Professor Winston Grady-Willis, founder of Black Studies at Skidmore College

02/15/25 • 35 min

Winston Grady-Willis is a Skidmore College professor and the founding director of Black Studies. He was an associate professor of American Studies from 2008 to 2011. He became the inaugural director of the School of Gender, Race, and Nations at Portland State University and chaired Africana Studies at MSU Denver. He returned to Skidmore College in 2019 with his wife, Lisa Grady-Willis, program director and teaching professor of intergroup relations, at Skidmore College.

I sat down with Professor Grady-Willis on campus to talk about his journey and the role of Black History Month and Black Studies on campus and beyond.

I sat down with Professor Grady-Willis on campus to talk about his journey and the role of Black History Month and Black Studies on campus and beyond.

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Tasha 'Freedom' McBride - Poet, Police Officer and now Photographer

From Syracuse to the university to Albany to the streets of Baltimore, Tasha ‘Freedom’ McBride has made a difference. She was part of Art Night in Schenectady, shown inside the Schenectady County office buildings, first two floors, in a photo exhibit entitled “An Artist's Perspective: Defying a Broken System in celebration of Black History Month.

For the first time, McBride's photos will be displayed as part of an essay entitled “Broken Concrete.”

She was the first featured artist of the Schenectady County Human Rights Commission.

I called Tasha ‘Freedom’ McBride at her home in Maryland to learn about her journey as an artist and community officer with the City of Baltimore.