<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-top-anchor"></div>
<div id="gmail-toolbar" class="gmail-toolbar-container">
</div><div class="gmail-container" dir="ltr" lang="en-us">
<div class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element">
<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.diverseeducation.com/faculty-staff/article/15306434/black-studies-pioneer-john-h-bracey-jr-joins-the-ancestors">diverseeducation.com</a>
<div class="gmail-domain-border"></div>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Black Studies Pioneer, John H. Bracey Jr., Joins the Ancestors</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Walter Hudson - February 5, 2023<br></div>
</div>
<hr>
<div class="gmail-content">
<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div id="gmail-content-body-15306434" role="region" aria-label="Content Body"><p>John
H. Bracey Jr.—an architect of Black studies—who helped to create one
of the nation’s first doctoral programs in African American studies at
the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, died over the weekend.
Bracey was 81. </p><p>A faculty member in the W.E.B Du Bois Department
of Afro-American Studies at UMASS since 1972, Bracey served in various
roles, including chairing the department and directing the graduate
certificate in African Diaspora Studies.<span><span><img src="https://img.diverseeducation.com/files/base/diverse/all/image/2023/02/Bracey.63dfdf802357d.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max&q=70&w=400" alt="Prof. John H. Bracey Jr." width="400" height="225"><span class="gmail-caption">Prof. John H. Bracey Jr.</span></span></span> </p><p>An
expert on Black social history, racial ideologies and movements and
the history of African American women Bracey wrote and edited a number
of books including <i>Black Nationalism in America, African American
Women and the Vote: 1837-1965; African American Mosaic: A Documentary
History from the Slave Trade to the Twenty-First Century</i> that he co-authored with Dr. Manisha Sinha; and <i>SOS—Calling All Black People: a Black Arts Movement Reader</i> that he edited with his colleague, Dr. James Smethurst and well-known poet Sonia Sanchez.</p><p>“Professor
Bracey was a walking encyclopedia and was one of the most brilliant
and prolific thinkers that I’ve ever met and had the opportunity to
work with,” said Dr. Jamal Watson, the former executive editor of <i>Diverse</i>
and a faculty member at Trinity Washington University. Bracey directed
his doctoral dissertation and was his master professor at UMASS. </p><p>“Professor
Bracey was extremely generous with his time and his mentorship, but he
was also laser-focused on building the next generation of leaders who
would protect and build on the field of African American studies,” said
Watson “He greatly transformed the trajectory of Black studies and was
instrumental in mentoring hundreds of scholars who he single-handedly
helped transition into the academy. But more importantly, he had a deep
and abiding love for Black people and that was evident in everything
that he did.” </p><p>Born in Chicago, Bracey grew up in Washington, D.C.
and attended Howard University, Roosevelt University in Chicago and
completed graduate work at Roosevelt and at Northwestern University. In
the 1960s, Bracey was active in the Civil Rights, Black Liberation,
and Peace movements as a member of the Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE), Chicago Friends of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC), Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and the
Revolutionary Action Movement. <span><span><img src="https://img.diverseeducation.com/files/base/diverse/all/image/2023/02/john_h._bracey_jr._speaking_indoors_ca._1972.63dfdfa71bded.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max&q=70&w=400" alt="John H Bracey Jr Speaking Indoors Ca 1972" width="400" height="271"></span></span></p><p>Bracey
was lauded for his early work on editing the papers of the NAACP and
was successful in helping UMASS secure the papers of Dr. W.E.B Du Bois,
the towering Black intellectual who grew up in nearby Great Barrington,
Massachusetts. </p><p>In 2021, UMASS Chancellor Dr. Kumble Subbaswamy
announced the establishment of an endowed graduate fellowship in honor
of Bracey. The fellowship was announced in conjunction with the
school's Black Presence Initiative, an effort to explore and document
the experiences of Black students at UMass Amherst.</p><p>At the time
of the announcement, Subbaswamy praised Bracey for leading the efforts
“to record and archive the many impressive and enduring contributions
the Black members of our community have made to UMass. It is only
fitting that the campus create a permanent acknowledgement of the
transformative role he has played on our campus.”</p><p>A lifetime
member of the Association for the Study of African American Life and
History and of the Organization of American Historians, Bracey received
numerous awards and accolades and was the recipient of an honorary
degree from the College of Wooster in 2013. <a href="https://www.diverseeducation.com/latest-news/article/15102004/black-scholars-matter-series-celebrates-academicians-and-their-work-part-1">In 2018, Bracey was among a number of scholars that </a><i><a href="https://www.diverseeducation.com/latest-news/article/15102004/black-scholars-matter-series-celebrates-academicians-and-their-work-part-1">Diverse</a></i><a href="https://www.diverseeducation.com/latest-news/article/15102004/black-scholars-matter-series-celebrates-academicians-and-their-work-part-1"> recognized. </a></p><p><i>Walter Hudson can be reached at <a href="mailto:whudson@diverseeducation.com">whudson@diverseeducation.com</a> </i></p></div></div></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div></div>
</div>
</div>