PAN-AFRICAN STUDIES COMMUNITY EDUCATION PROGRAM: THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF A COMMUNITY EDUCATION PROGRAM ________________________________________________________________ A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board ________________________________________________________________ in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ________________________________________________________________ by Jamal Benin May, 2013 Dissertation Examining Committee Novella Z. Keith, Advisory Chair, Department of Teaching and Learning James Davis, Department of Psychological, Organizational, & Leadership Studies in Education Maia Cucchiara, Department of Teaching and Learning Will J. Jordan, Department of Teaching and Learning Rickie Sanders, Geography and Urban Studies © Copyright 2013 by Jamal Benin All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT This is a case study of how a community education program became institutionalized at Temple University. The Pan-African Studies Community Education Program (PASCEP) has been located at Temple since 1979. The research illuminates the events that led to PASCEP coming onto Temple University's campus. The main research question was: "Why and how did Pan- African Studies Community Education Program develop from a Community Education Program in North Central Philadelphia to a Temple University campus- based program, and what were the important factors contributing to its development and institutionalization within Temple University?" The research used a qualitative case study method. Data were collected from archival repositories at Temple University and the City of Philadelphia as well as from original documents provided by the Community Education Program and participants in the study. Documents included newspaper articles, letters, reports, and organizational histories as well as transcripts from thirty semi- structured participant interviews. Semi-structured were held with 30 participants who were involved or familiar with the movement and the university between 1975 and 1979. The research indicates that the Community Education Program acted as a Local movement center connected with the Civil rights movement. I employed Social Movement theories and Aldon Morris's Indigenous perspective to examine the trajectory of the Community Education Program from the neighborhood to the University. Much of the organizing, mobilizing, and planning done by the iii members in the Community Education Program/Local movement center was managed by Black women. Therefore, the research employed Belinda Robnett's perspective on Bridge Leaders and Toni King and Alease Ferguson's standpoint on Black Womanist Professional Leadership Development to illuminate the leadership styles of the Black women in the Local movement center, and their relationships with Temple University faculty and administrators, as well. Results from the inquiry demonstrate that community activism constituted social movement collective action behavior as the Community Education Program and its supporters became an effective Local movement center. The study indicates that leadership, political opportunity, resource mobilization, and participation during the tenure in the Program in the community as well as after the introduction of the Community Education Program to the University were indispensable factors in the institutionalization of the Community Education Program. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, thanks go to my advisor and dear friend, Dr. Novella Keith, without whom this research project would have been impossible. In countless ways, Dr. Keith helped me go beyond my greatest expectations, and I am pleased to acknowledge her at the end of the most humbling experience of my life. Thank you Dr. Keith. Next, I want to thank my committee members/professors/friends, James Davis, Maia Cucchiara, Will J. Jordan, and Rickie Sanders for their subtle, and not so subtle, guidance and advice. I also want to thank Temple University, its faculty and administrators, who are just the greatest. I love all of you. I give thanks to my mighty ancestors who paved the way for me to be here. I know I am standing on their shoulders. Thanks to my mothers and fathers, and to my immediate family for their steadfast love and support, especially during these years I have spent working my way towards PhD land: My sibs - Glenda, Willene, Clarence Lee, John, Arnetha, Connie, and William Hugh. My children - Tishawnda, Malik, Tuere, Seth, Ward, Chams and Chala. My ex-wives - Acquanetta and Lucinda, two who have played essential roles in my life. I want to thank my beloved friends and treasured colleagues, many of whom should get a degree for putting up with me during this process. Thanks also to my study participants. Finally, I thank Annie Dee Hyman, who opened up her heart, memories and her files, and thanks to her entire family. v DEDICATION To All of My Mothers and Fathers vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................... v DEDICATION ....................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................. ix CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 The Context…………………………………………………………………...…2 The CEP Founder……………………………………………………………….6 Importance and Significance…………………………………………………..7 Problem Statement .................................................................................. 10 Community Education in the Pursuit of Black Freedom ........................... 12 Research Question .................................................................................. 13 Organization of Study .............................................................................. 14 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................................. 17 Introduction ............................................................................................. 17 The 1960s ................................................................................................ 18 The Lost Economic Opportunity……………………………………………...20 Cecil B. Moore and Girard College…………………………………………..21 Mayor Frank Rizzo…………………………………………………………….22 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................ 23 Social Movement Theory ......................................................................... 26 The Indigenous Perspective .................................................................... 29 Bridge Leadership and Black Womanist Perspective .............................. 30 3. RESEARCH METHODS ...................................................................... 44 Data Collection Procedures ..................................................................... 51 Sample Participants ................................................................................. 52 Interviews ................................................................................................. 53 Data Analysis ........................................................................................... 58 Method ..................................................................................................... 60 Type of Data ................................................................................. 60 Interview Protocol .......................................................................... 61 Consent Forms.............................................................................. 62 Limitations of the Study ................................................................. 62 Debriefing ..................................................................................... 63 4. AFRICATOWN ALABAMA ................................................................... 66 The Early Years ....................................................................................... 66 Young Adult Years - Marriage, Children and Family ................................ 72 Developing A Movement-Oriented Consciousness .................................. 77 Developing A Movement: The Community Education Program ............... 83 Becoming A Visionary… .......................................................................... 86 vii Hyman's Philosophy ................................................................................ 89 The Temple Nexus .................................................................................. 94 Dr. Tran Van Dinh……………………………………………………………..97 5. THE TRAJECTORY OF A LOCAL MOVEMENT CENTER ............... 104 Mobilizing Grievances ............................................................................ 107 Social Structural or Material Conditions ................................................. 109 Social Psychological Factors ................................................................. 114 Framing .................................................................................................. 117 Contextual Conditions ........................................................................... 126 Political Opportunity ............................................................................... 128 Resource Mobilization...........................................................................