Nineteen Fifty-Six Vol. 4 Issue 1

FALL 2023

Dear Black Students,
You do matter. The numerous achievements and
talents of Black students deserve to be recognized.
As of Fall 2023, 11% of students on campus identified
as Black or African American. Black students are
disproportionately underrepresented in various areas
on campus. Nineteen Fifty-Six is a Black studentled
magazine that amplifies the voices within the
University of Alabama’s Black community. It also
seeks to educate students from all backgrounds on
culturally important issues and topics in an effort
to produce socially-conscious, ethical and wellrounded
citizens.

Contributors
Writers
Andrea Tinker, Jemyah Wilson, Kay Maxwell, Kendal M. wwWright,
Sophana Norville, Gabby Blackshear, Dani Brown, Jermaine Ball,
Kristen Taylor, Jordan Huggins, Jeffrey Kelly, Jazymne Isaac,
Ta’Kyla Bates
Photographers
Sidney Todd, Dallas Harper, Dani Brown, Tyler Hogan
Designers
Camille Sealey, Lyrical Wisdom, Dani Brown, Jeffrey Kelly,
Ta’Kyla Bates, Autumn Williams, Tyler Hogan
Engagement
DQ Richardson, Alyse Holt, Ryan Alexis, Kylan Foster
Public Relations
Jai Ivy Raines, Victoria Campbell, Katy Mahand, Jada
Spears, Jamille Winters
COPYRIGHT
Nineteen Fifty-Six is published by the Office of Student Media at The University of
Alabama. All content and design are produced by students in consultation with
professional staff advisers. All material contained herein, except advertising or where
indicated otherwise, is copyrighted © 2023 by Nineteen Fifty-Six magazine. Material
herein may not be reprinted without the expressed, written permission of Nineteen Fifty-
Six magazine. Editorial and Advertising offices forNineteen Fifty-Six Magazine are located
at 414 Campus Drive East, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487. The mailing address is P.O. Box 870170,
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487. Phone: (205) 348-7257.

Editorial
Staff
2023-2024 School Year
Engagement Editor-Janee Hill
PR Manager- Deja Evans
Asst. Writing-Kay Maxwell
Asst. Writing- Jordan Huggins
Asst. Photo- Sidney Todd
Asst. Engagement- Jordan Strawter
Asst. PR Manager- Kennedy Ogden
PR Strategist-Jolencia Jones
Editor-In-Chief- Ta’Kyla Bates
Managing Editor- Dani Brown
Creative Director- Lyrical Wisdom
Writing Editor- Jeffrey Kelly
Photography Editor- Tyler Hogan
Design Editor- Camille Sealey

Letter from the Editor
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” -
Nelson Mandela
I stand here as a senior at the University of Alabama 60 years after Governor George
Wallace stood in the doors of Foster Auditorium demanding that two Black students,
Vivian Malone Jones and James Hood, not be enrolled at the University. Reflecting on
my time here at the Capstone has shown me our progress in Black education.
As I write this letter to Black students at UA, we should reflect on the admirble efforts
of trailblazers like Autherine Lucy Foster and so many more who fought tirelessly
in the name of Black education. Even with progress, we still have a ways to go.
Historically, the advancement of Black education has been met with numerous legal
challenges, including landmark court cases such as Brown v. Board of Education in
1954, which dealt with the issue of school integration, and Regents of the University
of California v. Bakke in 1978, which touched on affirmative action.
Growing up, school and getting an education were of utmost importance. My family
said: “Education is the way out.” I stand by this statement because my journey through
academia and choosing to pursue higher education has taught me numerous valuable
life lessons and I have obtained skills and knowledge that I think are necessary
to guide me throughout life. I advocate for Black and minority youth to have the
resources and opportunities they need to achieve academic success and reach their
full potential.
Our focus with “Blackology” is to highlight the issues regarding the future of Black
education amid the contemporary political state that endorses the banning of books
that provide children with an understanding of the systemic issues within our nation,
and the repeal of landmark laws. We address the century-long debate, PWI or HBCU?
Our editors give their best study tips and tricks to help with those long treacherous
semesters as well as asking ourselves “Is college even worth it?”
Being a Black student at UA, it can feel daunting to constantly be “the only one.”
However, thanks to the unwavering support of countless Black students, professors
and staff, I have been fortunate enough to discover and join various communities and
organizations where I am surrounded by individuals who share my cultural identity.
In this issue of Nineteen Fifty-Six, I humbly dedicate its contents to the trailblazing
Black educators, teachers, students and youth who are working tirelessly to bring
about positive change in our world.

Table of
Contents
42
Features
Culture
The Impact of the Affirmative Action 14
The Call for Diversity Doesn’t Stop at the Student Body 16
The Achievement Gaps Lasting Impact on Black Students 18
The Media’s Representation of Education 20
Taking a Side Hustle to a New Level 24
26
Lifestyle
Working While in College: The Good, the Bad and The
Privileged 28
Banned Book Recommendation 31
Build Bonds: How to Connect Form Meaningful Connections
with your Professor 32
Discussing Sexual Health Education with Five Horizons 34
The Silence and Stigma: The Burden of Mental Health for
People of Color at a Predominantly White Institution 36
Study Tips and Tricks 40
12
A New Home Base for Rising Black Educators 44
Black Alumni Association: Paving the Way for the Next
Generation 46
In Conversation with Dr. Pamela Payne-Foster 48
In Conversation with George Daniels 50
Tide Trailblazers 52
Experiences
Family Values 56
Moving Beyond the Debate: Why the PWI vs HBCU Debate is No
Longer Productive 58
Is College Worth It? 59
It’s Never Too Late to Find Your Community: The Importance
of Campus Involvement 60
A Conversation on Critical Race Theory 62
54
To Loan or Not to Loan: Discussing the Almost Inevitability
of Student Loan Debt 64

African American students are less likely than
white students to have access to college-ready
courses. In fact, in 2011-12, only 57 percent of
culture
Black students have access to a full range of
math and science courses necessary for college
readiness, compared to with 81 percent of Asian
American students and 71 percent of white
students. -United Negro College Fund

wsw
14
The Impact of
Affirmative Action
Earlier this year, in a 6-3 decision, the United States
Supreme Court ruled that race-based affirmative
action in higher education violates the equalprotection
clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The decision has been met with concern and disapproval
across the nation, including the University of Alabama.
Bryan Fair, a UA law professor specializing in constitutional
law, wrote and published a book in 1997 in defense of
affirmative action titled “Notes of a Racial Caste Baby:
Colorblindness and the End of Affirmative Action (NYU
Press 1997).” Thirty-five years later, Fair is still defending
it, now against a decision he said is historically inaccurate
and embarrassing.
“It makes white privilege and the support of white
supremacy invisible, and it makes students of color
villains. As if they were asking for something special,” he
said. “What we’ve been asking for the past 50 years is an
opportunity to enroll in the finest schools in the country.”
Fair questioned the validity of the Supreme Court’s
claim that affirmative action was an unfair practice.
He said there is a longstanding history of institutions
discriminating against underrepresented communities
that haven’t been remedied.
“Until the court talks to me about remedies, I don’t want
to hear that something is unfair,” Fair said. “The same
court that says this was unfair allowed these practices to
go on for hundreds of years.”
Carrigan Collins, a junior majoring in African-American
studies and criminal justice, said that reversing
Kay Maxwell
affirmative action will give schools an easy way to
discriminate on the basis of race.
“The American education system is rooted in white
supremacy,” Collins said. “As much as racism can be
blatant, institutions will do what they can to underserve
people of color and get away with it. All that reversing
affirmative action did was make it easier.”
Ruth Serven Smith, the education editor at AL.com, said
the state of Alabama has a unique history with affirmative
action and the universities within it operate differently.
She said Alabama schools would consider admitting
students more based on SAT scores, income and other
factors.
“So affirmative action in Alabama, yes, schools use it in
that sense that since desegregation, they’ve had to add
ways to better admit Alabama students of all races or
international students of all races, but they don’t have
the specific levers that other schools were pulling and so
they’re not necessarily directly affected by the supreme
court decision,” Smith said.
Nabila Lovelace, an instructor in the department of Gender
and Race Studies, said she was unsure if affirmative action
was even working for the Black community and other
underrepresented communities.
“And I ask that because, I haven’t looked at the numbers
recently but the last time I looked at the numbers, the
people who benefited most from affirmative action are
white women, actually,” she said.
Lovelace was correct; according to USA Today, white
women gained the most footing in education and in the
workplace as a result of affirmative action.
“I think that the overturning of it in general is heinous,
it’s ridiculous,” Lovelace said. “But I also wonder what it
was possibly doing in terms of numbers of Black students
previously.”
Affirmative action has a long and contentious history.
Though the rulings originated to prohibit discrimination
in employment, it has had a great impact on higher
education. In 1969, several elite universities, such as
Harvard and Columbia, began admitting more than twice
as many Black students as they had in the prior year.
However, according to a report by UCLA’s Civil Rights
Project, the 1990s saw a decline in efforts to diversify
schools, and the number of Black students attending
these institutions began to drop each year.
The order was met with backlash from many white
students, who felt as though their spots were being taken
from them simply because they were white. This backlash
continued until the reversal of the rulings earlier this
year.
Despite the potential for affirmative action to actually
affect students at the University, some still fear the
implications of its reversal.
J’Noel Enock, a junior majoring in economics and
philosophy, said race plays a big role in admissions so she
believes some students are going to be more hesitant to
apply to certain schools and Black students especially
will opt for institutions where their race isn’t seen as a
deterrent.
“I think Black students face a decision: PWI or HBCU, even
before the Supreme Court Ruling” Enock said.
Smith said since Alabama has multiple HBCUs — 14, the
nation’s largest amount — she’s interested to see if the
repeal sparks more interest from in-state and out-state
students in attending HBCUs here.
Due to Alabama’s history with affirmative action, Smith
wondered whether it will go beyond admissions, and
potentially impact scholarships and financial aid for
students of color.
“Different schools in Alabama do offer some race-based
scholarships, or I would say targeted scholarships,” Smith
said. “I think the question will be are they still allowed to
do that? And if not, I’m sure somebody at some point will
take some of those things to court. And we might have a
waterfall effect on the number of black
students in Alabama who are interested or able to go to
school in Alabama.”
In terms of the University of Alabama, Fair wondered how
the school will learn from this event.
“We have many constitutional violations in our history
that have never been remedied,” Fair said. “The remedy
for excluding people for 130 years isn’t simply to allow
people to come, that isn’t a remedy. You’ve got to do more
than that. The question is, what will Alabama ever do? And
what will the nation ever do. And until we resolve those
issues, we’re going to have a sharply divided community.”
“It makes white privilege
and the support of white
supremacy invisible,
and it makes students
of color villains. As
if they were asking for
something special.”
DENIED
15

THE CALL FOR MORE
DIVERSITY DOESN’T STOP AT
THE STUDENT BODY
The University of Alabama announced recordbreaking
enrollment of 39,623 students in Fall
2023. However, while diversity is changing in
student populations, it’s stagnant among faculty.
In 2022, the University employed 2,054 faculty members,
and 168, or 8.2%, were Black. Since 2017, the number of
Black faculty members has steadily increased.
While these numbers are low, they are better than other
SEC schools, like Auburn University — which in 2022
employed 65 out of 1,435, or 4.5% — and Texas A&M —
which in 2022 employed 123 out of 3,201 faculty members,
or 3.8% — highlighting a larger issue of representation in
the higher education space.
At the University, the lack of racially diverse faculty has
led to the development of organizations like the Black
Faculty and Staff Association, which according to its
website, serves as “an advocate for educational equity,
with an emphasis on African-American students, and the
professional needs of its members.”
Utz McKnight, chair of the Department of Gender
and Race Studies and former BFSA president, said it’s
important for students to see representation in their
peers, but also in their faculty for many reasons, like
creating connections, enriching the future development
of the state and research.
“Let’s say we have a student who wants to do African
American literature. It is true that you don’t have to
be a Black faculty member to be interested in African
American literature, but the conversation about the value
of African American literature should have led to the
hiring of African American faculty who are writers and
experts in literature,” McKnight said.
KAY MAXWELL
Nabila Lovelace, an instructor in the Department of
Gender and Race Studies, said there are some things
that can be taught within a degreed program, but “there
are sometimes where expertise can only come from
experience.”
She said representation matters.
“When you hire more instructors who have a lived
experience to pair with their expertise, it gives them a
different kind of intimacy with the work,” Lovelace said.
There have been several studies highlighting the
importance of representation in higher education. One
notable publication is “Race, Identity, and Representation
in Education (Critical Social Thought)” by Warren
Crichlow, which connects the rates of success of minority
students to how represented they felt in their educational
pursuits.
Crichlow wrote “seeing yourself in others with a similar
background, culture, class, or skin color helps drive
engagement and involvement in academic settings.”
Though originally published in 1993, the work has
resonated with sociologists, and is often cited in discourse
surrounding the importance of racial representation.
Mya Reliford, a junior majoring in kinesiology, said that
representation is hard to come by within her field and
her classes too.
“I’m usually one of four Black students, out of maybe 50
students,” Reliford said.
Johnnice Robinson, a sophomore majoring in finance,
said she doesn’t believe her professors can understand
her struggles as a Black student.
“Most of the professors are white and it makes me feel
like ‘is this for me?’ because I rarely see people like me
in my field,” she said.
Representation does more than inspire Black students.
Across the nation, there have been many reports of
Black educators in various academic levels becoming
disenchanted in the field.
An article in The Hechinger Report outlines the
struggles of Black teachers, and how the stress is causing
them to quit.
In it, Jasmine Lane, a high school teacher in Minneapolis,
points to the extremely low rate of Black teachers in her
state as a reason for feeling so isolated. Lane was not
the only Black teacher in her district, but was subject to
microaggressions from her coworkers, and had no one to
relate to her experiences.
Several Black college professors are turning away from
predominately white institutions and focusing their
expertise on historically Black colleges and universities
instead.
In 2021, Nikole Hannah-Jones, an award-winning
journalist, turned down an offer of tenure from the
University of North Caroline at Chapel Hill and instead
accepted an offer from Howard University to be Knight
Chair.
In her statement explained her decision, citing racism
as one of the deciding factors while her work centering
Black Americans was attacked by white faculty and
community members, and the university did nothing to
protect her.
“How could I believe I’d be able to exert academic freedom
with the school’s largest donor so willing to disparage
me publicly and attempt to pull the strings behind the
scenes,” Hannah-Jones said in her statement. “Why would
I want to teach at a university whose top leadership chose
to remain silent, to refuse transparency, to fail to publicly
advocate that I be treated like every other Knight Chair
before me?”
McKnight has encouraged UA to hire more diverse staff
while working toward institutional progress.
“We have to remove this idea that there’s a limit or the
strange idea that if we have a certain amount it’s too
many,” he said. “As opposed to if you really believe in
equality, then we have an advantage. The thing about
Alabama is we have a large Black community.”

The Achievement
Gap’s Lasting Impact
on Black Students
Andrea Tinker
Throughout history, Black students have suffered immense adversity within the education system due to systemic
racism that’s showcased itself in many ways, including the racial achievement gap.
According to an article from EducationWeek, the achievement gap references to the “disparity in academic performance
between groups of students” and “is most often used to describe the troubled performance gaps between African-
American and Hispanic students, at the lower end of the performance scale, and their non-Hispanic white peers.” The
gap shows up in grades, standardized-test scores, course selection, dropout rates, college-completion rates and more.
“There are many terms for the achievement gap, frankly I call it an ‘achievement gulf,’ it is massive, and it is a pandemic,”
said Donna Y. Ford, a distinguished professor at Ohio State in the College of Education and Human Ecology and a
Kirwan Institute faculty affiliate.
Ford said an important thing to note about the gap is that it doesn’t say anything about what marginalized students
are capable of, but how they perform compared to white students.
In an article for EducationWeek, Eric Higgins, an assistant principal of a K-6 elementary school in Missouri’s St. Louis
County, discussed how this perception of the achievement gap is dangerous because it creates an anti-Black narrative
that isn’t taking into account the bigger picture.
“It is true that many Black students and schools are not performing well on a variety of measures of academic success,
but these outcomes go beyond school achievement,” Higgins said. “They are directly linked to systemic racism, unequal
treatment, and the denial of opportunities for Black families subjugated to second-class citizenship.”
According to a 2009 study from Barton and Coley, there are 16 factors that are most significant to the achievement gap,
the most significant being the lack of rigor in courses.
Ford said when she presents this study to educators, she often gets questions about what a “lack of rigor in courses”
means.
“I mean, your low-down expectations, that’s what the hell I mean. Your deficit thinking, that’s what the hell I mean,”
she said. “You’re not placing us in gifted programs, that’s what the F, I mean, and you too often referring us for special
education and discipline; that’s what I mean.”
She said it’s a human-made variable that has the most
significant effect “on why we are not doing as well as
white students.”
While the achievement gap is thought to only be in K-12,
it is also prevalent in higher education. Students who
are underachieving in preschool through 12th grade are
often left wondering what to do in college.
Ford said it can be confusing to those who do go to college
who’ve been underachieving because there’s been no one
there helping them figuring out what they are interested
in and what they can do.
“You just have no idea because you’ve not been pushed,
you’ve not had the experiences that can point you in the
right direction for higher education,” Ford said.
Latrise Johnson, a UA associate professor in the college of
education, said in Alabama specifically, lack of resources
in school affect Black students.
She said the difference in the achievement gap between
K-12 and higher education is the courses and resources
available to students.
“They need the programs, they need the teachers, they
need the resources, and the fact of the matter is, it’s just
not it doesn’t happen, not here,” Johnson said.
She said students who do not have access to Advanced
Placement classes, AP prep classes, supplemental classes
and after-school programs are at a disadvantage.
However, in an article for educationevolving, Julie Sabo, a
former educator and U.S Senator said that standardized
tests are biased in dominant culture. They establish the
traditional discriminatory practices that Black education
has suffered from for decades, practices such as school
admittance and employment were named.
Standardized tests such as the ACT and SAT are also
obstacles that stand in the way of Black students.
“These tests are culturally biased, but we’re able
to get camouflaging, that bias in language around
standardization around normalization, around, you know,
what students should and should not will should know,
before they come to school,” Johnson said.
She said it’s all about this standardized way of
understanding the world and never has to do with culture
knowledge or knowing a different language.
“Because there aren’t necessarily resources that bridge
gaps. From high school to college, there might be a few
in terms of remedial classes... but usually those classes
may not be enough, right. And it’s not necessarily about
remediation, I think it’s more about being able to meet
different standards for college,” Johnson said.
Ford said the main effect of the achievement gap is that
Black students do not reach their full potential.
“I think it contributes to not just low grades and
underachievement and low achievement. It contributes to
low self-efficacy and agency and just I mean, I’m not trying
to rattle them, just you just don’t reach your potential.
You’re not challenged enough,” she said.
Ford said the achievement gap has closed once; however,
in her 30 years working in higher education, she hasn’t
seen it close anymore.
Johnson said that educators are still having the same
conversations around the achievement gap.
“We’re having the same conversations. We’re doing
research in these areas for student achievement, but
nothing is sticking. We’re still talking about Black
students don’t do as well as their white counterparts,”
Johnson said.

The Media's
Representation
of Education
Ta'Kyla Bates and Jeffrey Kelly
(ABC/Sayles)
From “Lean on Me” and
“Freedom Writers” to “Grown-
Ish” and “Abbott Elementary,”
the portrayal of education in media
has achieved particular triumphs
and pitfalls over the years while
highlighting a meaningful and
impactful part of people’s lives.
However, while examining the
industry’s portrayal of the classroom,
certain negative connotations of
marginalized groups throughout
coverage seem to persist.
Robert Bulman, a sociology professor
at Saint Mary’s College of California,
whose areas of interest include the
sociology of education, culture,
inequality, culture and film, watched
about 185 movies for his research
into how pop culture represents
education for his book, “Hollywood
Goes to High School: Cinema, Schools
and American Culture.” From his
research, Bulman said he found that
films that focused on suburban white
students allowed them to express
themselves and learn from their
mistakes. Whereas in instances where
lower-income students, in particular
urban public schools, are portrayed in
films, which were usually nonwhite,
education was represented as an
opportunity that if they didn’t take
it, they’d be failures.
“The sociological argument I make
is that these two contrasting images
of what high school contrast sharply
depending upon the race and the
social class of the student,” he said.
Bulman argued that these conflicting
images contribute to Americans’
conflicted views of adolescence, race,
class and education and represent a
“kind of white middle-class fantasy
about how schools should work.”
“I argue that the typical white middleclass
moviegoer assumes that there
are problems in urban education that
lower-income nonwhite students
don’t kind of believe in an education
enough and that these films are kind
of a way of getting the students on
screen at least to suddenly see the
world through their middle-class
adult heroes, so they’re kind of savior
complexes,” he said.
Sarina Williams, a senior majoring in
creative media, shared a similar view
regarding Hollywood’s white savior
archetype and how people of color
are stereotyped. During a course
on representation she’d taken in
creative media, Williams delved into
Hollywood’s history with the issue.
“They have Black people play
these characters that are kind of
disadvantaged, and it’s almost like,
you know, this white person is here to
save them and get them out of their
situations,” Williams said.
Bulman said Hollywood doesn’t do
anyone any favors by dismissing the
structural context in which urban
education takes place, allowing the
average moviegoer to walk away from
those films and think inequality can
be solved simply by finding passionate
teachers to mold students and help
them apply themselves.
“I think that the urban school films
kind of feeds a narrative in this
country, that the problem in urban
20
21

neighborhoods in urban schools is
not a structural problem,” Bulman
said.
He said this is a dangerous message
because the films gloss over how
structural obstacles, like funding,
curriculum, politics, or job
opportunities, make achievement
difficult and instead make the issue
the students’ attitudes.
It’s also important to note that these
issues are prevalent in other forms
of media, too. In a recent report
from the Pew Research Center that
surveyed nearly 5,000 Black adults,
63% said “news about Black people is
more negative than news about other
groups.”
Bulman said Americans tend to
rely heavily on images to create
judgments about schools, so with
news media covering the education
system’s negative aspects, often
people have a negative implication of
the education, but it also depends on
proximity.
“When we have more direct
experience with the schools, I think
we’re more sympathetic to the folks
who run the schools and the students
who are in them and tend to view
them highly,” Bulman said. “I can’t
prove that movies have much of an
impact on our views, but I think I can
make a logical inference.”
The proximity and direct experience
are also important when creating
accurate media representation in film
and television, which is why many
have been taken by Quinta Brunson’s
“Abbott Elementary,” an ABC sitcom
following a group of teachers in a
Philadelphia public school.
Wiliams had been following Brunson
since Brunson was working at
BuzzFeed, so she was excited to
watch her show when it came out.
She said she likes the show because
of the representation and because
it’s loosely based on Brunson’s mom’s
experience as a Philadelphia public
school teacher.
Lande Yoosuf, a writer, producer,
director, and co-founder and
partnerships director of Black
Film Space, said she loves Abbott
Elementary, and she thinks it’s
blazing a trail for itself because it’s
a new honest depiction of education,
primarily from the teacher’s point of
view, that displays how audiences are
becoming savvier and won’t be spoonfed
the white savior trope anymore.
Many Black artists are working
to create this type of honest
representation. Yoosuf said she’s
interested in showcasing characters
“that have a lot of texture” in her
work because it allows the writer
to use media as an effective tool to
incite discussion.
However, she said it’s challenging to
appeal to stakeholders and convince
them that her art is worthy of a
widespread platform.
“There’s always a lot of trepidation
and skepticism on whether or not
people want to watch stuff made by
Black folks,” Yoosuf said.
She said before she started Black Film
Spaces, which nurtures independent
film and media creators, it was hard
sometimes to get pitches or be seen
and taken seriously.
“I would have to be like persistent
about certain things and push it
through a lot of the times with much
resistance,” Yoosuf said. “So that was
tough, but I do feel like now that I
run a nonprofit that supports Black
Filmmakers, that I’m in a better
position to affirm my stories and my
perspectives.”
Characters that diverge from set
archetypes and have texture have also
been one of the things that Williams
enjoys about Abbott Elementary. She
said she likes seeing the teachers
outside of school because it shows
that they are more than just teachers
and how progressive the education
system has become regarding
representation.
While representation in the
educational landscape has shifted,
Williams said things have also
changed within the media. She said
more shows are creating dynamic
Black characters who are more than
stereotypes, but there’s still more
work to be done.
“I definitely want to see more
minorities on screen. I want
minorities to be making things,”
Williams said. “I want to see them
make more things, get more things
that are in the mainstream because
that’s another thing there [are]
probably a ton of black people making
things, but they’re not considered
mainstream.”
Yoosuf said she’s ready to see more
representation in the media.
“Don’t just throw us a bone and then
take it away,” she said. “I think this is
just the beginning. I think there’s so
much that we can do when it comes to
our stories. So, I feel optimistic, but
I’m also cautiously optimistic.”
“I definitely want to see more
minorities on screen. I want
minorities to be making things.”
(ABC/Gilles Mingasson)
(ABC/Gilles Mingasson)
22
23

Taking a Side Hustle
to a New Level
Jemyah Wilson
W
hile
discussing
education, trades such
as cosmetology often
get left out of the conversation. Yet
in recent years, with so much talent
and instruction being created on
social media, many people have been
working to hone their skills.
According to Zippia, a company that
provides online recruitment services,
there are over 149,230 cosmetologists
employed in the United States.
Nylah Billingsley, owner of NBstylez,
a Stillman sophomore majoring
in business management, studied
cosmetology at Wallace Community
College in Selma, Alabama in 2021
and received her license in 2022.
“My love of hair began when I was a
young girl playing with dolls, and as I
got older, I studied videos on YouTube
of celebrity hairstylists to learn how
to style like them,” Billingsley said.
Billingsley said cosmetology school
wasn’t difficult since she had some
previous experience that put her
ahead of her peers. She said she liked
how everything was hands-on but
found it exhausting to commit eight
hours a day, five days a week to it.
According to the Alabama board of
cosmetology and barbering, students
must complete a set of “school clock
hours” and “apprentice clock hours”
which can’t be combined along with
a written and practical exam. The
hours vary per classification, but for
cosmetologists, it’s 1,500 school clock
hours and 3,000 apprentice clock
hours.
Despite that, the only prerequisites
needed to get a cosmetology license
are to be 16 years old and have
completed at least 10 grades in
secondary school, which allowed Amia
Wilson, a UA sophomore majoring in
nursing, to get her license in high
school.
“I signed up for the cosmetology
program at my school and once I
became a senior, I went to take the
prompter exam, and once I passed
that I went to take the licensure
exam,” Wilson said.
She said initially it was challenging,
“trying to learn the degrees of the
angles, trying to cut the hair and
the different techniques,” but she
persisted.
However, while they both have
licenses Wilson and Billingsley
consider cosmetology to be more of a
side hustle than their primary focus.
For Billingsley, who has a business
that she still takes clients through, it
has taken a back seat because of her
busy schedule.
“I enjoy doing hair, but since I’m a
full-time student and an athlete,
it’s really inconsistent, so it’s just a
side hustle,” Billingsley said. “I intend
to turn it into a career later on after I
graduate from college.”
Wilson said she does it when she has
time, but it’s not an everyday activity.
While they might not be actively
using their licenses every day, having
a cosmetology license can open up a
world of opportunities for making
money, meeting new people, or just
having a creative outlet.
For Tamira Thomspon, a UA junior
majoring in business management,
getting a cosmetology license will
put her one step closer toward her
goal of one day owning a nail spa.
Thompson said that one day while
sitting in an economics class she
decided that she wanted to learn to
do nails.
“I did research all throughout class
to find the best quality nail products
and I impulsively bought everything
that I would need to start,” she said.
Since then, she’s spent time studying
YouTube videos by licensed techs,
social media influencers who shared
tips and dedicated herself to studying
nail anatomy, sanitation techniques,
safety, hygiene and more. And with
all the things she’s learned online and
through practicing on herself, she
feels ready to take on cosmetology
school.
24

27
Black students spend less time in the classroom due to
discipline, which further hinders their access to a quality
education. Black students are nearly two times as likely
to be suspended without educational services as white students.
Black students are also 3.8 times as likely to receive
one or more out-of-school suspensions as white students.
In addition, black children represent 19 percent of
the nation’s pre-school population, yet 47 percent of those
receiving more than one out-of-school suspension- United
Negro College Fund

Working While in College:
The Good, the Bad and the Privileged
Sophana Norville
Each student’s journey through
college is unique and comes with
its own set of responsibilities,
sacrifices and commitments to achieve
academic success. For students who also
work, many have found that they begin
to take on even more roles.
Erika Logan, a senior majoring in
fashion merchandise, has been working
at her apartment’s leasing office since
her freshman year. She said working
can be time consuming depending how
many hours you work a week, but she’s
found balance in her routine.
“I usually try to work on assignments
and start to study days ahead of the due
date, so I’m not cramming everything
in a short period of time,” Logan said.
“But as for my social life, I don’t usually
see friends until the weekends when
I’m done with school and work for the
week.”
However, she said she’s been able to
work shorter hours this year helping
alleviate any interference working
might have put on her.
The reason for working while in school
varies from person to person. Some
students need to get a job to help them
pay bills while others might do it just so
they can keep themselves occupied. No
matter what the reason is, having a job
can be a struggle for everyone.
According to a 2020 National Center
for Education Statistics study, 74% of
undergraduate students were working
part-time while being enrolled in
school.
An added factor of stress in having a job
while being in college is finding one.
At the University of Alabama, there’s
a variety of campus jobs that many
students are vying for ease of location,
an understanding that education comes
first and connections to the campus
community.
College students have a variety of jobs
they can choose from. Some prefer to
work on campus and be closer to their
classes. Other students work off campus
at the local businesses in town where the
hours may vary and fit their schedules.
“I can also schedule my own hours which
is nice,” said Giovanna Cinello, a senior
majoring in criminal justice who works
as a residential desk assistant. “There’s
a good chance that I can get the hours I
am looking for in that particular week.”
It is a privilege not to have to work
while being a student. It gives you the
time to do other things that you like.
Unfortunately, not having a job while
in college is a luxury not everyone can
afford to have.
28
29

There is no doubt college is expensive.
Whether you are an in-state or out-of -state
student, it costs money to attend school.
The stress that comes with having a job and
no financial assistance can be challenging
for various reasons, but especially mentally.
In college, students are going through so
many new phases in life. Making sure you are
getting the rest that you need in college is a
key to your success, but how much rest can a
full time student get while having a job.
This is the struggle many college students
face, like going through mental burnouts
and not being able to stop because they can’t
afford to. On the other hand there are students
who live a little more comfortably because
they have a job the same way that they have
a hobby. They are able to still keep school as
their main priority and not have the financial
anxiety from their job, but it doesn’t negate
the balancing act they must perform.
While being a full time student you have to find
a job that is flexible with your busy schedule.
Having other commitments like being in clubs
or Greek life are also time consuming. Having
a manager that is understanding of the
position you are in as a student is important.
Making sure you are getting the amount of
hours you need but also having time for your
other obligations outside of work.
Caroline Ford, the executive director at UPerk
coffee downtown says that when it comes to
scheduling her employees “I listen to what their
schedules are and they put their time off in the
app.”
The most important thing about being a college
student is making time to relax and breathe. It
is easy to get caught up in just being on the go
all the time. Having a moment to relax or hang
out with friends is needed. This is something
that should be encouraged for students with
jobs too. Working while in school does not
mean that you cannot have a social life and do
the things you love. Stepping away from all the
stress can be beneficial for your mental health.
These years are meant to be some of the best
times of our lives. You don’t want to look back
and only remember stressing about work and
classes.
"All About Love" - bell hooks
"All Boys Aren’t Blue" - George M. Johnson
"Between the World and Me" - Ta-Nehisi Coates
"Brown Girl Dreaming" - Jacqueline Woodson
"Brutal Imagination" - Cornelius Eady
"The Color Purple" - Alice Walker
"Flyy Girl" - Omar Tyree
"Go Tell It on the Mountain" - James Baldwin
"The Hate U Give" - Angie Thomas
"Heavy: An American Memoir" - Kiese Laymon
"Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot" - Mikki
Kendall
"The House on Mango Street" - Sandra Cisneros
"I Know Why the Caged Birds Sings" - Maya Angelou
"Jazz" - Toni Morrison
"The Kite Runner" - Khaled Hosseini
"Monster" - Walter Dean Myers
"Please" - Jericho Brown
"The Poet X" - Elizabeth Acevedo
"Roll of Thunder, Hear Me Cry" - Mildred D. Taylor
"Sula" - Toni Morrison
30
31

Connecting with people in college can be
tough, especially on a large campus like the
University of Alabama, with over 38,000
students and 2,054 faculty members. Often, students are
left looking for meaningful connections not only within
their friend groups, but with faculty, as well.
Cassandra Simon, an associate professor in the School of
Social Work, said that in order for faculty and
students to create a connection, there’s a need for
understanding from both parties. “Knowing a
professor and having an opportunity to get to know
them a little bit helps that student feel more
comfortable, helps that student be willing to ask
questions more, be able to share with that professor,”
Simon said. She said that in the same regard, when
professors take the time to get to know their
students, they’re more attuned to when their
students are a little “off-key” or not performing as they
usually would.
Andre Denham, the associate dean for graduate
academic affairs, said students connecting with
faculty is essential, especially at the graduate school
level. “I think it’s part of the actual learning process,
the maturation process of students,” Denham said.
“Any school worth its salt, and UA’s a part of this, is big
on mentorship on the undergrad and graduate level,
especially more on the grad school level where the ties
between the student and their advisor or particular
faculty member are more— they’re tighter, because of
the nature of graduate education.” However, Denham
noted that it can be intimidating to initiate those
relationships with professors,
especially for students of color who often are met with
professors who don’t look like them.
According to the University’s Office of Institutional
Research and Assessment, in fall 2022, out of the
University’s 2,054 faculty members, 1,565 are white, and
of the 489 who are people of color, only 168 are Black.
Simon said oftentimes, faculty members who are not of
color might not want to address the issues of
mistrust between themselves and students of color, but
as a Black woman, she always addresses those
issues, including discussions of race. “I think that, race is
one of the most problematic issues in our country and I
think that no matter what class you’re teaching, that you
kind of need to go ahead and put that out there and have
that discussion about it and what that means to you as a
faculty member,” she said. “And then that way you don’t
have to act like it doesn’t exist when it really does and
affects how we interact with one another.”
This lack of communication with faculty can
sometimes contribute to Black students’ feelings of
imposter syndrome. Simon said imposter syndrome is
a factor that students of color experience more while
attending predominantly white institutions.
Denham said that students connect better with
faculty members who look like them or have similar
backgrounds because they’re better at understanding
each other’s experiences. “I mean, this is no secret
PWIs, especially flagships have been working hard
at diversifying the faculty for that reason,” he said.
“They know it’s important for student retention and
recruitment to make surethat there are faculty on
campus that can assist students that look just like
them.”
Simon said another issue that can derail
interpersonal relationships between faculty and
students is some faculty members’ sense of
importance. “Some faculty perpetuate this idea
that we are somehow better than and our time
is important, and we’re important people and
then other faculty are much more engaging
and open and make clear students know they
want them around,” she said. She said this can
at times create this mythology around faculty
members, but they’re normal
people. Simon and Denham also said some
students think faculty members are hard to
talk to because of how they are socialized.
If students think that a faculty member is
“untouchable” they will be less inclined to
connect with them.
Denham said the main way to connect with
faculty is to meet them in the middle and
for students to put themselves out there.
There are various methods that students
can use to talk to faculty. “I always
recommend for students to become a
member of the professional organization
within their discipline,” Denham said.
“Another way that probably underutilized
is participate in undergraduate research,
because then you’ll get kind of that taste of
what’s going to happen in graduate school,
you’ll probably also be around graduate
students as well.”
Simon said the best way for students to
connect with faculty is to start by easing into
conversations and talking to them more
regularly after class. “I would probably do the
easiest thing first, which would be to go up to
their professor after class, or to sit in that
professor and email after class and say, ‘Oh, I just
wanted you to know that I enjoyed the
lecture today,’” she said. “A lot of times we don’t
get that kind of stuff.”
Connecting with professors on such a big campus
can be difficult, but it can also be an essential part to
a student’s academic success.

Discussing Sexual
Health Education
With Five Horizons
Jeffrey Kelly
Conversations surrounding sex and sexual health can feel taboo or uncomfortable for many to discuss, regardless
of age. However, it’s crucial, especially for young people, to be equipped with the language a high-quality sex
education can provide to keep themselves and their partners healthy. However, as of Sept. 1, while 25 states and
Washington, D.C., mandate sex education and HIV education, only 18 states require program content to be medically
accurate, according to the Guttmacher Institute, and only 10 states require programs to provide instruction that is
appropriate for a student’s cultural background and isn’t biased against any race, sex or ethnicity. Nineteen Fifty-Six
sat down with Five Horizon’s Rachel Queen, a registered nurse, and Iyana Diaz, outreach specialist and UA alum, to
demystify a few misconceptions about sexual health education.
Q: What are the biggest issues that y’all have seen
regarding sexual health for people in Alabama or,
specifically, Tuscaloosa?
Queen: Having insurance to pay for their testing and
treatment is a barrier for them. Outreach provides free
testing in the community, but not everyone is aware of
that, and then also they aren’t able to test for everything.
So, they do have a rapid HIV test, they can test for
gonorrhea, chlamydia and trichomonas, but they don’t
have a way to test for syphilis in the community, and there
has been a big outbreak. That’s the biggest barrier that I
have seen. Also, some people don’t have transportation,
we try to use those resources that we have— we have
some transportation resources.
Diaz: I will definitely say those as well. And then another
thing, especially like dealing with college students,
depending on what kind of education you’ve got regarding
sexual health, a lot of times there’s a superhero complex,
so it’s like, it doesn’t affect me rather. So, we’re really
trying to put out if you have sex, you need to get tested
no matter what, every three to six months and then also
because a lot of people don’t have that, like sexual health
education, they don’t think— they don’t really know what
all sex entails.
34
So, some people think like, if you just have oral sex, it’s
not really sex, you can’t get like the same STIs or STDs as
you can get in the genital area, but again, it’s oral sex— so
just really knowing what sex is [and] all that it entails. I
think a lot of times, people don’t really understand that.
That’s why we really try to be out in the community as
much as possible while we’re always on campus doing the
sexual health forums and education sessions.
Q: When y’all are reaching out to the community, what are
the most common questions that you get when it comes
to sexual health?
Queen: I will speak to some clients that come in the clinic
and maybe have an oral like gonorrhea chlamydia in their
throat. They do not realize that they can get gonorrhea
and chlamydia and their throat from performing oral sex,
and then they don’t realize that someone performing
oral sex on them can allow them to get gonorrhea and
chlamydia in like they’re penis, vagina, rectum. That’s a
common, I guess, question people have for us.
Also, I think, you know, the CDC recommends that anyone
who’s sexually active is on PrEP, which is HIV
prevention medication. A lot of people think that, you
know, they are not going to contract HIV; that’s just
more in the gay community. Well, everyone is at risk for
contracting HIV, and also people do not realize that it
does not matter if you have insurance, or you do not have
insurance; we can get your PrEP medication for free.
Diaz: Another thing about PrEP is, like, I don’t even have
sex that much like it only takes one time. Another
one is like condom usage; people don’t like
using condoms. A lot of times, I hear
it doesn’t feel the same, or it doesn’t
fit a lot of time, not knowing how to
put the condom on appropriately. I
didn’t know how to put the condom on
properly until I started working here. In
all honesty, I didn’t know about PrEP till I
started working here.
But a lot of times, they think they don’t need condoms
because they’re only with one person. Yeah, that’s just
another preventative measure that we’re really trying to
put out there and then show them that there’s so many
different condoms; just try and figure out what works
best for you. It’s better to have that layer of protection
rather than not doing anything at all.
A lot of times, whenever I have like
clients, I’ll ask them, “Do you feel anxious
after you have sex, especially when it’s
unprotected?” And they’re always like,
“yeah,” well, another way to combat that
is to make sure you use condoms, make
sure you get on PrEP, even if you don’t get
off PrEP, using condoms, at least just figuring out what
works best for you. And then another thing about that
is like it’s putting the ball back in their court and giving
them like their autonomy over their health.
STD
Q: A 2023 article from Planned Parenthood discussed how
sex education “teaches young people the importance of
treating everyone with dignity and respect, with racial
justice, fairness, and compassion for others as core
values.” What are your opinions on sex education as a tool
for teaching people dignity and respect?
Diaz: For me, it kind of goes back to, like,
eliminating the stigma and treating it like
another infection, like COVID and flu, like I said
before. You wouldn’t stigmatize somebody or
ostracize somebody if they were to have one
of those, and it’s really the same thing, just
in a different area of the body.
So, I definitely feel like it’s a way to show
people dignity because everybody has sex,
whether they want to say it or not. For the most part,
everybody has sex; it’s pleasurable to people, or it’s
pleasurable in general, that’s why people do it. And then
people do it for other reasons, too. So, like, sometimes we
equate it to food, like people, stress eat, when they’re mad,
or sad, people might have sex when they’re sick because
they feel better. People might not have housing or things
like that, and that’s a reason why they have sex. But it’s
just people come from every different walk of
life, people have different reasons why they
do things, and that applies to sex, too.
Yeah, I just feel like, unless you look at
them as a person, because that’s who we
are at the basis, we all have desires and
wants, just because other desires and wants
may be different. Or you might have differing views on
these things. That doesn’t mean that you get to ostracize
somebody just because of the choice that they made.
Test
35

Silence and Stigma:
The Burden of Mental Health for People of Color
at a Predominately White Institution
Jazymne Isaac
As college students, learning to constantly
exceed personal, academic and professional
expectations seems necessary to succeed.
However, this can also lead to burnout and a decline in
mental health.
In an article from the 2022 Journal of Affective
Disorders, in 2020-2021, more than 60% of students met
the criteria for one or more mental health problems.
However, according to The Clay Center for Young
Healthy Minds, students of color experience higher
levels of loneliness and emotional stress, as well as other
mental health challenges like depression, anxiety and
hopelessness, compared to white students.
SaNiah Dawson, a senior majoring in psychology, said
being a Black person and a first-generation student at a
predominantly white institution has been a lot. She said
her first year was full of unknowns and nerve-racking,
but she overcame it.
“I think focusing on my purpose is really what’s keeping
me going,” she said. “But the stress, the burnout, it’s
real; it’s here.”
For Kailah Trice, a second-year graduate student in
creative writing, after spending her undergraduate
matriculation at Tuskegee University, a historically
Black university, going to a PWI brought up a few
reservations.
Trice’s brother, who’d gone to a PWI, hadn’t had the
best experience, so her experience was colored by his,
yet Trice said so far, her experience hasn’t been “nearly
as bad.”
Jennifer Turner, a licensed professional counselor and
the University’s assistant director of clinical services,
said, “Of course,” being at a PWI impacts the mental
health of Black students.
For Trice, attending a PWI came with personal added
pressure. She said growing up in Atlanta she was
surrounded by Black and brown people, so going to an
HBCU felt like home. Yet, in high school, during a state
competition with 4-H, a national youth development
organization, her teacher warned them that “you have
to be twice as good to get half as much. You have to be
perfect.”
“That’s a lot of pressure on a kid, especially when you’re
just trying to do your best, but your best is never going to
be good enough,” she said. “So I was like, I’m gonna come
here and try to do my best, and it’s not going to be good
enough.”
However, Trice said she mainly feels that pressure from
herself rather than outside sources. She remembered
a time after class during her first year when she told
a classmate that she didn’t think her work was about
anything, and her friend yelled at her to get that out of
her mind.
Turner said it could also be challenging for students of
color to acclimate to their new setting for various reasons,
whether they’re from out of state, first-generation
students, or having trouble finding community on campus.
This transitional phase of adjusting to the campus
environment can be exacerbated simply by being
the only person of color in a classroom or suffering
microaggressions.
“Microaggressions plague students in a lot of ways,”
Turner said. “They undermine students’ self-confidence.
They make students question whether or not they belong
someplace besides just making people angry and besides
just exhausting people because they deal with it every
day.”
She said these microaggressions, whether intended or
accidental, can play into a student’s feelings of imposter
syndrome, where they always have to justify belonging in
a place.
Dawson said she sometimes felt like stereotypes were
projected on her when telling her story to people. She
said it made her feel like she wasn’t good enough, even
though she knew she was and inspired her to want to help
other freshmen in similar situations.
“That’s why I started my organization, Capstone
Association of Black Psychologists,” she said.
36
37

The organization will help connect Black psychology students with resources, bring more awareness
about mental health and help decolonize the psychology curriculum.
“We’re trying to make the psychological curriculum and the methods more inclusive for the Black
community and make sure they’re taking in the oppression that we deal with, the racism that we deal
with, just the stereotypes,” Dawson said.
Turner said that some people, including mental health professionals, might not understand why
students of color’s burnout look different from their white counterparts. She said suffering those
“1,000 cuts” can have an impact that the majority might not realize until they’re in a situation where
they’re not in the majority.
Dawson agreed with this sentiment. She said it’s essential to have professionals aware of what Black
people have to deal with and be willing to research them.
To help avoid burnout and maintain one’s mental health and sense of self, Turner suggested self-care
activities like journaling, enjoying nature and doing purposeful work.
When trying to find good self-care practices, Turner suggested thinking about long-term and
sustainable things. Sometimes self-care can look like setting boundaries, sticking to a nighttime
routine for adequate sleep, eating every day, or just planning fun activities like spending time with
friends or going to the movies.
When she needs help with imposter syndrome and stress, Trice said she looks to her friends and
brother when she’s having trouble and advises other students to cheer for themselves.
“Don’t ever shrink yourself, and don’t ever doubt yourself because you got to be your first cheerleader
because if you can’t cheer for you, nobody else can,” she said.
Dawson suggested students love themselves and give themselves grace because college is hard enough
without the added pressure you might put on yourself, so as long as you’re doing your best, that’s
enough.
38

Study Tips and Tricks
Jordan Huggins
40
1.Go to class.
Your presence is necessary to understand course material and
build a relationship with your professors.
2.Talk to your professors.
Your professors have office hours for a reason; find time to make
yourself known to them. Professors are more inclined to help and
support students who make themselves available to them.
3.Prioritize yourself.
Remember that it’s okay to say no. So, take breaks; you’re not a
machine and don’t need to be; it’s okay to take time to relax.
4.Make a study playlist.
Music is a great tool to help you focus. Whether it’s some Lo-fi
beats or Afro-beats, find some music that calms you and helps
you focus.
5.Make a study schedule.
Set aside time each school day to do homework, review notes
and read course material. Scheduling study time into your day
can help you complete your work on time and accurately.
6.Find your studying spot.
The setting where you study is also particularly important.
Regardless of the venue, find a place and stick to it. Your brain loves
familiarity, so studying in the same place will help you study more
efficiently.
7. Get organized.
Set reminders on your phone or computer for upcoming tests and
assignments or add due dates to a digital or physical calendar.
Keep all the coursework for your classes in designated areas, such
as a notebook or binder.
8.Utilize resources.
The Career Center offers assistance for students who need to build
resumes, interview practice, headshots and more. In addition, the
Capstone Center for Student Success offers free tutoring in any
course.
9.Find a study buddy.
Find someone who will give you the push you need to stay consistent.
Having someone that keeps you accountable and that you keep
accountable boosts your chances of staying on task.
10. Be confident in yourself.
Don’t be afraid to take risks and step out of your comfort zone. Have
the mindset that anything you are faced with is achievable. Don’t be
afraid to fail because eventually you will succeed.
41

In fall 2020, there were 2.4 million
Black students enrolled in degreegranting
postsecondary institutions.
Thirteen percent of U.S. resident
students enrolled in degree-granting
institutions were Black. - National
Center for Education Statistics

Kendal Wright
To help prepare a new generation of Black
educators for the workforce, a few Black students
at The University of Alabama have taken the
initiative and created Black Aspiring Scholars in
Education and Exercise Science to contribute to
the College of Education.
BASE’s President Lauren Lee, a junior majoring
in kinesiology, described BASE as an
organization focused on not only networking
and finding leadership opportunities for Black
students but bringing them together in the
College of Education.
Along with the help of the organization’s six
executive board members, BASE’s director of
external affairs Gabby Kirk, a junior majoring in
education and history, said the executive board
conceptualized the organization after realizing
that there was no club on campus for Black
students within the College of Education.
McHargh also shared multiple other student
recruitment pursuits like facilitating visits to
community colleges like
Lawson State Community College and
Jefferson State Community College and working
“closely with transfer admission counselors to
educate and facilitate entry into our teacher
education programs.”
“The students are developing excellent
opportunities for the members to participate in a
variety of activities for professional and
leadership development,” said Elizabeth Wilson,
the interim dean of the College of Education, in
a statement.
Lee said she felt like Black students within the
college of education lacked a way of getting
connected and engaging with each other and
through BASE, new connections can be
facilitated.
So, after two meetings with Carlton McHargh,
the director of enrollment and student success,
Kirk and her peers were finalizing what steps
they needed to make BASE come to life by the
end of Spring semester in May.
With the current climate for teachers in
America being as unfavorable as they have been,
Kirk hopes BASE will help encourage retention
within the field of education.
Korynn Hill, a recent UA alum and BASE’s former
senior advisor, said that BASE helped her
“understand how important it is to have a
community, especially for Black educators.”
As a new teacher at the Alberta School of
Performing Arts, without having BASE in her
undergrad, Hill encourages those who will to
“take away things that people bring to the table
[because] everybody has a different perspective.”
According to a RAND study, one in four
teachers surveyed planned to quit teaching
following the 2020-2021 school year, with
Black teachers being particularly likely, due in part
to the stress of teaching in a disjointed classroom
environment caused by the pandemic and racial
tensions in the United States at the time.
As these trends continue to persist with the
percentage of Black teachers declining, with only
6% of teachers in 2020-21 being Black, according
to the National Center for Education Statistics,
and the demand for helping hands in the
classroom rising, many have noticed a problem of
lack of representation in the classroom.
“Our goal is to just ensure that we’re going to
enter education or even exercise science,
kinesiology, essentially whatever you enter into
with a college education,” Kirk said.
McHargh said the college of education has been
very intentional about recruiting students from
diverse backgrounds.
“The Ambassadors and members of BASE
presented valuable information to the
[Tuscaloosa Central School] students and
encouraged them to consider the University,”
McHargh said in a statement. “We have also
actively been recruiting students from diverse
backgrounds at ‘Bama in Your Town’ events
sponsored by the Office of Admissions.”
The meshing of experiences allows students
within the organization to better connect with
their peers. Relationships fostered within BASE
will allow students to build a network that they’ll
be able to engage with following graduation and
into their careers.
To stay up to date with what BASE has coming up
in the future, follow their Instagram and/or reach
out to @base_coe.
“Send us an email, send us a message,” Lee said.
“We are here for you and we’re going to do as
much as we can while you’re here.”
44
45

46
The Black Alumni
Association:
Paving the Way for the Next Generation
Sophana Norville
Since 2016, the Black Alumni Association, a chapter of the University of
Alabama’s National Alumni Association, has spent each year fostering
alumni engagement, scholarship and mentorship between its extensive
network of alums and Black UA students.
Stacey Hill, BAA’s immediate past president, who works alongside current
president Derek Cunningham, said what she loves most about the association is
that it creates a formal network of Black students on campus out of an informal
circle that’s been growing since Vivian Malone became the first Black person to
graduate in 1965.
“It puts us in a position to really be able to organize, to address issues that we
face as alumni, things that are incredibly important to us, such as supporting
scholarships and mentoring and supporting the students that are there now at
the Capstone and being able to support them after they graduate,” Hill said.
Along with their goals of increasing “minority participation and presence at
the University,” according to its website, the association is also responsible for
awarding and funding six minority preference endowed scholarships, like the
Pollie Anne Myers-Pinkins AAAN Endowed scholarship, to which they fundraise
for through events like their annual “Houndstooth and Heels: Black Alumni
Weekend,” which this year will be hosted in Birmingham in November.
Hill said they’re always looking to expand their scholarships.
“We have grown that endownment to about 250,000 dollars we have a goal to
get that endownment to a million dollars,” she said. “And even now we’re able
to award pretty significant scholarships to rising juniors an rising seniors to
ensure they are able to finish school.”
Andrea Maxwell, a UA alum and current member of the BAA, said that there
wasn’t a BAA when she was attending the University, but as her daughter
prepared to follow in her footsteps byin attending the University, the association
was extremely helpful and even continued to reach out to her daughter as she
continued on at the University.
Maxwell said she also enjoys the way the association
provides outreach and gives Black alums opportunities
to get together.
The Black Alumni Association hosts several events
throughout the year that serve all aspects of their
goals as an organization. One event is the “Through
The Doors” freshman pinning ceremony, which gives
the organization a moment to uplift freshmen Black
students and showcase the legacy they’re following.
These opportunities allow not only a time to fundraise
for students, but also fellowship.
Ocie Fulford, the association’s vice president, said
one thing he thinks fondly of is having something
like the Black Alumni Associaition that allows them
to come together and have an opportunity to have a
“real holistic, organic experience.”
These events are a great way to connect with
students and get them involved. It is important that
students know that an organization like the Black
Alumni Association is available to them because
the mentorship and networking opportunities can
be beneficial as they continue their college and
profesional journey.
Mentorship especially can be an important part of
college simple for the advice and community they can
foster with a student.
“One of the things the BAA wants to do is to continue
innovation but really speak to the hearts and minds
of people coming after us so that they can see the
importance of continuing to connect with each other
and spreading the love we have for the university,”
Fulford said.
Hill said as the Black Alumni Association continues
to grow and a is only going to keep expanding and
reaching the community and students.
Cunningham encouraged those to become a member
and get engaged in what the organization has to offer.
It is a great way to stay involved but in a different light.
They are truly paving the way for the future Black
alumni who can also join the organization and become
mentors. Compared to other Alumni Associations the
BAA is fairly new but this does not mean they have
not been making an impact already. The BAA has done
so much for the Black students at the university and
will continue to serve the community.

48
IN CONVERSATION
WITH DR. PAMELA
PAYNE-FOSTER
Jeffrey Kelly
How one professor is using community engagement
and mentorship to create connection and
facilitate change throughout the University and
Alabama.
Propped up against a mini-bookshelf in the
right corner of Dr. Pamela Payne Foster’s office
sits a whiteboard full of projects that she
is collaborating on, including lupus clinical trials,
COVID-19 vaccine accessibility, chronic kidney disease
research, an Alabama literacy project and artificial
intelligence, which contribute to her various research
interests in public health of rural and underserved
communities in Alabama.
For Dr. Foster, a preventative medicine/public health
physician and a College of Community Health Sciences
professor of community medicine and population
health, collaboration has been the foundation for how
she’s navigated her career for almost 18 years at the
University of Alabama.
Her passion for community-based participatory
research has created impactful work for the Alabama
community like Project FAITHH, which aimed to
decrease HIV/AIDS-related stigma in rural Alabama by
implementing a faith-based anti-stigma curriculum
among Black churchgoers.
And while for some, the continuous commitment to so
much would burn someone out, Foster handles it all
with ease and a smile because of her students.
“The students keep me motivated; their energy and
enthusiasm keep me kind of going,” she said. “I do a
lot of mentoring, and so that gives me a lot of lot of
enthusiasm. I love to mentor students that are going
to go on to do better than me, right? Like, right now,
I have a student that I mentored in his PhD program.”
As two students stopped by her office to drop by and
say hello, it was easy to see how influential Dr. Ford
had been to her students.
This ingenuity toward community engagement and
a commitment to mentorship are qualities Dr. Foster
showcased that earned her nomination and won the
2023 Lahoma Adams Buford Peace Award last May
in recognition of her advocacy in public health. The
award that Dr. Ford said felt like a testament to all the
work she’d done.
Karen Johnson, an assistant professor, one of Dr.
Foster’s mentees and the person who nominated
her, sat amongst two and a half tables full of excited
supporters inside the Tuscaloosa River Market when
Dr. Foster received her award.
“I cried,” Johnson said. “I was cheering, tearful, I just
left like was, you know, it’s just such a well-deserved
moment.”
Shameka Cody, an associate professor in the Capstone
College of Nursing, said she was also a little teary and
couldn’t think of a better recipient than Dr. Foster
because she’s touched people in the community and
helped get them to the work they desire to do.
“Not only does she directly impact people in the
community, but she connects people together to
different resources so that they can do the work to
impact the people out here in the community,” Cody
said.
Johnson said Dr. Foster stood head and shoulders above
the other nominees. She said Dr. Foster’s training and
pedigree of academic and for the pursuit of peace
accomplishments.
“She demonstrated excellence in every single area
and then beyond. Academically, her contributions
to science and the field were incredibly varied and
impactful and then in terms of the local community
in Alabama, she’s actively serving the community
with her research with, her time and her skills, both
as a medical doctor, as a researcher and a community
activist,” Johnson said.
Dr. Foster said that winning the award felt fantastic
and humbling because she knew some winners, like
Bryan Fair, Rhoda Johnson, Ellen Spears and Lea Yerby.
“I was also humbled that somebody was watching me I
appreciate it,” Dr. Foster said.
Cody said it’s been inspirational to watch Dr. Foster
as a researcher in the field of HIV. She said when it
comes to mentoring, Dr. Foster constantly makes
herself available to Cody and checks on her mental
and physical wellbeing.
“Being a mentor is more than just checking in about
the work that’s being done, but we really have to check
on our mentees and make sure that they are actually
doing well mentally and physically so that they can
be the best scholar that they’re set to be and that I
appreciate,” Cody said.
49

IN
CONVERSATION
WITH GEORGE
DANIELS
Ta’Kyla Bates and Jeffrey Kelly
How one professor’s commitment to
racial justice has evolved after 20+
years as an educator.
Growing up, George Daniels was surrounded by
educators; his mom and grandmother were teachers
and many others in his family. Daniels felt teaching
was his calling, referring to it as a “spiritual gift.” Although
Daniels considers himself a journalist by trade, after working
in the newsroom for eight years, he decided to be a “journalist
who does teaching.”
As he approaches his 21st year teaching at The University
of Alabama as an associate professor in the College of
Communication and Information Sciences, Nineteen Fifty-
Six Magazine sat down with Daniels to discuss his educational
journey within the University and what the future holds for
him.
Q: How has the University changed since coming here 21 years
ago?
Daniels: Well, I think the biggest change is the size of our
school. The second would be the profile of our school, and
gradually, the level of racial and ethnic diversity of our school
has changed. When I say that, not necessarily the percentage
to a great extent, but the numbers overall are greater in terms
of the racial diversity of our faculty and our students, so that
is definitely a delight. It is aligned with the raising of the
University’s profile dramatically from where it was in 2003
when I joined, and I think that puts us in a position for the
future.
50
Q: In May 2022, you got a Fulbright and participated in
the pilot cohort of “the Global Challenges Teaching Award
through the US-UK Fulbright Commission and American
Council on Education.” What was that experience like, and
how has that shaped your current work?
Daniels: My focus was on racial justice, and it aligned with the
teaching that I was doing at the University in the area of race,
gender and media that was a class that we still offer; in fact,
I’m teaching it this semester. So, at the time, the Fulbright
award was the biggest award I’d ever received. It certainly
is an international opportunity to globalize the work that
we’re doing here in Tuscaloosa. It also allows me to put the
Tuscaloosa students, the Tuscaloosa experience and the West
Alabama experience when it comes to race on a national and
international stage.
There are three faculty from the U.S. and three faculty from
the U.K. who were given those awards last year, the real benefit
of that was not the award for 2022 to 2023. It was the training
in what’s called collaborative online international learning, or
COIL, and what that involves is you, as a student, match up
with another student internationally, and together, you learn.
As instructors, there is a way that we teach a class so that
that collaboration can happen and that that collaboration can
happen in an international environment and it can happen
online. The training for that was probably about four months,
very intensive, summer 2022, but the result is I now know
how to develop a class and how to engage students with
students at another institution. We’re working right now to
establish another run of that class or another semester where
our students in Reese Phifer will connect with students in
Liverpool, hopefully as early as 2024-2025.
Q: When it comes to racial justice, what do you think those
discussions look like at the academic level at the University of
Alabama?
Daniels: You’re not happening enough. We need to have them
in a more intentional way. There are more voices that are
speaking up in those discussions as late as this week. In fact,
today in my race, gender and media class, we’re going to be
working with a project that just came out that raises Asian
American voices in that discussion about racial justice as a new
book that is addressing that perspective in a news context.
The students in my ration immediate class read about it, but
we’re going to hear what Asian Americans are saying about
that topic. We also know that the current discussion about
voting is aligned with racial injustice. In many cases, when you
disenfranchise voters, you bring into the mix a conversation
that has been underway for decades and has been front and
center here in Alabama. So that topic about race is constantly
changing and developing and evolving, and that’s what makes
what I do exciting, but at the same time, challenging because
you’ve got to stay on top of all the things that are that are
shifting and changing, but we have more people engaged in
that conversation, and I hope that that will only continue.
Q: How has it been working in these spaces as a Black man
while it’s changing? How has that experience been?
Daniels: It’s challenging. You’re trying to keep up; you’re also
trying to bring into the mix new perspectives to students in
the class, but also to your research. I’m finishing a book right
now on ethnic media, and they’re constantly crises that are
developing. So, we have to figure out, do we put that in the
book, or do we wait until the next book? We have a deadline
in December, so we got to finish up whatever we have. That
means there’s always material for another book when it comes
to teaching. You bring in new examples to classes for students
to unpack, but then also recognize that everybody is not
going to want to talk about some of these topics, especially
as it relates to race. So, you have to be ready for the pushback.
You have to be ready for the discomfort to be expressed, the
opposition to be expressed. At the same time, recognize
that your goal as an instructor is to open up minds, not close
minds. If we can open you to a different perspective, whether
or not you agree is a whole other discussion. But in doing so,
if we can get you to open your mind up, maybe we can make
some progress in our ability as a country to handle the very
challenging topic of race, racial difference, racial indifference,
racial justice, racial injustice.
Q: What are some personal goals that you’re looking to achieve
and working towards now for this year?
Daniels: I think the biggest one is to get my next books out.
The one I was mentioning earlier we’re finishing the end of
the year, and then I have another one that I hope to finish
in 2024, which focuses on diversifying media education. It’s
called “Barrier Breakers: Media Educators Meeting Diversity
Challenge Across the Decades,” it looks at our journey over
really 80 years to diversify media education starting in 1942
and then coming forward to 2022. We’re not there yet, but
we have a story to tell. I think finishing those books is an
immediate goal of mine. What else will come? I don’t know,
we’ll see.
51

Tide Trailblazers
Meet Eight Black Faculty and Staff Members Who Are Leaving Their Mark On Campus
Gabby Blackshear
Chris Crawford, a computer science associate professor and 2016 UA alum, currently serves
as the Human Technology Interaction lab director. His research focuses on human-robot
interaction and brain-computer interfaces. A devoted researcher, Crawford has earned
numerous awards for his work, including an National Science Fair CAREER award. He has
also been featured in Forbes, the New York Times and USA Today for his groundbreaking
brain-drone racing system.
The University of Alabama is known for being a well-oiled machine with an athletics
department with exceptional prowess, an expansive network of alums and a picturesque
1,200-acre campus. However, with such a large population of faculty, staff and students, many
significant pieces of the machine get overlooked.
According to the University’s Office of Institutional Research and Asssment, in fall 2022, of the
2,054 faculty members, only 168 are Black. As the University continues its work towards a more
diverse, equitable and inclusive campus, here’s a list highlighting eight remarkable Black faculty
and staff members leaving their mark on campus.
Chris Crawford
Briana Royster is an assistant professor in the department of gender and race studies,
where she specializes in African diaspora history, the histories of Black women with
a focus on religion and American Black history, specifically its relation to Black
internationalism. She has published a book that focuses on Black women and voting
rights in Birmingham after 1920, and she is currently working on a book tentatively
titled, “’Of Our Stock and Blood’: Black Missionaries, the Guianas, and Global Racial
Progress, 1839-1945.”
Briana Royster
Yolanda Manora
Yolanda Manora is an assistant professor who’s a member of the English, American studies,
and gender and race studies departments. Manora teaches many topics, including advanced
African-American literature and advanced American literature. As an Americanist, Manora’s
research focuses on issues related to race, class, gender, sexuality and subjectivity in texts by
20th/21st century women writers of color. Manora is currently working on a project titled
“The Uninsinging,” which is a collection of prose poetry and lyric essays exploring growing
up as a Black girl/woman in the South from post-Civil Rights Movement decades through
the Black Lives Matter.
JoAnn Oliver
JoAnn Oliver is a distinguished nursing professor who’s left an indelible mark on the field
through her numerous accolades, including being an American Academy of Nursing fellow.
Additionally, Oliver’s a member of the Alabama Cancer Coalition, where her leadership
played a pivotal role in crafting the state’s comprehensive cancer plan. She is currently
working on two international research projects focused on metastatic prostate cancer
treatment and prostate cancer genomics. She is also helping to lead an interventional
study addressing chronic kidney disease among rural Alabamaians.
52
Tara Mock serves as an assistant professor in the University’s Honors College. Within the
corridors of Honors Hall, Mock takes students on an intellectual journey through her various
teaching interests that focus on Modern Africa, Africa-China relations, diaspora, cultural
identity and community formation, globalization, and historical memory. Currently, she just
completed her first book, which focuses on historical and contemporary constructions of
Africanity in China.
Samory Pruitt
Tara Mock
Samory Pruitt became the University’s first Black permanent vice president for the Division
of Community Affairs since the division’s inception in 2004. As vice president, Pruitt is
responsible for leading efforts to improve the quality of life for those in Alabama and
beyond. Pruitt has been recognized locally and nationally for his work and serves on several
national boards. He was the first African American to receive the prestigious E. Roger Sayers
Distinguished Service Award and was recently inducted into the Tuscaloosa County Civic
Hall of Fame.
Vincent Willis, an assistant professor in the New College, is the only Black professor
within the college. His interest and teaching revolve around critical thinking and the
need for critical thinkers in society. In 2021, Willis released a book titled “Audacious
Agitation” about Black youth and “the uncompromising commitment to equal education”
after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision.
Cammy Smith
Vincent Willis
A recent UA undergraduate alum, Cammy Smith is now pursuing her master’s degree in
public health at the Capstone. After an impressive tenure as a residential advisor spanning
three years, Smith has become a community director within UA Housing. As a community
director over Presidential Village 1, Smith and the other community directors have worked
to prioritize the mental health of residential advisors.
CORRECTION: Briana Royster published an article that focuses on Black women and voting rights in Birmingham
after 1920.
53

In recent years, Black educational
attainment has been much closer to the
national average and today, 88% of
Blacks or African Americans have a high
school diploma, just shy of the national
average. -United States Census Bureau

56
“You have to go to
school to get an
education.”
“If you don’t work
hard in school, you’ll
struggle in life.”
Family
Values
Dani Brown
“You better
get all A’s.”
“You have to go to
school to get a job.”
All my life my family have stressed the importance
of “getting an education.” Like other Black
families, they didn’t want their children to become
a statistic.
Black people do not have the best history when it comes
to education. It is often a misjudgment that Black families
do not set high value on education. These misjudgments
stem from institutional and societal beliefs held by
many of our white counterparts. False assumptions like
this are aggressive, and racist. This is one type of covert
racist theory that is rooted in the U.S school systems.
Contrary to the belief that “Black families do not set high
value on education,” my family has valued education for
generations.
“Education is power to the Black community,” Granny
said. “They did not want us to hold power of any sort.”
Education was weaponized from the beginning. The
enslaved were not “allowed” to learn to read, during
segregation Black schools were underfunded and
“If you don’t go to
school, you gone end
up on the streets.”
“You got a F, I’m
gone beat yo ass!”
“You need to
go to college.”
“Don’t be a dumb
ass in school.”
overlooked, and it took a long time for schools to become
integrated. Given the history of Black people and
education the importance of being Black and educated is
major. The need to be educated is honestly deeply rooted
in trauma and fear.
“Our ancestors fought for us to be able to get an education.
Changes have been made but we have to make it even
better,” Granny said. “We ain’t got there yet but each
generation needs to be educated college or not to make
sure our ancestors blood sweat and tears does not go in
vain.” She is right.
Knowing the history of Black education my family has
placed a high value on being educated. For a long time,
I did not know why they were constantly stressing about
making sure I did well in school. If I did not get honor roll
there would be disappointment.
“I knew you had it in you to excel, everything was too easy
for you,” Mama said. “If I did not stress about doing well
in school, you would have been consumed with everything
but the right things.”
Younger me did not understand why people were so
tough on their Black children about doing well in school.
I thought it was because they did not want to look bad,
which could be partially true, but it looks like it is fear.
The fear of reverting to the people of color not being
able to make decisions for ourselves. Having things that
we worked hard for ripped away from us at the hands
of the opposing race filled with pure hatred. Fear of
being stagnant as a Black community, suffocating in our
struggles of not having proper resources. Fear of reverting
to lack of proper resources. Fear of the continuance of
generational curses of struggle. Fear of the unknown. The
fear of being stuck in an economic downfall. My family is
filled with fear, and they do not recognize it.
My granny carries these fears heavily. Being born in 1951,
she was raised in a time where the Black people were
viewed as commodities and not as human beings. She
has seen and lived through the progressively negative
stigmas of education in the Black community.
She enrolled in Bishop College in 1969 for half a semester.
“I wanted to set myself up to have a better life for the
future,” she said. Granny was not able to finish school or
really get a good start in college due to having to move
back home to take care of her family.
I asked my granny why she felt it was so important to get
a degree. “I wanted to be a good example for my family
then and in the future. It did not go that way but that is
why I need you to get your degree, and nothing less,” she
said. “You need to make sure you have a sense of power
and security better than I ever did.”
College is not everything and it is not for everybody,
but I feel like I had no other choice but to go to college.
My parents have nagged so much about me having the
opportunity to do better than them. Getting a higher
education was already written out for me whether I
accepted it or not. They want more for me than I can
honestly want for myself.
In conversation with my parents, I asked them “did I have
a choice to not go to college?” They both said, “No.” It may
seem harsh, but their logic is also rooted in fear. “If you
have the opportunity to further your education, take it
whether you really want to or not, the world is evolving,
and we must evolve with it,” Mama said. “Education is a
part of that evolution.”
My dad has this fear of seeing his children fail. He said to
me, “I didn’t give you a choice to not go to college because
I don’t want you to be stuck between a rock and a hard
place, wishing you had a degree attached to your name.”
Recognizing the fears of my parents and my granny,
I have grown to appreciate their logic of me having no
choice but to get a degree. I now know there is no limit
to my education. Yes, it is a struggle at times because I am
faced breaking through the color divide. Attending a PWI
while Black is very trying. I know I am not the only one
that feels this way. We cannot give up. My family’s fears
have made me want to break down the barriers placed to
block us from succeeding. I will continue challenging the
false assumptions placed against me and the people that
look like me.
College
Applications
57

Moving Beyond the Debate:
Why the PWI vs HBCU Argument is No Longer Productive
The ongoing debate of whether Black students
should attend predominately white institutions
or historically Black colleges and institutions
has gone on far too long. While it’s without question
that attending an HBCU can be a vital part of the Black
experience, the argument in itself is just tired.
HBCUs were founded because of a systemic exclusion of
Black students from colleges in general and have played
a very important role in Black education from the 19th
century till now: But as time has progressed the need for
diversity within PWIs has been critical to the development
of Black education as well.
Deciding which college to attend is one of the most
important choices someone can make in their life. It has
the potential to make or break someone’s future. More
importantly, it cultivates the experience one would have
while in college. Students are tasked with choosing
somewhere they feel will help them develop into the
person they want to be.
As a Black student, it can be daunting choosing to attend
a PWI. It is common to be the only Black peer in your
class or organization. Having to walk down halls that
Black students were barred from mere decades ago is not
an easy thing to digest. We walk down streets, study in
buildings, and patronize a system that was built by our
enslaved ancestors. In some cases, it can cause cognitive
dissonance, as attending and supporting an institution
with a history of violence and hate towards the Black
community.
From the outside, the choice is simple: if you’re Black and
socially conscious, an HBCU is the place for you. HBCUs are
a place where being Black is the norm, there’s no worry of
Jordan Huggins
being the only Black student in your class, there’s a built-in
community of Black people that doesn’t necessarily exist
at PWIs. However, there are many other factors that play
into it including location, family tradition and money. The
cost of attendance is the number one factor that affects
college decisions.
Briana Jackson, a junior majoring in public relations said
that her first choice was an HBCU.
“Of course, I had dreams of attending an HBCU, but UA was
the smartest decision,” Jackson said. With the scholarships
the University provided her, Jackson will graduate with as
little to no debt.
At its foundation, the debate asserts that choosing a
PWI is a departure from the Black community. However,
Black community can be found on any campus. At an
HBCU, it’s automatic, but one must seek it out at a PWI.
Nevertheless, it’s there. It can be found through Black
Student Unions, Divine 9 Greek Organizations and other
Black organizations that are geared toward Black students.
There are pros and cons to attending an HBCU or PWI. It
is up to the individual to decide which place can provide
the best circumstances for their future. The debate only
further divides the Black community. A Black person
seeking education should be celebrated, no matter where
they choose to attend. By focusing on a more productive
conversations such as finding ways to address systemic
issues that prevent Black students form even accessing
higher education rather than focusing on where they go.
The community will only grow stronger as we set aside
these trivial discourses and uplift one another.
Is College
Worth It?
Kristen Taylor
In an era where higher education is
often glorified as the only pathway
to success and opportunity, a
pressing question arises for many
aspiring students: Is college worth it?
College can be an exciting time in a
person’s life. It is a period where they
can follow their passions and acquire
knowledge and skills to navigate the
challenges of adulthood. However,
deciding to pursue higher education
can be daunting. With rising tuition
costs and the uncertainty of postgraduate
job opportunities, due in part
to increasing degree requirements
and experience levels for entry-level
positions, it is natural to wonder if
college holds the same value and merit
within the community.
The question of whether college
is worth it for Black students is a
complex and multifaceted one. On
the one hand, higher education can
open doors for further professional
and educational development, lead to
higher-earning job opportunities and
contribute to personal growth. On the
other hand, it often comes with a hefty
price tag and potential debt.
In an interview Neil deGrasse Tyson,
American astrophysicist and writer,
said college isn’t about applying what
you learn but knowing how to handle
and confront problems you have never
seen before.
to think, you go to college to learn
how to do research,” Tyson said. “Then
you come out a thinker and lifelong
learner.”
College is about more than just earning
your degree. College provides a unique
networking environment, often
offering many resources, allowing
personal growth and self-discovery.
Regardless, it is important to
acknowledge that Black students still
face the harsh reality of how systemic
racism can deter that growth.
According to a United States
Joint Economic Committee 2020
report, “College-educated Black
workers are also at a higher risk
than their White counterparts of
being underemployed—working in
occupations that do not make use of
their education and consequently pay
less.”
This disparity in employment
opportunities can make the economic
benefits of a college degree unclear for
Black students.
If college-educated Black workers are
already getting paid less than their
white counterparts, is the degree
worth the cost?
Especially when the cost of college
education has been steadily rising.
According to the Education Data
Initiative, “Postsecondary institutions
raise tuition (and fees) an average 6.8%
each year.”
These high tuition and fees often
result in a considerable amount of
student loan debt for many students,
which can hinder financial stability
even after graduation.
58
“You don’t go to college to learn a
subject; you go to college to learn how
Not to mention, the racial disparities
59

It’s Never Too Late to Find
Your Community: The
Importance of Campus
Involvement
Jermaine Ball
For many, feelings of isolation and homesickness
are one of the most daunting things students
face in college. No matter if they’re in-state or
out-of-state students, college is a new chapter in their
lives that comes with new feelings of uncertainty,
doubt and sometimes outright fear.
One of the best ways to combat these feelings though
is to get yourself involved on campus. While this can be
intimidating to put yourself out there, it’s one of the
best ways to alleviate those feelings of isolation while
you’re at the University of Alabama.
Whether you are looking to become an active member
in a student organization, volunteer or otherwise, the
University has plenty of opportunities for students
who share similar interests, or who may be going
through the same things that you are.
“There’s no one way to be a UA student,” said Rosalind
Moore-Miller, the assistant vice president for student
engagement. “That way is multifaceted and unique to
every student, and we have to recognize that, not try
to chart the path that we see someone else charting.”
Miller also encourages students of color specifically
to actively seek out spaces in which they will feel
comfortable, and to create those spaces if they don’t
already exist. At a school where, according to UA’s
Office of Institutional Research and Assessment,
only about 11% of the student population is Black, it’s
important that Black students find those spaces that
feel familiar and safe to them.
“I would just encourage students to think about that
early, and often find ways to see themselves represented
in the opportunities, activities and spaces that they’re
in and if they don’t see that, create it,” Miller said.
There is one primary entity on campus that is dedicated
to helping students chart their own paths and that’s
The Source. The Source is the provider of resources,
support and recognition for student organizations at
the University. According to the Source’s website, they
oversee over 600 student organizations. They host
Get on Board Day at the beginning of each new school
year where they feature all student organizations in an
effort to expose students to all the opportunities that
are available for them to get involved.
Even with all the involvement opportunities at
students’ disposal, there could be many reasons why
they still don’t feel motivated to get involved on
campus.
“Every semester I went through something drastic,” said
Ursula Lindsey, a senior majoring in human environmental
sciences.
Lindsey was dealing with a litany of personal issues in her
first couple years of college. However, she did not let life
deter her from achieving her goals.
As she prepares for graduation later in December, she
recalled an encouraging conversation she had with one
of her favorite professors during the second semester of
her junior year.
“Last semester I had a great professor, Sarah Berger, and
she was talking about professional development and how
you should get involved in school,” Lindsey said. “I was
like, I’m a senior now and I was thinking it’s too late, it’s
over for me, but she really helped push me through.”
Camryn Smith, a first-year graduate student in public
health, agreed that students shouldn’t allow themselves
to think their time to get involved has passed.
“Get rid of the lock that a timeline has on you,” Smith
said. “That’s what I would say to a freshman every time
and talk to people.”
This is a sentiment shared among many students and
it helps that every year there are new organizations
being formed, which means there are always new ways
for students, more specifically students of color, to get
involved.
“I think that it’s very important for people to get involved
on campus, especially people of color,” said Samiya Jones,
a sophomore majoring in marketing. “I think UA does
a really good job of having things every day for people
to get involved, like the Alabama Pearls. That’s a new
organization.”
The Alabama Pearls launched this year and is a professional
development organization within the College of
Communication and Information Sciences aimed towards
young Black women to provide resources to be successful
in professional environments.
Students owe it to themselves to make the most out of
the time they have here. These years will go by faster
than you think, and the last thing anyone wants is to be
a day removed from walking across the graduation stage
and then suddenly realizing that they haven’t taken full
advantage of their time in college.
60 61

A Conversation on
Critical Race Theory
Dani Brown
The conversation surrounding critical race theory
in America has become abusive. The conversation
has become a debate with state legislatures about
whether to ban the teaching of critical race theory in
classrooms, particularly in elementary school.
Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, a professor at the UCLA School
of Law and Columbia Law School who is also well known
for her role in coining the term “critical race theory,” in a
interview with The New York Times in 2021.
“It is a way of seeing, attending to, accounting for, tracing
and analyzing the ways that race is produced,” she said.
“The ways that racial inequality is facilitated, and the
ways that our history has created these inequalities that
now can be almost effortlessly reproduced unless we
attend to the existence of these inequalities.”
To better understand it, critical race theory explores
the intersectionality of racial, social, and economical
construction ingrained in society. Many people in power
have befuddled the importance that Black history holds
in America to escape the
acknowledgment of the themes that led directly to critical
race theory, which is ignorant.
In September 2020, former President Donald Trump
issued an executive order to ban the practice or guidance
of critical race theory. This decision caused the color line
to become bolder. Knowing the general idea of Trump
and “Make America Great Again” this should not be
surprising in any way. The order to ban critical race theory
is completely violent to America in general. Themes and
ideologies like MAGA are what causes the social construct
of racism to become even more disrespectful. The current
governor of Florida Ron DeSantis made the statement
“Black people benefit from slavery.” Ignorant comments
like this are why critical race theory exists.
America would not be as advanced as it is without the
Black experience. America was built off the blood, sweat,
tears and trauma of the enslaved. Historical truth like
this should be acknowledged instead of disregarded.
When it comes to the relation of critical race theory and
the teaching of Black history, there is a misconception
that critical race theory is already being taught; which is
evidently not the case.
It has been stated by certain government officials that
critical race theory introduces adolescent minds to a
leftist “brainwashing.” Adolescent minds are innocent,
but behavior is learned just like racism is learned. What is
ultimately being misconstrued is the fact that education
in schools is the only thing adolescents are learning. A
child can be led to have a leftist mindset just by following
the customs of their home lives. Some do not want more
people fighting against a socially unequal society, and
they do not want people to know the past so they can keep
allowing it to be repeated. Young minds are the future,
and they are attempting to control them before “it’s too
late.”
Latrina Spencer, a kindergarten teacher at Oakdale
Elementary school in Tuscaloosa, said that when it
comes to understanding critical race theory “the lines
get blurred.” The misunderstanding of critical race
theory can be detrimental when it comes to education,
which makes it harder for critical race theory to exist in
its correct meaning. Spencer teaches her children the
appropriate versions of truthful facts regarding Black
history.
“It’s not what we teach it’s how we teach it; it’s how we
present it,” Spencer said.
Learning about Black history does not have to be
negative. Finding ways to appropriately tell the
facts about Black history to adolescents is a form of
preservation. It is important for students, especially
Black students, to know about their history to avoid
repeating it. Conversely, many white parents may not
want their children or grandchildren to learn about
history that seems to villainize white people. “White
people do not want to see themselves on the wrong side
of history,” Spencer said.
The white race being portrayed as the villain is almost
always exhibited in majority of Black historical truth.
White people don’t want to continue to have their
oppressive and racist tactics shown in their children’s
school books or taught from their children’s teachers.
Black history in our schools has been suppressed in
order to continue to control the narrative of the divided
culture within society. The majority wants to be assured
that the minority stays a minority. Every part of Black
history needs to be taught and acknowledged.
In higher education, specifically universities, there are
curriculums set in place that focus on exploring the
racial, social, and economic disparities that perfectly
align with the critical race theory, like African American
studies. The threat of banning critical race theory
leaves the African American studies programs in a grey
area. This could be a threat to students studying in
programs of race and gender studies’ academic freedom.
Constricting students’ academic freedom is almost
equivalent to constricting the intellect of the enslaved
during the long time of slavery, which DeSantis and
Trump agree state legislatures are mimicking.
When it comes to critical race theory, it is important
to understand why it is important from all standpoints.
Some state legislatures want to ban the teachings
of American history and silence discussions about
the systematic discourse, in support of reversing
racial justices. According to the National Education
Association the North Dakota House Bill 1508 is now a
set law that prohibits “instruction relating to critical
race theory.” This law focuses on a theory that racism is
learned as it is embedded in the American legal system.
Moreover, legislatures are beginning to use terms like
“divisive concepts” in the discussion around critical race
theory to affirm the idea that it is not something that
should be discussed in academic settings.
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63

According to the Education Data Initiative on Aug. 20, America’s total student loan
debt was $1.76 trillion. Among that debt, approximately 86% of Black students took
out student loans versus 68% percent of white students, according to the Legal Defense
Fund.
Throughout American history, structural racism has given rise to the racial wealth gap,
which has had significant implications for Black students in K-12 education and beyond.
The disparities in wealth among Black and white households has been instrumental in
shaping the educational experiences of Black students and thereafter.
According to the Legal Defense Fund, due to the lack of resources and underfunded
schools within Black and brown communities, “students of color are forced to take on
more debt to cover tuition and living expenses to make up for the wealth gap between
them and their white peers.”
Autumn Williams, a recent UA alum, said she had to take out student loans because coming
from a single-income family taking out loans was her only option to get through
college. “Well, my mother told me that it was in my best interest to take out student loans
because we didn’t have enough money,” Williams said. With the racial wealth gap, studies
have shown that wealth among Black families is 15% less than that of white households,
according to the Federal Reserve’s 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances.
Isabella Cornelius, a junior majoring in news media, said that she was lucky enough not to
have to take out any student loans; however, she recognized that being white and having
several resources growing up was a reason why she never had to take out any loans. Cornelius
said she was lucky she had circumstances where she was able to have a decent ACT
score and academic resources to the point that she could qualify for scholarships that
would pay her way through school.
A study published by “Addictive Behaviors” journal connected high student loan debt to
mental health problems and even unhealthy drinking habits, highlighting that those with
socioeconomic instability after acquiring the student loan debt saw greater mental health
problems and drinking problems. “I’m very stressed and concerned about how I’m going to
pay off my debt, especially going into this workforce,” Williams said.
When asked if her race was a defining factor in her lack of student loan debt, Cornelius
agreed with no hesitation. “Definitely. You know, I wasn’t rich, but I had a school that was
decently funded that had a good ACT study program, and a lot of those sorts of opportunities
start way earlier than we think,” Cornelius said. “Having those opportunities in
high school, in middle school can really have a ripple effect down the road.”
Cornelius recognized that even though she didn’t come from a super well-off family, money
wasn’t the only resource that gave her a good education; it was also based on demographics
and where she grew up. “I’m sure my race played a part in getting the scholarship,
and you know that there would be more challenges for me otherwise,” Cornelius said.
In an interview with CNBC, sociologist Charles Eaton described student loans as a “debt
trap for Black borrowers.” According to CNBC, with the recent and ongoing talks of student
loan forgiveness, “Forgiving student debt can have an impact on the racial wealth
gap.” CNBC said with immediate student loan forgiveness, the racial wealth gap for Black
borrowers’ wealth to well over 30%.
When deciding on whether to get a loan or not, Williams said to weigh all your options.
“Talk to every member in your family, make sure that this is the right decision for you
moving forward in your life, understand how it could set you back financially after college,”
Williams said.
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