“Here They Come, Y’all:” Black Studies, Dr. Daniel Black, and Reflections from The Black School of Thought

Authors

  • Kyle R. Fox, Ph.D. College of Coastal Georgia
  • La'Neice Littleton, Ph.D. Atlanta History Center
  • Joyce White, Ph.D. Georgia Southern University

Abstract

The illustrious Atlanta University was founded in 1865, and Clark College, founded in 1869 combined in 1988 to form Clark Atlanta University. Atlanta University, the oldest institution of higher education in the city of Atlanta, Ga, is the oldest graduate institution to support a predominately Black student population in the United States. CAU has a legacy of dynamic educators, who include individuals such as Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, Dr. Rufus Clement, Dr. Pearlie Craft Dove, and Dr. Shelby Lewis. Among this legacy of erudite scholar is Dr. Daniel Omotosho Black. Dr. Black, a Clark College alum and one of the first scholars to receive a Ph.D. in Africana Studies, has committed 30 years to teaching at Clark Atlanta University. During his tenure, he has educated and mentored countless students academically, culturally, and spiritually. He has reared many in the Black Studies tradition of scholar activism and created an intellectual legacy. In May of 2024, Black delivered the now viral commencement speech of the era, "Here They Come, Y'all." The speech invoked a spirit of self-determination and evoked CAU's motto: "Find a way or make one."

Black's invitation to participate in the Black Studies tradition is evident not only in his speech, but also in his creation of a doctoral cohort coined "The Black School of Thought." Indicative of Black's commitment to CAU's motto of finding a way, "The Black School of Thought" is an interdisciplinary, humanistic cohort composed of English, History, and Identity studies scholars who operate through a Black Studies theoretical lens and ground their work in Afrocentric thought and praxis. Scholars in "The Black School of Thought" adhere to the Black Studies tenets African centeredness, community engagement, ritual and rights of passage, and intellectual confidence and high standards of excellence–all fundamental tenets of the Black Studies tradition, which Black himself inherited and passed on through rigorous training and study of the Black experience. Thus, this work is a reflective essay grounded in Afrocentric theory that focuses specifically  on the teaching of Daniel Black and explores the impact of his pedagogy on the creation of the next generation of Black Studies scholars. 

Author Biographies

  • Kyle R. Fox, Ph.D., College of Coastal Georgia

    Kyle R. Fox, Ph.D. is the chair of the Department of Arts and Humanities and an Assistant Professor of Communication at The College of Coastal Georgia. He serves as the Assistant Director of CCGA's African American Male Initiative, faculty representative on CCGA's President's Commission on Diversity and Inclusion, and the college's representative on the University System of Georgia's Board of Regents' Committee for Communication. Kyle obtained his Ph.D. in Humanities with a concentration in African American Studies from Clark Atlanta University, MA in Communication Studies from The University of Alabama, and BA in Political Science also from The University of Alabama.

  • La'Neice Littleton, Ph.D., Atlanta History Center

    Dr. La’Neice Littleton is the Director of Community Collaborations at the Atlanta History Center, Independent Public Historian, Historical Consultant, and African American Studies Scholar.

  • Joyce White, Ph.D., Georgia Southern University

    Dr. Joyce White is an Assistant Professor of English in Gullah Geechee Literature and Cultures and Interim Director of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Center at Georgia Southern University. Her research interests include African American and diasporic literature, as well as African cosmological and spiritual continuities in diasporic literature.

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Published

2025-02-27

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 1 (2025): Historically Black Colleges and Universities: The Past, the Present, and the Future

Section

Peer-Reviewed Articles

License

Research Issues in Contemporary Education (RICE) is a nationally indexed, double-blind, peer-reviewed online journal that publishes educational research studies, literature reviews, theoretical manuscripts, and practitioner-oriented articles regarding issues in education. Views expressed in all published articles are the views of the author(s), and publication in RICE does not constitute endorsement. Submission of an article implies that it has not been published and is not currently under review for publication elsewhere. 

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