PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (June 16, 2021) – Two Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) professors will share co-editorship of a new book series, Afro-Texans, announced by Texas Tech University Press (TTUP). The series will kick off in November 2021 with Emmett J. Scott: Power Broker of the Tuskegee Machine, a completion of an unfinished manuscript written by the late Texas historian Maceo C. Dailey Jr., and edited by history professors Will Guzmán of PVAMU and David H. Jackson, Jr. of Florida A&M University.
Will Guzmán, Ph.D.
Guzmán, who organized the selection of editors for Afro-Texans, is joined with co-editors William Hoston, a PVAMU professor of political science, and Kimberly Hill, a history professor at the University of Texas-Dallas. The full contours of the series will take shape as authors are contracted and books begin to appear, but the purpose is to “explore how African Americans fit, challenged, and expanded historical narratives concerning the general interpretation of Texan identity,” according to TTUP.
“The contract we signed doesn’t limit us in terms of years or books,” said Guzmán. “From an academic standpoint, the question is how we make a contribution to the literature and our academic fields, but more importantly how we tell the story of African Americans in Texas.”
“I feel like our goal is to land two or three authors a year,” said Hoston. “I think it may take us a year to get our footing and get the word out.”
William T. Hoston Sr., Ph.D.
For the moment, outreach consists of a TTUP page where authors can submit book proposals. Additionally, Hoston and Hill said the editors are building a database of scholars and Ph.D. students in the state. “Who’s already writing about Texas and hasn’t found a home for their scholarship?” said Hoston on working with young scholars. “If they’re a Ph.D. candidate, they already have a dissertation, so we have a head start on finding out the depth of their study or the quality of their writing. I’m not hesitant to use this as a mentoring experience, too.”
Each of the editors has particular areas of interest that will inform the series. Hill, whose research includes Black internationalism and Christian history, is most excited to boost scholarship on the Civil Rights Movement that can be utilized in secondary school curricula. One of Hoston’s primary points of interest is biographies of Texas politicians, “but I also want our books to be able to encapsulate any political and social movements in the past that are worthy of being discussed now.”
Kimberly Hill, Ph.D.
“I envision us publishing both biographical and topical scholarship,” said Guzmán. “Often in historical works, you see a focus on a nostalgic past that is very Western-centric: cowboys, deserts, mountains and a culture of rugged individualism. Even Black histories will be told from that angle. We think there are many untold stories and a more nuanced version of the Black experience still to be exposed.”
Hill, who counts herself “very happy to be connected to an HBCU,” sees a “growing market for content about African American history, culture and social life in the state. It’s my goal to supplement the lack of that content in public schools.”
The current political climate, Hoston said, particularly the Texas Legislature’s hard right turn in response to debates about what can be taught in public schools, makes such a book series particularly timely. “The timing is just right,” he said. “We’re rich right now with people wanting to look at the Black experience in all its different facets. I think this is a wonderful opportunity for us to put together a series that can make a contribution to the Black history of Texas.”
By Andrew Cohen
-PVAMU-