This week Dr. Hettie V. Williams is in conversation with Dr. Marion Orr about his recent book House of Diggs: The Rise and Fall of America’s Most Consequential Black Congressman, Charles C. Diggs, Jr (University of North Carolina Press, 2025). Williams is a professor of history in the Department of History and Anthropology at Monmouth University and the current director of the African Diaspora Studies Program at Monmouth University. Orr is the inaugural Frederick Lippitt Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Political Science and Urban Studies at Brown University. He was a member of the political science faculty prior to coming to Brown. He has served as Director of the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University and he is former chair of Brown’s Department of Political Science and a former director of the Urban Studies Program at Brown. House of Diggs is an assiduously researched book about the first Black elected member of the U.S. Congress from Michigan: Charles C. Diggs, Jr. Diggs rose to prominence during the height of the Civil Rights Era in the 1950s and 1960s including playing a direct role in witnessing the trial of Emmett Till as well as supporting the eyewitnesses to the Tills abduction and murder. Orr argues that Diggs is one of the most impactful members of the U.S. Congress as pivotal founder of the Black Congressional Caucus and home rule for Washington, D.C. including a series of other critical issues. Click here to order a copy of House of Diggs

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This is the finale episode of season 6. In this episode, Hettie V. Williams discusses women of color in the academy with Drs. Zaneta Rago-Craft and Nicole Pulliam. Williams is Associate Professor of African American history in the Department of History and Anthropology at Monmouth University and Rago-Craft is the inaugural director of the Intercultural Center at Monmouth. Pulliam is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Educational Counseling and Leadership as well as the founding director of the Social Justice Academy at Monmouth University. These two women are campus leaders with a wealth of experience in their fields and higher education administration more broadly. Their discussion of the issues, struggles, and obstacles faced by women of color in academia including some discussion of self-care is insightful.

In this episode, Hettie V. Williams discusses Black athletes, political protest, and social justice with Shaun M. Anderson. Williams is an Associate Professor of African American history at Monmouth University located in West Long Branch, New Jersey and Anderson is Associate Professor of Organizational Communication at Loyola Marymount University and the founder of CSR Global Consulting LLC, a firm dedicated to helping sport organizations develop strategic plans to effectively communicate their corporate social responsibility efforts. Anderson has become a major voice in the conversation regarding sport and social change and his work has been featured in several media outlets including in The Huffington Post, Black Enterprise Magazine and the Washington Times.