Interview with Arlena Jones and Melvin Bates

Interview with Arlena Jones and Melvin Bates

Loading...

Media is loading
 

Interviewers

Sydney McCarrall & Sareniti Wallace-Lawson

Description

Arlena Jones and Melvin Bates were interviewed as part of SHARE’s Reparations in the Black World oral history collection which was developed in partnership with the students in a Black Reparations course at Western Michigan University. Ms. Jones and Mr. Bates were interviewed by Sydney McCarrall and Sareniti Wallace-Lawson, students in the aforementioned course. During the interview, Ms. Jones and Mr. Bates discussed the following topics:

  • Melvin’s childhood on a plantation in Mississippi;
  • His journey to the north;
  • Coaching tennis;
  • His testimony of his faith;
  • His welding career;
  • His views on reparations;
  • Arlena’s views on financial and spiritual reparations;
  • The Willie Lynch Letter;
  • Her response to the idea that reparations are unfair, and;
  • What’s next?

Date of Interview

4-1-2025

Location of Interview

Kalamazoo, MI

Series

Reparations in the Black World

Keywords

Oral HIstory, Kalamazoo, Mississippi, Martin Luther King Jr., Reparations, Slavery

Disciplines

African American Studies | Oral History

Notes

The Society for History and Racial Equity’s oral history archive is made possible through Western Michigan University’s Presidential Innovation Professorship program. All collection materials and copyright are owned by SHARE; Western Michigan University Libraries provide stewardship and digital access. Content is for educational purposes only and non-reproducible. If cited or linked, please do so through ScholarWorks with appropriate attribution. Please direct any questions to scholarworks@wmich.edu.

Language

ENG

Document Type

Interview

Length of video

01:10:22

Length of video log

--

Interview with Arlena Jones and Melvin Bates

Share

COinS