Nina To/ The Cougar
Against all odds, students in the African American Studies department remain optimistic.
African American studies junior Dylan Earle, who serves on the AAS student advisory board, said that despite a nationwide backlash against Black history, the program remains strong.
“We have a really great support system in our community,” Earle said. “We have donor support. They’re even looking into hiring some more faculty here. I think we’re adding more classes as opposed to getting rid of them, which is good to hear.”
Last year in Earle’s African Americans in Law course, she remembers discussing diversity, equity and inclusion policies with her classmates — a conversation shaped by Texas’ ban on DEI policies at public higher education institutions.
“What we talked about was just the overwhelming consensus from the nation that DEI wasn’t needed anymore,” Earle said. “It couldn’t be farther from the truth. Because if you contextualize everything, it wasn’t that long ago. Rosa Parks died the same year I was born — she could have seen both the Shrek movies.”
Earle said it was disheartening to hear that some people are unaware — or willfully ignorant — of the role of racism in society.
“Racism has truly shaped our country and everything about it,” Earle said. “It’s affected us on every level, and I think people don’t realize that.”
As the daughter of a pastor and a teacher, Earle participated in her high school’s Black Student Union. Now, as a member of the AAS student advisory board, she helps promote the department.
“There’s this misconception that African American Studies doesn’t make any money, or if you pick this career, you’re pigeonholing yourself in education or something,” Earle said. “That’s not necessarily true, because the thinking skills I’ve learned from African American Studies, I can apply to anything. It’s basically just thinking critically.”
Earle said her favorite class so far has been Black Liberation Theology, which focused on how the history of Christianity includes roots in racism.
“I just really fell in love with it,” Earle said. “I feel like every time I come into class, I’m learning something new. I never get tired of it.”
Beyond the coursework, Earle described the department as a pillar for students.
“It’s been so supportive,” Earle said. “They’re the reason why I’m still here. The funds that they’ve given me are the reason why I’m still able to stay at UH. I would hope that more students would take advantage of that if they have the interest.”
African American studies freshman Genesis Lemon, also a member of the AAS student advisory board, said the department helped ease her transition from a small town to a big city.
“The department itself is such a family-oriented one,” Lemon said. “I’m just so happy that I got such a close-knit but really active part of the community. I’m very blessed that I was able to come to that.”
Lemon attended a predominantly white high school where her family was the only African American family. She said she felt frustrated by the limited history curriculum.
“At my school, it really wasn’t celebrated to learn about different minority studies,” Lemon said. “It was just what you learned in American history and that was about it.”
The national political climate did not go unnoticed by Lemon, who said she considered it when choosing to major in African American Studies.
“It did have a lot of uncertainty, but right now, I’ve never felt more supported,” Lemon said. “The department has done such a good job just making me feel very valued and very respected.”
Lemon said she is deciding between entering government, advocacy or teaching.
“Coming from the generation that I’m coming from, I think we see change in the future,” Lemon said. “But we have to educate, we have to learn, we have to fight for what we believe in. I’m really, really hopeful that things will change.”
African American Studies Week begins Feb. 23 and will coincide with Black History Month — a reflection of the optimism, celebration and hope students say define the department.
“To know your history is to learn your history, to know all about it, even the good and the bad and the ugly,” Lemon said. “That’s how we learn. That’s how we forgive. That’s how we heal. And that’s how we do better for the future.”
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