Above: Senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris
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THE NATION'S LARGEST AFRICAN AMERICAN ORAL HISTORY ARCHIVE
September 14, 2018 - Vol. 2, Issue 2
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Fighting the Fight:
African Americans in Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings
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The Honorable Carol Moseley Braun
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In light of the recent U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings for Judge
Brett Kavanaugh
, Senators
Cory Booker
and
Kamala Harris
are only the second and third African American senators to participate in U.S. Senate confirmation hearings for a Supreme Court nominee, behind
The Honorable Carol Moseley Braun
.
Booker’s releasing Kavanaugh‘s “confidential committee” emails on Kavanaugh’s affirmative action based policies and racial prof
iling potentially put him in jeopardy of losing his senate seat.
2
However, in this historic movement we are reminded of the importance of African American representation. Historically, Supreme Court nominee confirmation hearings have been dominated by white men and the subject of race has equally been misrepresented in those spaces.
In 1991, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee gathered to confirm the nomination of then Judge
Clarence Thomas.
During the confirmation hearings, the testimony of
Anita Hill
sparked a national debate. Professor
Charles P. Henry
wrote that, “
The virtual absence of women and minorities in the Senate indicates that neither group is represented in politics at the national level.
”
3
There was a chance that the all-white, all-male Senate Judiciary Committee would proceed to vote on the nomination of Thomas without considering the charges leveled against him. But in a monumental display of solidarity, seven female Democratic members of the House of Representatives and Washington D.C. Delegate
Eleanor Holmes Norton
marched over to the Senate to demand justice and representation.
4
The Senate later agreed to hear testimonies related to Thomas’ alleged illicit misconduct. “P
eople were looking at the Senate for the first time and not seeing anybody that looked like them, paying attention to the process, and the proceedings, and to the power that these guys had
.”
5
[
The Honorable Carol Moseley Braun, THMDA, 1.5.1.
]. In this highly publicized context, it was clear that African Americans were significantly underrepresented in national public office. Law professor
Charles Ogletree
and attorney for Ms. Hill added: “
The reality is that it took a whole new sense because the white men on this Judiciary Committee had never dealt with this issue, race and gender. And they thought that when he's talking about ‘hi-tech legal lynching of uppity blacks,’ talking about males, what about Anita Hill? It was a hi-tech legal lynching of her by the senators, who happened to be white. And they didn't understand gender at all. They didn't understand race and gender, how that made a big difference.
”
6
[
Charles Ogletree, THMDA, 5.14.4.
]. Equally important was the African American representation presence. Military officer and defense lawyer
Will Gunn
commented: “
But then just to see the drama involved with Anita Hill and the allegations coming forward and then my mentor Charles Ogletree serving as her advisor. And so seeing him on TV you know beside her, it was fascinating, truly fascinating.
”
7
[
Will Gun, THMDA, 1.6.9.
].
Later in 1993,
The Honorable Carol Moseley Braun
became the first African American senator to participate in the confirmation hearings for Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
, where she famously interrupted Senator
Orrin Hatch’s
line of questioning when he likened the ruling of the Dred Scott decision that upheld slavery in 1857 to Roe v. Wade: “
I find it very difficult to sit here as the only descendant of a slave, in this committee, in this body, and hear a defense, an intellectual argument that would suggest there is a rationale -- an intellectual rationale, a legal rationale for slavery that can be discussed in this chamber
.”
8
It is hard to believe that it would take 25 years for another African American senator to participate in a Senate Judiciary confirmation, but that is what we are witnessing today.
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Scholarly Reviews of
The HistoryMakers Digital Archive
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"
I have found the
Fauntroy
interviews in
The HistoryMakers Digital Archive
to be immensely helpful and have been using them, along with material from the Fauntroy papers at GWU, in a paper on non-voting members of Congress. The fact that the interviews are transcribed has been particularly valuable. Thanks, as well, for sending the demo link – I was able to find some other interviews of interest for my project. Really great to connect with you and thanks for all you and your team are doing!"
-
Elliot Mamet, Ph.D Student in Political Science
Duke University
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On the Move:
The HistoryMakers in Florida
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Above: Interviewer Larry Crowe and Videographer Matthew Hickey.
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This past week,
The HistoryMakers
conducted seven new interviews in the Orlando/Tampa area including: Ambassador
Harriet Elam-Thomas
, journalist and lawyer
Jeraldine Williams-Shaw
, attorney
Delano Stewart
, lawyer and association chief executive
Carolyn House Stewart
, office administrator
Terri Lipsey Scott
, city historian and city government official
Charles "Fred" Hearns
, and National Football League Hall of Famer and sports chief executive
Derrick Brooks
, whose interview was made possible through a partnership with the NFL. This partnership, spearheaded by
Jeff Pash
, NFL General Counsel and
Tracy Perlman
, Senior Vice President, Football Communications and Marketing of the NFL, is helping us grow our SportsMakers category.
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Heroes And Legends Awards 2018
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On September 23, 2018 the
29th Annual HAL Awards
will take place at the historic
Beverly Hills Hotel
in California. The awards were started nearly thirty years ago by HistoryMaker, songwriter and
Motown
alumna
Janie Bradford
who recognized a lack of funding available for students involved in performance and creative arts. Bradford created the HAL Scholarship Fund in 1990 for students pursuing degrees in music, art, theatre and other creative areas. The 2018 HAL Award Honorees include: executive producer
Suzanne de Passe
, singer and producer
Deniece Williams
, musical group
The Undisputed Truth
, producer and songwriter
Art Stewart
, singer
Keith Washington
, musician
McKinley Jackson
and the musical group
Switch
. Presenters include: HistoryMakers singer-songwriter
Claudette Robinson
, record executive
Miller London
, recording artist
Mary Wilson
, singer and actress
Freda Payne
, recording artist
Martha Reeves
and singer and actress
Thelma Houston,
as well as musical publishing executive
Jon Platt
and musician
Lenny Williams
.
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The HistoryMakers Welcomes:
Southeast Missouri State University
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Southeast Missouri State University has become the latest institution to join
The HistoryMakers Digital Archive
subscribing family, bringing our total to 51 institutions! Welcome! Our thanks go out to
James Newman
, Associate Professor of Political Science and
Randyn Heisserer-Miller,
Acquisitions Coordinator
for making this happen!
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Special Thanks to the Center for Research Libraries
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We also want to thank
Bernard F. Reilly
,
Mary Wilke
and
Francis Alba
from the Center for Research Libraries for all the great work that they are doing to increase our presence in the higher education community.
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Bernard F. Reilly, President
Center for Research Libraries
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In Remembrance of our MediaMaker
Ken Smikle
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Our friend and HistoryMaker
Ken Smikle
President and Founder of Target Market News and husband of HistoryMaker and journalist
Renee Ferguson
, passed away on September 12, 2018 at the age of 66. Our hearts are sad here at The HistoryMakers. We interviewed Ken Smikle for our archive almost 12 years ago on December 15, 2006, and when asked what he wanted his legacy to be he responded poignantly with the following; "
I learned that at the time that I had the heart attack, I found out what I meant to people. The way they came to me. It was the most humbling and gratifying experience, albeit that I cheated death. But it was very humbling and eye opening to see people come to me and talk about, 'Oh yeah, you know, if you hadn't been gone....' I don't think we really appreciate or really understand what it is we mean to other people. And whatever that is, that's your legacy. I think we all have multiple legacies and the most that we can do is to be good people to live with integrity, to live to be of service to other people and the legacy part will take care of itself.
"
10
[
Ken Smikle, THMDA, 1.9.2.
].
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THE HISTORYMAKERS' FAVORITE QUOTES:
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"
I'm not an optimist because I do not believe that everything ends well. I am not a pessimist because I do not believe that everything ends badly. But I could not accomplish anything if I did not have hope within me. For the gift of hope is as big a gift as the gift of life itself.
"
-The Honorable James Joseph
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Please share with us your stories of how you incorporate The HistoryMakers Digital Archive into your curriculum and research. We'd love to hear from you!
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STAY TUNED FOR NEW CONTENT IN
THE HISTORYMAKERS DIGITAL ARCHIVE
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1. BANNER PHOTO:
https://www.glamour.com/story/kamala-harris-cory-booker-first-black-members-senate-judiciary-committee-this-century.
3. Charles P. Henry, “Clarence Thomas and the National Black Identity,”
The Black Scholar,
Vol. 22 No. 1-2 (Winter 1991, Spring 1992): 40-41.
5. The Honorable Carol Moseley Braun (The HistoryMakers A2002.024), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, March 19, 2002, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 5, story 1, Carol Moseley Braun recalls the confirmation hearing for Clarence.
6. Charles Ogletree (The HistoryMakers A2003.075), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, August 10, 2014, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 5, tape 14, story 5, Charles Ogletree talks about responses to Anita Hill's testimony during Clarence Thomas' 1991 Senate Confirmation Hearing.
7. Will Gunn (The HistoryMakers A2013.158), interviewed by Larry Crowe, July 26, 2013, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 6, story 9, Will Gunn talks about Clarence Thomas' controversial confirmation hearings as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
9. PHOTO:
Interviewer Larry Crowe and Videographer Matthew Hickey.
10. Ken Smikle (The HistoryMakers A2006.174), interviewed by Larry Crowe, December 15, 2006, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 9, story 2, Ken Smikle reflects upon his legacy.
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Spot an error in
The HistoryMakers Digital Archive
? We want to fix it! Send a brief description of the error to:
digitalarchive@thehistorymakers.org
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We're here to help! Please direct questions about
The HistoryMakers Digital Archive
to:
digitalarchive@thehistorymakers.org
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Browse our collection at:
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