As part of an ongoing series examining Contributions of Scholars of Color, the APSA Diversity and Inclusion Department conducted a a second set of oral history interviews during the 2024 National Conference of Black Political Scientists (NCOBPS) Annual Meeting held in Los Angeles, California.
This collection of interviews contributes to a continuous project that seeks to amplify the scholarship and the contributions of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to the profession and investigate the history of race and racism in the political science profession.
This series further builds upon the APSA-Pi Sigma African American Alpha Oral History Project (1988-1994) and is motivated by the McClain Task Force on Systemic Inequality in the Discipline (2022).
Meet the Scholars
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Dr. Shiela Harmon Martin, University of the District of Columbia
Dr. Shiela Harmon Martin is Professor Emerita of Political Science at the University of the District of Columbia. She earned her PhD in political science from Clark Atlanta University and served on faculty at UDC for 49 years. Her research interests included the areas of health policy issues, program performance evaluation, Black women, and related political issues. Shortly after her official retirement on August 15, 2023, Harmon Martin launched the Dr. Shiela Harmon Martin Political Science Opportunity Fund, designed to support a wide range of financial needs for political science majors. The fund’s primary goal is to gather financial donations for future political students at UDC through outreach to political science alumni. To create the Opportunity Fund, Harmon Martin partnered with the Office of Institutional Advancement/UDC Foundation. The fund has already garnered more than $25,000 in donations. Harmon Martin is dedicating her purpose-driven retirement to making a difference in the educational experience of future generations of UDC political science majors by remaining connected to the many students who are continuing to advance her mission of academic excellence and community support.
Dr. Errol Henderson, Prof. of Political Science and International Relations
Dr. Errol A. Henderson is a Professor of Political Science and International Relations. He earned a PhD in political science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has authored 50 scholarly publications including five books—the latest on the role of religion in IR, Scriptures, Shrines, Scapegoats and World Politics (2020) and another on the African American liberation struggle of the 1960’s-70’s, The Revolution Will not be Theorized (2019). His African Realism: International Relations Theory and Africa’s Wars in the Postcolonial Era (2015) was a Choice “Outstanding Academic Title.” Henderson established the Diasporas and Politics (DAP) project in 2019 to analyze the influence of racial and religious diasporas in world affairs. A member of a variety of professional, academic and activist organizations, Henderson is a veteran of the US Army. Henderson served as the Director of the Peace Program for a community based non-profit organization, Save Our Sons and Daughters (SOSAD), which consisted of the families and friends of children killed in Detroit. He helped establish SOSAD chapters throughout the country and participated in the National Urban Peace and Justice Summit (the Gang Summit) in 1993 that brought together over 200 gang members from 22 different cities to attempt to implement a national truce. Henderson is also an original co-sponsor of the Liberation Film Series at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, Michigan.
Dr. Ollie Johnson, Wayne State University
Dr. Ollie Johnson is Professor and former department chair in the department of African American studies at Wayne State University. He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of California at Berkeley. Johnson has conducted extensive research on Afro-Brazilian, African American and Afro-Latin American politics. He published Race, Politics, and Education in Brazil in 2015. His new co-edited volume, Comparative Racial Politics in Latin America, will be published by Routledge. Recently, Johnson has given several invited lectures and paper presentations in the United States and abroad. He lectured twice on President Obama at prestigious universities such as the Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA) and the Instituto Universitrio de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro (IUPERJ) in Brazil. In 2009, he lectured at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Notre Dame. In 2008, he gave a lecture on the American presidential election to a Brazilian university audience at the Centro Universitario Estadual da Zona Oeste (UEZO) in Rio de Janeiro. Johnson is currently preparing two journal articles for publication: “Racial Representation and Black Struggle in the Brazilian Congress,” and “Promoting Afro-Brazilian Culture and History: An Analysis of the Fundao Cultural Palmares.” Two of his book chapters, “Black Activism in Ecuador, 1979-2009” and “Race, Politics, and Afro-Latin Americans” were published in Comparative Perspectives on Afro-Latin America and The Handbook of Latin American Politics, respectively.
Dr. K.C. Morrison, University of Delaware
Dr. Minion Kenneth Chauncey “KC” Morrison is currently a Professor of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Delaware. He was previously Head of the department of political science and public administration, and Senior Associate in African American studies at Mississippi State University. From 1989-2009 he was Professor of Political Science at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he also held the Frederick Middlebush Professorship. He served there as a Vice Provost from 1989 to 1997. Prior to Missouri, Morrison was at Syracuse University, where he served as the Chair of Afro-American Studies for five years. He has a BA. (cum laude) from Tougaloo College (1968), and MA (1969) and PhD (1977) in political science and African Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Morrison’s research and publications have appeared in the fields of comparative and American politics and administration. His publications include several books: Aaron Henry of Mississippi: Inside Agitator (2015); African Americans and Political Participation (2003); Black Political Mobilization, Leadership and Power (1987); Housing and Urban Poor in Africa (1982), edited with Peter Gutkind; and Ethnicity and Political Integration (1982).
‣ Watch the full interview series on YouTube.