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i creativityVolume 1, 2013 THE ANNUALKUUMBA JOURNAL OF WILLIAM & MARY AFRICANA STUDIES A Tribute to Jacquelyn McLendon: A Legacy of Renaissance The Leader, Collaborator and Advocate For Prof. Jacquelyn McLendon, Who is ‘Free at Last!’ For Jacqui Also: Professor Chinua Thelwell: Interdisciplinarity as the Bridge of Africa and its Diasporas Dr. My Haley: Her Story, Her Roots In My Own Words: Dr. Brad Weiss, Anthropologist Professor of Literature & Creative Writing Hermine Pinson: Weaver and Wizard of Words Professor of Economics Berhanu Abegaz: A Passion for Service & Academic Activism Anna Swanson: Senior Scrapbook KUUMBA (creativity) PROFESSOR JACQUELYN MCLENDON: the annual journal of William & Mary Africana Studies A Legacy of Renaissance Volume 1, 2013 By Marvin Shelton ’15 WILLIAM A woman unshakable in her drive, Professor & MARY Jacquelyn McLendon battled against all odds Welcome Our Kuumba! to help bring Black Studies to the College It is indeed a humbling honor to welcome you to the debut of Kuumba as the Annual of Africana of William and Mary. Believing that Black CONTENTS Studies at William and Mary. In restyling it as Studies are an integral part of any well- our Annual, we seek to celebrate in print the rounded student’s college curriculum, Professor Message from the Director ...........................1 achievements of our community that emanates Professor Jacquelyn McLendon: from the strengths of our program in Africana McLendon has advocated for the need for A Legacy of Renaissance ..........................2 Studies and its history of creative scholarship and greater visibility for the program. It is because academic activism. We also have an online edition Jacqui McLendon: The Leader, entitled, iKuumba, which allows us to keep the of both her strength and commitment to Collaborator and Advocate .....................4 William and Mary community regularly updated the program that it has transformed from a For Prof. Jacquelyn McLendon, of news and programming. smattering of classes to the broad selection of Who is ‘Free at Last!’ .................................5 In this maiden issue, we pay homage to Professor topics represented today. For Jacqui ......................................................7 Jacquelyn McLendon, the founding director of Francis Tanglao-Aguas, the Black Studies Program at William and Mary Professor Chinua Thelwell: Director, Class of 2015 through a profi le written by our main writer, While Professor McLendon may teach on the Harlem Before coming to William and Mary, Professor McLendon Interdisciplinarity as the Bridge Distinguished Associate Marvin Shelton, ’15 as well as tributes from her Renaissance, the Black Studies program served as a renaissance participated in teaching and collecting tenure research at of Africa and its Diasporas ............................7 Professor of Theatre & colleagues. Marvin also interviewed Africana she can call her own. She has built a legacy as a cornerstone Hofstra University in Long Island, New York and Amherst Dr. My Haley: Her Storty, Her Roots .............9 Africana Studies Mellon Fellow Dr. Chinua Thelwell who shares his of the fl ourishing Africana Studies program that will last long College in Amherst, Massachusetts. “I was on a tenure track, research with students through his teaching. Our beyond her retirement this year. and I was there for three years. I taught pretty much the same In My Own Words: articles of tribute conclude with our celebration of Africana Studies Director emeritus things there as I teach here [at William and Mary]:” early British Dr. Brad Weiss, Anthropologist ...................11 During the early part of her life, Professor McLendon grew up Professor Berhanu Abegaz who won the 2012 Arts & Sciences Award for Faculty literature and African American literature. She adds that the in Cleveland, Ohio where she attended John Hay High School, Professor Hermine Pinson ...........................12 Governance. English professors at Hofstra, unlike those at Amherst and a commercial school that prepared its students to enter the William and Mary, had to teach large classes of composition. Professor of Economics Berhanu Abegaz: Kuumba is unique in the sense that it also contains much of the information and workforce. McLendon worked clerically as a stenographer After leaving Hofstra because of issues with the heavy course A Passion for Service & documents students need to peruse and complete in order to declare a major in for several years until she received a position working for the loads, large amounts of students in each class, and little time to Academic Activism ........................................13 Africana Studies. With this in mind, Victoria Olayiwola, ’15, provides the reader with government in the Internal Revenue Service. She stated that, “I do tenure and dissertation research, Professor McLendon went a sample of analytical and refl ective writing she completed in our Africana course on took courses periodically at the college level, but I didn’t actually Anna Swanson: Be the Change: on to teach many of the same courses at Amherst. diversity in plays and fi lms. From our faculty “In My Own Words” column, Professor Why I Majored in Africana Studies ...........14 enroll [with an institution] until I had started a family.” Brad Weiss discusses his teaching and research focal points. To further showcase our While teaching and moving from one college to another, With an initial intent of achieving success monetarily with About the Africana Studies Program ........17 faculty’s creativity, we present the poem “Theory,” by our eminent poet Professor Professor McLendon still managed to complete her dissertation the government, she enrolled at Temple University where she Hermine Pinson. It is our hope that prospective students and their parents may also work and become a tenured professor at Amherst and William received her undergraduate degree in English literature due benefi t from these materials as they consider William and Mary as part of their future. and Mary. “My dissertation work focused on the Harlem KUUMBA STAFF to her life long fascination with reading and writing. While Renaissance, specifi cally on women writers during the period, To conclude, I would like to extend my deepest thanks to the faculty of Africana working on her undergraduate studies, Professor McLendon met Editor: Francis Tanglao-Aguas, especially Nella Larsen and Jessie Fauset. I have written on Studies for their reverence and commitment to the program and its intrinsic vitality professors who believed that she “would do well in education” Africana Studies other writers: Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes, and Alice to diversifying and internationalizing the curriculum and faculty of William and and who encouraged her to apply to graduate programs in order Walker. However, my main focus was on Larsen and Fauset.” Her Graphic Designer: Rachel Follis, Mary. Further, none of our achievements would have been possible without the to teach; therefore, as she explains, “I kind of backed into getting fi rst book was on Larsen and Fauset, and she received tenure Creative Services unwavering support of our Dean Joel Schwartz of the Charles Center for Honors & a Masters and a PhD.” She returned to Cleveland, Ohio in order from writing this book. She later wrote a variety of literary Interdisciplinary Studies. We are also grateful to Vice Provost Steve Hanson of the to attend graduate school and to take care of her mother who was Contributors: Marvin Shelton ’15; pieces, edited several pieces of literature, including a children’s Reves International Center for supporting our programming. Looking forward into terminally ill at the time, attending Case Western University for Terry Myers, English; Hermine book on the biography of Phyllis Wheatley. Recently she the future, we are excited to collaborate with our new Dean of Arts & Sciences Dr. Kate her graduate studies. At Case Western University, she received Pinson; Nancy Gray, English; published an entry in a database on American literature about Conley as we strive to sustain and advance the progress of Africana Studies at William her masters and PhD in English Literature, propelling her into the Victoria Olayiwola ’15; Brad Weiss, African American literature from 1945 to the present. Currently, and Mary. May we have many more years of kuumba together. beginnings of a career in higher education. Anthropology; Anna Swanson ’13 she is writing an entry in Approaches to Teaching American 1 KUUMBA 2013 KUUMBA 2013 2 Literature on approaches to teaching Nella Larsen that is under review of the 6 Questions for Professor Modern Language Association. JACQUI MCLENDON: At William and Mary, Professor Jacquelyn McLendon McLendon has been active in the English department, teaching courses in early What is the signifi cance of Black Studies? The Leader, Collaborator and Advocate British literature and African American By Professor Terry Meyers, English literature. Perhaps her greatest legacy is “Black history is a part of the world and America. People should know a broader range of her indefatigable work in bringing Black history. It is an important aspect of history. The things that we teach [in Black Studies] Jacqui and I worked most closely together during the six years I was as Associate Chair. I can’t remember now if she needed or wanted Studies to the college. As the director of are not meant to be separatist in any way. The reason it is a ‘separate’ program is because Chair and she was Associate Chair of the English

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