When I was pre-registering for classes over the summer, a course that immediately jumped off my screen was AFRS/HIST 131: “Narratives of Black History: Lives and Archives.” I pulled it up on the Course Catalogue and could not stop the excitement in my bones. Growing up in the South, education about Black history was always reduced to a single slide in a PowerPoint or confined to the month of February. This is one of the reasons I signed up for it as soon as I could, wanting to learn the history that had been censored in my classrooms as a kid.
When I saw I had made it into the class, I was ecstatic, and the next Monday I nervously walked into Swift Hall. I immediately knew that I was going to love this class, if not because of the content—which I was positive I would pour over, too—then because of the professor.
Assistant Professor of History Whitney Fields wanted to know each of us, where we came from, and particularly what compelled us to be curious about Black history. I could not believe it when, in her introduction, she said that she was among us first-year students, as it is also her first year at Vassar College.
Even though I have only had four sessions of their class, it has quickly become my favorite. I have always loved history and literature, but it is such a unique opportunity to learn about Black history from the first-person accounts of the people who lived through it, despite the earlier archive being barren from the erasing of peoples’ lives and history. While the topic is extremely compelling to me and is one of the main reasons I love the class, the other reason is that Fields reels us in and always encourages us to keep asking questions.
From a young age, Fields was interested and immersed in Black history and eager to learn more. “Black history has been a part of my life since I was a kid, but my parents were massive influences in my interest in Black history,” she explained. “They always had books about Black history or watched documentaries about Black history. So I grew up in a household where Black life, Black history and Black culture were celebrated.” She also commented on how Black history was celebrated at her elementary school in New York. “It was just a great experience and upbringing.”
When her family moved to Virginia as a kid, her school’s curriculum was less inclusive, something I could also relate to. It was not until college that Fields had the opportunity to take a Black history course. She commented on how that class was a turning moment for her decision to pursue this passion: “[my work in that class] culminated in my thesis in college and an opportunity to write and contribute to a field of Black history.” That initial class finalized the spark that had been burning since they were a kid, along with the profuse encouragement from their supportive parents, Wanda and Richard Fields. Fields fondly recalled, “And that was the moment for me. I was like, I think this is going to be something.”
While in graduate school at Rutgers University—New Brunswick, she had fellowships at schools like the University of Pennsylvania and even a position as the inaugural Postdoctoral Research Assistant of the Initiative on Race and Resilience at the Notre Dame at the University of Notre Dame. That was when she searched for a school passionate about its students and its research, which is when she found Vassar. “I was really excited about it, because I knew that Vassar was a school that was really dedicated to undergraduate education,” Fields said. After having a great experience as an undergraduate herself, getting involved with research and writing, Fields wanted to help spread that magic she experienced to future generations. “I’m having the opportunity to be in an environment where I’m fostering these connections with undergraduates,” she commented, “and that has been a wonderful experience this far.”
One of the key themes I noticed from our conversation was the concept of persistence. From our discussions about her life as a younger student, to her work now as a skilled researcher and writer, the idea of enduring has been a common thread. When I asked what advice she would give to her younger self, she smiled and said, “I would say stay curious. Keep going and persist.” Fields then pulled out her copy of Octavia E. Butler’s “Bloodchild” and read a paragraph that ended with the sentence “The word, again, is ‘persist!’”
This particularly resonated with me, as I have had trouble adjusting to changes and have always been hard on myself. There have been times I truly did not know if I could keep going another day. But I look back on those times and I am so grateful I kept going, because if I did not, I would have missed out on so many joyful memories I have made since then. Even still, sometimes I have days where I also struggle with prevailing and resilience. Hearing this lesson from someone I admire and relate to makes me feel like I can do it. As Fields eloquently put it: “Just keep going, keep writing, keep researching, keep putting work out there.”
On Saturday, I bought a copy of “Bloodchild” by Butler, not just to read more fabulous lines, but also to indirectly learn more about my wonderful professor. It is only September and I am so incredibly excited for the rest of the semester. When you meet with your advisor after the leaves change color and the temperature drops, please make sure to put a request in to be in one of Fields’ two history/africana studies classes next semester. You will not regret it, I promise!