WILLIAMS COLLEGE STUDENTS VISIT AREA
Students from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts were in the area last month to learn about the rich history of Tallevast and surrounding areas. The students are part of an Africana Studies class taught by its Chair, Professor Dr. James Manigault-Bryant of Williams College.
“We brought students to the area to learn about the rich history of Tallevast,” Dr. Manigault-Bryant said. “Tallevast is a community that holds special meaning for me and my family as my roots in Tallevast go back four generations,” he said. Professor Manigault-Bryant, and his wife, Dr. Rhon Manigault-Bryant, have been visiting the community for several years. Students visited the Family Heritage House at the State College of Florida, the Mote Marine Laboratory, and the Manatee Historical Records Library. They also met with Tallevast residents, Mrs. Lillian Granderson, Ms. Cassandra Brice and Ms. Cynthia Howard, and with Mrs. Laura Ward and Mrs. Wanda Washington of FOCUS, the community’s advocacy group which was organized to promote the health, environment and quality of life for residents of the Tallevast community.
“This is our fifth time teaching this course,” Dr. Bryant said.
“In years past, Rhon and I have taken students to three Black communities in the region, but this year we wanted to focus specifically on Tallevast because of its historical significance and because of the environmental challenges it is facing from coordinated decisions made by local government and real estate developers.”
While in the area, students also visited historical sites, museums, laboratories, and libraries and worshipped at Bryant Chapel CME Church. “Each of our meetings helped students gain a multi-disciplinary understanding of Tallevast’s past, and how local government decisions have presented challenges to Tallevast’s own imaginings of the community it wishes to be.” Students will be developing writing and photography projects from their experiences over the last month, Dr. Manigault-Bryant said.
The students have returned to Massachusetts and Drs. Manigault-Bryant will be moving on to other projects. Dr. Rhon begins an appointment as Director of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History and as Professor of African-American Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. With her new opportunity, the couple will now be based in Durham, North Carolina. James will continue in his roles at Williams College as Professor and Chair of Africana Studies, and as the W. Ford Schumann Faculty Fellow for Democratic Studies. “We will continue our course in the future, but in an expanded form involving multiple institutions,: he said.
“With recent policy decisions under Governor DeSantis’s administration, we understand the immense significance of what we teach and how we teach it,” he said.
Even with their demanding professional positions that will now frequently move them across state lines, the center of their worlds are their two sons, Cy (9) and Vale (1).
CAPTION: Drs. James and Rhon Manigault-Bryant with students from Williams College along with Rev. Anthony G. Langhorne, pastor at Bryant Chapel.
