Sekou Franklin has been named executive director of the John Lewis Center for Social Justice at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. Prior to joining the Fisk faculty, he taught political science at Middle Tennessee State University for over two decades. As a scholar of activism, policy, and civil rights, he has authored several scholarly publications. His most recent book is Losing Power: African Americans and Racial Polarization in Tennessee Politics (University of Georgia Press, 2020).
Dr. Franklin holds a bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University in California, a master’s degree from San Francisco State University, and a Ph.D. from Howard University in Washington, D.C.
TaKeia N. Anthony has been appointed director of the Freddye T. Davy Honors College at Hampton University in Virginia. She has previously served in various academic leadership capacities with Edward Waters University in Florida, Kentucky State University, and North Carolina Central University. A scholar of African American history, she is the author of multiple publications, including The Universal Ethiopian Students’ Association, 1927-1948: Mobilizing Diaspora (Palgrave Pivot, 2018).
Dr. Anthony is a two-time alumna of North Carolina Central University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in history and her master’s degree in African history. She holds a Ph.D. in African diaspora history from Howard University.
Elizabeth Hinton has been named the Class of 1954 Professor of History and Black Studies at Yale University. A faculty member since 2020, she currently leads the Yale Institute on Incarceration and Public Safety. Her research on the persistence of poverty, racial inequality, and urban violence in the twentieth-century United States has led to several scholarly publications, including her most recent book, America on Fire: The Untold History of Police Violence and Black Rebellion Since the 1960s (Liveright, 2021).
A graduate of New York University, Dr. Hinton holds two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. in U.S. history from Columbia University.
Stephanie Payne has been selected to serve as acting chair of the department of human services at South Carolina State University. An assistant professor of social work, she has over 20 years of experience in mental health, child welfare, and higher education. In addition to teaching, she also serves as coordinator of the social work program and leads the tuition assistance program for the bachelor of social work degree in child welfare.
Dr. Payne is a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master of social work degree from the University of South Carolina and a doctor of social work degree from Tulane University in Louisiana.
