Voices
Over the past two years, Dr. John Bracey and his students conducted oral history interviews with past and present member of UMass Amherst's Black Community. Despite the pressures of the pandemic, he and his team were able to conduct dozens of interviews with alumni, students, staff, and faculty. Supplemental videos from oral histories, archives, and other interviews have been added as well.
This is a growing website with additional interviews, news, profiles, and moments in history being populated on an ongoing basis. We encourage you to share any content you have that should be highlighted on this webpage.
Video Summary
There is a tradition of conscious and committed artists which have made of their music of hope and struggle a voice of contestation and a weapon of denunciation. The legendary jazzman Archie Shepp adheres to this emancipatory tradition by stating that he wishes his music to tell the story of his people. In this interview with UNESCO, he highlights the power and class stakes at play in racism and asserts that slavery is a worldwide history that everyone should know about.
Video Summary
Avery Sharpe is an American jazz double-bassist, electric bassist, composer, educator, and founder of the artist-owned record label, JKNM Records. While attending UMass Amherst, he studied double bass with Reggie Workman, as well as studying with Max Roach, Archie Shepp, Horace Boyer, and Fred Tillis. In this interview, Sharpe recounts his experiences on campus and his recent musical project, "400 Years: An African American Musical Portrait."
Video Summary
In 1971, Seymour joined the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Department of Communication Disorders first as an assistant professor. She served as the director of the Communication Disorders Clinic at the UMass in 1974 and was appointed chair of the department and dean of the Graduate School. In 2001, Seymour assumed the position of interim provost and senior vice chancellor for Academic Affairs. In 2004, she was appointed provost. Seymour later retired from UMass to serve as provost of Simmons College in Boston in 2009.
Video Summary
Earl W. Stafford continues to make an impact in his business career and in his dedication to helping his fellow man. In 2002, Stafford created The Stafford Foundation, a faith-based, nonprofit organization that provides support to the underserved and the socially and economically distressed so they may become self-reliant. The ’76 graduate of the Isenberg School of Management carries on this mission today, both in the United States and abroad. In this video, Stafford talks about his current work and experiences at UMass.
Video Summary
Esther Terry talks about her role in planning and participating in the 1960 lunch counter sit-in protests while a student at Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina. This interview was conducted by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, and the Southern Oral History Program at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
Video Summary
UMass Music & Dance presents highlights from the 2020 Bezanson Legacy Concert which honored Dr. Frederick Tillis on the occasion of his 90th birthday. The video includes a remembrance by department chair Salvatore Macchia, excerpts of performances by UMass faculty and students, photos from the event, and a full recording of Tillis' "Blow Out the Candles of Your Cake." (Video footage courtesy of Pamela Tillis.)
Video Summary
Jacki Wright discusses their decision to attend UMass, their experiences as a student—both academically and as a resident of the campus, how they found community within the campus, and the challenges and opportunities that come with their various identities.
Video Summary
Professor John H. Bracey, Jr., has taught in the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst since 1972. He is co-director of the department’s graduate certificate in African Diaspora Studies. He is a preeminent scholar of Black history and the Black arts movement and a founder of the campus’s W.E.B. Du Bois Afro-American Studies Department, as well as playing a leading role in creating the Black Presence Initiative.
Video Summary
Dr. Cole taught anthropology at University of Massachusetts Amherst from 1970 to 1983, and was associate provost for undergraduate education from 1981 to 1983. While at the UMass, she played a pivotal role in the development of the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies. In 1987, she became Spelman College's first Black woman to lead the College that was founded specifically for the education of women of African descent.
Video Summary
Kalekeni Banda was the head women's soccer coach from 1980 through 1987, when he compiled a 120-25-10 (.806) record with the program. Banda led the Minutewomen to six consecutive NCAA appearances, including five straight trips to the final four. A native of Malawi, Africa, Banda also served as women's track and field coach for eight years. Banda is also a 1975 graduate of the University of Massachusetts.
Video Summary
Dr. Marcellette Williams talks about her time as the first woman to serve as chancellor of UMass from 2001–2002 in this interview with Dr. Esther Terry. Williams served the campus for seven and a half years as deputy chancellor before taking on the chancellorship. During her tenure, a major technology campus initiative created network connections in all campus buildings; established new public access PC areas; purchased additional computer proje ction equipment; expanded central network servers; and is in the latter stages of implementing an integrated Student Information System.
Video Summary
Mtali Banda received his B.A. in Afro-American studies from UMass Amherst and is a current graduate student as of 2021. In this interview, he describes his journey in becoming a musician, merging Black music with his academic work in Afro-American studies, and how Black music has been used to share marginalized narratives and help develop needed conversations. He also shares how his travels to his father's homeland of Malawi shaped him, and where he sees his future.
