Southern
Celebrates

Maya Angelou was a renowned poet, writer, and civil rights activist. Angelou penned her autobiography, wrote multiple books filled with essays and poems, and was seen as “the black woman’s poet laureate” due to the relatability of her content to many. Some of her most famous works include I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ’fore I Diiie, which earned Angelou a Pulitzer Prize nomination.

As 62nd chaplain of the United States Senate, Barry Black is the first African American and first Seventh-day Adventist to hold the position. Black served in the U.S. Navy for 27 years prior to his election as chaplain in 2003. In 1995 he was awarded the NAACP Roy Wilkins Renowned Service Award for his contribution to equal opportunity and civil rights and in 2002 received the Benjamin Elijah Mays Distinguished Leadership Award from the Morehouse School of Religion.

After graduating from Southern Adventist University in 2008 with a degree is psychobiology, Kahlilia Morris Blanco went on to earn a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Miami and became a postdoctoral research scientist at University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. Her research gained funding from public health organizations like the National Heart Association and the National Institute of Health.

Earning her associate degree in nursing, Annie Robinson Brown was the first black graduate of Southern Missionary College, now Southern Adventist University. She went on to become a nursing professor and served as a nursing director for many years. While at Southern, her evaluators recounted that she was hardworking and well organized, with an outgoing and friendly personality that aided her work as a nurse.

Tamekia Bush earned her master’s in school counseling from Southern Adventist University in 2015 and received the Graduate Studies Alumna of the Year Award in 2017 for her work with children. Bush works as a professional school counselor and is employed by the Hamilton Country Department of Education at Woodmore Elementary School in Tennessee.

George Washington Carver was a botanist and inventor best known for his work with the peanut plant. Carver was employed as a professor at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, working on methods to improve soil depletion and finding efficient ways to grow crops. He is credited with more than 300 products made from the peanut plant alone.

Born a slave, Frederick Douglass escaped at the age of 20 and spent the rest of his lifetime fighting for civil rights and becoming an anti-slavery activist. Douglass distinguished himself as an American author and orator with the release of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845)and My Bondage and My Freedom (1855). He also provided hope for the African-American community by speaking against slavery and racism and embracing the Civil War in 1861 as a crusade against slavery. 

William Edward Burghardt “W.E.B.” Du Bois is well-known for being a founding officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as well as his publication of works like Souls of Black Folk (1903). As a leading African-American sociologist, writer, and activist, Du Bois fought for basic economic and educational rights for African-Americans.

Garland Dunlan was the first black professor at Southern Missionary College, now Southern Adventist University. He came to Southern in 1975 from the University of California, where he received his doctorate in sociology. Dulan taught behavioral science on campus. 

One of Southern Adventist University’s first black professors, Lorenzo Grant taught religion. After receiving his Master of Divinity degree from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, he worked as a pastor in five different churches and taught at four universities. His many degrees include a doctorate in philosophy from Howard University. Grant also served in the U.S. Army.

Mae Jemison was the first African American woman to travel into space. Jemison has devoted her life to the intersections of science and art and has a wide array of interests. She holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, is a medical doctor, loves to dance, and worked for the Peace Corp, but since childhood she always wanted to be an astronaut. That dream came true in 1992 when she was selected to spend 190 hours in space to do scientific experiments.

While working as a mathematician for NASA, Katherine Johnson’s calculations were vital in many flights to the moon. Johnson was one of the women who inspired the 2016 film Hidden Figures and was portrayed by Taraji P. Henson. In 2015 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.

Terry Johnsson has been regarded as one of the “top 20” pastors in Washington, D.C., where he served at one of the most popular Christian radio stations in the region, WFTS FM. As a child, Johnsson struggled with severe dyslexia, deciding to pursue becoming a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force. This eventually lead to an opportunity to serve as part of the presidential honor guard for presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton. Johnsson continues to minister to others and is now the executive director for Mission Integration at the Adventist Medical Center in Portland, Oregon.

Martin Luther King Jr. sought equality and human rights for African Americans and played a key role in the American civil rights movement in the 50s and 60s. King’s driving force behind events like the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the March of Washington earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. His famous “I Have A Dream” speech resonated in the hearts and minds of American citizens and made an unforgettable impact on the civil rights movement. King is remembered every year on Martin Luther Jr. Day, a U.S. federal holiday.

Annie Knight was the first black instructor to teach at Southern Industrial School, now Southern Adventist University. She taught nursing and hygiene during the summer of 1899. Knight went on to become the first black female overseas missionary and a prominent figure in Adventist education. She spent 50 years as the leader of the National Colored Teachers Association of Seventh-day Adventists.

Thurgood Marshall was an American lawyer best known for his role in the Brown v. The Board of Education case that deemed segregation in public schools illegal. Marshall also was the first African American to serve as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. Marshall spent most of his life working to help others gain equal freedoms under the law in the United States.

Vocalist, pianist, and teacher, Gale (Jones) Murphy was elected as the first female president and first black president of Southern Missionary College’s Student Association in 1974. Murphy continues to visit her alma mater (now Southern Adventist University) and was presented the Lady of the Year Award during the Ladies Luncheon event held during Homecoming Weekend in 2015. 

John Nixon Sr. served as the first African-American pastor at the Collegedale Church of Seventh-day Adventists. He taught theology at Southern Adventist University for eight years and currently serves as the executive secretary of the South Central Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Barack Hussein Obama II was inaugurated as the first black president of the United States on January 20, 2009. While in office, Obama championed the rights of the poor, the marginalized, and the minority in an attempt to create an America for everyone. He ran under the saying “Yes, we can!” and mobilized millions of voters in an unprecedented election. Obama was reelected for his second term in 2012 and served as president until January of 2017. 

Parks became one of the first women leaders of the civil rights movements when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in 1955. Her work alongside young Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. led to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that bus segregation was unconstitutional. She became a symbol of strength to the American people and gave hope to a country surrounded by racial tension.

Before becoming principal of the management-consulting firm Terrence Roberts Consulting, Terrence James Roberts was one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who were the first-ever black students to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. His attempt to help desegregate one of the nations largest schools was unsuccessful; however, President Bill Clinton awarded the Congressional Gold Medal Roberts to him and the other Little Rock Nine for their contributions to civil rights. 

Ron Smith serves as the first black president of the Southern Union Conference and is the first black chair of Southern Adventist University’s Board of Trustees. Smith’s 35-year  career in Seventh-day Adventist gospel ministry has granted him the opportunity to serve as vice president of the Review and Herald Publishing Association and editor-in-chief of Message Magazine. 

American lawyer, social justice activist, best-selling author, and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, Bryan Stevenson dedicates his career to helping the poor, incarcerated, and condemned. Stevenson is a professor of law at the New York University School of Law, has won numerous awards including the prestigious MacArthur Foundation “Genius Award” and the National Medal of Liberty, and received 29 honorary doctoral degrees from multiple universities including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Oxford. In addition, Stevenson has successfully argued several cases in the United States Supreme Court and has won a historic ruling on life sentences for children. He is also the author of Just Mercy, a critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller. 

Best known as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman assisted dozens of slaves in escaping north to freedom. Tubman was born into slavery in Maryland, and after her personal escape in 1849, she made it her life mission to help others get away from the South. She made around 13 expeditions, but her work did not stop there. During the Civil War, she served as a cook, nurse, armed scout, and spy for the Union Army. Tubman is now revered as one of the most influential figures in American history.

The first black female professor in the School of Nursing at Southern Adventist University was Karen Warren.

Recognized to be a leader in educational advancement and promoter of economic self-reliance among African Americans, Booker T. Washington can be named one of the more influential African-American educators of the 19^th century. Washington founded Tuskegee Institute, a black school devoted to raining teachers, in 1881 and aided in the formation of the National Negro Business League 20 years later. Perhaps one of his greatest achievements was serving as adviser to both President Theodore Roosevelt and President William Howard Taft.