Volume 51, Number 7   October 6, 2003         

Johnetta Richards -- Helping students experience Africa
When Johnetta Richards graduated from high school in Richmond, Va., her parents surprised her with a sleek set of Hartmann luggage and the promise that "You are going to travel and learn about the world." She proved them right -- and she's made learning-based travel possible for dozens of students, too.

This summer Richards, an associate professor of Black Studies, completed her sixth visit to Africa with SFSU students.

She views the travel study classes as a way to help shatter the myths of Africa for students.

"Even today, there is this mystery about Africa unlike other continents. But when you get there you can see the exquisite beauty and potential of the country. Then you say to yourself 'I've been lied to all these years about Africa.' The experience changes your perspective," said Richards, known about campus for her colorful Zimbabwean print dresses and scarves.

Lisa White, chair of geosciences, has accompanied Richards and her students on two trips to Zimbabwe, and calls Richards a remarkable individual. "Her dedication to organizing study tours to Zimbabwe and South Africa is wonderful," she said. "Her commitment to providing SFSU students with an opportunity to experience Africa in the context of a course year after year is amazing."

Key to the success of the visits is Richards' painstaking attention to detail in preparing for the trips, White added.

"Not only does she assume all of the responsibility for the trip logistics, including scheduling the on-site coursework, and the daily activities and excursions, but her wide base of contacts at universities and cultural centers in South Africa ensures that students have a complete and well-rounded educational experience," said White.
Richards said her early days in Richmond, home of the Confederacy, put her on the road to become a college faculty member.

"I grew up in the days when we really did have to sit in the back of the bus and then later I walked to white schools during the early days of what they called 'pupil placement'. Those experiences got me interested in history," said Richards, who celebrated her 53rd birthday while in Africa and likes to note that she shares the same birthday -- July 18 -- as Nelson Mandela.

Richards attended Virginia State University, a historically black college located in Petersburg. "It was such a nurturing environment -- that was especially helpful for so many black students," said Richards, who earned her bachelor's degree in American history. "Our professors wanted us to succeed as individuals and as a race. Those professors were tough."

She was then selected as a recipient of a Danforth Fellowship and began studying Southern history in the graduate program at the University of Cincinnati, where she earned a doctorate in American history with an emphasis on Afro-American history and social movements. For her dissertation on the Southern Negro Youth Congress, Richard traveled the South collecting oral histories from blacks who had been a part of the organization from 1937 to 1949.

Richards' research emphasis then shifted to Africa, as Rhodesia became the independent country of Zimbabwe in 1980. The next year Richards visited on a Mellon grant to study the status and impact of women ex-combatants on Zimbabwean society.

"It was a very exciting time to be there. These women were former guerrilla fighters in the independence movement and now they had radically new roles in society," said Richards. While in Zimbabwe she began to learn more about the country and make connections with college professors.

An expert on African American history and former national president of the Association of Black Women Historians, Richards joined the SFSU faculty in 1988 after teaching positions at Trinity College in Hartford and CSU Fresno. With encouragement from former international programs director Harvey Charles, Richards took her first group of SFSU students to Zimbabwe in 1998.

"You should have seen the excitement on the faces of the students once we arrived in Africa. They couldn't believe they were on African soil. It has been that way with every group since. And some students have gone back on their own," said Richards, who works closely with the offices of Community Service Learning and International Programs in coordinating the visits.

Political unrest in Zimbabwe forced Richards to suspend trips there and begin visits to South Africa last year.

After taking a required travel and study course in Black Studies last spring, her SFSU students this past summer traveled to Johannesburg, Soweto and Durban in South Africa and the neighboring countries of Swaziland and Lesotho. The group of five students also attended lectures at the University of the Free State and performed community service learning work in government agencies, churches and nonprofit agencies. They each donated a suitcase filled with books, educational toys or sports equipment for the children there.

Now Richards has her sights set on future travel experiences for SFSU students. "African people have settled all over the world, in Latin America, in Europe and other places," said Richards, who teaches a Black Studies course on the Black Diaspora. "I would someday like students to travel to other places around the world to broaden their education in Black Studies."

Her interest in travel and education goes far beyond the annual travel study classes to Africa. Richards heads the faculty affairs committee of the California State University's All-University Committee on International Programs. The influential committee awards coveted slots for faculty resident directors in locations such as Japan and Italy. Richards, who lives in Brisbane, also finds time for her hobbies of working on interior design projects and visiting museums during her travels

On campus, Richards also works with international students.

"Our international students are so excited about coming to the United States and especially to study at San Francisco State," said Richards. "I want to continue working to help more of our students examine the world and truly become agents of change."

-- Ted DeAdwyler

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Last modified October 1, 2003, by the Office of Public Affairs