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• Interview: Bethel, Leonard, 2021

  Dr. Leonard Bethel is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Africana Studies at Rutgers. He was born in 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the interview, he describes growing up in the predominantly Black neighborhood of West Philadelphia, being involved in the Fellowship House, through which he became exposed to the Civil Rights Movement, and working at La Citadelle Camp, operated by activist and educator Layle Lane. After attending Lincoln University for his undergraduate degree, he earned a Master of Divinity at Johnson C. Smith University, during which time he was active in desegregation efforts in North Carolina. He earned a Master of Arts in Theology at New Brunswick Theological Seminary (NBTS) and received a doctorate at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education. He became an ordained Presbyterian minister in 1964. After coming to Rutgers in 1969, he worked to establish the Department of Africana Studies, chaired the department for fifteen years, and served as a faculty member for forty-two years. Through his ministry, he became involved in the anti-apartheid movement, as well as in community service organizations and initiatives. A long-time resident of Plainfield, he served as the pastor at Bethel Presbyterian Church. He is the author of numerous books and articles including Educating African Leaders: Missionism in America and La Citadelle: Layle Lane and Social Activism in 20th Century America.
• Interview: Cooper, Brittney, 2015

  Brittney Cooper is Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University. She is a Black feminist theorist who specializes in the study of Black women’s intellectual history, Hip Hop generation feminism, and race and gender representation in popular culture. Dr. Cooper is also a sought-after public speaker and commentator, her work and words have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, TV Guide, the Los Angeles Times, MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry Show, All In With Chris Hayes, Disrupt with Karen Finney, and Third Rail on Al-Jazeera America, among many others. She is also a co-founder of the Crunk Feminist Collective, a popular feminist blog. Dr. Brittney Cooper is a proud alumna of Howard University (class of 2002) and a proud native of North Louisiana. In this interview, Dr. Cooper speaks about her day-to-day work as an Assistant Professor in the Women’s and Gender Studies and Africana Studies departments. Including her work as a “hip hop feminist” and the book she had just finished at the time "Race Women: Gender and the Making of a Black Public Intellectual Tradition"(published as: "Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women"). She continues with speaking about her experiences as a Black Woman in her field and the challenges she faces, the different types of activism she partakes in, and ends the interview speaking about her college experience and the lessons she has learned.
• Interview: Glasker, Wayne, 2022

  This interview was recorded as part of the Black Camden Oral History Project. Dr. Wayne Glasker is Emeritus Professor of History at Rutgers University–Camden. He is the author of the book Black Students in the Ivory Tower: African American Student Activism at the University of Pennsylvania, 1967-1990. He was born in 1957 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Mary Johnson and Morris Glasker. His parents were part of the Great Migration and had moved from Virginia to Pennsylvania in search of better work opportunities. In these interviews, Glasker discusses his childhood in Philadelphia and his experiences at the University of Pennsylvania from 1974 to 1994. Glasker earned his Bachelor’s degree in History and Sociology in 1980. He attended graduate school at UPenn as well, earning a PhD in History in 1994. During this time, he was active in the Black Student Union on campus, student government, and in the anti-apartheid movement. He discusses his experiences as a student activist and student government leader as well as the challenges on campus for African American students. In 1990 Glasker began teaching African American history at Rutgers–Camden. He served as director of the Africana Studies program from 1998 to 2011. He describes race relations on campus in the 1990s and student activism at Rutgers. He emphasizes the list of demands from Black student activists following the occupation of the Campus Center at Rutgers–Camden in 1969. He also describes his efforts to increase civic engagement in his classes.