New Orleans native Tre Blakes is the first graduate of the University of Houston’s African American Studies Department (previously a program). According to the department, “The University of Houston, due to student protest, created the African American Studies Program in 1969. After more than 50 years, that program became a department.”
Blakes began his academic journey in media production but quickly realized where his true passion was. He said, “I was initially a Media Production major with a minor in African American Studies. But, after my first year at the University of Houston, I realized that I was more passionate about my African American Studies classes, so I changed my major to African American Studies. I felt like the change would make my college experience more fulfilling.”
Furthermore, Blakes’s interview with The Black Wall Street Times honors the legacy and fight of the pioneers of Black Studies.
The Importance of Black Studies
In 1964, Merritt College in Oakland, California was the first college in America to offer Black Studies classes. Black Panther Party founders, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale attended the classes and became inspired. Subsequently, in September 1968, San Francisco State University became the first college to form a Black Studies Department.
Black students studying Black History and Black thought from Black educators ignited the Black Panther Party and further promoted the Black Power Movement.
According to CollegeVine, over 150 colleges and universities throughout the USA offer a degree in Black Studies. The degree name varies from college such as African Studies, Africana Studies, African American Studies, Black Studies, etc.
Unfortunately, the struggle to promote Black Studies continues. The Department of Education in South Carolina removed the state course code for Advanced Placement African-American Studies. This means high school students can no longer take the course for college credits.
However, Black women educators and scholars have a long history of showing up for their students through all times. Blakes shared, “Dr. Tara Green (creator of the Student Advisory Board) has been a major inspiration. She taught a few of my favorite courses but most importantly she prioritized student engagement [and] Dr. Neema Langa who taught a course about ‘Gender and Healthcare in Africa’ that I learned a lot from.”
He believes Black Studies should serve as an intellectual arm of the struggle. Blakes expressed, “Black Studies is important as an academic discipline largely because of the historical and intentional miseducation of Black people in this country. I think that Black Studies was created in part, to combat some of that miseducation. For that reason, Black Studies is important at every level of education.”
Examining The Gulf Coast With a Black Studies Lens
Blakes and his family understand the effects of natural disasters all too well. Survivors of Hurricane Katrina expressed that the hurricane’s devastation and the disinvestment from state and federal governments are still felt.
The commodification and exploitation terrors from environmental racism are clear in the Gulf Coast. But Blakes connects the national dots even further.
He said, “Being from New Orleans and growing up in Houston, it’s always been clear to me that Black people suffer the most in environmental crises. If we connect this fact with the other areas in which Black people have the worst outcomes, we can see that it isn’t a coincidence.”
Blakes believes communities of color should continue to organize themselves and create effective methods to sustain and protect their communities. He shared, “…because our governments are not invested in our survival.”
What’s next for Tre Blakes
Soaring for greatness, Blakes plans to pursue a Master’s in Black Studies. In addition, he is on a mission to grow and expand his media platform, “The Mid Zone,” which focuses on interviewing Black people from various fields of work.
He plans to interview more artists and organizers from New Orleans and Houston while researching connections between the two cities.
As a New Orleans native and longtime Houston resident, Blakes shared his love for both cities, “I think I just love how culturally rich they both are. There’s so much great history in both places and so many major contributions to things I love like Hip-Hop and the Black Radical Tradition. I love all the ways in which Black Houston and Black New Orleans differ but remain the same in essence.”
