Black women’s history pioneer and distinguished professor Darlene Clark Hine graced the campus of Prairie View A & M University Friday, Sept. 15, to speak at a workshop titled, The PV Woman: What is she good for?
The workshop held at the Memorial Student Center was sponsored by the university’s Women’s Leadership Council. Hine’s speech was followed by a question and answer session and a small group assignment where participants were separated into groups to discuss the role and enhancement of the PV female.
“You define the top and not anybody else,” said Hine. “You have to live thinking, ‘I’m going to be excellent.’ Once you become excellent, then you can help other people,” continued Hines.
Hines received her B.A. from Roosevelt University in Chicago and a Ph.D. from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. In 1997, she was the Avalon Visiting Distinguished Professor in American History at Northwestern University and was the Harold Washington Visiting Professor at Roosevelt University in Chicago. Currently, she is the Board of Trustees Professor of African American Studies and Professor of History at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
Hines has written scholarly work with emphasis on black women, including her 1990 book, Black Women in White, which was named Outstanding Book by the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights, received the Lavinia L. Dock Book Award from the American Association for the History of Nursing, and was awarded the Letitia Woods Brown Book Award from the Association of Black Women Historians.
She has received various awards including the Otto Wirth Alumni Award for Outstanding Scholarship from Roosevelt University and the Special Achievement Award from the Kent State Alumni Association.
“When black women became excellent, then they began blessing other people. Try to be as excellent as you possibly can, then others can begin benefiting from your excellence,” said Hine.
Women and men were in attendance. “It was very inspiring to me. I feel we need more people with her background to come and encourage us, especially of African American descent,” said sophomore Shala Davis.
Junior communications major Johnathan Monroe said, “It was nice to have her come out. We need to have more people like her support us.”
The workshop was beneficial to women of other ethnicities as well. Junior Adriana Iracheta said, “This is my first semester at PV and being introduced to a different culture has been challenging. Hearing her talk made it so much easier to adjust and to understand where another culture is coming from.