This episode features two pioneers in the field of Black Studies, both Lehman College faculty. Dr. Mark Christian, Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at Lehman College, is the author, most recently of two books, Booker T. Washington: A Life in American History * and Transatlantic Liverpool: Shades of the Black Atlantic, that are the basis of his conversation with one of his mentors, Dr. William Seraile, professor emeritus of African American history at Lehman. (See bios below.) Dr. Seraile asks his colleague Dr. Christian, how, as a kid who grew up in 1970s Liverpool, England, he got interested in African American Studies. They discuss a range of influential figures in Black history from Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Dubois, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, and Muhammed Ali all the way to Barack Obama and Kamala Harris. Dr. Christian talks about the surprisingly critical role played by Thomas Dixon who was wary of Booker T. Washington’s self determination program and whose 1905 novel The Clansman was the basis for the highly controversial and legendarily racist film The Birth of a Nation produced in 1915. As Dr. Christian puts it, “If you want to understand what Booker T. Washington was up to, read Thomas Dixon.” Their conversation is both deep and wide. They raise questions about economic strength in Black communities, what has come from the lessons of Black leaders in U.S. history, and the origins and future of Black Studies.
As Dr. Seraile habitually tells his students: “Go to the library. Do the research.” The two commiserate about how difficult it once was to find information for research in Black Studies. Students and scholars don’t face the same obstacles these days. Case in point, the multi-volume Booker T. Washington Papers, mentioned in this episode, is widely available in public libraries (see call number E185.97 .W274 at your CUNY library).
Dr. Mark Christian has been at Lehman College since August 2011. He arrived as a full and tenured professor and was the chairperson of the Department of Africana Studies from 2011 to 2019. Since his tenure as chairperson ended, he has published three books in his areas of scholarly interest: The 20th Century Civil Rights Movement: An Africana Studies Perspective (2021); an award-winning biography, Booker T. Washington: A Life in American History (2021) and Transatlantic Liverpool: Shades of the Black Atlantic (2022). Dr. Christian is a native of Liverpool, England; he completed his BA (Hons.) and PhD degrees in the UK, and his MA in Black Studies from The Ohio State University. He has lived and worked in the US full-time since 2000. A former senior Fulbright Scholar at Kent State University, Department of Pan African Studies (1997-8) and researcher with the Commonwealth Institute, University of London, Dr. Christian is currently completing a biography on Frederick Douglass for Bloomsbury Press that is slated to be published within the next year.
Dr. William Seraile is a professor emeritus of African American history from Lehman College where he was, in 1971, one of the pioneer scholars in the field of Africana Studies. His Peace Corps tour in Ethiopia (1963-1965) exposed him to the ancient kingdoms of Axum and Lalibela which inspired him to embark on a self- study of African American history. He earned a doctorate in American history from the CUNY in 1977. He is the author of five books and has been a frequent guest on radio and cable television shows. His scholarship and activism resulted in numerous awards including the prestigious Carter G. Woodson Scholars Medallion from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (2017).
*Named a 2022 Outstanding Reference Source by the Reference and User Services Association, a division of the American Library Association.
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