To the University community:
Every February, Black History Month celebrates the immense cultural heritage, achievements, and tribulations that constitute an indelible part of our nation鈥檚 history. The Black experience is embedded in the collective fabric of the American story.
Carter听G. Woodson, one of the most important educators and public intellectuals of the American 20th century, initiated the celebration of Negro History Week in 1926, which later became Black History Month in 1970. It was first proposed and celebrated at Kent State University. Born in Virginia, Woodson, the second African American to achieve a doctorate (1912) from Harvard University, founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915, stimulating what Jarvis Givens describes as 鈥渇ugitive pedagogy.鈥 On a conceptual level:
Woodson developed language to name how school curriculum cultivated antiblackness and racism as a social competence among students鈥oodson named race as operative in knowledge and the American Curriculum鈥檚 system of representation, thus pulling it听into the open and making it accountable to critique. (Fugitive Pedagogy: Carter G. Woodson and the Art of Black Teaching, Harvard University Press, 2021, 18).
Woodson鈥檚 iconic book,听The Mis-education of the Negro, propelled his curricular perspective that the American School system 鈥渉inged on the belief that the Negro was 鈥榓 negligible factor in the thought of the world.鈥欌
Carrying forward the spirit of 鈥渇ugitive pedagogy,鈥 the experiences of Suzanne Brooks and Charles Fuller, two exemplary African American La听91直播 alumni, constitute historical markers for key aspects of Black history. Here, we spotlight two of our own who have made tremendous contributions to the literary and performing arts.
Suzanne Pope Brooks, 鈥75
Brooks is a poet, vocalist, educator, entrepreneur, and community activist. She is author of four books including听Ins and Outs: Poems and Stories from the 70s听补苍诲听Escape Is Not An Option: Poems, Stories, and an Essay of the 1980s鈥1990s. She leads The Jazz Generation, an education and performance initiative that creates opportunities for children and adults.
A Philadelphia police officer from 1965鈥1972, she graduated from La听91直播 College in 1975, with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Education. She was a recipient of the John McShain Award, given to a senior for both scholastic excellence and service to the College. In addition, she was awarded the coveted Danforth Foundation Graduate Fellowship and published her first story, 鈥淟ight Through the Ivy.鈥 Giving homage to two La听91直播 faculty members in the introduction to听Ins and Outs, she proudly stated: Professors Richard Lautz 鈥渆ncouraged and provided opportunities for readings of my poems in workshops around the city of Philadelphia,鈥 and Claude Koch 鈥渢aught me the rigors of the craft and the value of tough and honest criticism. Above all, I am haunted by his single most repeated word鈥斺榬evise.鈥欌
听by reading 鈥淔ormer Policewoman ends 13-year Quest for Degree with Coveted Danforth Fellowship鈥 via La听91直播鈥檚 Digital Commons.
Charles H. Fuller, Jr., HON 鈥82
A man of letters, Fuller is a playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. Writing his first play in 1968, 鈥淭he Village: A Party,鈥 he won the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for听A Soldier鈥檚 Play. In 1984, it was produced as a film titled听A Soldier鈥檚 Story. In January 2020, Fuller鈥檚 play made its Broadway debut. However, after 58 performances, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all Broadway theatres. Despite its run of less than two months, the production received a Tony Award nomination (and won) for Best Revival of a Play. After serving in the U.S. Army from 1959鈥1962, he entered La听91直播 College鈥檚 Evening Division (1965鈥1967) as an undergraduate. In July 1982, La听91直播 honored Fuller with an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree. Brother President Patrick Ellis, FSC, commented,
鈥淚n honoring Charles Fuller, the playwright, La听91直播 is but one voice in a chorus of praise. But in honoring Charles Fuller the man, who grew up in the Catholic schools of Philadelphia, we have reasons for feeling a special pride and kinship. Not only have you practiced the objectives of this college in providing the 鈥榠nformed service and progressive leadership鈥 we envision in our college catalog, but you have also grown in maturity in all human relationships.鈥 (La听91直播 Magazine, Spring 1983, 12)
听by reading 鈥淭he Path to the Pulitzer Prize鈥 via La听91直播鈥檚 Digital Commons.
听
Celebrating Black History Month in Philadelphia
Philadelphia is brimming with opportunities to celebrate Black history and culture.听Review a list of events happening this month in Philadelphia听that provide moments to encounter and reflect on enduring aspects of the Black experience鈥攖hat is to say, the American experience.I also encourage you to review the event listing for the听, organized by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.
Consider participating in or attending these Black History Month events available through the Free Library of Philadelphia:
Sincerely,
Ernest J. Miller, FSC, D.Min., M.A. 鈥95
Vice President of Mission, Diversity, and Inclusion