‘Everyone's story has value': Trailblazer of Africana studies on the importance of Black history education

There is a wealth of Black History in the Sunshine State, but what it looks like to study that history continues to change.

In recent months, Florida's new standards on Black History curriculum have landed in the national spotlight as educators like Dr. Carole Boyce Davies continue to stress the importance of learning that part of the American experience. 

“Unless we have a full representation of all of these communities, we only have a one-sided story," Davies said.

Present day, Davies is widely known as one of the leading voices in African American and Africana studies. 

“I come from a family of educators," Davies said. "My mother was a school teacher and my aunt as well.”

For Davies, the love of education began in childhood, while growing up in the dual island nation of Trinidad and Tobago.

“I came of age at a time when these countries were just about to get independence. So I was a little girl at the time when those things were happening," Davies said. "I think that has given people like me a sense of a possibility that the world is open and you can do all sorts of things."

Davies followed in her family's footsteps and built an impressive resume. She helped build Florida International University's African Diaspora Studies program with impacts still felt today.

“What we did at Florida International while I was there, was to create the first Master’s Degree in the field," Davies said. "That was amazing because there was nothing before that, and we were able to do it.”

From there, Davies went on to the Africana studies department at the Ivy League level as a professor at Cornell University and is now chair of Howard University's English Department. However, with all of her successes, she has not put Florida in the rearview.

“Florida International, which is now so highly regarded nationally, was really building, and they loved the idea of creating from scratch that new program," Davies said.  "Interestingly enough, it was really funded with a substantial line item from the state to develop this area of study.”

But with all the progress, Davies has seen change that she says is not necessarily for the better. 

“When I was hired at Florida International University, it was a brand new program and it was linked to something that was called a mandate for teaching the African American experience for children, all the way up through high school," Davies said. "The impact at the university level is significant because you have to have teachers and people knowledgeable enough to go into the schools and teach those histories.”

Davies believes when it comes to learning and teaching history, the full picture should always be a priority.

“Africana studies for me, in spite of the way it is under attack by political leaders in this state, is a way of really finding out who is where, and what they have contributed to the world," Davies said. "We live in a world where everyone’s experience, everyone's story has value and has to be represented.”

Along with her work in research and education, Davies is also a published author. Her latest book, "Black Women's Rights: Leadership and the Circularities of Power," explores the similarities, differences, challenges and successes of Black women in Leadership, from Africa to the diaspora being the United States to Latin America and the Caribbean.

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