Henry (Hank) Williams teaches in the African and African American Studies and English Departments at Lehman College of the City University of New York. He also teaches summer workshops for the SEEK Program at
City College of New York where he also creates the curriculum for
intensive reading, writing, and research workshops for incoming first
year SEEK students. A list of current and past courses he teaches (with
curricular links) is on the teaching page.
Research
interests include the Black Arts and Black Power Movements, African
American popular music (particularly jazz and hip hop and the literary
and cultural connections) and film, and Black and Latin@ students in
Higher Ed and the CUNY system.
He
is currently a PhD candidate (ABD) in English at the Graduate Center of
the City University of New York (CUNY: pronounced “kew-nee”) and has
graduate certificates in Africana Studies and American Studies.
His dissertation research is a profile of the early years of The Last
Poets, a performance poetry/activist collective as a case study of how
artists engaged as political activists during the Black Arts Movement of
the late 1960s – early 1970s in New York City. It places their work in
the context of the Black Arts Movement, Harlem, and Black – Puerto Rican
political and cultural connections. He was also a Diversity Fellow for
the 2011-2012 academic year at SUNY Purchase.
Professional affiliations include the Association for Scholars of Classical African Civilizations (ASCAC), College Language Association, Diopian Institute for Scholarly Advancement, Jazz Journalists Association, and the National Council for Black Studies
Dr. Leonard Jeffries,
a political scientist, historian, educator, and Pan-Africanist, is a
founding director and a former Vice-President and President of the
Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations (ASCAC).
Jeffries, known for his African-Centred scholarship, achieved national
prominence in the early 1990s for his historical statements about Jews
and European people. In a 1991 speech he stated that Jews financed the
slave trade, used the movie industry to hurt Black people, and that
whytes are “ice people” while Africans are “sun people”. Jeffries was
discharged from his position as chairman of the black studies department
at CUNY, leading to a lengthy legal battle, before he was reinstated.
Jeffries remains a leading voice and theoretician in African-centered
education.
Leonard
Jeffries was born January 19th, 1937 in Newark, New Jersey. As a
teenager, Dr. Jeffries sensed he was on a mission. He said, “I grew up with the idea of becoming a lawyer to save the race in the civil-rights movement and to be mayor of Newark.” Like
other Black youngsters coming of age in the late 1940s and early 1950s,
Jeffries faced racism from his whyte schoolmates as well as from some
of his teachers, but he buried his rage and strove to excel. His formal
education came from the Newark Public School system were he became
President of his graduation class at Sussex Avenue School, January 1951.
His later schooling was at McKinley Jr. High School and Barringer High
School where he graduated with honors.
Jeffries
took his first trip to Africa with the Crossroads program. His
leadership abilities and proficiency in French made him an asset to the
program. By the summer of 1962, he became the group leader of a trip to
Senegal. By 1964, he had traveled to Africa a dozen times. To date
(though he has stopped counting) he has traveled to Africa more than 100
times—usually leading groups of young people whose lives might be
touched as his was.
Dr.
Jeffries is a founding director of the Association for the Study of
Classical African Civilizations (ASCAC) and is a former president of the
African Heritage Association (AHSA). His scholastic exploits have taken
him to Ghana, Brazil, Switzerland and throughout the Caribbean.
Dr. Obari Adéye Cartman is
a father, son, brother, uncle, thinker, writer, therapist,
photographer, and drummer. He is a Chicago native, where his cultural
and educational foundations were firmly planted by several
African-centered institutions and communities. He received his
undergraduate degree from Hampton University and a Ph.D in clinical
& community psychology from Georgia State University. He has worked
as a therapist is a variety of settings ranging from a family center to a
women’s prison. He has worked as a professor of psychology at Georgia
State University and the Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies at
Northeastern University. Currently Dr. Cartman works as a restorative
justice coach with H.E.LP., LLC (Healing Empowering and Learning
Professions) in Chicago Public Schools. He also conducts trainings for
adults and workshops with youth about maintaining good mental health,
critical analysis of hip-hop and media, racial and cultural identity,
developing authentic manhood, and healthy relationships.
Dr.Cartman’s new book is called Lady’s Man: Conversations for Young Black Men about Relationships and Manhood.
It is a critical thinking guide that addresses historical trauma, hip
hop, emotional intelligence, intimacy, communication, power, purpose and
a variety of other topics. It has been received with great critical
acclaim: “.Cornel West referred to him as ..one of the wise and
visionary writers of his generation.” The book is called “…penetrating,
poignant and personal...” by Na’im Akbar, and an “instant classic” by Jessica Care Mooore.
Jawanza Kunjufu says is does a “brilliant job in empowering Black males
to reach their full potential.” The book is a tool for families,
teachers, mentors, and coaches to help young men think critically, and
build character, discover their purpose, love themselves and each other,
communicate with clarity and intention, understand the need for proper
education, relate to women with integrity, express their emotions,
understand their place in history, develop healthy coping strategies,
and learn how to build a world where all people are truly free.
Brother Sababu Plata,
edited most of Amos Wilsons Books. He has continued the business
African World Infosystems. He insured the publication of Blue Print for
Black Power after Amos Death. There is no one who knows more about Amos
Wilson, his plans, his day to day routine, his study habits and his
organizing than Brother Plata
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Brother Raymond Dugue is the 2nd Assistant President General of the UNIA.
More info will be shared in future emails about the event.
