E-raamat: Confessions of a Black Academic: A Memoir

Confessions of a Black Academic is a deeply personal and poignant memoir of an African American academician who negotiated segregated Louisiana in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, the decade in which he entered the Vietnam War. Alvin Schexnider has offered a riveting account of his time as a soldier during the emergence of the Civil Rights Movement, and as higher educational opportunities were opening for African Americans at majority white institutions. During his climb up the academic ladder, he experienced successes right along with blatant racial discrimination in a time when many professors of color were seen as affirmative action hires and hence not as qualified as their white counterparts. Confessions of a Black Academic in many ways is a blueprint for faculty members of color and how they might navigate their careers in higher education which continues to evolve during the era of the Black Lives Matter movement and COVID-related educational changes.Christopher A. Brooks, professor of anthropology, Virginia Commonwealth University Noted scholar, popular teacher, outstanding administrator, prominent consultant, Alvin Schexnider provides a spellbinding account of his remarkable career, reminding us that the problem of the 21st century is the problem of race and education. Like DuBois The Souls of Black Folk, Schexniders Confessions of a Black Academic is both a poignant memoir and a brilliant academic discourse designed to improve the opportunities for education in a racist society. Though he scrutinizes public and private schools, community colleges, and Ivy League universities, ultimately the emphasis is on Schexniders lifelong passionsaving HBCUs.Daryl Cumber Dance, professor emerita, Virginia Commonwealth University and University of Richmond Alvin Schexnider offers a compelling account of his 40-year tenure in academia as a professor but mostly from his perch in senior management and top leadership positions, in which he spent the lions share of his academic career. Schexnider provides an up-close, first-hand account of the opportunities, challenges and problems, he encountered in higher education as an African American academic. Many African American professionals will be able to identify with Schexniders experiences. This book is powerful storytelling but it goes well beyond that. It provides valuable insights for young African American professionals who want to pursue careers in higher education administration and leadership and also implicitly for white higher education leaders and administrators who want to create more welcoming and supportive environments for African American professionals and other minority professionals. Schexniders discussion of the changing paradigm in recruiting and retaining blacks in higher education from affirmative action to diversity is insightful and powerful. This trend is occurring in all sectors of work in the United States. Schexniders discussion in this area is clearly one of the gems in his book. This book is highly recommended reading for higher education professionalsboth those in leadership and management and those who teach and study higher education practices, leadership and policies as a field of study.Huey L. Perry, professor emeritus, Southern University