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PSU’s Black Studies Department Marks 50 Years

NNPA NEWSWIRE — “Higher education had not done a good job of looking at our past, or the sociodynamics of the country, the cultural dynamics, in an honest and diverse way,” Professor Emeritus Darnell Millner told The Skanner. “It had been committed to a very Eurocentric view of both the past and the present, and the assumption that it would be the same in the future. And so, what even a small Black Studies department was able to do was to begin to change the intellectual and academic environment on a university campus in ways that were pretty remarkable and unpredictable.”

Published

6 years ago

November 13, 2019

Oakland Post

Director of the Black Studies Center Lenwood Davis (left) awards the first certificate ever issues in Black Studies at Portland State to Clarence Barry in 1972. (Photo from 1972 Viking yearbook, courtesy of PSU)

Despite budgetary concerns, the department remains one of the strongest and longest-lasting of its kind in the country.

By Saundra Sorenson, The Skanner News

The Black Studies Department at Portland State University turns 50 next year, and according to faculty, it’s a hard-won anniversary–and a cause for celebration.

Professor Emeritus Darnell Millner has been with the department for 45 of those years and recalls that 1970 saw the launching of many ethnic studies departments around the country.

“Higher education had not done a good job of looking at our past, or the sociodynamics of the country, the cultural dynamics, in an honest and diverse way,” Millner told The Skanner. “It had been committed to a very Eurocentric view of both the past and the present, and the assumption that it would be the same in the future. And so, what even a small Black Studies department was able to do was to begin to change the intellectual and academic environment on a university campus in ways that were pretty remarkable and unpredictable.”

But establishing those departments was a community effort.

“The Black Studies department here and in many other places around the country was created basically by the activism on campuses of the Black student unions that had been created in the late 1960s,” Millner said. “And also, by the involvement of the Black communities around the nation and here in Portland that didn’t feel like higher education was doing a very good job in addressing the needs of Black people or the Black community.”

Millner said that across the country, many old guard university administrators and faculty looked down on Black Studies as “a political movement rather than an academic one,” often arguing that ethnic and women’s studies were not legitimate disciplines on a college campus.

Ultimately faculty, administrators and members of the public who saw the positive in Black Studies won out–especially at public universities like PSU.

“The contradiction was that the universities were saying ‘This is a place where you can achieve, you can gain access to mainstream resources,’ but they were coming up against explicit and implicit forms of anti-blackness,” Prof. Ethan Johnson, chair of Black Studies at PSU, told The Skanner. “And so they organized, and I think public education–specifically because it’s based on our tax dollars–became a central place for the struggle.”

Millner recalled coming to the university as a young history teacher.

“The universities of the country had not really trained many professionals, many black academics, many people who had an interest in making higher education, academics, their career,” he said. “And that was certainly true of me as well. When I was a young man, when I was going to high school in the sixties, when I was going to college in the sixties, there was no such thing as Black Studies. So, there was no way I could anticipate that that would be the career path that I was going to follow. Our generation essentially created that new career path out of whole cloth.”

Faculty member and former Black Studies chair Darrell Millner lecturing in 1975. (courtesy of PSU)

Struggles continue

But Black Studies remains the smallest department at PSU, and some faculty are concerned by what they see as a lack of support from the university. Johnson confirmed Black Studies has only ever had four tenured full-time professors at a time and will be losing two this year with the retirement of Dr. Derrais Carter and Dr. Winston Grady-Willis. Johnson said that PSU administrators have indicated there is no funding to hire their replacements.

In a letter to interim dean Matthew J. Carlson last month, Johnson called the current status of the Black Studies department “precarious.”

“The already dire representation of Black faculty and staff on campus will be even further diminished,” he warned.

Dr. Pedro Ferbel-Azcarate, an assistant professor who has been with the department for more than 20 years, agreed that “lack of institutional support” was a burden to Black Studies faculty.

“We’re supposed to be teaching classes and doing research, but we’re always in a crisis mode, and we don’t get enough support to even resolve conflict in our own department,” Ferbel-Azcarate told The Skanner.

Johnson pointed out that 10 Black faculty and staff members left PSU in the past year, and argued that the university struggles with the retention of Black employees and students alike.

“Oregon has the highest dropout rate for Black high school students in the country,” Johnson told The Skanner. “And similarly, at Portland State, Black kids have the lowest graduation rate, even though academically they perform on par with other comparative groups. So it’s more a question of the financial resources that they don’t get, which keeps them from graduating.”

Johnson doubts the university’s assertion that budget constraints prevent his department from being able to maintain its faculty size.

“They’ll build a stadium for basketball, which is mostly for young black men to play, but they won’t invest in our intellectual development,” he said.

Community connections

But Black Studies Prof. Shirley Jackson, former chair of the department, does not agree that funding woes are the Black Studies program’s greatest obstacle. She believes the department has not done enough to connect to the Black community.

“I started at Portland State in January 2016 and was doing my part in terms of making sure that we were involved in the community,” Jackson told The Skanner. “I wanted to have this connection where we’re not just simply this department that lives in a vacuum. We came about because of the community and the support that they gave us when we were in our very early stages. And that to me was something that could not be overlooked. But prior to my coming to Portland State, it seemed as though no one was really doing that in the department.”

Jackson also expressed frustration with the number of Black employees who had left the university in recent months, and said she is working with the president’s office at PSU to explore the possibility of reinstating a campus-wide ombudsman to better serve students and staff who experience inequity at the school.

Jackson told The Skanner she filed a complaint with Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries last month in response to what she described as unequal treatment from her male colleagues, as well as a number of incidents on campus and within the department that made her feel unsafe. She said that PSU administrators were unresponsive to her requests for support.

Department longevity

PSU’s Black Studies department has outlived many similar departments at public universities nationwide. Millner told The Skanner this was due to the fact that PSU has always committed to funding the department through its budget, while many other departments depended on government funding that was subject to changing political tides.

“That doesn’t mean it was easy,” Millner said. “Because in the 50 years since Black Studies got started here, the Oregon university higher education system has gone through many periods of crisis, many periods of reduced commitment. And it was always a battle to protect your budget, to have the resources to continue. You always had to fight for that, and you still do today.”

Johnson points out that unlike most public universities, there is no Ethnic Studies general education requirement at PSU–a mandatory course that typically drives students into areas of study they might not have considered, and which could capture their interest and potentially lead them to a new major or minor.

“It’s not just for Black students,” Millner said. “People who potentially gain the most from a Black Studies experience are people from the majority culture, who because of our history and because of the way that society was organized and because of the legal nature and the institutional nature of separation and segregation and Jim Crow laws, before they get here, they’ve had very little opportunity to learn the history of a race or a group other than their own.

So, it’s eye-opening for them.”

Ferbel-Azcarate, who identifies himself as the only Black Studies faculty member not of direct African descent, says that despite the ups and downs in his department, he sees reason to hope.

“I am finding that students, at least in PSU, will arrive in our classrooms with a greater awareness and knowledge around race and identity,” he said.

Ferbel-Azcarate describes the department as “both interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary.”

“I’m an archaeologist, Darrell’s a historian, Ethan does work in education, Shirley’s a sociologist,” he said. “Some people are Black Studies-focused. So you get exposed to different ways of approaching a topic: the multidisciplinary of it, and the interdisciplinary of it, makes it like a great place for critical thinking, and for the consideration of multiple perspectives.”

“It changes the dynamic of the discussion,” Millner agreed. “And it opens up possibilities and considerations that had not existed before those kinds of programs existed on college campuses, and that’s probably what I’m most pleased and satisfied with in terms of the contributions that a department like Black Studies can make to a university community.”

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A Nation in Freefall While the Powerful Feast: Trump Calls Affordability a ‘Con Job’

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — There are seasons in this country when the struggle of ordinary Americans is not merely a condition but a kind of weather that settles over everything.

Published

4 weeks ago

December 3, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

There are seasons in this country when the struggle of ordinary Americans is not merely a condition but a kind of weather that settles over everything. It enters the grocery aisle, the overdue bill, the rent notice, and the long nights spent calculating how to get through the next week. The latest numbers show that this season has not passed. It has deepened.

Private employers cut 32,000 jobs in November, according to ADP. Because the nation has been hemorrhaging jobs since President Trump took office, the administration has halted publishing the traditional monthly report. The ADP report revealed that small businesses suffered the heaviest losses. Establishments with fewer than 50 workers shed 120,000 positions, including 74,000 from companies with 20 to 49 workers. Larger firms added 90,000 jobs, widening the split between those rising and those falling.

Meanwhile, wealth continues to climb for the few who already possess most of it. Federal Reserve data shows the top 1 percent now holds $52 trillion. The top 10 percent added $5 trillion in the second quarter alone. The bottom half gained only 6 percent over the past year, a number so small it fades beside the towering fortunes above it.

“Less educated and poorer people tend to make worse mistakes,” John Campbell said to CBS News, while noting that the complexity of the system leaves many families lost before they even begin. Campbell, a Harvard University economist and coauthor of a book examining the country’s broken personal finance structure, pointed to a system built to confuse and punish those who lack time, training, or access.

“Creditors are just breathing down their necks,” Carol Fox told Bloomberg News, while noting that rising borrowing costs, shrinking consumer spending, and trade battles under the current administration have left owners desperate. Fox serves as a court-appointed Subchapter V trustee in Southern Florida and has watched the crisis unfold case by case.

During a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump told those present that affordability “doesn’t mean anything to anybody.” He added that Democrats created a “con job” to mislead the public.

However, more than $30 million in taxpayer funds reportedly have supported his golf travel. Reports show Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel have also made extensive use of private jets through government and political networks. The administration approved a $40 billion bailout of Argentina. The president’s wealthy donors recently gathered for a dinner celebrating his planned $300 million White House ballroom.

During an appearance on CNBC, Mark Zandi, an economist, warned that the country could face serious economic threats. “We have learned that people make many mistakes,” Campbell added. “And particularly, sadly, less educated and poorer people tend to make worse mistakes.”

Stacy M. Brown

Posts by Stacy M. Brown

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The Numbers Behind the Myth of the Hundred Million Dollar Contract

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Odell Beckham Jr. did not spark controversy on purpose. He sat on The Pivot Podcast and tried to explain the math behind a deal that looks limitless from the outside but shrinks fast once the system takes its cut.

Published

4 weeks ago

December 3, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

Odell Beckham Jr. did not spark controversy on purpose. He sat on The Pivot Podcast and tried to explain the math behind a deal that looks limitless from the outside but shrinks fast once the system takes its cut. He looked into the camera and tried to offer a truth most fans never hear. “You give somebody a five-year $100 million contract, right? What is it really? It is five years for sixty. You are getting taxed. Do the math. That is twelve million a year that you have to spend, use, save, invest, flaunt,” said Beckham. He added that buying a car, buying his mother a house, and covering the costs of life all chip away at what people assume lasts forever.

The reaction was instant. Many heard entitlement. Many heard a millionaire complaining. What they missed was a glimpse into a professional world built on big numbers up front and a quiet erasing of those numbers behind the scenes.

The tax data in Beckham’s world is not speculation. SmartAsset’s research shows that top NFL players often lose close to half their income to federal taxes, state taxes, and local taxes. The analysis explains that athletes in California face a state rate of 13.3 percent and that players are also taxed in every state where they play road games, a structure widely known as the jock tax. For many players, that means filing up to ten separate returns and facing a combined tax burden that reaches or exceeds 50 percent.

A look across the league paints the same picture. The research lists star players in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland, all giving up between 43 and 47 percent of their football income before they ever touch a dollar. Star quarterback Phillip Rivers, at one point, was projected to lose half of his playing income to taxes alone.

A second financial breakdown from MGO CPA shows that the problem does not only affect the highest earners. A $1 million salary falls to about $529,000 after federal taxes, state and city taxes, an agent fee, and a contract deduction. According to that analysis, professional athletes typically take home around half of their contract value, and that is before rent, meals, training, travel, and support obligations are counted.

The structure of professional sports contracts adds another layer. A study of major deals across MLB, the NBA, and the NFL notes that long-term agreements lose value over time because the dollar today has more power than the dollar paid in the future. Even the largest deals shrink once adjusted for time. The study explains that contract size alone does not guarantee financial success and that structure and timing play a crucial role in a player’s long-term outcomes.

Beckham has also faced headlines claiming he is “on the brink of bankruptcy despite earning over one hundred million” in his career. Those reports repeated his statement that “after taxes, it is only sixty million” and captured the disbelief from fans who could not understand how money at that level could ever tighten.

Other reactions lacked nuance. One article wrote that no one could relate to any struggle on eight million dollars a year. Another described his approach as “the definition of a new-money move” and argued that it signaled poor financial choices and inflated spending.

But the underlying truth reaches far beyond Beckham. Professional athletes enter sudden wealth without preparation. They carry the weight of family support. They navigate teams, agents, advisors, and expectations from every direction. Their earning window is brief. Their career can end in a moment. Their income is fragmented, taxed, and carved up before the public ever sees the real number.

The math is unflinching. Twenty million dollars becomes something closer to $8 million after federal taxes, state taxes, jock taxes, agent fees, training costs, and family responsibilities. Over five years, that is about $40 million of real, spendable income. It is transformative money, but not infinite. Not guaranteed. Not protected.

Beckham offered a question at the heart of this entire debate. “Can you make that last forever?”

Stacy M. Brown

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FBI Report Warns of Fear, Paralysis, And Political Turmoil Under Director Kash Patel

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Six months into Kash Patel’s tenure as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a newly compiled internal report from a national alliance of retired and active-duty FBI agents and analysts delivers a stark warning about what the Bureau has become under his leadership.

Published

4 weeks ago

December 2, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown

Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

Six months into Kash Patel’s tenure as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a newly compiled internal report from a national alliance of retired and active-duty FBI agents and analysts delivers a stark warning about what the Bureau has become under his leadership. The 115-page document, submitted to Congress this month, is built entirely on verified reporting from inside field offices across the country and paints a picture of an agency gripped by fear, divided by ideology, and drifting without direction.

The report’s authors write that they launched their inquiry after receiving troubling accounts from inside the Bureau only four months into Patel’s tenure. They describe their goal as a pulse check on whether the ninth FBI director was reforming the Bureau or destabilizing it. Their conclusion: the preliminary findings were discouraging.

Reports Describe Widespread Internal Distrust and Open Hostility Toward President Trump

Sources across the country told investigators that a large number of FBI employees openly express hostility toward President Donald Trump. One source reported seeing an “increasing number of FBI Special Agents who dislike the President,” adding that these employees were exhibiting what they called “TDS” and had lost “their ability to think critically about an issue and distinguish fact from fiction.” Another source described employees making off-color comments about the administration during office conversations.

The sentiment reportedly extends beyond domestic lines. Law enforcement and intelligence partners in allied countries have privately expressed fear that the Trump administration could damage long-term international cooperation according to a sub-source who reported those concerns directly to investigators.

Pardon Backlash and Fear of Retaliation

The President’s January 20 pardons of individuals convicted for their roles in the January 6 attack ignited what the report calls demoralization inside the Bureau. One FBI employee said they were “demoralized” that individuals “rightfully convicted” were pardoned and feared that some of those individuals or their supporters might target them or their family for carrying out their duties. Another source described widespread anger that lists of personnel who worked on January 6 investigations had been provided to the Justice Department for review, noting that agents “were just following orders” and now worry those lists could leak publicly.

Morale In Decline

Morale among FBI employees appears to be sinking fast. There were a few scattered positive notes, but the weight of the reporting describes morale as low, bad, or terrible. Agents with more than a decade of service told investigators they feel marginalized or ignored. Some are counting the days until they can retire. One even uses a countdown app on their phone.

Culture Of Fear

Layered over that unhappiness is something far more corrosive. A culture of fear. Sources say Patel, though personable, created mistrust from the start because of harsh remarks he made about the FBI before taking office. Agents took those comments personally. They now work in an atmosphere where employees keep their heads down and speak carefully. Managers wait for directions because they are afraid a wrong move could cost them their jobs. One source said agents dread coming to work because nobody knows who will be reassigned or fired next.

Leadership Concerns

The report also paints a picture of leaders unprepared for the jobs they hold. Multiple sources said Patel is in over his head and lacks the breadth of experience required to understand the Bureau’s complex programs. Some said Deputy Director Dan Bongino should never have been appointed because the role requires deep institutional knowledge of FBI operations. A sub-source recounted Bongino telling employees during a field office visit that “the truth is for chumps.” Employees who heard it were stunned and offended.

Social Media and Communication Breakdowns

Communication inside the Bureau has become another source of frustration. Sources said Patel and Bongino spend too much time posting on social media and not enough time communicating with employees in clear and official ways. Several told investigators they learn more about FBI operations from tweets than from internal channels.

ICE Assignments Raise Alarm

Nothing has sparked more frustration inside the FBI than the orders requiring agents to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The reporting shows widespread resentment and fear over these assignments. Agents say they have little training in immigration law and were ordered into operations without proper planning. Some said they were put in tactically unsafe positions. They also warned that being pulled away from counterterrorism and counterintelligence investigations threatens national security. One sub-source asked, “If we’re not working CT and CI, then who is?”

DEI Program Removal

Even the future of diversity programs became a point of division. Some agents praised Patel’s removal of DEI initiatives. Others said the old system left them afraid to speak honestly because they worried about being labeled racist. The reporting shows a deep and unresolved conflict over whether DEI strengthened the organization or weakened it.

Notable Incidents

The document also details several incidents that have become part of FBI lore. Patel ordered all employees to remove pronouns and personal messages from their email signatures yet used the number nine in his own. Agents laughed at what they saw as hypocrisy. In another episode, FBI employees who discussed Patel’s request for an FBI-issued firearm were ordered to take polygraph examinations, which one respected source described as punitive. And in Utah, Patel refused to exit a plane without a medium-sized FBI raid jacket. A team scrambled to find one and finally secured a female agent’s jacket. Patel still refused to step out until patches were added. SWAT members removed patches from their own uniforms to satisfy the demand.

A Bureau at a Crossroad

The Alliance warns that the Bureau stands at a difficult crossroads. They write that the FBI faces some of the most daunting challenges in its history. But even in despair, a few voices say something different. One veteran source said “It is early, but most can see the mission is now the priority. Case work and threats are the focus again. Reform is headed in the right direction.”