162. Benjamin A. Saunders, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology, Long Island University – Brooklyn

  163. Brandi Hinnant-Crawford, PhD, Assistant Professor of Educational Research, Western Carolina University

  164. Ijumaa Jordan, Adjunct Professor

  165. Monique J. Roberts, JD, Adjunct Professor, Department of Public Administration, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY

  166. Caitlin Cherry, Adjunct Professor (Fine Art), Columbia University

  167. Keisha Green, Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst

  168. Tarshel Beards, Adjunct Professor, English Composition and News Writing, Malcolm X College

  169. Terri Coleman, Instructor of English, Dillard University

  170. Celina Dozier, Postdoctoral Research Associate, UMass, Amherst

  171. Shelly Washington, Adjunct Professor, Coppin State University

  172. Nicole Dugger, Graduate Teaching Assistant, English

  173. Aaisha Haykal, MSLIS, Manager of Archival Services, College of Charleston Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture

  174. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania

  175. Alexis Caputo, Adjunct Lecturer & Professor of Dance, University of Miami

  176. Risikat I. Okedeyi, Associate Professor of English, Prince George’s Community College

  177. Chezare Warren, Assistant Professor of Teacher Education, Michigan State University

  178. Dr. Aminah Perkins, Adjunct Instructor, Western Carolina University

  179. LeConte Dill, Assistant Professor, SUNY Downstate School of Public Health

  180. Dr. Regina Spellers Sims, Resident Faculty, DePaul University School of New Learning

  181. Tonia Poteat, Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

  182. Cherie Dawson-Edwards, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Criminal Justice, University of Louisville

  183. Bianca C. Williams, Associate Professor, Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder

  184. Dr. Nicole Rousseau, Associate Professor, Kent State University

  185. Shirletta J. Kinchen, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pan-African Studies, University of Louisville

  186. Rosalyn Davis, Ph.D. HSPP, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Indiana University Kokomo

  187. Giovanni N. Dortch, Adjunct Instructor, University of Memphis

  188. Arlene Pitterson, Adjunct Professor, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of NY

  189. Jovonne Dempster, MSW, Lecturer, Social Work Department, Humboldt State University

  190. Toya Williams, Adjunct Professor Central Piedmont Community College

  191. Chantè D. DeLoach, Psy.D., Santa Monica College

  192. Chris Roberts, Instructor, Temple University

  193. Samira Abdur-Rahman, Assistant Professor of English, University of San Francisco

  194. Brian Lozenski, PhD, Assistant Professor of Urban and Multicultural Education, Macalester College

  195. T.J. Tallie, Assistant Professor of African History, Washington and Lee University

  196. Jennifer Freeman Marshall, Assistant Professor of English and Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, Purdue University (Spelman College, Class of 1990)

  197. Christina Sharpe, Ph.D., Professor, English, Africana, & Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Tufts University

  198. William J. Broussard, Ph. D., Assistant Professor of English, Southern University

  199. Joyce M. Bell, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Minnesota

  200. Anyabwile Love, Assistant Professor, Community College of Philadelphia

  201. Shannon J. Miller, PhD Associate Professor, Minnesota State University, Mankato

  202. Dr. Le’Trice Donaldson, Lecturer, History and Philosophy, City University of New York-York College

  203. Calvin John Smiley, PhD, Sociology, Hunter College

  204. Whitney Battle-Baptiste, Associate Professor, Anthropology, University of Massachusetts Amherst

  205. Michael Roman, Visual Arts Program Director, Morehouse College

  206. Karsonya Wise Whitehead, Associate Professor, Loyola University Maryland

  207. Whitney Pirtle, Assistant Professor, Sociology, University of California Merced

  208. Imani Kai Johnson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Critical Dance Studies, UC Riverside

  209. Timea M. Webster, Facilitator, Words of Engagement Intergroup Dialogue Program, University of Maryland

  210. Dr. Lisa M. Anderson, Associate Professor and Faculty Head, Women and Gender Studies, School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University

  211. Ronald J. Stephens, Professor and Director, African American Studies and Research Center, Purdue University

  212. Ngeri Nnachi, Clinical Legal Fellow, University of St. Thomas

  213. Dejenaba Gordon, MPH, MPH Internship Director, Arcadia University

  214. Beverly Guy Sheftall, Professor, Spelman College

  215. Lynnee Denise, California State University of L.A.

  216. Lewis Erskine, Assistant Arts Professor, NYU Tisch School of the Arts

    This letter was originally published exclusively on CASSIUS

 
Yaba Blay