Suffolk University Alumni Magazine 2008/2009 - (Page 29) Below: Hazelwood during his Suffolk student days, seated next to future wife MayLisa Bastien, and talking with Professor Bob Bellinger (right). amazing work ethic, and they taught us to respect people, no matter who they are or where they come from. My sister and I were brought up with the idea of doing for others, helping. That’s how I see my role as an educator.” check out this Senegalese artist’- and then I’d have a window into Senegalese culture. All of this stays with me, and I try to carry it over to my students.” EmPOwERING HIGH sCHOOL sTUDENTs Now with a master’s degree in education in hand, and as a seven-year veteran of the classroom, as well as co-adviser of the African American Club, hazelwood realizes the profound impact he can have on the lives of his students. “you take it for granted, until you realize that there are younger folks looking at you as an example. I ask myself, ‘What can I do to help them?’ I can show them my passion for history and education. I can help them make connections between history and the lives they’re living today, INsPIRATION IN THE COLLEGE CLAssROOm Like many Suffolk students over the years, Greg hazelwood was the first in his family to earn a college degree. “The world opened up once I hit Suffolk,” he says. “I’ll never forget the first day of the first class I took with Professor Bellinger. he told us, ‘you can be an object in the world, and have things done to you; or you can be a subject. Which do you want to be?’ he challenged us from day one.” bolize raw competition, then how do males learn to offer love, brotherhood, and simple humanity?” on the question of respect, hazelwood is uncompromising. “A couple of years ago, on the first day of my African American history class, I heard a male student call out to a young lady, ‘hey B, come here for a second.’ I took the young man aside and told him, ‘you will not be disrespectful of anybody in here, and you will not come in with that language. When we start dealing with history, you will find out what women of African descent—and all women—had to deal with, the type of degradation, the humiliation. And now you’re going to come and say that to a woman? No, that’s not going to happen.’ I ended up having a good relationship with that young man. I try to set “I can help them make connections between history and the lives they’re living today” history professor robert Bellinger, who also directs the Black Studies program and the Collection of African American Literature, served as the faculty adviser to the Black Student Union during Greg hazelwood’s time at Suffolk. he has played a crucial role in the lives of many students—and students of color in particular—since his arrival on campus in 1987. “It’s very important for students to have mentors, especially if they’re from families where they’re the first or one of the first to go to college,” says Bellinger. “I try to enlarge the scope of their vision, in terms of career possibilities, how they think about history, how they think about race and identity. I also just try to be available to listen to my students’ concerns. As they begin to engage with new ideas, they often aren’t able to discuss these ideas with people in their old communities or in their families.” Professor Bellinger took note of Greg hazelwood’s zeal for learning. “he was genuinely excited about history and about how it informs the present day. I would talk to him, encourage him, help him to navigate new or challenging settings,” Bellinger says. “I was conscious that I was continuing a line that goes back to the people who shaped me. When I think of professors I had in college—Asa davis, Sonia Sanchez, and others—I know that I was given a gift. I feel responsible to carry that forward.” for hazelwood, Bellinger did that and more. “I learned valuable content from him, things I hadn’t known about African and African American history, about the diaspora, and about the complexity of people and time periods. Professor Bellinger was also an amazing mentor for me. he presented a powerful image, as a Black male who carried himself in a certain way, with pride and a sense of dignity. he pushed the barriers away and made himself available as a person. ‘Go on to graduate school,’ he’d tell me. or, ‘hey, teach them critical thinking. I try to demonstrate for them that words are powerful; words matter. Images matter. I bombard them with positive images. I am a bombarder!” he laughs and gestures toward the many posters on the walls of his classroom. “Just look around. here’s an image of the great educator Septima Clarke. And here’s a quote from Bill Withers, one of my favorite musicians.” The Withers quote, taken from the artist’s Greatest Hits album liner notes, sums up the gentle ethos of this prized teacher in a city best known for its pugilists: “each generation needs an art form to license male vulnerability. If maleness comes to syma tone for the students, and sometimes—not right away—they come back and thank me for it.” Through hundreds of “teachable moments,” Greg hazelwood brings his passion for learning and justice to the students of Brockton high School. In the city that celebrates the swift uppercut and the one-two punch, he champions respectful dialogue and informed dissent. “I will always be an educator,’ he says. “I received so much from my family and my teachers. I’m in awe of what they taught me. Now it’s time to give back.” Lauri Umansky is professor of history and associate dean of the college of arts & Sciences at Suffolk university. www.suffolk.edu SUFFOLKARTS+SCIENCES//2008/2009 [29] http://www.suffolk.edu
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