Urban Voices, Racial Justice, and Community Leadership

Present, emerging, and future leaders of community colleges will grow professionally and as individuals as they learn from the strong voices of African Americans courageously leading their own colleges toward an equity-driven post-COVID-19 future.

This book is a collection of essays about urban community college leaders’ experiences during the COVID-19 era and racial injustice protests of 2020. The result is a wide range of content from political commentary to leadership advice—all through the unique perspectives of African Americans leading some of the country’s biggest educational institutions with the greatest potential for redressing a system of “interlocking injustices” that has evolved and persisted for more than 400 years. While our institutions and constituencies were disproportionately impacted by these events, we believe that urban community colleges are also at the forefront of transformative solutions for the underlying social-equity issues that are most pronounced in the nation’s biggest cities.

Foreword by Cornel West

Urban community colleges redefined for greater social impact

Preface

A lament of hope and conscience

CHAPTER 1: THE SHADOWS OVER URBAN COMMUNITIES

Curtis L. Ivery, chancellor, Wayne County Community College District

CHAPTER 2: A CLARION CALL

Beverly Walker-Griffea, president, Mott Community College

CHAPTER 3: TOWARD HEALING AND RECONCILIATION: SILENCE IS NOT AN OPTION

Kojo Quartey, president, Monroe County Community College

CHAPTER 4: EMBEDDED RACISM AND THE AMERICAN PSYCHE

Donald Generals, president, Community College of Philadelphia

CHAPTER 5: THE COVID–19 ERA AND RACIAL INJUSTICE PROTESTS

Quintin Bullock, president, Community College of Allegheny County

CHAPTER 6: LEADING THROUGH AN EDUCATIONAL TSUNAMI

Kimberly Beatty, chancellor, Metropolitan Community College

CHAPTER 7: OPTIMIZING THE URBAN HIGHER EDUCATION ECOSYSTEM

Christine Johnson McPhail, president, St. Augustine’s University

CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSIONSAND REFLECTIONS

Curtis L. Ivery and Christine Johnson McPhail (editors)