Project Illuminate

05/01/2023

A pretty striking statistic for those that question systemic racism in America

04/26/2023

Website Wednesday!

Did you know we offer a public forum on our website to share stories and further discussion? Join the conversation today at https://projectilluminatel.wixsite.com/project-illuminate

04/23/2023

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4j1fDHZb55k

Filmed in Crewe, VA, at opening of library exhibit.

04/13/2023

One week left until this spring’s final dinner and conversation in Farmville. So we know how much food to provide please register through this link https://forms.gle/7KQiZ8pJZ77JZuDi7

04/13/2023

Have you heard? Project Illuminate's website is up and running! Click here https://projectilluminatel.wixsite.com/project-illuminate to learn more about Project Illuminate and join the conversation today!!

03/30/2023

The Creator of Project Illuminate!

When I was in the Marine Corps, I served in a lot of different countries like Cuba, China, and Norway. I grew up in a small town in Virginia, so I had a pretty narrow perspective going into the military, but living in those places made me look at things from a lot of different perspectives. That’s something I try to do in the classroom. A lot of students have the same narrow world view that I did when I was 18. So one of the things I try to do every day is push students to consider other viewpoints they might not even be aware of.

I had a difficult transition when I got out of the military. I wasn’t in combat, so I didn’t have to deal with some of the trauma-based issues, but the culture shock was really jarring. When I left the service, I was leading a security detachment of 10 people at the U.S. Embassy in Norway and having meetings with the ambassador, regional security officer, and CIA station chief there. And then when I came back to the U.S. and went to college, I was just a freshman in class with 18 year olds. It was bizarre. But the hardest thing to deal with beyond getting used to a less regimented life is that in the military you have a strong sense of purpose, of mission. And like a lot of veterans I lost that when I got out. Going to college was important, but it didn’t have the same sense of urgency and I felt really isolated.

That experience led me to my dissertation, where I focused on how you reintegrate vets into their communities, and how to give them back that sense of purpose. It turns out a lot of veterans seek out that service aspect of life, whether through a profession like teaching or police work, or through different civic organizations.

When I got to Longwood, I started thinking about the civil rights dimension of reintegrating after the military. A lot of the folks who got shut out of Moton ended up going to Vietnam. I was interested in how being a part of the Civil Rights Movement affected their experience of being in the military. Did they feel patriotic after what happened to them? Why would someone who has that life experience go on to serve in the military? Did they experience racism there? How did it affect them when they came back?

I applied for a grant through the National Endowment for the Humanities to explore this, and we’ve been having discussions for the last two years with veterans in the community who served at that time focusing on patriotism, racism, and coming home. We’re still collecting data, but there’s a lot there and my goal is to write a book about this experience.

Dr. Eric Hodges, Assistant Professor of Political Science

More 👉 go.longwood.edu/HoL

02/25/2023

https://storycorps.org/stories/one-veteran-shares-lessons-learned-from-war-and-his-return-home/

Sheikh Nazim Abdul Karriem was drafted at the age of 18 into World War II. He came to StoryCorps at 96 to talk about what he found when he came home from war.

02/21/2023

Our Spring Dinner and Conversation series is officially here!! If you are a Black Veteran in the Richmond or Farmville, Virginia area looking to join in fellowship with peers while discussing your military experience, please register through this link: https://linktr.ee/project_illuminate?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=b4f1e16f-1a73-4192-90a1-1527e142a297

02/13/2023

Glory goes to the Six Triple Eight, who overcame discrimination from fellow service members and are finally getting the recognition they earned

11/21/2022

Huge thank you to everyone that helped make our fall Dinner and Conversation series a success! We have enjoyed the discussions of being a Black veteran and patriotic in America, how race influences military services, and what it is like to come home after military services.

Follow us to stay updated on our upcoming events!

11/17/2022

https://www.militarytimes.com/opinion/commentary/2022/03/01/the-families-civil-war-the-fight-to-recognize-black-military-service/

The potential Congressional Gold Medal is long overdue for Black Civil War soldiers.