Jimmy Kirby, Jr.: Alum Aspires to Perpetuate Legacy of Africana Studies

As Jimmy Kirby, Jr. (Class of ’05, B.A., Africana studies) reflects on the upcoming 40th anniversary of black studies in America (1969-2009), he describes the revolutionary spirit that established not only the study of the African diaspora, but ultimately a broader and more diverse scholarship of those underrepresented in the annals of popular history.

“The idea was that our [Africana] story is just as valuable as the European stories being taught in the classroom,” says Kirby. “We wanted to see ourselves in these histories, so it came about as protest. It opened the door for women’s studies, Chicano studies, and Asian Pacific studies. There’s no one story that should take precedence over the other and that’s what we fought for.”

After completing his Master of Professional Studies in Africana studies at Cornell University, Kirby started working on his doctorate at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pa., the first institution in the world to offer a Ph.D. program in African American studies. As a teaching assistant there, he is honing his skills for his ultimate goal to become a professor of Africana studies at CSU Dominguez Hills.

“It plays into my mindset,” says Kirby, “the idea of reciprocity: to continue to help build a university where I had some great experiences. I didn’t know I was going to end up in a Ph.D. program. My goals have shifted, but it had a lot to do with the mentors I had at Dominguez Hills, Dr. (William) Little and Dr. (Munashe) Furusa.”

Kirby, who had transferred to Dominguez Hills in 2002 from Corning Community College in upstate New York, said Little was the one who challenged his initial plan to earn a master’s degree and teach in the Los Angeles Unified School District and encouraged him to pursue a doctorate. Kirby hopes to develop a personal teaching style that is modeled after what he observed and admired in his mentors.

“Both of them love teaching,” Kirby notes. “They have a tremendous amount of respect for their students, and the energy that comes across when they are lecturing is infectious, you can’t help but get caught up in the information they are sharing. You begin to see yourself as an agent in your own history and it transforms you as a person. That’s their approach and they get optimal results.”

While at CSU Dominguez Hills, Kirby founded the Organization of African Studies on campus. He is a member of the National Council for Black Studies. He participated in the McNair Scholars Program and the Honors Society and won several scholarships, including the Deborah Sears Scholarship from the Black Faculty and Staff Association and the California State University system’s Hearst Scholarship.

Looking forward to his professorial career, Kirby emphasizes the importance of recognizing the histories of all peoples.

“To me, the idea of multiculturalism is that we’re all equal when it comes to our position in the spectrum of humanity,” he says. The black studies movement wasn’t only black or African people protesting. Students in colleges and high schools marched in protests all over the country to get these programs implemented in the university and there were Latinos, Europeans and others participating in this movement as well. It just goes to show you there’s strength in numbers and that we’re all players in world history.”

- Joanie Harmon