Jerry W. Ward, Jr., the Black Chant Scholar, and the Baraka Scholar

I still don't have all my words together about losing Dr. Ward. I mean, there's so much to say so everything is just scattered. In the meantime....

In 1997, my junior year at Tougaloo College, Dr. Ward told me that if I was really serious about studying Black poetry, then "you need to be reading Aldon Nielsen." His book Black Chant (1997) was the first and only book of literary criticism that I purchased as an undergrad. (A few years later when I first met Nielsen, he autographed the book for me). 

In fall 1998, a professor from Penn State named Susan Harris sent recruitment query letters to various HBCUs, including Tougaloo, asking if they had students who might be interested in studying literature at the university. A history professor shared the letter with me, and I asked Dr. Ward if he knew a Professor Harris from Penn State. He wondered if it was "William Harris, the Baraka Scholar." That was the first time I heard the phrase "Baraka Scholar." 

I had done an exchange program at New York University in spring 1998, and Baraka was a visiting fellow on campus. I got to see him read a couple of times and was blown away. I was intrigued to then learn from Dr. Ward that someone could be a "Baraka Scholar."  

In spring 1999, Susan Harris coordinated an opportunity for me to visit the grad program at Penn State, where I met William Harris -- yes, the Baraka Scholar. The next fall, I began my grad studies there, and a year or two in the program, Professor Nielsen joined the faculty. The Black Chant Scholar and the Baraka Scholar were there in one place. Big ups to Dr. Ward for previously introducing me to some of their works.   

Related:

• A Notebook on Jerry W. Ward, Jr.