Black Wall of Fame celebrates SF State’s Black community past, present

San Francisco State University is celebrating the contributions of Black alumni, faculty, staff and students with a new Black Wall of Fame on view through Thursday, Feb. 29, at the Art Gallery on the terrace level of the Cesar Chavez Student Center. The Black Wall of Fame was created by Soul of SF State, a group that plans events and initiatives meant to uplift the University’s Black community. Soul of SF State co-founder Shanice Robinson-Blacknell (B.A., ’15; M.A., ’18; M.Ed., ’19, Ed.D, 23), a lecturer in the Equity, Leadership Studies, and Instructional Technologies and Africana Studies departments and a recent doctoral graduate in the Graduate College of Education, spoke with SF State News about how she hopes to make the Black Wall of Fame a Black History Month tradition.

Where did the idea for the Black Wall of Fame come from?

There are so many phenomenal people that have been on this campus for 20, 30 years, some even almost 40 years who have never been recognized. It was very important for me to make sure we kick off Black History Month not just with events, but with something that can be

an event that happens each year.

Sometimes our heads get wrapped around the 1968 student strike, but there are phenomenal things that have happened after the strike. I just wanted to highlight that. We have so many phenomenal Black leaders on campus.

What’s the criteria for being included in the Black Wall of Fame?

If you’re an alum, current student, faculty or staff member and you’re leading great research, or if you’re producing great programming or providing resources to Black students on campus and BIPOC communities, those are the people I want to highlight.

I want to make it bigger each year because I want [inductees] to know that San Francisco State loves [them], and if [the University] didn’t say it while you were there, we’re going to say it every Black History Month.

We feature people like the Dancing Divas (SF State’s historically Black college or university-inspired majorette and hip-hop dance team), the Divine 9 (Black Greek letter organizations) and emeritus and emerita faculty.

I want [students] to feel empowered — of course faculty and staff, too, but mostly the students. Seeing the Dancing Divas, the Gospel Gator students come in and say, “Oh, my God! There’s my picture!” And seeing them get so excited that they Facetime their parents … that made me happy.

Tell me about one of the inductees and why they inspired you.

Dr. Doris Flowers is one of my heroes in education. I would love to be like her. She co-founded the Equity and Social Justice Master of Arts program (in the Graduate College of Education) and is also the chair of my dissertation. In 2019 she was the department chair of two departments Equity, Leadership Studies, and Instructional Technologies and Africana Studies and she just retired as associate dean of the Graduate College of Education. She’s been at SF State for 33 years.

When I was applying for graduate school, I reached out to her not even knowing who she was. I just told her, “I’m really interested in this master’s program and I don’t have a 3.0 GPA to get into the program. I technically have a 2.9.” She told me to still apply and submit a personal statement indicating why this program is a great fit for me and specifying why my GPA had fallen. Because of her, I was able to get in the program and I thrived.

I have become not just her mentee, but I’m also teaching in the same department as hers. It’s awesome to have a full-circle moment with people who inspired me and helped get me across the finish line. And then they see enough in me to create opportunities for me.

What do you hope this wall does for the SF State community?

I hope that this wall will empower Black students, faculty and staff, but also allow others like President Mahoney and Vice President Moore to see the Black community from our perspective. I want people every year to see the Black Wall of Fame, even if they’re not students.

If you know of someone you think should be added to the Black Wall of Fame, email Dr. Shanice Robinson-Blacknell at shanice@sfsu.edu.

Soul of SF State co-founder Shanice Robinson-Blacknell (B.A., ’15; M.A., ’18; M.Ed., ’19, Ed.D, 23), a Department of Equity, Leadership Studies, and Instructional Technologies and Africana Studies lecturer and a recent doctoral graduate in the Graduate College of Education, helped to launch the Black Wall of Fame at SF State.