The trailblazers in human, academic, scientific and religious freedom have always been in the minority… It will take such a small committed minority to work unrelentingly to win the uncommitted majority. Such a group may transform America’s greatest dilemma into her most glorious opportunity.
Background
Rhonda Y. Williams is the John L. Seigenthaler Chair in American History at Vanderbilt University. She received her PhD in history from the University of Pennsylvania and her undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Interests
Williams is a historian of low-income black women’s and marginalized people’s experiences, everyday lives, politics, and social struggles. Her research contributes to the rethinking of gender, political identity, citizenship, civil rights, black liberation struggles, and interactions with the U.S. state.
Known by many as “Dr. Rhonda,” Williams engaged in numerous community efforts as a resident of Cleveland, including on police and criminal justice reform as a member of the Collaborative for a Safe, Fair, and Just Cleveland, the “Cleveland 8,” and a co-chair and commissioner on the Cleveland Community Police Commission, which was empaneled in September 2015. She also founded and directed the university-wide Social Justice Institute at Case Western Reserve University.
