With the end of the calendar year approaching, I thought I would share several important announcements about my recent activities.
Dr. Regennia N. Williams in the gift shop of the Western Reserve Historical Society
The first is related to my December 27, 2014 visit to the Western Reserve Historical Society. Let me begin by saying that while I understand what Jesus meant when he said, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home,” it sure feels good when you can buy your own books at stores in your hometown! (Thus, the smiling face in this photo.) Many thanks to the Western Reserve Historical Society and Kent State University Press — and my co-author Samuel W. Black, for their support of this book, Through the Lens of Allen E Cole.
During the last quarter of 2014, I had the pleasure of working with an amazing group of CSU colleagues in the production of Cleveland State University: 50 Years. This commemorative volume chronicles the first half century of the university’s history in photographs and text. The book will be available in early 2015. For more information, please visit http://www.csuohio.edu/50/50thbook.html.
I am also pleased to tell you about a third research / writing project that promises to keep me busy for at least the next five months. Boycotts, Busing, and Beyond is the working title for a co-authored book on the effort to desegregate the Cleveland Public Schools. Needless to say, I am really looking forward to working with my co-authors: Dr. Ronnie Dunn, Dr. Renee Willis, Dr. Donna Whyte, and attorney James Hardiman. Our publication contract is with Kendall-Hunt, and the book should be available by January 2016.
As we approach the end of 2014, I am not really thinking about making resolutions for the new year. I will say, however, that I envision a bright future forRMW Business Enterprises, and I look forward to working with you in 2015 as we strive to realize that vision.
Thanks for your support.
Sincerely,
Dr. Regennia N. Williams
About Dr. Regennia N. Williams, Founder, President, and Executive Director
Dr. Regennia N. Williams is the Founder and Executive Director of The RASHAD Center, Inc., a Maryland-based non-profit educational corporation.
Williams holds a PhD in Social History and Policy from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. A native Clevelander and a four-time alumna of Cleveland State University, information on RASHAD's “Praying Grounds, African American Faith Communities: A Documentary and Oral History” project is now available online at www.ClevelandMemory.org/pray/, a site that is maintained by CSU's Library Special Collections, home of the Praying Grounds manuscript collections. Praying Grounds was the primary inspiration for the launching of the Initiative for the Study of Religion and Spirituality in the History of Africa and the Diaspora (RASHAD) at CSU, and links to RASHAD's scholarly journal and newsletter are also available on the Praying Grounds site. On April 28, 2020, the RASHAD Center, Inc. became a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
In 2010, Dr. Williams was a Visiting Fulbright Scholar at Nigeria’s Obafemi Awolowo University, where she taught history and directed a RASHAD-related oral history project that focused on the role of religion in recent Nigerian social history. Other research-related travels have taken her to Canada, China, France, South Africa, and Austria.
In 2013, she conceived and produced “Come Sunday @ 70: The Place of Duke Ellington’s Sacred Jazz in World History and Culture, c. 1943-2013,” a project that included scholarly presentations and performing arts activities. From September 1993 until May 2015, she was a faculty member in the Department of History at Cleveland State University. She served as a Fulbright Specialist at South Africa's University of the Free State in the summer of 2019, and completed a short-term faculty residency at Howard University in the fall of 2019. She is based in Cleveland, Ohio.
As a public scholar, her current research projects focus on African American history and culture, especially as it relates to music, religion, and spirituality. She is a member of the Oral History Association, the Western Reserve Historical Society, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The RASHAD Center, Inc. 