In his editorial in the New York Call magazine, Hubert Harrison wrote that “race prejudice” is “diligently fostered by those who have something to gain by it” (1911). It was “fostered” in the twentieth century in the mainstream media of newspapers. In the twenty-first century, the mainstream media of the internet and television continues to diligently foster “race prejudice,” however, in a more overt way. Harrison wrote that those who own the newspapers “must divide the workers and they find race prejudice a very useful tool to do this with.”  The mainstream newspapers in the second decad ..read more

Black Women Academic Leadership: When and Where I Enter, Then and There Our Future Brightens Education is evolving rapidly, demanding diverse, responsive, and equitable leadership. Students demand diverse leadership. For years, Black women have led academic institutions through the complexities of the present, and the inclusive educational systems for the future. Now, 55% of presidents in higher education is considering retirement within five years (ACE 2023). There is a pressing demand for leaders in higher education institutions. We spoke with Dr. Crystal Chambers, editor of the new book Bla ..read more

CELEBRATING THE FREEDOM OF AMERICANS IN AMERICA: Good Enough for the Barracks, But Not the Boardrooms By Ayo Sekai, Ph.D. “In a 6-3 decision issued on Thursday, the United States Supreme Court struck down Affirmative Action in college admissions, preventing higher educational institutions from considering race in admissions decisions. But one key exception is the nation’s military academies” (Metzger, 2023). Interestingly enough, while race can no longer play a role in the enrollment of Black and Brown students seeking admission to the nation’s educational institutions, that limitation is not ..read more

By Ayo Sekai, Ph.D. The tides of history have had many shifts Tornadoes of social movements sweeping through nations Causing rifts of pain, political uprisings and pandemics of disdain taking with it not just what we wish would change, but those that we wish would stay the same The storms have been heavy when there is too much water causing floods of pain and then there are times of drought, when the hunger for human connection, and community, is stronger than the pangs of individualism and selfishness We have survived the overcast forecasts of uncertainty Shuffled through threatening thunders ..read more

Independent Black-owned scholarly press celebrates two decades of amplifying Black voices and perspectives BALTIMORE, MD, February 26, 2024 – Universal Write Publications (UWP), an independent Black-owned scholarly press, is celebrating two decades of promoting and publishing academic works that underscore Black voices and narratives. Founded in 2004 by Dr. Ayo Sekai, UWP has flourished from a passion project publishing fiction and children’s books into a respected publisher of rigorous, peer-reviewed academic literature that enriches African agency discussions. UWP’s catalog features influent ..read more

Chapter Review: Illmatic Consequences: The Clapback to Opponents of ‘Critical Race Theory’: Chapter 5 Hip-hop culture turned 50 years old in 2023 and is in a state of multi-contextualism. Those who study the culture closely can identify many elements to critique, celebrate, exploit, and emulate simultaneously.  Andre 3000, one-half of the legendary Atlanta rap group Outkast, released an instrumental album in November 2023. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest rap lyricists in hip-hop. Andre 3000 is grown, and he’s decided to leave lyrics out of his current music offering. In inte ..read more

Queen & Slim: Changing the Black Activists Romance Narrative from Complementary to Adversarial During most historical Black activist movements, many Black men and women attempted to serve as a complement to assist each other with fighting against various forms of socioeconomic oppression.  However, the film, QUEEN & SLIM, counters previous non-fictional narrative accounts by placing Black men and women in adversarial positions in a present-day Black activist movement.  Hollywood filmmakers’ conscious and unconscious role in using entertainment to sabotage Black heterosexual r ..read more

AI Don’t Lie: Unveiling Assumptions and Biases in Comparing Black Women to White Women/Men Seeking Academic Leadership Promotions The power of AI, such as ChatGPT, lies in its ability to parse queries and provide information based on vast amounts of text-based data. As the publisher of the upcoming book, Black Women’s Pathways to Executive Academic Leadership, by Crystal R. Chambers, Ph.D., we set out to explore how AI would respond to how Black women could accelerate their path to leadership in academia based on its algorithms and access to millions of documents, articles, and books. We then ..read more

By Ayo Sekai, Ph.D. Founder / CEO Black People Rock! Let’s just put that out there. We are brilliant, diverse, beautiful, dynamic, versatile, didactic, phenomenal esoteric; you name it, you can find it in the Black Community! But for Black Music Month, this newsletter is to celebrate how we use sound and movement as a powerful expression of Black culture, to show resilience, elevate our creativity, quell pain and confusion, help, give advice and uplift ourselves throughout history. It has played a significant role in highlighting Black people’s experiences, struggles, and achievements. Even t ..read more

By Asha Sydney A UWP Student Essay Working to Abolish Prisons: The Link Between Poverty, Imprisonment, and Race The United States was founded on many systems coupled with ideals that have allowed for the advancement of certain groups at the disadvantage of others. Speaking more specifically, the current prison system has allowed for the targeting of people of color, especially those with low-income backgrounds. The truth of the matter is that we cannot talk about one issue in this country without discussing a slew of others, because they are all linked. These issues are seen in our current edu ..read more