The Engaging the Wisdom program, a component of the Racial Healing Initiative of the Society for History and Racial Equity, is an interracial, inter-generational program that will explore new and creative ways for youth and elders to connect. Program goals are to (a) engage students in meaningful activities that will engender greater respect for elders in the community, (b) build bridges across generations and ethnicities, (c) involve students in oral history projects that will increase their knowledge of the history of the community.
As part of the Engaging the Wisdom project, SHARE has collaborated in an oral history project with Dr. Bruce Mills and his English Seminar class, Building the Archive: Baldwin and His Legacy at Kalamazoo College.
History, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do. It could scarcely be otherwise, since it is to history that we owe our frames of reference, our identities, and our aspirations. (James Baldwin)
In February of 1960, James Baldwin delivered an address, “In Search of a Majority,” at Stetson Chapel at Kalamazoo College which he later included in his collection of essays, Nobody Knows My Name. The Baldwin and His Legacy seminar approached Baldwin’s visit and writings as a site of analysis. As an actual event, the occasion left a record (correspondence, publicity, newspaper accounts, published essay). Through a close reading of Baldwin and his milieu, the course invited students to engage critically in what we carry within us. To deepen their understanding of Baldwin and the period, they researched in the Kalamazoo College Archives and students were trained by SHARE to conduct interviews of people involved in Kalamazoo community initiatives during the civil rights era.
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Interview with Dr. Von Washington Sr., Part 2
Dr. Von Washington Sr.
Part 2 of two part interview with Dr. Von Washington Sr. recorded on February 4, 2015. Dr. Washington is interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Scott Brent as a part of SHARE's (formerly known as the Southwest Michigan Black Heritage Society) Baldwin Archive Engaging the Wisdom Project with Kalamazoo College. During the interview Dr. Washington discusses the following topics:
- His experiences while in the Air Force;
- How spending time abroad informed his understanding of U.S. race relations;
- Protests and social movements he was involved in during and after the Air Force;
- Experiences being a race relations instructor;
- How he prepares to write;
- Why being educated about black history is important;
- Differences in racial dynamics in public universities and private universities;
- How Christian values affect Black values;
- Racially specific lessons he has passed on to his children;
- Current political climate and racial tensions within politics;
- How university racial relations have changed during his lifetime;
- Which Baldwin works contributed to his understanding of U.S. race relations;
- His greatest accomplishments.
Additional files include full transcription and abstract (includes content timestamps).
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Interview with James Washington Sr., Part 1
James Washington Sr.
Part 1 of two part interview with James Washington Sr. recorded on February 5, 2013. Mr. Washington is interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Max Jensen as a part of SHARE's (formerly known as the Southwest Michigan Black Heritage Society) Baldwin Archive Engaging the Wisdom Project with Kalamazoo College. During the interview Mr. Washington discusses the following topics:
- Growing up in a large family in Illinois;
- Racial relations in Springfield, Illinois;
- Interest in music and the Western Michigan University choir;
- Work at Gibson Guitar and the Kalamazoo Police Department;
- Civil rights in the Kalamazoo Area;
- Riots in Detroit and Kalamazoo;
- Changes in Kalamazoo as a result of the Civil Rights Movement.
Additional files include full transcription and abstract (includes content timestamps).
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Interview with James Washington Sr., Part 2
James Washington Sr.
Part 2 of two part interview with James Washington Sr. recorded on February 12, 2013. Mr. Washington is interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Max Jensen as a part of SHARE's (formerly known as the Southwest Michigan Black Heritage Society) Baldwin Archive Engaging the Wisdom Project with Kalamazoo College. During the interview Mr. Washington discusses the following topics:
- Family and experiences growing up in a family of 13;
- Race riots in Springfield, Illinois;
- Discussions of race within the family setting;
- The Douglas Community Association;
- The Western Michigan University Student Union protest;
- The Van Avery Drugstore protest;
- Martin Luther King and Rap Brown;
- The legacy and future of civil rights in America;
- School of choice in Kalamazoo.
Additional files include full transcription and abstract (includes content timestamps).
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Interview with Dr. Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran, Part 1
Dr. Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran
Part 1 of two part interview with Dr. Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran recorded on April 27, 2015. Dr. Wilson-Oyelaran is interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Lauren Perlaki as a part of SHARE's (formerly known as the Southwest Michigan Black Heritage Society) Baldwin Archive Engaging the Wisdom Project with Kalamazoo College. During the interview Dr. Wilson-Oyelaran discusses the following topics:
- Eileen’s experiences growing up in a G.I. community;
- Best childhood memories;
- Experiencing the Watts Riots during her childhood;
- Changes within the city that the Watts Riots encouraged;
- Why Eileen attended a private Catholic high school;
- Eileen’s first experience attending Girl Scout Camp;
- Experiences while coming of age during the Civil Rights era;
- Why Eileen chose to study sociology, and how it impacted her later education;
- Hearing Dr. Martin Luther King speak;
- Eileen’s experiences while studying abroad in England and how they have impacted her;
- The Thomas J. Watson Travelling Fellowship;
- How living in Nigeria differed from living in the United States.
Additional files include full transcription and abstract (includes content timestamps).
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Interview with Dr. Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran, Part 2
Dr. Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran
Part 2 of two part interview with Dr. Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran recorded on May 8, 2015. Dr. Wilson-Oyelaran is interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Lauren Perlaki as a part of SHARE's (formerly known as the Southwest Michigan Black Heritage Society) Baldwin Archive Engaging the Wisdom Project with Kalamazoo College. During the interview Dr. Wilson-Oyelaran discusses the following topics:
- Memories of Eileen’s family;
- Eileen’s Father’s activism, including meeting Malcolm X;
- Participation with the Urban League;
- How Eileen’s parents’ participation in activism shaped her growing up;
- Discussion of Eileen’s mother;
- What it meant to be middle class in the African American community;
- Challenges of being an African American in a prominent leadership role;
- What inspired Eileen to mentor young women;
- The moment when Eileen first became aware of her race;
- Eileen’s experience at the Black Power Conference;
- Experiences being one of the few women of color on Pomona’s campus;
- The debate at Pomona College over the development of Black Studies;
- Concerns about raising a child in America’s current climate;
- How the United States has progressed with police brutality and race relations;
- Eileen’s most difficult and most rewarding experiences at Kalamazoo College.
Additional files include full transcription and abstract (includes content timestamps).