Black History Spotlight: Dr. Hilliard Lackey - 56 years and counting

Tatyana Ross Editor-in-Chief

Hilliard Lawrence Lackey, Ph.D. sat down to speak with Flash Editorin-Chief about his upbringing and the journey that led to his over 50year span of service to Jackson State University

Lackey was born on Oct. 9, 1942 in Marks, Miss., a small town located in the Mississippi Delta, where his family lived on a cotton plantation as sharecroppers. He knew there had to be more to life than working in cotton fields all day.

Lackey attended Friendship School located in rural Quitman County.

“I had two teachers, Mary Valentine Johnson and Solomon Benson and they were not college graduates. They might have taken classes but I’m reasonably sure they did because they spoke so well,” Lackey said.

He added, “Where I was, you went to church on Sunday and we had funerals on Sunday afternoons in those days because you couldn’t miss work to do anything.”

Lackey was always interested in higher education and in 1961, his high school teacher Leo D. Reed took him to Jackson State to take the ACT.

When his classmates were presenting which college they planned on going to, Lackey told the class he wanted to attend Memphis State University and the room just went dead silent before his teacher interjected.

“And he just laughed at me and said, ‘They don’t want you there’ and he invited me and two other students along with him that same weekend to take the ACT here,” Lackey said.

Lackey admitted to never actually trying to get into Memphis State but he said he always fantasized about it.

“I read a newspaper everyday which was passed along from the plantation owner, The Memphis Press Scimitar,” Lackey said. “Everything we had in the Delta came from Memphis, so I was infatuated with Memphis and I wanted to get there.”

Lackey said that the day he took the ACT marked his first real time getting to see black people wearing such nice suits and dresses and he was inspired and described it as having instant role models.

He admired all of his teachers but he said that Allen Brown, a chemistry teacher, is who he looked up to the most. After taking the ACT he was invited to stay at Brown’s residence.

Brown was more than just a teacher but he also filmed the sports games for the school. And after helping

Lackey receive a position with student employment, he joined the staff of The Blue and White Flash as a photographer.

“Teachers were bigger than life in our minds as students and we really held the teaching faculty in high regard. We thought they were something,” Lackey said. “And now that I am one of them I emulate those of the past.” He added, “I want to just overwhelm students and innovate them with knowledge and my perspective of an open-minded person seeking the truth.”

After earning his bachelor’s degree from Jackson College for Negro Teachers, Lackey continued his education.

According to Lackey, there were only three schools where AfricanAmericans could attain a Ph.D.:

University of Oklahoma, Indiana University, and Ohio State University. However, he managed to gain his Ph.D. from The University of Mississippi.

Lackey became the first employee hired on Peoples’ staff holding the position of the Director of Alumni Affairs, and he has maintained a position at Jackson State for 56 years and counting.

“I came on April 1, 1967 and that was 56 years ago. One of the smaller things in life is to be the longest serving employee of Jackson State,” he said.

In 1967, the school was renamed Jackson State College and Lackey said that after Peoples took over as president he had goals to make Jackson State even better.

“When Dr. Peoples became president, he asked all employees, especially faculty, to get their ‘meal ticket’,” Lackey said. “He wanted to strengthen the institution by strengthening the faculty.”

He added, “In those days you couldn’t get a master’s degree in Mississippi unless you got it from Jackson State, if you were black. And you couldn’t get above a master’s at all unless you left the state of Mississippi.”

Lackey said he is grateful for all the years he has dedicated to Jackson State because it has had a lot of influence on the man he is today.

“Jackson State is F.U.B.U., for us and by us. We made this school. And a student should understand that nobody gave us this school. We made this school,” Lackey said

Courage of Ida B. Wells still recognized today by journalists

Terrien Edwards Staff Writer

The late Ida B. Wells was an influential journalist, civil rights leader, and suffragist who fought against the injustices faced by AfricanAmericans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Through her writing, research, and activism, she was successful in bringing awareness to issues such as lynching and segregation.

Wells’ bravery and courage led her to become one of the most respected civil rights activists of her time. She was not afraid to call out the injustices of her time, even though her safety was repeatedly threatened.

Born into slavery in Holly Springs, Miss. in 1862, she was freed by the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Wells was orphaned at the age of 16. She attended Rust College and became a teacher, but when a mob burned a close friend’s newspaper office, she began to write articles in support of the African-American community.

Growing up being constantly surrounded by legal, social and racial barriers, Wells quickly made up her mind to become a prominent civil rights leader and journalist, who would be unafraid to speak out against discrimination and corruption. This decision came from her experience in Memphis after being thrown off a train for refusing to leave the first-class car.

Wells wrote articles for The Living Way, a church paper, before becoming co-owner of the Memphis Free Speech & Headlight. There she wrote scathing accounts of the horrors of lynching because she witnessed one of her dear friends being lynched.

Since her writings were very graphic and deemed dangerous, she was fired from her job. Other ways she pursued justice against lynching was by taking her case to court.

Wells co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909 and continued her activism until her death in 1931.

Her pioneering crusade spanned continents, as she traveled extensively to Europe, including Britain, to bring the horrors of the lynching epidemic to the attention of a broader audience.

Her work served as a powerful example of how ordinary people can make extraordinary change, and is an inspiring reminder of the potential of individuals to fight against injustice.

“As a journalism major, Ida B. Wells is a very important figure that is consistently talked about. My professors have always brought up how Wells altered the way the stories are now being written. In early history writers were scared to write about anything that was considered graphic and sugar-coat the truth, but now the media is more open to the truth graphic or not,” stated Donavon Jones, a junior journalism and media Studies major from Jackson, Miss. Factual information in this spotlight was gathered from https:// www.britannica.com/biography/IdaB-Wells-Barnett

Beyoncé, Styles, Lizzo and more win at 65th Grammy Awards

Tatyana Ross Editor-in-Chief

Harry Styles may have won Album of the Year, arguably the biggest prize of the night, with his hit “Harry’s House” but it was Beyoncé aka Queen Bey who made history during the 65th Grammy Awards.

During his acceptance speech, Styles said, “ On nights like tonight, there are no such things as ‘best’ in music. This is really, really kind. I’m so grateful. This doesn’t happen to people like me very often.”

Styles went up against powerhouse artists like Beyoncé, Lizzo, Mary J Blige, Kendrick Lamar and more to claim this top award.

Beyoncé won four awards, becoming the winningest Grammy artist of all time. Her awards included: Best Dance Recording for “Break My Soul”, Best Dance/Electronica Album for “Renaissance”, Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for “Plastic Off the Sofa” and Best R&B Song for “Cuff It”.

Kennedy Harrison, a senior political science major from Dallas, Texas believes the top award should have gone to Queen Bey.

I feel like Beyonce got snubbed for the Album of the Year Grammy. This is typical of the Grammys because they never recognize black artists properly,” said Harrison. “Regardless of the snub, Beyoncé is the greatest artist of all time.”

Joel Murchison, a junior music education from Atlanta, Ga., believes Styles deserved the Grammy for Album of the Year.

“Everybody is talking about how Beyoncé lost to Harry Styles. Honestly, he deserved it. This wasn’t even Beyoncés best album.

If anything it should’ve been Bad Bunny (who won). Beyoncé losing with “Lemonade” was crazy but that’s the past and this is now. She did not have the best album this year,” said Murchison.

Many fans were surprised when blues singer Bonnie Raitt was announced as the winner of the Song of the Year with her hit “Just Like That”.

Lizzo’s song “About Damn Time” which always brings listeners to their feet, gave an acceptance speech that also had the audience on their feet. The artists thanked everyone from Beyoncé to pop legend Prince, who she dedicated her Record of the Year award.

“When we lost Prince, I decided to dedicate my life to making positive music. This was a time when positive music wasn’t mainstream at that point. I felt very misunderstood … but I stayed true to myself. Because I wanted to make the world a better place, so I had to be that change to make the world a better place,” Lizzo tearfully explained.

Lizzo went on to thank Queen Bey.

“You changed my life. The way you made me feel, I was like, ‘I want to make people feel this way with my music,’” she said.

During all the fan fanfare, many did not notice that Mary J. Blige, the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, who had six Grammy nominations, received her first ever nomination for Album of the Year with “Good Morning Gorgeous” as a solo artist.

One of the most emotional parts of the ceremony was Migos member Quavo’s salute to Takeoff, along with the recognition of other artists who passed in 2022.

“The tribute to Takeoff by QUAVO was amazing, I liked how they included all of the heavy hitters and other people that meant a lot to the industry as they played three different songs to honor them,” said Jayden Potts, a freshman music technology major from Cincinnati, Ohio.

Potts was able to attend the ceremony in person.

For a complete list of Grammy Award winners, visit: https://www. grammy.com/awards/65th-annualgrammy-awards-2022 Elizabeth Duncan contributed to this article.