This Week in Black History, Society, and Culture
"This Week in Black History, Society, and Culture" is a monthly podcast produced by Dr. Hettie V. Williams Professor of History in the Department of History and Anthropology at Monmouth University. Williams is the author of several essays, articles, book chapters and the author/editor of seven books. Her research interests include African American intellectual and cultural history, women's history, and race/ethnic studies. She is also the former director of the Trotter Institute for the Study of Black Culture at UMass Boston. Williams periodically interviews scholars, authors, activists, and community leaders on matters related to the history, society, and culture of Black and African American communities in the United States (U.S.) and the world. These podcast episodes are on a variety of subjects including, but not limited to, higher education, economics, criminal justice, reparations, mental health, history, science, gender, popular culture, women, and politics. A new episode will be released monthly on Monday mornings from September to May during each academic term.
This Week in Black History, Society, and Culture
Barbara Jordan: She Changed the Nation
This week Dr. Hettie V. Williams is in conversation with Dr. Mary Ellen Curtis about her recent book She Changed the Nation: Barbara Jordan’s Life and Legacy in Black Politics (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2025). Williams is a professor of history in the Department of History and Anthropology at Monmouth University and the current director of the African Diaspora Studies Program at Monmouth University. Curtin is Associate Professor in the Department of Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies and Director of American Studies at American University in Washington, D.C. She is a historian of modern African American and women’s social and political history and the author of Black Prisoners and Their World, Alabama 1865-1900 (University Press of Virginia, 2000) that details the origins of the convict leasing system in Alabama as well as the lives of Black coal miners after emancipation. In this episode, she discusses her latest book about Barbara Jordan and Jordan’s role in both local and national politics as one of the most important Black women political figures of her generation. Click here to order a copy of She Changed the Nation
