Description
The Making of a Black Public Intellectual: A Progressive in the Academy
Kimberly Mayfield Lynch (Dean of the School of Education at Holy Names University, USA)
When I think of public intellectuals, Dr Cornel West and Dr William Edward Burghardt Du Bois come to mind.
African-Americans have a history of using their academic standing to bring attention to social ills that impact social conditions in their community. This is what I do as a member of the academy and as a member of my local community.
Over the last 20 years, I have become a change agent in improving the quality of life for local residents by pioneering programmes to grow our own representatives in education, politics and the police force. This article will discuss what it means for me to be a contemporary scholar—practitioner and public intellectual.
