In the Learning Commons Spotlight: The Malaika Handbooks subjectId: 690589

The Learning Commons at UM Libraries invites you to explore the early history and culture of Black students at University of Miami through the Malaika handbooks, a highlight of the Digital Collections at University Archives.  This series of eleven guides from the 1970s and 1980s was originally created and published by the United Black Students organization and provided useful information to undergraduate and graduate students navigating college life during the early years of desegregation at UM. 

The title, Malaika, is of Swahili origin and means “togetherness,” a central theme of the publication.  University Archives has digitized each handbook in its entirety, providing a glimpse of the people, activities, and resources that built, maintained, and celebrated a thriving community of students.
 
The Learning Commons Spotlight Collections is an occasional initiative through our partnership with Research Services.  Developed by Lauren Fralinger, Education and Arts & Sciences Librarian, this program connects themes from current events and culture with selections from the Libraries’ extensive catalog.  While usually on display in the Consultation Zone on the first floor, this particular spotlight is a virtual one, focusing on one of the many unique and easily accessible Digital Collections at UM Libraries. Find inspiration for scholarly and creative projects today!
 

The Malaika handbooks contain a trove of helpful information that targeted undergraduate and graduate students at University of Miami during the years soon after desegregation.  Composed, edited, and published primarily by students in the United Black Students organization, the guides helped new students acclimate to college life with information about academic and student services, social and volunteer organizations, and a list of Black faculty and staff administrators available for advising and support.  Issues also featured brief personal accounts by students with encouraging words for peers, profiles of student athletes and others of note, and photographs of Black student life both on campus and in the community.  The handbooks touted campus engagement in clubs and as the key to college success and celebrated events like Black Culture Week.  Unity is a central theme in Malaika as United Black Students and other organizations worked with the University to create an environment allowing all Black students to thrive.
 
Below are a few highlights from several of the issues.  You can browse the entire collection online and take a closer look at each issue.  For more information about Malaika and University Archives, please contact Marcia Tyrrell Heath, University Archives Technician, at mevanson@miami.edu.
 

The first issue of Malaika included a brief history of the United Black Students organization and a list of the group's goals, as well as their recommendations for change at University of Miami.




 

The 1975-76 issue of Malaika introduced "Impressions," a section that gave current students a platform for speaking directly to their peers with encouragement and advice.  It was directed at new and transfer students and also prospective high school students, as it was in use for recruitment.

Black students relied on each other for support and guidance during these first decades of desegragation, and these gestures were showcased by Malaika. This issue profiled the "Inner Ear" program, a peer assistance initiative designed to give directory and referral information on topics including academics, personal and professional relationships, and faith-based concerns.

Malaika published its anniversary edition in 1981-82, dedicating the issue to the fourteen students who staged a sit-in in 1968 to demand more courses dedicated to the African American experience and more resources for Black students. The issue contained a wealth of information for students on academic and counseling services, scholarship information, special interest activities, clubs and organizations, and a growing list of Black faculty and staff administrators.

In addition to being a resource for Black students, Malaika also served as a site for Black faculty and administrative staff to connect, particularly through directory listings and the promotion of the Woodson, Williams, Marshall Association for Black Faculty and Staff.

Below are resources from our catalog if you'd like to learn more about the historical, theroretical, and cultural context of African American students in U.S. higher education.  For even more materials, check our uSearch engine or consult with a Subject Librarian or Peer Research Consultant today!

Evans, Stephanie Y. Black Women in the Ivory Tower, 1850-1954 : an Intellectual History. University Press of Florida, 2016. E-book.
 
Cuyjet, Michael J. African American Men in College. First ed., Jossey-Bass, 2006.
 
Stikes, C. Scully. Black Students in Higher Education. Southern Illinois University Press, 1984.
 
Brown, O. Gilbert. Debunking the Myth : Stories of African-American University Students. Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, 1994.

Feagin, Joe R., et al. The Agony of Education : Black Students at White Colleges and Universities. Routledge, 1996.

 

Morris, Gabrielle S. Head of the Class: an Oral History of African-American Achievement in Higher Education and Beyond. Twayne Publishers; Prentice Hall International, 1995.
 
Bower, Beverly L.; Wolverton, Mimi. Answering the Call: African American Women in Higher Education Leadership. Stylus Publishing, 2011. E-book.
 
Jones, Lee, and Cornel West. Making It on Broken Promises: Leading African American Male Scholars Confront the Culture of Higher Education. First ed., Stylus, 2002.
 

Parks, Gregory, et al. A Pledge with Purpose : Black Sororities and Fraternities and the Fight for Equality. New York University Press, 2020. E-book.
 
Brown, Tamara L., et al. African American Fraternities and Sororities : the Legacy and the Vision. Second ed., University Press of Kentucky, 2012. E-book.
 
Ross, Lawrence C. Blackballed : the Black and White Politics of Race on America's Campuses. First ed., St. Martin's Press, 2016.
 

Singer, John N. Race, Sports, and Education: Improving Opportunities and Outcomes for Black Male College Athletes. Harvard Education Press, 2019.

Demas, Lane. Integrating the Gridiron: Black Civil Rights and American College Football. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 2010. E-book.

American Institutes for Research. Center for the Study of Athletics. The Experiences of Black Intercollegiate Athletes at NCAA Division I Institutions. Center for the Study of Athletics, American Institutes for Research, 1989.

Brooks, Dana D., and Ronald C. Althouse. Racism in College Athletics : the African American Athlete's Experience. Second ed., Fitness Information Technology, 2000.

Entitled We Were Pioneers: Honoring the University of Miami’s First African-American Students, Faculty, and Administrators of the 1960s and 1970s, this UTrailblazers exhibition honors the University of Miami's African-American students, faculty, and administrators during the University's first decades of integration. Audiovisual content can be accessed here. Curated by Koichi Tasa and Marcia Heath from University Archives.


Pictured:  Screenshot of video interview with Harold Long, who attended UM as an undergraduate in 1964-68 and the School of Law in 1968-71.  The full interview can be viewed here.
 

The University of Miami Commemorates 50 Years of Desegregation digital exhibit highlights pivotal moments of desegregation at the University of Miami. The photographs, newspaper clippings and various documents from University Archives trace tentative explorations starting as early as the 1950s to the official desegregation on the main Coral Gables Campus in the 1960s.  Curated by Béatrice Colastin Skokan, head of Manuscripts and Archives Management.
 

Bringing History to Life, February 27, 2017
UTrailblazers honors UM’s first black graduates and champions of integration and taps into priceless personal histories of life on campus in the 1960s and 1970s.

"We Were Pioneers," February 11, 2019
An exhibit honoring the University of Miami’s African-American students, faculty, and administrators of the 1960s and 1970s.

Popular exhibit featuring African-American history to be digitized, February 19, 2020
University Archives invites the community to visit the exhibition at the Otto G. Richter Library before it wraps up at the end of February.