The RASHAD Center, Inc.

When I decided to move to the Washington DC Metropolitan Area, I believed that life in this part of the world would be interesting and challenging, and I have not been disappointed.

In fact, life here and throughout our world continues to be interesting, challenging, and, sometimes– in the face of widespread poverty, violence, and injustice –disheartening.

Statue of Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. in New York’s Harlem community. (Photo: Regennia N. Williams)

I am determined, however, to heed the advice of the late Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., and “press forward at all times.”  There are more than a few people of goodwill in Greater DC and throughout the global community, and I am fortunate to be in a position to work with some of them.

We have our work cut out for us, but I remain cautiously optimistic about the possibility that, together, we will be able to bring about some much-needed change in 2017. — RNW

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A 2009 DVD from the archives.

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of visiting the Felix E. Grant Jazz Archives, an incredible collection of learning resources at the University of the District of Columbia.

My introduction to the collection included informal conversations with a staff member and a UDC music student, a brief tour of the reading / listening room, a history of the archives, and information about the UDC Jazz Studies Program, student performing arts ensembles, special events, publications and recordings by UDC and other entities (including the items pictured here), and the place of jazz in world history and culture.

The Spring 2014 “Jazz in Washington” issue of Washington History, a publication of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.

I will definitely include visits to the Felix E. Grant Jazz Archives on the list of required public history activities for students enrolled in my fall 2016 classes.  I am convinced that materials in this collection will enhance teaching, learning, and research–which is in direct keeping with the archives’ mission.   I invite you to join me on this journey through the history of the “capital city” and the United States of America, which can be rewarding for members of both the academic and non-academic communities alike.

For more information, please visit the website for the Felix E. Grant Jazz Archives.

A Duke Ellington commemorative quarter, 2003.

Regennia N. Williams, PhD

I am pleased to report that I will be starting my first teaching job in Washington DC — at the University of the District of Columbia, in the Fall semester of 2016.  I will be working at the Community College location of this historically Black institution.  I am also in the process of preparing application materials for my second Fulbright Award, ideally for research and lecturing in South Africa by Fall 2018. It seems that there is never a dull moment in “The District” — or any of the exciting institutions and programs associated with it.

Regennia N. Williams (second from right) with (left to right) Joel Oke, Biodun Adediron and Yisa Yusef, faculty members and administrators at Nigeria’s Obafemi Awolowo University.

The July 2016 issue of The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs (JTB) is now available online at http://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/jtb/.  Inspired by my work as a Fulbright Scholar in Ile-Ife Nigeria, this issue celebrates the legacy of the Rev. Dr. John S. Mbiti, a Kenyan-born leader in the worldwide Anglican Communion and the author of African Religions and Philosophy, among other publications.  Articles by contributing scholars focus on Mbiti’s influence on the study of Pan-African literature, African Traditional Religions, African and African-influenced music, women and religion, and other topics. Special thanks to Dr. Taiwo Soneye, Faculty of Arts at Obafemi Awolowo University, for serving as co-editor.

Please visit our site often to access recent scholarship by American and international authors.

Regennia N. Williams, Editor

The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs