Teaching Through Generational Traumas

Detrice L. Roberts is a historian, educator, and scholar whose work explores the intersections of history, higher education, and cultural identity. She currently serves as a professor of history at Jackson State University, where she teaches courses in U.S. History, World Civilization, and African American experiences, and as an adjunct faculty member at Tougaloo College. In both classrooms, Roberts emphasizes the importance of connecting historical study to the lived realities of her students, blending traditional scholarship with digital humanities, social and emotional learning, and culturally relevant pedagogy. Roberts's research focuses on the legacies of African American resilience and cultural memory, with particular attention to African American women's experiences in the post-emancipation era, the role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and the power of digital storytelling in preserving generational knowledge. Beyond the classroom, Roberts is the co-founder of Thee Africana Digital Humanities Lab (ADHL) at Jackson State, an initiative dedicated to digitizing archives, preserving Black history, and training students in digital scholarship. She is also engaged in numerous community-based projects, including historical preservation, midwifery heritage work, and civic engagement through nonprofit leadership. A graduate of Jackson State University with a Master of Arts in History, Roberts is pursuing an Executive Ph.D. in Urban Higher Education. Her teaching and research reflect her belief that history is not only about the past but about cultivating the tools students need to navigate identity, resilience, and liberation in the present.

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Preface

Part I: Where the Ancestors Once Stood
The Historical Landscape
Historically Black Colleges and Universities as Spaces of Diversity
The Soil and What Grew From It
Self-Imposed Invisibility and Problematic Dissociation
Identity Map Exercise
Reflective Journaling Prompts
Identity Kaleidoscope: Perspectives From Winters College

Act I: The Stage I Can't Step On
Family Control and the Fight For Independence
Reflective Prompt
Respectability and Resistance
Respectability in Modern Culture
Black Imagery in Social Media

Act II: Drifting in the Middle Lane
Finding Your Identity Beyond Family Traditions and Expectations
Reflective Prompt
Foundations and Founders: Introducing the Divine Nine

Act III: White N*gga
Claiming Your Identity
Colorism and the Different Shades of Blackness
Racial Passing
Reflective Prompt

Part II: From Dissemblance to Dissociation: A Modern Survival Mechanism
Navigating Student Life and Adulthood

Act IV: Uncle, Soldier, Husband, Student
Balancing Adulthood and Student Life
Reflective Prompt

Act V: Smiles Between IV Drips
Pushing Through Painful Realities
Reflective Prompt
The Pain of Suffering in Silence—Smiling and Pushing Through
The Pain of Suffering in Silence—Medicate and Isolate

Act VI: High and Hiding Places
The Hidden Cost of Transitioning to New Environments
Reflective Prompt

Act VII: Memphis on My Back
The Demands of Institutional Support
Academic Scholars
Athletic Scholarships
International Students and Scholarships
The Invisible Divide
Reflective Prompt

Part III: Reclaiming Wholeness: Learning as Healing

Act VIII: The Weight of Winning
Balancing Acts and a Superhero Complex
Reflective Prompt
Navigating Through Discomfort

Act IX: After the Silence
The Quiet Survivor
Reflective Prompt

Reflections and Continuations: Winters College
Revisited Reflection Prompts for the Generational Scholar
Guided Journaling Exercise: "Coming Home to Myself"
Ode to the HBCU: A Closing Meditation

Bibliography

Appendix A: Glossary of Key Terms

Appendix B: List of HBCUs

About the Author

Index

NOTE: Table of Contents subject to change up until publication date.