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African American History Month

PVAMU professor to lead national masterclass session; Black women, identity to take center stage

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (February 16, 2022) ā€“ How can Black women authentically present themselves when faced with inaccurate representations throughout media? This will be the focus in a new Black History Month masterclass session, Self-Preservation and Relationships, led by Harriette Howard-Lee Block, Ph.D., head of the Biology Department at Prairie View A&M University. Harriette [...]

PVAMU African American History Month events focus on artists, musicians, writers

Faculty, staff and students of Prairie View A&M University have been history-makers since the universityā€™s humble beginnings in 1876. As the nation commemorates African American History Month this February, PVAMU will host various events and exhibits following the theme of ā€œAfrican American Artists, Musicians, and/or Writers: Stimulating, Agitating and Perpetuating Social Justice.ā€ Hereā€™s a look [...]

Opinion| A vaccine to fight the racism virus has finally been developed

When one doesnā€™t know about the other oneā€™s history and culture, ignorance swoops down like a vulture. KRS-ONE (Knowledge Reigns Supreme ā€“ Over Nearly Everyone) As our nation begins its annual Black History Month (BHM) celebrations, I worry that this once inspiring event has lost much of its power. For most Americans, BHM has declined [...]

PVAMU, Texas A&M University Press celebrate Black History Month with book series

Texas A&M University Press (TAMU Press) and Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) are observing Black History Month by highlighting books about the distinct experiences, histories and achievements of African Americans which have helped shape Texas and American history and culture. See a completeĀ listĀ of related titles from TAMU Press and the Texas Book Consortium. Topics include [...]

African American History Month

Faculty, staff and students of Prairie View A&M University have been history-makers since the universityā€™s humble beginnings in 1876. As the nation commemorates African American History Month this February, PVAMU will host various events and exhibits following the theme of ā€œAfrican American Artists, Musicians, and/or Writers: Stimulating, Agitating and Perpetuating Social Justice.ā€ Hereā€™s [...]

Houston Chronicle: Enslaved people toiled at a plantation where Prairie View A&M now stands. Researchers want to know their stories.

Two years before the start of the Civil War, Col. Jared Ellison Kirby issued a blunt advertisement seeking the return of ā€œrunawayā€ slaves. Three enslaved men had fled the Alta Vista Plantation, and Kirby was convinced they were headed to Mexico. The slave-owner never found them. Now, on the same grounds from which the men [...]

Ruth J. Simmons: Leading the Way and Inspiring Others

As an HBCU scholarship recipient at Dillard University in New Orleans and as the first African American president of an Ivy League university, Dr. Ruth J. Simmonsā€™ educational journey has been long and varied. The common thread in a career of many firsts? A life-long passion for cross-cultural understanding and showcasing Black excellence in academia.

Opinion| We must protect Black History Month. Hereā€™s why.

February in the United States has been known since 1976 as Black History Month. This month-long annual celebration of the descendants of enslaved Africans has been exalted as a necessary spotlight on the experiences and contributions of Black Americans to the United States. It has also been lambasted as a divisive tool used to fan [...]

Opinion| PVAMUā€™s Imari Obadele: An ā€œUnsung Heroā€ of Black History

This yearā€™s national Black History Month theme is ā€œThe Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity.ā€ As Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) celebrates this annual moment, we should consider other actors along with the usual names of Coretta Scott and Martin King, Myrlie and Medgar Evers, Betty and Malcolm (Omowale) Shabazz, Ella Baker, Gloria Richardson, Kathleen [...]

Opinion| HBCUs: The moral incubators of our nation

If Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is rightfully referred to as the moral leader of our nation, then Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs ) are its moral incubators. Kingā€™s moral leadership is attributed to his eloquent ability to admonish America for its hypocrisies and his philosophical commitment to what he called the ā€œmarvelous new [...]