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Episode #2211
Women on the Move
Holt: When it comes to making a difference for people and communities it is the courageous acts of individual leaders that we have to be thankful for. There are many African-American women who fill those shoes and today we will learn about the work of just two of them. Meet one of North Carolina’s state representatives and a staff executive at North Carolina Central University next on Black Issues Forum.
Voiceover: Quality public television is made possible through the financial contributions of viewers like you who invite you to join them in supporting UNC-TV.
Holt: Hello everyone, welcome to Black Issues Forum I am Deborah Holt in for Mitchell Lewis and Natalie Bullock-Brown. There are many African-American women in our state whose work and accomplishments have elevated their names to household name status. And while we may recognize their names, too often their accomplishments are not as well known. At the same time there are women working under the radar in communities but nevertheless affecting marked, positive change. By definition all of these women are leaders. But do we really know who they are, the magnitude of their accomplishments, or what inspires their direction? Well this episode is the first installment in a special ongoing series about North Carolina’s African-American women leaders. These are women on the move. And we hope this series helps you to get to know them.
Today I’d like to introduce two guests. The first is a Democratic state representative in the North Carolina General Assembly. Alma Adams represents the state’s 58th House district, including constituents in Guilford County and she has served since 1994. She began her career in education and became the first African-American woman elected to the Greensboro City School Board. This marked the start of her political career. Throughout her tenure in politics Representative Adams has been a strong advocate for women, children, and families, sponsoring and supporting legislation to strengthen domestic violence laws, provide for training for re-entry into the workforce, breakfast for all children regardless of income, and funding for our state’s public universities just to name a few. She is probably one of the most recognized members of the General Assembly with stylish hats defining her signature style. She is currently the chairperson of the Appropriations Sub-Committee on General Government and serves on various health, local government, and education committees within the legislature. Welcome Representative Adams.
Adams: Thank you very much, good to be here.
Holt: We also have with us the Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at North Carolina Central University, Doctor Frances Graham. Doctor Graham says she is on a mission to develop women’s services at the university. A native of Illinois she came to North Carolina in 1998 to become the first director of the Women’s Center at North Carolina State University and while she was there she developed a course on black feminist thought offered through North Carolina State Women’s and Gender Studies Department and served as assistant vice provost for Gender Affairs. She made her move to North Carolina Central University in 2004 and since then has done a lot of work to bring to the school speakers and programs to help empower women. But it was in 2006 that Dr. Graham really gained notoriety for making North Carolina Central University the first co-educational HBCU to present Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monolog.” And we are going to talk a little bit about that adventure as we get into the program. Doctor Graham welcome.
Graham: Thank you.
Holt:So pleased to have both of you here.
Graham: It is a pleasure to be here.
Holt: Representative Adams let me start with you. We learned that kind of how you got your start in political office but what inspired you?
Adams: Well I think in most cases we get concerned about issues and things in our community and I was, I am still a parent—my children are adults now and they have their own children. But I had young children in the school system. Many schools were closing, a lot of them in the African-American community. So I think that is something that really got me concerned about what was going on and what we could do to improve education in Guilford County. I left, I stayed for two years on the school board, I completed my term, and I think did some really productive things to improve the system, moved on the Greensboro City Council. There were many, many issues in our community in District 2 and District 2 continues to overlap the House District 58 so I am still serving the same people. But I think you develop an interest in what is going on, you get angry sometimes. Angry enough to act. And that is really what kind of got me started. And I am still concerned about the issues of my county and the overall issues in the state so I find myself having been elected to a seventh term. I am getting ready to go back into session in January.
Holt: Terrific. And probably a lot of people don’t realize you also have a side occupation, it is not really a side occupation but another vocation, you are actually a professor in art.
Adams: That is my first, that is my first love and first job actually, and that is my training and background. I do teach art at Bennett College for Women and I’ve been on the faculty for 35 years and it is just a real pleasure to serve young people because ultimately they come out and be the kind of citizens that we look forward to working with.
Holt: And you have a gallery?
Adams: I do indeed. I am an artist by training as well and I do practice professionally and curate a number of exhibitions for the African-American Atelier which is approaching its 16th year in Greensboro.
Holt: Wonderful, wonderful. And you share something in common with Dr. Graham in your interest in families and women. Dr. Graham why have you become so passionate about women’s issues in particular?
Graham: As you mentioned I am from Illinois. I grew up in Champagne, Illinois which is a small, small city. The University of Illinois is there. Much of growing up I saw white families, white women, and not much about African-American women, not much about our history, not much about our accomplishments. Much of what I saw was women, black women in particular, living in housing projects, raising their children in squalor in some cases. And I didn’t quite understand why no one was doing anything about that to help improve the plight of those women and those families. And I always wanted to be a teacher. But as I continued my education I learned that there was so much to the field of education, it was so wide, so many opportunities I thought I should take every opportunity I can to do as much as I can for people who look like me because there were, it seemed to me at that time that there were so few people doing anything to assist black women. And I wanted to understand why that was and I also wanted to understand what I could do to help improve the opportunities for black women in particular. All people in total but certainly my focus and interest has been African-American women. And so I just took every chance I could to get involved with things that supported and honored and respected African-American women. And I’ve been doing that since high school up until this present time. And it has taken different forms. You know you get into your career and so it looks like gender affairs. You participate on boards, out in the community and it looks like women’s leadership programs for faculty and administrators in higher education. So there are lots of opportunities there and I am excited about each of them. And it has been a great run so far.
Holt:Well it seems that in the African-American community, or would you agree, that there are some special concerns, significant concerns for the advancement of African-American women and the protection of African-American women. In fact both of you have done significant work on domestic violence. Representative Adams share with us what you believe to be some of the primary needs for addressing the needs of women.
Adams: Well I think you know having spent all of my teaching at a women’s college we are concerned about women’s issues all the time. I think that women have played a special role and will continue to do that and on many fronts have been leaders. And you know when we look at issues as they relate to health, women’s health, I think that is something that—and particularly for African-American women—our needs are somewhat different. I mean we haven’t done the kind of research in the areas that would help us to improve the health of African-American women. I think that is something, you know but when we look at for example the problem with HIV and AIDS and how it is impacting our community. But women overall I think, of course for African-American women we say that that is a double, you know that it is a double-problem because you are female and so there has been in my opinion a lot of discrimination as it relates to women and for African-American women we find ourselves lagging behind on a number of things even as it relates to wages and so forth.
Holt: Taking into consideration all of those things, HIV, AIDS, health concerns, discrimination, gender discrimination, what do you think needs to be done, particularly here in North Carolina, to help address some of these concerns and that applies not only to kind of a governmental policy strategy but some sort of ownership on the part of African-American women themselves? And I’ll address that question to both you and Dr. Graham.
Graham: Well I think in understanding the problem it becomes important for us to be intentional in the work that we do and not necessarily do it because it appears to be the thing we should be doing at the moment. Rather we need to spend our time, our resources, in understanding exactly what the issues are and developing plans from that point forward. And that seems like it would take a long time. But it has taken us a long time to get to where we are and we are not going to resolve any of our issues you know quickly without having good answers to the problems. I’m not sure that we understand what all of the problems are. And some of the problems are cyclical; some of the things that we are dealing with are issues that we’ve been dealing with for a long time. There are a number of things that we don’t talk about. For example mental health issues with African-American women, depression, and some of the other, bi-polar, some of the other kinds of mental health issues that African-American women are faced with sort of get pushed aside because we are looking at the physical diabetes, obesity, those kinds of issues. And so there are other issues that also indicate that there are problems that we haven’t quite got a good sense of just yet. So I think that it is important for us to spend some quality time trying to understand what the issues are and developing plans and/or programs from that perspective of knowing as opposed to assumption-making that this is what we should be doing because this is what is before us at the moment.
Holt: Why aren’t those things being talked about and why do we really need to address those matters first, Representative Adams?
Adams: Well sometimes we don’t know what to talk about and sometimes we are afraid to talk about some things that we—I also think that when you look at policy-making, and you look at what has happened historically how women have been excluded, how they’ve been discriminated against and so forth, I think sometimes we develop this attitude that well nothing is going to happen. I think we’ve got to build our, we’ve got to expand our networks because networking is really not effective unless the net does work for you. So I think we have to do that. And I don’t think we can talk too much about whatever they are. We have to openly share, which I don’t think you know as black folks we tend not to want to do that, I mean we just were brought up to kind of keep things kind of to ourselves but I think—
Holt: In-house.
Adams: Right, you know we have to have that kind of dialogue. But I think we also have to ensure that there are certain policies in place that would direct the appropriate resources, the appropriate research, in those areas because a lot of times when we do research we don’t do it on African-Americans, we don’t do it on African-American women and so when statistics come out we don’t have the information that we need but so we are finding that as you do research in whatever area, we want to see what the particular differences are and how they relate and impact to African-American women and African-Americans and I think as a policy-maker it is my responsibility and those who look like me to make sure—and those who don’t but who get support from people who look like me—to be inclusive in what we do and I think that the more we network the more we are able to make determinations about what the needs are. And then you’ve got to share those of course with policymakers who can effectively help create legislation that would really address some of those issues.
Holt: And you are certainly in the position to help make some of that happen. What are some of the primary things on your agenda as we enter this next legislative session?
Adams: Well you know I worked real hard for the past ten years to increase the state’s minimum wage and I am just grateful that come January the people who have been at the very bottom, who work hard every day, the working poor in North Carolina, to have an opportunity to at least see a one dollar increase. That is not enough because it takes us only to $6.15. That is just half of what the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center has said is a living wage. We have got to provide opportunities for people to be able to afford the basic needs to take care of themselves and their families. I am going to be working towards looking at a living wage and trying to do some things to help people have a better quality of life I think. So that is one thing. But the other is an earned income tax credit. I think we have to do a combination of things to help people reach the point of economic sufficiency. I think for African-Americans as well, and I hope that we do address the moratorium on the death penalty. I think that that is so critical. It is an issue that we should have gotten on board with doing this last session. Other things kind of came up but I think we need to get back to that. I think we have to look at healthcare in North Carolina, access to it, and the fact that healthcare needs to be affordable. I mean if you can’t afford it and if it is there it doesn’t do you any good. That is I think one of the primary concerns. If you don’t have good health then nothing else is going to really matter. And education is always going to be something that we need to continue to address; the disparities that continue to exist between African-American children and other children I think is just something that we cannot continue to ignore in North Carolina.
Holt: Dr. Graham what are some things that you are hoping to accomplish in your position and where are you hoping to take your career next?
Graham: Oh my goodness. I have always said I wanted to have every possible experience I can so I want to try everything at least once. And I have been very blessed in my career and so I’ve really allowed my career to be driven by my faith and my spirit and so I feel very lucky in that regard and I think I will stay in higher education for a while. Where that leads me I am not sure. I miss the classroom. I haven’t been teaching while at Central. I taught a portion of a course at Duke my first year at Central and that was wonderful. I had a great time with that. And so I do miss the classroom a little bit. So I would love to be able to do a little bit of teaching in addition to the administrative work. I also recently had my first publication come out so I am very excited about that.
Holt: And the name of it is?
Graham: The name of it is “Spellman College: A Place of Its Own”—“All its Own,” excuse me, “All its Own.” And so I just actually received the book yesterday and so I was very, very excited about that. So I’d love to do some more research on Spellman. All of that takes time so I am trying to figure out the balance between work, life, family, and all of those great things. But ultimately I think I’d like to be a vice chancellor somewhere and we will just see where that takes me. I am not sure where that will go. I think that there is a lot of good work for me to still do at North Carolina Central.
Holt: Certainly. And both of you touched on an issue that is a challenge not only for African-American women but African-Americans in general and that is the presence of racism that still exists in institutions and in our lives. Have any, have either of you experienced the challenge of racism in your careers? How do you, how did you handle it? What would your advice be to others who are continuing to have to deal with racism? Representative Adams?
Adams: Well you know I think that is a word that sometimes we are a little shy about talking about it and I think we need to talk about it more. I don’t think that you are able to really address the problem or solve the problem if you don’t want to acknowledge that it does exist. And it does. And we’ve got many, many examples of that and I suspect that it has impacted me as well. Sometimes even when you don’t know it, when it is not always so easily recognizable. But I think people have preconceived notions about you, particularly if you are a woman and in the business that I am in, and I am talking about politics right now. Even down to fundraising, you don’t need as much money as a man does to run your campaign, those kinds of things. They sometimes will not take you seriously about those issues that you raise. I think all of the issues to a certain degree are women’s issues and we care about them. You know you want to have an educated, a community, an educated workforce, you want to have good health and we are concerned about those things as well.
But yeah I would say that it has touched my life as well. I mean sometimes—and just to give you an example, when I was on the school board I was very, very outspoken. There were a number of things that were going wrong, still going wrong in terms of disparities and discrepancies, and I brought those things out in a very public way. And because I spoke out in that way I became labeled; in my opinion in a negative way. They would write in the newspaper, “Alma Adams, the militant black professor at Bennett College.” When other people who don’t look like me speak out they are concerned. And so you know I think that sometimes people, again they misjudge you. And they do that even with young people based on how you dress and you know you can be the most intelligent, young African-American male but if they see you sometimes in the attire that our young people are wearing they begin to make all kinds of assumptions about you and about your level. It doesn’t matter really whether you come from as they say a single-family home. I grew up in a single-family home. Those things and where you live, those things don’t have anything to do with your ability to think. And sometimes people again they look at all those things and judge you and I think misjudge you. So yeah, I’ve experienced it. Sometimes I’ve known that it was there and other times I’ve had to look back and see that it was.
Holt: And Dr. Graham what would your advice be for handling this?
Graham: I think that the best way to handle it is to confront it head-on. Someone once said to me that instead of confronting because people have a negative connotation with confronting people, suggested that you care-front people so you confront someone lovingly that they’ve been inappropriate. And being able to say to them specifically and directly what the offense was about and helping them to understand it. But I don’t think it is the responsibility of black people, Hispanic people, women, disabled people, to educate those of us who may not also be part of that particular class or you know, that particular race or what have you.
Holt: Community.
Graham: Community, thank you. And so it is important for all of us to be open-minded and to think beyond ourselves and not just about what I want or what I need or what have you. So confronting it straightforward I think is probably the best way to do it.
Holt: And as we are winding up here I did want to get one short comment from you about your bringing The Vagina Monolog to NCCU. Share with us what was the biggest challenge in just a few seconds?
Graham: Well you know we were very lucky that we have a really wonderfully, supportive vice chancellor. I wasn’t sure what the reaction would be but when I said to him, “The students have been talking to me about bringing this program to campus, The Vagina Monolog,” he said, “Let’s do it.” And I just thought well if I have that kind of support then this is going to be wonderful.
Holt: So it really does go back.
Graham: With the students, yes, with the students and vice chancellor Gaines’ support we moved that program forward. And we are excited that we are going to have a second production coming up February 2007, so this is an invitation to all of you to come and see the show. The students were phenomenal, they did an outstanding job and it has been good because we’ve had a lot of conversation about sexual assault and domestic violence on our campus. We need to have more and we need to have some of those intentional services in place to assist that as well, so.
Holt: And in our final seconds, we have about one minute left, Representative Adams I’ll give it to you. Can you just share with our viewers a thought that helps kind of carry you from accomplishment to accomplishment?
Adams: Well I’ve always believed that you have to be responsible and accountable for what you do and what you don’t do. And that you have to do what is right because it is right, not because it is politically correct, but you do the right thing because it is indeed the right thing to do. And I’ve tried to pattern my life and every aspect of my life that way.
Holt: Well certainly your career and your accomplishments, both of you, Dr. Graham as well, are a wonderful example to all North Carolinians and we greatly appreciate your work and wish you the very best.
Adams: Thank you.
Graham: Thank you.
Holt: I’d like to thank Representative Alma Adams and Dr. Frances Graham for coming out and sharing their stories and their views with us. Hopefully now you know more about these women leaders who are making their moves to improve the quality of life for all Americans. If you’d like to suggest a woman to feature in this ongoing series please send us an email to our website, UNC-TV.org/bif. You can also reach us by phone at 919-549-7167. Be sure to join us back here at the same time next week to learn more about the people and issues that concern you. For Black Issues Forum I am Deborah Holt. Thanks for joining us.
Voiceover: Quality public television is made possible through the financial contributions of viewers like you who invite you to join them in supporting UNC-TV.
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