Hi, Everyone – Very excited because I just recently retired from over 13 years of teaching at NJ Higher Education Institutions. I am going to miss all the students who changed my life for the better. With Covid-19 and sometimes mindless procedures that zap creativity through standardization and conformity, it was time to go. Amazing how a crisis an force me to re-examine my life.
THANK YOU
Thank you to colleagues who were supportive, allowed me to be part of University or College features on research, pilot projects on students success, and provided additional financial support for research and professional development. One of my favorite times was working with Saniah Kinsey, a Kean Psychology student, on a pilot students success program called “Supplemental Instruction” at Kean to help students succeed in History. Or when students in my class met Emeritus Faculty Member Eric Foner in a class lecture and asked questions about why he wrote Give Me Liberty around the theme of who is an American? These are the moments I cherish. Thank you.
COVID-19 and Wear a Mask!
Now, I haven’t written for a while due to the suffering around me among students and colleagues with Covid-19. To hear students write about deaths in families, among friends, with co-workers is heart shattering. Together, we tried to keep the “humanity” in education, along with compassion and kindness as we moved through Spring 2020. I am very concerned because many adults of all ages refuse to wear masks – If you want to live, put that mask on.
ICJS
My International Center for Jefferson Studies fellowship was a recent casualty of Covid-19 but I will be there at Monticello, God willing, August 2021! Thank you ICJS!
WENCH BETTY MATTERS
Thank you to New Jersey Studies for inviting me to publish this summer a talk on “Why Wench Betty’s Story Matters.” https://njs.libraries.rutgers.edu/index.php/njs/article/view/211/268
Please check out her story, and I will have other news and resources to share in Fall 2020 on slavery in colonial and early New Jersey history. More coming!
George Floyd
I dedicated the publication of this talk to Betty, an enslaved woman murdered by her owner in 1784 and to George Floyd who died a horrible death because of police brutality and racism. Watching George’s murder on the news made me sick, and I think of all the black and brown students I have taught worrying about them and hoping they will not be next suffering any type of injustice. The New Jersey Council for the Humanities has been a wonderful supporter of my public speaking on Wench Betty’s story, and I thank this team for the designation of Public Scholar from 2020-2022.
Continued Learning to Inspire Me
It’s been a summer of closing files, opening new files and relationships, joining new groups, watching news more than I have had in the past, attending many history zoom live sessions and webinars on racial profiling, segregation, voter suppression, Thomas Jefferson, immigration, and just this week Andrew Jackson. Reading, reading, and writing. And, I’m learning to post in Twitter! Thanks to Kean U., SHEAR, AHA, APS, and of course, YouTube, I’ve felt like a graduate student again, mining resources to learn, as I learn with and from colleagues. I’ve even been on a virtual “reunion” of sorts with colleagues who I joined in a community college leadership program. That reminds me, I don’t think of leadership as someone who participates in a training program to be indoctrinated into “group think” to get a promotion or be noticed by administration. Leadership is acting, even when unwanted, to change an institutional culture. Certainly the death of John Lewis, Civil Rights Icon, shows us how this man always risked his life to stand up for justice. In the example of great activists, get rid of safe, hack-like/lite leadership.
Happy Reading and Let’s Remember November is a time for voting change!
Sue K.
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