HBCU Radio Preservation Project: Rhonda Muhammad
Dr. Rhonda Muhammad discusses economic empowerment, her parents' legacy of community engagement, meeting prominent activists, her mother's radio show, and the ongoing work of the next generation.
Listen up, another episode of the HBCU Radio Preservation Project is available! As a collaborator in the project, the Margaret Walker Center serves as a repository for the histories of HBCU stations and the community members who have been a part of them.
This week, meet Dr. Rhonda Muhammad, who reflects on a legacy of community engagement, beginning with her parents and her childhood in Baltimore, Maryland. Her parents impressed upon her not only the importance of education and entrepreneurship, but also of dedication to surrounding community and understanding of social issues. They moved to Durham, North Carolina, in the 1960s, where they established businesses including a fish market and restaurant. Dr. Muhammad’s father was also a jazz musician, and the cultural environment in Baltimore introduced figures like Thurgood Marshall and Sammy Davis, Jr., into her consciousness. On a more personal level, prominent activists such as Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X even stayed with her family.
“The work is still going on, and there are young people all over this country, and maybe in other parts of the world, who have stories that are very similar to what I’m telling about my parents…I just feel as if this is telling, it’s impactful, and we haven’t lost.“
Dr. Muhammad’s mother played a prominent role in radio, hosting “Traces of Faces and Places,” a show dedicated to highlighting stories of Black individuals and raising awareness about issues like health and wellness. As for Dr. Muhammad herself, she attended North Carolina Central University and was involved in debates and discussions about social issues during the 1970s, including topics like apartheid. Dr. Muhammad echoes her mother’s belief that African American history is a vital part of American history, and she continues to advocate for more study and understanding of this history. She is proud of the legacy of her family’s contribution to their communities, and she also expresses hope and support for the work that young people are doing today to work toward positive change.
There’s much more to hear, so click on the video below!
About the Project
Each Wednesday, tune into our YouTube channel, @mwalkercenter, to catch a new oral history from the HBCU Radio Preservation Project!
We are proud to partner with several organizations for the HBCU Radio Preservation Project, which is dedicated to honoring and preserving the rich history and cultural resource of HBCU radio.
Here’s some more info from their website:
Much of the material created at these stations is at risk of being lost, though they document the rich history and diversity of the Black experience through the Civil Rights era and beyond. The goals are to preserve the stations’ audio collections and to foster a community of sustainability for the stations and institutional archives on campus.
The project provides preservation training and workshops for campus stations, archivists and community members, recruiting HBCU graduates as interns and fellows.
Field archivists will collaborate with stations and campus archivists on collections assessments and follow-up field services such as inventories, reformatting, rehousing, and other preservation activities.
Oral historians will interview a range of community members to document the history of the stations. Training in gathering oral histories and using historical audio in content creation will also be offered. Other goals include launching an interactive website, a podcast series, and annual symposia.
