When people ask, “How are you doing,” there are times when I don’t want to answer because deep down I think the question is asked as a formality, and not because there is a desire to know.
Upon receiving word that I was being inducted into the African American Education Ar- chives and History Program Hall of Fame, I had mixed emotions.
I’ve always admired the exhibit at the African American Museum; never thinking that I would be included among greats like Jowanda Jordan, Billye Roberts, Dr. Comer Cottrell, Nell Lewis, Curtistene Smith McCowan, and Rev. Zan Wesley Holmes; to name a few.
To think that I am joining those who I hold in such high esteem like Drs. Napoleon B. Lewis, Juanita Simmons, Andrea Hilburn, Thalia Mather- son, Theodore Lee, and Mamie McKnight, along with Earl Jones, Joseph Brew, Shirley Ison New-some, Evelyn Dickerson, Verna Mitchell, Opal Johnson Smith, Ada Williams, and Robert Price; well, all I can do is breathe!
Actually, sometimes I am filled with doubt and wonderment as I think of the men and women who came before me.
The aforementioned, along with this year’s honorees: Dr. Levatta Levels, Dr. Helen Benjamin, Cassandra Black, Robert Edison, Dr. Larry D. Lewis, Bertric Manning, The Late Dr. Charles Matthews, Dora Wesley Morris, Norma Wright and Melvin D. Traylor are heavyweights in the industry.
The ceremony is on April 12, 2025 at the Renaissance Dallas Hotel. Also recognized will be Presidential Awardees Sen. Royce West and the extraordinary Curtis King of The Black Academy of Arts and Letters.
THE EARLY YEARS
Actually, I’m overwhelmed and trying to display the confidence of a Hall of Famer when I am really time-traveling back to my childhood when I was the teacher to my younger sister Tracy, my cousins Valerie and Karen, and the neighbor from across the street in Newark, New Jersey, Raziya Karriem.
I was teaching them their ABCs and how to add. There weren’t television shows to help facilitate the learning process. It was just me and they had to do what I said!
I had no idea that I wanted to be a teacher and knowing that I am about to be in the Educator’s Hall of Fame, well, I am humbled.
I’ve always loved school and I still remember teachers who influenced me, like the beautiful Ms. Constantinople (who ended up getting married and moving away — I would always call her Mrs. Istanbul)!
Okay, I didn’t say I wanted to be a comedian, but some of you may get my joke.
I remember Mrs. Meisel who always said she was from Missouri and we had to “show” her we could be good and do the work.
On to East Orange High School I had my sewing teacher, Frances Hill, for four years. I loved her sweet demeanor that commanded respect and demanded that you sew and press, sew and press.
Then I was off to college where the professors at Florida A&M University treated you like they were paying for your education. Atty. Williams taught History, Dr. Gladys Lang taught Reading and Dr. Thelma T. Gorham was the journalism teacher who made you take care of business in her class.
Then there was the brilliant Dr. Barbara Cotton who was young, beautiful and the smartest person I had ever met. She really inspired me to do better.
And how could I forget the dean of our journalism school, Robert Ruggles. He was so fond of me he made me take his classes twice!
REFLECTING
I think about the many educators who poured into me — not because they needed a job or paycheck but because of their love for the profession and their students.
All those I mentioned and others, like Dr. Michael Sorrell at Paul Quinn College, never leave the classroom. For them, wherever they are, class is in session!
I salute the many students who I have had the pleasure, honor, and distinction of pouring into.
Now many might refer to teaching as my second or third profession because of my work first in journalism; which presented me with the honor of being inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame in 2022, or the profession of community volunteer whether it was with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Florida A&M University National Alumni Association or the numerous community-based organizations that I have supported and they have recognized my works.
Some of the best days of my life were spent teaching students in the Dallas-Fort Worth Association of Black Journalists Urban Journalism Workshop. Many of those students have gone on to achieve greatness, not only as journalists.
And then there were my students at Paul Quinn who for more than a decade traveled the country with me and learned about journalism and business while winning numerous awards. Our Paul Quinn Chapter of NABJ was a finalist for NABJ Student Chapter of the Year and in 2003, Shane Hefner received the NABJ Student Journalist of the Year!
In the classroom at UNT, TWU and now, Dallas College, I still walk in and bring everything I have to pour into my students and bring out the best in them because I believe like Dr. Napoleon B. Lewis did, “a teacher hasn’t taught if the student hasn’t learned!”
Walk into my classroom and you are going to learn something!
I hope that you will join me in saluting the AAEAHP of 2025. Please purchase a ticket, or an ad to show your support for these outstanding educators. Log on to www.aaeahp.org or email Loretta Simon at loretta.simon@yahoo. com.
