Talina Boyles, president of the WVU Potomac State College Black Student Alliance, and Dr. Jerry Wallace, WVU PSC President.
The WVU Potomac State College Black Student Alliance and Title III hosted their annual Taste of Black History dinner on February 18 in the Davis Conference Center. The ASALH (founders of Black History Month) theme this year was “Commemorations,” as this year marks one century of celebration, remembrance, and honor.
The College's President, Dr. Jerry Wallace, was invited to speak at the annual event by Talina Boyles, president and student coordinator of the WVU Potomac State College Black Student Alliance.
“Dr. Wallace is our first African American Campus President here at PSC, and he is someone who has had to overcome many obstacles to be the person he is today,” Boyles said.
As the guest speaker, Dr. Wallace had food, motherhood, and the overall life experience of black women in this country on his mind.
“I would just ask each of you who is in attendance today, whether you know a Black woman and she is your friend or a colleague or a classmate, to just extend a little more grace when you interact with a Black woman in America,” he said. “I would refer to the Malcolm X quote that says the most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. As the third son of a mother who had four children, I watched my mother struggle to get educated and also avoid the ‘benefits cliff.’”
“The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.”
- Malcolm X
According to Wallace, the “benefits cliff” is a system that often can trap people who are in lower income jobs from advancing. Benefits from the government, like SNAP and other welfare and public assistance programs, are offered based on income and the number of children in a household, but the benefits can also be relinquished if the threshold for eligibility is lifted, even if just by a modest increase in salary. This then becomes challenging for people – specifically people of color and moreso women of color – to advance in their careers and in life. It can become a vicious circle, he said.
“We tell people in this country you can do better, and we tell them get on assistance, but then get off assistance,” he said. “But this benefits cliff? You might get a job making $35 thousand dollars, and you are able to get SNAP with that. But once you get a promotion and you’re now making $42 thousand, they may take away those SNAP benefits. So what choice do you make? What choice does a mother with four children to feed make?”
Wallace said he was in a family that relied on those benefits. He recalled one year having free lunches, and once his mother earned a higher income, the lunch at school where he was raised in Michigan was no longer free. And just that added expense created a new financial burden on the household budget.
“We went from paying nothing to paying 30 cents. Everyday. With four kids, that’s only a dollar fifty, but that dollar fifty being spent every day adds up. So at times, my mother would demote herself so she could still get those benefits. It’s those kinds of things that Black mothers were ushered into, when promotions and trying to better her family actually hindered her.”
Wallace said his mother faced societal and economic challenges from a system that was set up to make sure lower-income families – particularly non-white families – remain at a disadvantage to succeed. It was a system, he said, that he and his three siblings were determined to overcome.
“My mother did enroll in college, but she did not finish,” he said. “And even though she tried, she was up against more barriers in her life than just her four children she was raising at home.”
Wallace said many Black women and mothers of color today continue to raise families and respond through unique and often generational experiences.
“If you know anything at all about slavery, you know it was very brutal, but mothers still had to be mothers and raise children during times of slavery,” he said. “There is this story about one mother who was removed from her children and hid in an attic for seven years and watched her children through a peephole so she didn’t have to be separated from them. So when I tell you to give a little grace, just imagine the PTSD that has been passed down through generations and understand what has been passed down.”
Then the subject of Wallace’s speech turned to soul food itself and its importance and place in culture,
“How many of you have seen the movie Soul Food? If you have not seen it, your assignment after tonight is to watch the movie Soul Food.” Wallace asked the crowd of around 50 students, staff, and faculty who attended the dinner. “It has a great Black family in it. The movie reminds me of Black mothers and of great Black families. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a great and very funny movie.”
Soul Food was not only mentioned, it was served – with dishes like buttered fried chicken, fried fish, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, steamed cabbage, collard greens, and 7-Up cake. But there was one item on the menu that was notably missing. And for good reason, Wallace said.
“How many of you have ever been in a room where someone is cleaning or making chitlins?” he mused, carrying a wireless microphone through the crowd and waiting for the answer. “And no, we are not having that tonight. You would have smelled it. But that is the part of the pig that was available for the slaves to eat.”
Wallace noted that while the “land owners” would feast on pork and bacon, they would throw out portions of the meat found “unsuitable” for “common consumption.” The slaves on those properties would confiscate the unwanted meat and invent their own recipes. This tenacity, he said, is what not only inspired what we know as soul food and soul food recipes but also serves as a great metaphor for what people of color have had to endure and how an entire culture had to adapt.
“And they took those pig parts, and they learned how to make it taste good,” he said. “To this day, my aunt makes them, and she likes them. But the whole lesson of soul food is how the Black community made something out of nothing. They took something that was going to be thrown out and found a way to make it delicious. And it’s funny because you think of soul food in America as part of Black culture, but if you go anywhere else, people do this everywhere. They make the best of what they have.”
The perseverance of the Black woman and her place in history is one that is often overlooked but is cause for celebration, President Wallace said. Once people understand the Black woman’s influence on history, the future, and her desire and drive to achieve, the notion of respect and admiration becomes more evident, he said.
“And so tonight and today, we do celebrate Black women,” Wallace said. “As most of you here tonight might know, that is the most educated demographic when it comes to obtaining degrees. “And today, of course, we have the tradition of soul food, which would not have been possible if not for the imagination and creativity of the Black woman. So today, let’s celebrate history, the contributions, and the future of Black women in our country, and let’s show a sister some grace.”
Dr. Jerry Wallace and Frances Jones of the Loving Hearts charitable organization in Keyser.
Frances Jones, a mother herself who also oversees the Loving Hands nonprofit in Keyser, attended the event and praised Wallace for his leadership and for being an inspiration to other young people of color.
“He certainly is a wonderful leader for this college,” Jones said. “He is approachable and warm. I always enjoy every conversation he and I have. I thought he was the perfect guest speaker for the evening.”
The College's Black Student Alliance president agreed.
“Dr. Wallace’s speech last night resonated deeply with me, given that I am a Black woman raised by another Black woman. It was impactful to hear that I wasn’t alone in some of the struggles that many women face,” said Boyles. “I’d like to think that his message resonated with others in the audience the same way it did me. On campus, faculty and staff go above and beyond to make sure that all students are respected and valued. I think everyone everywhere can stand to open their hearts and minds more to learning about other cultures.”
To view Dr. Wallace’s address in its entirety, visit our YouTube channel here.
Also, during Black History month, students can attend the Sweet Potato Pie Pop-Up on February 25.
For a list of upcoming campus events, click here.