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Hosted by Terrance Ruth, this podcast decodes the language, decisions and hidden areas of local power that often seems illogical to residents. Our goal is to empower people to engage locally and to understand how significant it is to be aware and active at the local level. Once local government is logical, it will become meaningful and provide the benefits that allows for people to live a thriving life.
EVERETT: Our schools had less facilities, less
educational material. Our teachers were taught
substantially less, even with advanced degrees
compared to white counterparts. But even with
that, we have produced some of the most brilliant
minds in the world. And HBCU graduates are providing
leadership throughout this world and throughout
this country.
TERRANCE: You're listening to Illogical by Truth.
This podcast decodes the language, decisions,
and hidden areas of local power that often seems
illogical to residents. The goal of this podcast
is to empower people to engage locally and to
understand how significant it is to be aware and
active. At the local level. Once local government
is logical, it will become meaningful and provide
the benefits that allows for people to live a
thriving life. Hello, everyone. You're listening
to Illogico by Truth. And we have a very special
guest today, someone who I had the chance to admire
from afar and up close. I remember when I was
hired by the NAACP, I realized how intertwined
historical Black institutions are. And I've seen
where fraternities, sororities, HBCUs, sort of,
organizing or activism organizations or advocacy
organizations, all existed as one unit to produce
freedom for black people. And then that's the
moment I began to see the ripples of your leadership
touch me. And I want to introduce Dr. Everett
Ward through a story. So I was a principal in
South East Raleigh. And the school I was the principal
of had long-term suspended students. In my school,
people don't normally visit. I don't normally
don't get guests. Even the parents rarely come
and visit their kids while they're at our school.
Most of the kids are suspended from their schools.
So usually this is like a dumping ground for kids
who are having trouble. And at the time I was
located in Raleigh, North Carolina. I was in Southeast
part of the city and Dr. Ward was president of
St. Augustine College University. And I called
him and said, I would love if you can come and
visit our school. And we had a garden in the school
and you came over and you talked about your story
of having to live on a farm and you talked about
the different vegetable that we had in the garden
and the significance I had to you and what you
remember as a child. And so with that Dr. Ward,
I want to welcome you to the show. Thank you.
EVERETT: Thank you so much Dr. Ruth. And thank
you for the invitation to be here. And thank you
for remembering that story. I remember it very
well. And about the creative leadership that you
were providing to our young people in the community.
I didn't live on a farm. But I had very fond memories
of gardens and... What St. Augustine's was at
that time. In its earlier days, we had farms and
our students would farm on the campus and grow
their own vegetables. So now when I hear about
organic gardens and other things, I think about
1867 and what our students were ahead of themselves
at that time. So it's an honor to be here with
you.
TERRANCE: So Dr. Ward, we're glad to have you
here. You've held so many positions that are embedded
in with historical significance in the black community,
including being a former HBCU president, being
a former national president of Alpha Phi Alpha,
among others. What led you to leadership in these
areas and how does these roles create alignment
in your story?
EVERETT: Well, I think... All politics is local
and that's where it all began. I was very fortunate.
I am originally from Raleigh, North Carolina.
Generational. My father was a precinct chairman
and owned his own business. And then my mother
worked in corporate America, but she was a registrar.
So my sister and I were very fortunate that we
could see public service and, you know, coming
from a family that was committed to helping your
local community. National was not ever in my...
Horizon, but what we were always taught, and what
my life experience was, and continues to be, is
making life better for your community. That's
good. If that leads to state, regional, and national
opportunities all well and good, but everything
starts at the local, making sure the schools in
your community are serving the needs of all children,
making sure governmental resources that are built
on the taxes of all citizens are equally distributed
across the city, across the state, and across
the country. So that's what started. And then
also education has always been paramount for us.
Growing up in Raleigh, North Carolina, I tell
people, I had the benefit. Of being around Shaw
University, 1865, St. Augustine's in 1867, you
can imagine. What influence that has on a young
person to be able to see college professors, college
presidents who were family friends. Dr. James
Alexander Boyd is seventh president of St. Augustans.
Dr. Prezel Robinson, the eighth president, all
personal family friends. Elizabeth Cofield, professor
at Shaw University, working with Ella Baker and
students. So, you know, that was my experience
and continues to be. And that's why I want to
make sure future generations have that
TERRANCE: same benefit. I've had the opportunity
to hear you speak quite often and what amazed
me about your message that you deliver. I remember
one time you talked about how the bricks that
people walk on right now when they're on St. Augustans
College was laid by your ancestors. I'm not talking
about non-unknown figures in history that's linked
to you. You're naming names. Land where the bricks
lay is taken care of. It feels like it's a personal.
EVERETT: Oh, it is. It's my DNA. You know. St.
Augustine's had the only hospital built by students,
St. Agnes Hospital. And it was the primary medical
facility for our people for many years. And I
had the good fortune, along with many people,
to be born in that hospital, persons who received
medical care there. So when I look at the stones
and knowing that those stones were quarried by
students and built by students, and my great uncle
was a student there, who with no money was admitted
to St. Augustine's. And as a part of his admittance.
He helped work on the campus, helped build the
hospital that his great nieces and nephews would
be born in some many years later. So for me, our
HBCUs is the lifeblood of our community. That's
good. You know, so all of the cultural, intellectual,
medical. Foundations were on the campus of IHBCUs.
We can't forget the Shaw University. Had Leonard
Medical School, it had a school of pharmacy, it
had a law school. And we had a hospital, Howard
University, dental school, medical school. So
the medical professionals... That came into this,
were in this country. Looked like us. Many of
them came from those institutions.
TERRANCE: I wanna touch on... That role a little
bit later, because you're talking about a wave
of middle class, you're talking about a wave of
just a different tier in terms of class and who
you are and who you are to society. But I wanna
ask a question really quick. We started our podcast
with a look at Shaw University that's located
in Raleigh, North Carolina, in the capital of
North Carolina. And we use the legacy of Ella
Baker and SNCC to lay the foundation for why local
government is not only critical, but it's important
to the state and the country. Yes. What happened
in Shaw with Ella Baker changed the country. And
some of our listeners may or may not know. That
all of this was birthed in an HBCU, does this
idea that SNCC and what they were able to produce,
how it changed the country, changed our state,
changed our communities, did it surprise you that
that was birthed out of a HBCU?
EVERETT: No, not at all, because if you understand
the history of HBCUs, All students and faculty
and administrators who work at HBCUs understood
that we have a dual mission. Ah, that's good.
Our mission is not only to educate, but to create
a forum for the development of leaders. So HBCU
students leave understanding that they have a
dual mission. So you may be a chemistry major.
You may be a business major, but you understand
and you understood that your academic preparation
was not only to excel in your academic and career
aspirations, but there also comes with that a
high level of responsibility in the area of leadership.
So you have, for example, a Dr. James Shepherd
to leave Shaw University with a pharmacy degree.
But when you read his life story, he becomes the
founder of North Carolina Central University.
He advocates for a law school at North Carolina
Central. He becomes a part of, of the building
of a financial development in Durham. With North
Carolina Mutual and Mechanics and Farmers Bank.
So from St. Augustine's, you have a Ralph Campbell,
who's a graduate business administration major,
but becomes one of the first blacks elected statewide
in the state of North Carolina in 1992. So the
list goes on and on and on throughout the country.
So there's not a HBCU in this country that you
can name that you didn't have students to walk
through those. Gate. And become servant leaders,
but also excel professionally in their careers
as well. So that duality of understanding.
TERRANCE: Now in that duality, what role does
the legal restrictions around education of black
people play is sort of the birth, because what
I hear often are individuals who only see the
value of HBCUs historically. They go, oh, I can
understand since you weren't allowed to go to
school, Pauli Murray couldn't go to UNC, so she's,
NC Central was created, and so they made that
an alternative for her to go to.
EVERETT: That's right, she went to Howard's Law
School.
TERRANCE: That's right, and most people see it
historically. What is that narrative historically?
Like, why was HBCU's birth, like what is that
sort of?
EVERETT: Well, I think we have to, Dr. Roof, put
it in a historical context. We can never forget.
That. Slave ancestors. Did not have access to
education. It was against the law. For you to
teach enslaved or free African Americans how to
read and write. That's a narrative that's often
left out of the American story. So you think about
for hundreds of years, we were denied, legally
denied, and through violence. That you could not
teach our ancestors how to read and write. And
so it was in 1837. That Cheney University was
founded and became the first HBCU in this country.
So just think about from 1837, 186 years. Is the
period that we had access to higher education.
However... Harvard was founded in 1636. So even
with that vast span of hundreds of years, so Harvard
200 plus years of educating a population. Chaney
186 to today. But even with that, What we have
done as a people is unprecedented when you think
about the odds, the segregation, the lack of material,
and it wasn't until the Brown decision in this
country that segregation was ended. So our schools
had less facilities, less educational material.
Our teachers were taught substantially less, even
with advanced degrees compared to white counterparts.
But even with that, we have produced some of the
most brilliant minds in the world. And HBCU graduates
are providing leadership throughout this world
and throughout this country.
TERRANCE: Wow, I remember... Watching a documentary
on Pauli Murray. Yes. She was fascinated. By the
room she walked in when she seen not just the
NAACP attorneys that were there, but she was impressed
with the rigor, the brilliance, the cutting edge,
sort of legal minds that was sitting at Howard.
EVERETT: Oh yes.
TERRANCE: And when I tell that story in my classes
at NC State, I make sure I go not Harvard. How?
I mean, actually, we should understand the difference.
That the minds that were fighting and winning
these cases. And these cases were hyperlocal.
You're talking about school.
EVERETT: That's right.
TERRANCE: Separate but equal. You're talking about
buses. That's right. All this is local government.
That's exactly.
EVERETT: But what we have to also remember. The
conscious decision of Charles Hamilton Houston
to come to Howard with a substantial educational
background, but to be so dedicated that he said
that he was going to develop social engineers
through Howard's law school, that again, you will
graduate with a law degree, but with that duality
of a commitment to service. So Thurgood Marshall
comes from Lincoln University, denied opportunity
to enter the law school in Maryland, but comes
to Howard like Paul and Murray and countless others,
and they become the chief engineers to fight for
justice in this country. And he becomes the first
African-American to sit on the United States Supreme
Court, but he's a graduate of Lincoln University
and Howard University Law School. Give you another
example, here in Raleigh. Fred J. Carnage, for
whom Carnage Middle School is named, but it was
junior high. Whom I knew was a church member and
a longtime family friend. Graduate of Morgan State
University. Graduate of Howard University School
of Law. Comes to Raleigh, is an agent for North
Carolina Mutual Life Insurance, opens his own
practice, and becomes the only black on the appointed
Raleigh School Board at that time. So you see
that these men and women who walk through the
doors and the gates of our institutions have historically,
but even in contemporary society, continue to
be the leaders in their respective communities
throughout the country and throughout the world.
TERRANCE: I appreciate you highlighting that because...
All of these nuggets. They're really not hidden
at all. But it's untold. And I'm glad that you
put in the context of history. Now, you were president
of St. Augustine University, located in Raleigh,
North Carolina. Can you explain the importance
of that school to the history of the city of Raleigh
and to you?
EVERETT: Let me start with not only the city of
Raleigh, but the country.
TERRANCE: Oh, that's good.
EVERETT: St. Augustine's has produced exceptional
men and women who have been giving over our 150-plus
year history. Most HBCUs started out with the
foundation as teacher institutions who were producing
teachers because you have an enslaved population
that has no access to education. Well, who's going
to provide the teaching? Who's going to help?
And so most of our institutions started as teacher
institutions. St. Augustine's teacher institution,
as well as faith ministers in the Episcopal Church
founded by the Episcopal Church, all of our institutions
have evolved from that. But I think one of the
clear missions has, always been and continues
to be providing service. I'm a proud graduate
of North Carolina and T-State University. Uh...
The majority of African-American. Engineers come
from either North Carolina, ANT, Morgan State,
or FAMU. Can you imagine what the engineering
population from those institutions has done to
build this country? And we talked about the medical
doctors and the lawyers as well. One of my many
privileges of life, has been. To be president
of my alma mater. To have served St. Augustine's
for five years. As a good friend of mine says,
divine intervention puts you in places that you
had no imagination you would ever serve. So it
was my honor to serve. I love my alma mater. I
always will and will do everything I can to see
it sustained for future generations because as
a student. I know what St. Augustine's means.
My father attended St. Augustine's. My sister
attended St. Augustine's. So I know what it has
meant personally, but I also know what it means
for countless people to have access to education
and... So it is deep in my heart. I love her.
Until the day I die. I will always do what I can
for St. Augustine's, and even when I die, I shall
lay there in the chapel in state before they carry
me over to Mount Hope Cemetery. Yes.
TERRANCE: And I, you know... I want to not only...
Sit on the historical significance of HBCUs, Saint
Augustine. But I want to shift to the economic
influence. So for African Americans, the HBCU
was once the only institution that would allow
black students to earn a degree. What was the
economic impact of a growing, educated black population
in the South, in the country, in Raleigh, however
you wanted to? Like that economic case, I don't
hear often.
EVERETT: No, you don't. And it's one that we need
to talk more about. Let's talk about the university
first.
TERRANCE: Okay.
EVERETT: St. Augustine's, Shaw University, and
all of our HBCUs, number one is a business. But
we just happen to be in the business of education.
When you look at our institutions, they give so
much to the economic foundation of their local
communities as well as the state and the nation.
Roughly about 84 million. Contributed by Shaw
University. About 122 million from St. Augustine's.
This is based on a study that was done in 2015
by the North Carolina Independent Colleges and
Universes. Outstanding study. When you talk about
the people that are employed on the campus, the
economic interest for the supplies and goods that
we purchase as a business. That's good. The employees
that we have and faculty, but more importantly,
think about the economic impact that the students
have. That's true. Many of the students come,
but many will stay in the community upon their
graduation. Look at the tax base that they produce.
The intellectual capital that is given from these
graduates. That what makes North Carolina, and
now Raleigh is identified as one of the top places
in the country, a point of destination. But it
is a point of destination in 2023 because of the
work and the contributions of our HBCUs and the
African-American community in collaboration with
it. We pay taxes, we contribute to the intellectual
capital, just like everybody else. So now that
Raleigh is a point of destination, I say it's
a point of destination because of years of preparation
that courageous political leaders. Educators and
others and business leaders. Help make it. You
cannot underestimate. Of Clarence Lightner being
the first. And only African-American mayor of
Raleigh in 1973, a graduate of North Carolina
Central University, and a business owner, chairman
of the board of trustees at St. Augustine's for
many, many years, Joseph Sansom, a graduate of
Morehouse College. Bank executive with Mechanics
and Farmers Bank, all of these individuals, countless
and countless who contributed to the upward mobility
of this city. And now we are a point of destination.
My only observation and key concern is that as
we develop, as we grow, that we don't lose and
abandon African American history and that the
totality of the Rollets story is not. Properly
told. I served on the Raleigh Historical Properties
Commission for many years. And under the leadership
of Raph Campbell. Miss Vivian Irvin and others.
A book was written with Linda Henry Simmons, Linda
Edmondson called Culture Town, that talks about
the African American communities in this city
and how we needed to preserve those. Good friend
of mine, Carmen Wimberley, has now written a book
about African-American classmates. It is a masterful
publication. I encourage everyone to read these
documents because Smokey Holla is now Glenwood.
TERRANCE: That's it, that's it, that's it.
EVERETT: Now you talk about where Shaw University
is. You talk about St. Augustine. All Oberlin.
The work that was done there with newly freed
African Americans, building their own communities,
Method Community, Fourth Ward, you know, all of
these communities contributed to the vitality
of this city.
TERRANCE: And you know what's amazing? I once...
What I enjoy to do when I go to different cities.
I enjoy finding a local historian. And having
that individual walk me around or drive me around.
So Carmen Carpenter, who wrote one of the books
that you mentioned.
EVERETT: That's right, I called her Carmen Wimbley.
Wimbley was when we were in school, yeah.
TERRANCE: Yes, yes, yes. That's right, that's
right. And she took me in the car. And the tour
was showing me the homes. So that I can see with
my own eyes the homes of the different leaders
in the community. And she introduced each home
by the HBCU and by the career. She was showing
me that that home ownership, that property tax,
like she took me to each neighborhood and she
took me through different classes. So there was
striations within the black community. Just as
it is in the white community. That's exactly right.
And she was walking me through the homes the names
of families, the first here, the first there.
EVERETT: That's right.
TERRANCE: And it's amazing the footprint that
Shaw and the St. Augustine has as HBCUs in our
city. Oh yes. And the upward mobility that it
created across the South. And so you've run into
people who have these stories and these narratives.
But that local history, those homes of the souls
and the people who live there.
EVERETT: Yes, yes. And how they can- I call it
the front porch love. That's good. The front porch
love. Growing up, you would sit, I was with a
good friend of mine recently and we were sitting
on her front porch Monday. Wow. Afternoon just
sitting on her front porch, a granddaughter of
Charles Henry Boyer, Edna Ballantine sitting on
her front porch. True story there, Charles Henry
Boyer graduated from Yale in 1896. An African-American
man graduates from Yale in 1896. But guess what
he does? He comes to St. Augustine's and becomes
a professor there. And worked there for 40 years.
Now, you talk about a strong, courageous man to
leave Connecticut. With a degree from Yale in
1896 and move to the South.
TERRANCE: That's good, that's good.
EVERETT: And move to the segregated South and
say I wanna be a part of the change that happens
for this university. Well, at that time, junior
college at that time.
TERRANCE: And I only have a few questions left
that I want to... So this podcast tries to help
people make sense of local politics. And HBCUs
are often an afterthought. They normally think
about their city council or school board or whatever
it may be, but very rarely on the forefront of
their minds is the role of the HBCU. What should
we pay more attention to in terms of the role
that the HBCUs play in cities and local government?
What do you recommend that we see more clearly
about their role?
EVERETT: Well, first of all, when I was president,
I said to my students, you have ownership in your
local government because you are now a resident
of the city of Raleigh. And we emphasize voter
registration. That's a part of your academic preparation
that you have to be citizen. I mean, that's the
Ella Baker tradition. You've got to be an active
participant in your destination. And so when you
think about the resources that are around our
institutions, that you can do, students at North
Carolina Central have a precinct on their campus.
North Carolina ANT, precinct on their counts.
That's right. That is evidence of the importance
of civic engagement. Because civic engagement,
in my estimation... Is just as important as academic
education. Because you are a citizen and you have
a right to be a part of preserving this democracy
and advancing it and protecting it because we
see now that there's a major threat to democracy.
I recommend to your listeners two books that I've
enjoyed greatly. One is by Dr. A favor who's a
graduate of North Carolina A&T State University
and it calls. Shelter in the Time of a Storm.
And he gives a historical narrative on how activism
on historically black colleges has a long history
of engagement and involvement. The second is by
Professor Suttel, who has written a book called
Campus to Counter Civil Rights Activism. And it's
a strong narrative on 1960 to 1963. And it talks
about students from Shaw University, St. Augustine's
and North Carolina Central, and how they were
involved actively in breaking down walls of segregation
and discrimination. One of my strong mentors and
someone that I admire so much is very prominent
in the publication, and that's Dr. David Forbes,
who was a student at Shaw University. And when
our leaders and student leaders at North Carolina
A&T on February 1st, 1960, set in, but on February
12th, 1960 here in Raleigh, students from Shaw
University, St. Augustine's, with the leadership
of students. Set in in what at that time was called
Cameron Village. And it was. That was February
the 12th, but it was in April of that same year,
Easter weekend, that students from HBCUs all across
the country assembled here in Raleigh under the
leadership of Ella Baker as an executive with
the Southern Christian Leadership Council. And
then Dr. King was here, Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth
was here. And on this date, in April of 1960,
David Forbes and students formed Baron Baron others.
Form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Better referred to as SNCC. And from there, university
students HBCU students throughout the South and
throughout the country, changed the political
landscape of this country. And we sit here today
as benefactors of their leadership. So that's
why we have to celebrate David Fowles. We have
to celebrate Ellen Nunn. We have to celebrate
these young college students who were courageous
enough to say, we're going to march. We're going
to participate in nonviolent movement activities
for freedom and democracy. And the fight. And
the struggle is not over.
TERRANCE: That's good.
EVERETT: And that's why our students must continue.
That's why I support Black Lives Matter. I support
everything that students do. That's good. Because
what they do is setting, who would have thought
that what David Forbes and Ellen Nidd-Lund did
in 1960, we'd be the benefactors of in 2023. That's
so good. So that's why I celebrate them and thank
them every chance I have.
TERRANCE: You know, it's amazing to me. I've seen
a map and it showed all the sit-ins around the
country, at least the ones that are known. And
it almost... Align neatly with HBCUs. Oh yes.
I mean it's almost a direct correlation map to
HBCUs. And so people question the political, and
especially these are local citizens. That's connected
nationally.
EVERETT: One of the biggest, Dr. Roof, you'll
appreciate this, one of the biggest, one criticism
that I received as president, and I took it with
such great pride, was the polling place at the
Tarber
TERRANCE: Road Center.
EVERETT: And I would lead the march with our students
from St. Augustine's with the pep band out front,
marching with our students to go vote. Wow. And
someone said to me in a meeting, they said, oh,
the president is just too involved. He's too engaged.
And I said, I'd take that with a badge of honor.
If that's my criticism, I'll go down fighting
every day of the week. To see the students voting
and having with their right to vote an opportunity
to make a decision about the direction of the
city that they lived in. Why is it students at
St. Augustine's cannot have the same access to
good health care and good food? They got Bojangles,
at that time, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Cookout.
But as a proud graduate of North Carolina State
University, when I was in graduate school, I could
get a smoothie, I could get a salad. I could have
all of that before I went to my graduate classes.
But we're in a food desert. So you talk about
the health disparities and the continuation of
forms of discrimination. Yes. Yes. We can't get
a streetscape going to St. Augustine, but I can
get five roundabouts when I go to North Carolina
State, but I'm a proud Wolfpacker.
TERRANCE: That is actually true.
EVERETT: But I want you to, but I think we have
to be cognizant of the unbalanced distribution
of resources.
TERRANCE: And I want to, this is a question that
I personally had, and I want to just get your
perspective on it. We knew at the time, and I'm
going back to Ella Baker for a second, she was
in Atlanta before coming to start SNCC. Yes. And
most people wondered why come back to Raleigh,
why come back to Shaw, why go to HBCU? At this
time, you're with King. I mean, you can go wherever
you wanna go. And I don't know if you know, I
don't know anybody. We'd love to get your thoughts
on that location.
EVERETT: It was because she was a proud graduate
of Shaw. She had strong relationships with the
Rollerwake Citizens Association through her classmate,
Mrs. Jurgen, Dr. Fleming, who was president of
the Rollerwake Citizens Association. So there
was a foundation here. And remember. Ella Baker
was from Warren County, North Carolina. And she
had traveled with her grandfather, who was a minister
throughout Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina.
And he wanted her to come to Shaw. But when she
came to Shaw University, she got that foundation
of public service. And remember, as a black female,
She worked for the NAACP in the 40s and 30s and
40s. And she traveled alone, organizing NAACP
chapters throughout the South. So she came to
SCLC and she came to this conference. With a long
history of activism and service. So she brought
with her a wealth of knowledge of local organizing
because Ella Baker's... Foundation was, was that
you should not. Build your legacy on charismatic
leadership. The charismatic leader is not the
foundation. What Ella Baker's foundation was is
that local people have to have the freedom to
organize locally. Because when that charismatic
leader leaves the city, the local people have
to institutionalize. Foundation for influence
at the local level. So she was a strong proponent
of local citizen engagement and to read her and
to know her, to read her speeches, to talk to
persons who were a part. I was very fortunate
as a part of my graduate work at North Carolina
State. To help coordinate the 40th anniversary
of the founding of SNCC when it was held here.
Yeah. At Shaw, right? At Shaw University. My professor,
Dr. Walter Jackson and Dr. Gayle O'Brien and Dr.
Floyd Hayes, it was a real campaign to bring the
original. People back Julian Bond Cleveland sellers
Marion Barry to bring those individuals back here,
Diane Nash and others, and to bring them here,
to hear from them what the real mission of SNCC,
the original mission of SNCC was. And for them
to tell you about Ella Baker. And that's something.
And then we did a memoir. In the Raleigh City
Museum, there's a permanent exhibit about the
civil rights movement in Raleigh. And a lot of
that is due to Vivian Irvin and others who pushed
to make sure that was a part of the Raleigh City
Museum.
TERRANCE: And I'm just, I asked that question,
because I just appreciate how you have allowed
for us to understand the rich history that HBCUs
has had in local government, local quality of
life, activism, countrywide. Yes, yes. I wanna
close out with this question. What is the future
of HBC? We have a drum beat of questions that
gave us why the history was significant, why the
story is significant, why it contributes to the
economy of cities. But what do you think is the
future of HBCUs role in local economies and cities?
What are you forecasting?
EVERETT: Well, I think our institutions must continue
to be a part of that economic foundation. I also
believe that we have to continue to produce the
leaders that come. You know, so I see future mayors,
I see future state senators, I see future governors,
I see future presidents, members of Congress coming
from our institutions as contributors to society.
I see entrepreneurs, I see medical doctors, I
see lawyers, I see dentists, I see them all. This
country cannot survive. Without the full participation
of all citizens in this country and all educational
institutions. And if we are going to be a nation
that's going to be globally competitive, we've
got to understand that we cannot afford to leave
anyone behind educationally. So HBCUs are more
relevant today. Than they have ever been. Because
of the intellectual capital, the cultural richness
that must continue to come from those institutions.
You cannot survive in this nation without historically
black colleges and universities. And so we have
to continue to support them. We have to continue
to respect and honor their legacy. But also understand
that we also must keep our eyes onward and upward
to the future. And so if we have to make modifications,
we will make them. We've always made them. You
know, we aren't farmers anymore.
TERRANCE: That's right, that's right, that's right.
EVERETT: But we need to be.
TERRANCE: Yeah, that's good, that's good, that's
good. Now, Dr. Ward, you are well known in many
circles, both national, state, local. How can
people follow you? Where can they find you? How
can they follow you?
EVERETT: Well, you know, I'm in that Ella Baker
tradition. I don't like to focus on the person.
TERRANCE: Ah, that's good, that's good.
EVERETT: Follow the work. Ah, that's good. And
I think... If you want to know where I am, always
look where good work is being done for the upward
mobility of our people. And that's where you'll
find me. I decided many, many years ago that old
song we've all heard so much in the African American
church. Is let the work I've done speak for me.
And when I'm resting in my grave and nothing else
can be said, let the work I've done speak for
me. So when you lay me down at Mount Hope Cemetery
that was founded in 1872, as the oldest black
cemetery, that's where I shall lay. And don't
worry about charismatic cameras and that kind
of thing. Look at the work. And that's what the
testimony needs to be. And so we got a lot of
more years to give and I'm gonna keep giving.
TERRANCE: Well, it's an honor. I respect your
leadership tremendously. And I just wanna thank
you for being on Illogical by Truth, edited by
Air Fluence, and I look forward to seeing you
on the next episode. So thank you for joining
us.