Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax; 713/743-8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 26, 2004

Contact: Leticia Konigsberg
713/743-8152 (office)
713/617-7143 (pager)
lkonigsberg@uh.edu

HOUSTON, Feb. 26, 2004 – February might mark Black History Month, but for the University of Houston African American Studies Program (AAS) black history is celebrated all year long.

Bold images of Malcolm X, W.E.B. Du Bois, Fredrick Douglass and other historical figures decorate the office of AAS visiting scholar Reiland Rabaka. For Rabaka, and fellow visiting scholar Andrew Smallwood, UH is their home away from home, where they can concentrate on completing their respective research.

Each year, the AAS program selects at least two scholars from across the nation to participate in a one-year appointment in which they teach a course of their own design while working toward the completion of a research project.

“The program is part of a much larger initiative,” said James Conyers, director of the program. “We are looking to recruit and retain high quality minority faculty and students, not only to increase diversity on campus, but to advance the program to an autonomous departmental unit that will ultimately enable us to introduce a baccalaureate major degree in the African-American Studies discipline.”

For 35 years, AAS has provided students with a comprehensive education based on the study of African life, thought and practice. The Visiting Scholars Program and the scholars it attracts have been no exception.

Since its inception in 1995, the scholars program has played a vital role in supporting scholars to contribute innovative teaching and research in the field of African-American Studies. Whether it is perspectives on Black History Month, Critical Marxism or Male Feminism, the program allows its scholars to follow the path and continue the efforts that W.E.B. Du Bois, Carter Woodson and others began.

This year’s chosen scholars are Rabaka, assistant professor of Africana philosophy at the Department of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach and Smallwood, assistant professor of Black Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Together they are utilizing this academic year not only to complete their research projects, but to impart the knowledge and experience they have gained to students through seminars.
Born in Dallas to a struggling, single mother and the second of three sons, Rabaka was immediately interested in the candid discussion of racism and black spirituality in Du Bois’ “The Souls of Black Folk.”

Rabaka believes the study of black history is indispensable not just for African Americans, but all Americans.

“African Americans have been central to every major historical breakthrough and setback this country has had: from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement,” Rabaka said. “Black History Month, at its best, represents a move closer to multicultural democracy, to the kind of country that resembles the collective dreams and aspirations of human beings from all over the world.”

Smallwood hails from the upper west side of Manhattan and is the youngest of three sons. His father, a social worker, and his mother, a guidance counselor, planted the seeds of education from early on.

“I was lucky to have been brought up in a place where exposure to diversity and arts and culture were at my fingertips,” Smallwood said. “As a kid our fieldtrips were to New York City’s world-renowned museums, theatre and music halls but I didn’t lose my identity. I gained one.”

Smallwood achieved his doctoral degree in education after completing his master’s degree in counselor education, and a bachelor’s in community studies.

As author of “An Afro centric Study of the Intellectual Development, Leadership Praxis and Pedagogy of Malcolm X” and co-editor of “Malcolm X: A Historical Reader,” Smallwood has more than a few thoughts on black history and the AAS program.

“The fact that many schools like the University of Houston celebrate Black History Month with activities, demonstrates at the least their engagement in the celebratory aspects that its founder Dr. Woodson sought,” Smallwood said. “The challenge in continuing these efforts beyond February still lies in the manner in which institutions support the research of faculty and students in the Africana Studies departments and programs. Maintaining this mission will help provide a quality educational experience for students.”

With the efforts and insights of Smallwood and Rabaka, Conyers and the AAS program may make great strides in moving forward with their mission. And maybe, just maybe, Smallwood, Rabaka and future AAS visiting scholars will call UH home, for good.

About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate, civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and service with more than 35,000 students.

For more information about the AAS program visit http://www.class.uh.edu/aas/.

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.