Uncrowned Community Builders

Personal:
Born in Richmond, Virginia in 1943 to parents who were educators. Reared in the rural town of Ruthville in Charles City County, VA. Married to James M. Blount, parents of three children; James Ural Blount III, Christina B. West and Cheryl B. Gilbert and six grandchildren.

Current Place of Residence:
Rochester, NY, Town of Henrietta

Occupation:
Executive Editor, ABOUT TIME Magazine, sole proprietor of ABOUT TIME Productions. (Prior to joining ABOUT...TIME Magazine in 1972 worked for IBM Corporation in its Systems Development and Federal Systems divisions and was a librarian and instructor at Morgan State University.)

Education:
Bachelor of Science Degree, Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA; Master of Science Degree, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA

Community/Organization/Club/Volunteer Activities:
- National Gateways African American Classical Music Festival, member of the Board of Directors, Planning Committee and Chair of the Communications Committee with responsibility for all printing, media contacts and other promotional materials
- Member, Greater Rochester Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission (write, layout and design the annual MLK/Black History Month holiday insert that runs in the Democrat and Chronicle newspapers on the first Sunday of the New Year)
- Member, Metropolitan Women's Network of the National Council of Negro Women
- Board of Directors, Montgomery Neighborhood Center
- Member, Women of Color Cancer Support Group
- Member, Delta Nu Omega Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority

Area of Accomplishment:
In addition to my work as a journalist and member of the black press for the past 37 years, I have presented workshops on both local and national African-American history at numerous church, school and community events/forums, including the African American Leadership Development Program sponsored by United Way of Rochester. I am also involved in a number of black history research projects; continuing documentation for ABOUT...TIME Rochester Roots/Routes series; researching black elementary and high school histories in Charles City County, Virginia for the Southern Black Heritage Collection, and developing a living history museum in Ruthville, Virginia to reflect black economic self-sufficiency among slaves, freedmen and their descendant families.

In terms of my work with ABOUT...TIME Magazine, we are the fourth oldest African-American-owned national magazine continuously published in the United States after the Crisis Magazine (founded 1910), Ebony/Jet (1945), Black Enterprise (1970) and ABOUT TIME (since December 1972). [Essence is no longer black-owned.] (When I [reflect on] my editorial work, I use the term and because ABOUT TIME is produced through a team effort.)

I always look for articles that have teachable moments, both for black people and society as a whole. For 37 years our publication has focused on international, national, and regional issues important to African Americans. This award-winning magazine is known for in-depth interviews, insightful commentary, special reports, news, and illuminating features. ABOUT TIME reflects African-American life and culture with a mission to build a sense of community and create a mirror where black people see more complete reflections of their heritage. Our work rises above mainstream distortions and makes strong statements about how African Americans value themselves. The stories encounter black history in the making and celebrate the lives of unsung heroes and everyday people who shape an era and are, in turn, shaped by it. We are all about telling the truth as lived directly from our own experiences as blacks in America. This includes a strong historical emphasis that presents the stories that others have tried to exclude or erase from our school curriculum as well as our history. Here are some examples:

We have presented outstanding personal interviews with civil rights and political leaders in the past such as former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, Dr. Leon Sullivan, U.S. Solicitor General Wade McCree, M. Carl Holman etc. We also covered Colin Powell (as National Security Advisor for Reagan), Eleanor Holmes Norton (at the time of the Bakke Decision), Walter Fauntroy's visit to the PLO, founders of the Congressional Black Caucus, Marian Wright Edelman of the Children's Defense Fund and Dorothy Height of NCNW etc.

We produced a number of stories in support of the anti-apartheid movement before Nelson Mandela's release from prison, including in-depth interviews with Randall Robinson of TransAfrica and a number of South African exiles such as Miriam Makeba and her sister Zozo Laird and interviewed other Africans from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Darfur, Ghana, Nigeria, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Mali.

We have focused on educational leaders who created the national Gateways (Classical) Music Festival and Muhammad School of Music in Buffalo. We also produced remarkable stories on dance companies such as with Arthur Mitchell of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Garth Fagan Dance, and Judith Jamison of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. However, we don't focus on celebrities just because they are popular. We will feature them when they are producing a new work that helps tell our stories of strength and survival such as Denzel Washington's movie The Great Debaters or Spike Lee's Malcolm X or Quincy Jones' musical legacy.

In more recent times, some of the subject themes seemed to have taken over an entire issue. This kind of spirituality was reflected in our in-depth coverage of the African Burial Ground (The Last Mile of a 400-Year Journey); the Katrina aftermath (Katrina Echoes: Storm Season Aftermath is Hard to Erase); the Jena Six (Strange Fruit: Jena and the Quest for American Justice); the history of the One Room Schoolhouse, Million Man March, a recent "Fatherhood Initiative" and, of course, President Obama's election and inauguration (where we focused on the community organizers who helped make that possible).

While ABOUT TIME respects almost religious beliefs, our stories are not usually told from a denominational perspective, but rather from a general belief in a God who is greater than and supreme to mankind. Mostly, we look for people who are caregivers who know right from wrong and seem to practice the good ways of doing unto others what you would have them do unto you. Thus we have presented stories on Christians, Muslims, the Ethiopian Jews and their airlift to Israel, and have written about visiting the holy lands in Jordan, African indigenous religions, Caribbean Rastafarianism and Native American cultural beliefs.

Awards/Nominations:
An award-winning, 6-part, 95-page history series on "Rochester Roots/Routes" produced by ABOUT...TIME Magazine during the Upstate New York city's sesquicentennial celebration in 1984, helped the Rochester community discover gold mines of history in their attics, family albums, and scrapbooks. The series won the Howard Coles Communications Award from the Rochester Association of Black Communicators and the Matrix Award from Women In Communications Incorporated, and launched other historical research projects and programs in local museums and at The Landmark Society that acknowledge the contributions of black Rochesterians.

Following this historical effort, ABOUT...TIME designed and printed a book titled The City of Frederick Douglass: Rochester's African-American People and Places by Eugene E. Du Bois, published by the Landmark Society of Western New York, (c) 1994. Also, AB served as content editor for IMAGES "Afro-Rochester" 1910-1935, written by Leatrice M. Kemp and Victoria Sandwick Schmitt, from the Albert Stone Negative Collection of the Rochester Museum & Science Center, published 1996.

The publication has received numerous awards from organizations within the Rochester community, such as the Colgate-Rochester Divinity School "Dr. Martin Luther King Civic Service Award" and Strong Museum's " Special Tribute in the Freedom's Journals Exhibit", as well as a "Global Ministries Humanitarian Award" presented at the United Nations from the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's International Division for international reporting, "Culture Keeper" award from the Uncrowned Queens Institute for Research and Education on Women, Inc. for recording and preserving black history, "Communications Excellence to Black Audiences (CEBA) Award of Merit" from The World Institute of Black Communications, Inc. in New York City, "Distinguished Alumni Citation of the Year Award" from the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education in Washington, DC, and "Excellence Award for American Heart Association Reporting, Specialty Media" from the New York State Heart Association presented in Syracuse, NY.

Biographical Sketch:
Born in Virginia, I was reared and educated in a rural, segregated environment where my all-black Ruthville High School provided a strong academic, social and leadership environment to all who would take advantage of the opportunities available. I especially enjoyed participating in extra-curricular activities that offered the chance to travel to and compete against other schools in our District and State, in events ranging from sports and music workshops to drama and science and math competitions, as well as in the student government association. Former Rochester Mayor Bill Johnson was at one of our student government meetings and was defeated by my candidate, Carolyn Reid (Wallace) who has gone on to leadership positions at the U.S. Department of Education, Fisk University and Bowie State University.

Among the many teachers who encouraged me, I hold my high school social studies teacher, Mrs. Wilnette Carter, in the greatest esteem. I attribute my love for history and government, and especially for African-American history to her enthusiasm for the subject. She taught us to begin our search for history, starting with the struggles and accomplishments of our own family and community. Then she taught us how to apply that to gain a working knowledge of the city, county, state and federal levels of government. She taught us good citizenship "how to fill out the long and short tax return forms and how to register and vote." She encouraged high school students (who couldn't register to vote due to the age limit of 21 years at that time) to go back to their homes and communities and get the adults in their families to register and vote in elections (this was during a time when blacks had to pass a test dealing with the constitution and pay a poll tax in order to register "all designed as part of black voter suppression)". She told us we could make a difference! As a result, Charles City County, Virginia had several black elected officials by 1956, well before passage of the Voting Rights Act of the 1960s. One of my high school graduates, Lloyd Jones, even became the county treasurer, county manager and chief legal counsel, as well. (He worked for Kodak in Rochester for a number of years after completing Morehouse College in Atlanta, then left Rochester and pursued a Masters in California and obtained his law degree from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.)

I am blessed with deep family roots, including the ability to trace my ancestry directly back to Africa and the nation of Kenya through my paternal great grandmother Betty Scott. I can also trace back my lineage for 11-13 generations through my maternal roots. The church in which I was baptized, Elam Baptist Church in Ruthville, will celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2010. Elam was founded by my ancestors in 1810 and is the third oldest black congregation established in the state of Virginia. Ruthville is named after my grandfather's sister, Ruth Brown Hucles.

While I was brought up in a protected and nurturing environment, I was still struck by the hostility of white society that raged with hatred and venom following the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education. As a child of 11, I became physically ill while reading the editorial pages of the Richmond Times Dispatch newspaper. Now we are once again witnessing the full blast of this type of racially motivated hatred with the threats and disrespect shown to President Obama and his family.

How Others Might Describe you: Sensitive, passionate, caring and encouraging

Response to Adversity, Challenges and Negative Representations:
Survival in the publishing business for 37 years as part of the Black Press all comes down to one thing, faith. In that effort, faith means three things:
-You must believe that you have something to say about a people worth discussing that is going to matter in a forum that's wider than your own heart and mind.
-You've got to believe that tomorrow is built upon today.
-Also, you must believe that no matter what you do, it's important that you do something.

Description of African American Women's Roles: African American women must develop and uphold strong values that will uplift their family and community.

How other women can support AA women: Just being there for one another with a positive thought and a hug is always welcomed. We also need to learn how to leverage our dollars more effectively to help our communities prosper. Stop being just a consumer. Become knowledgeable about ownership of the products we use and support black businesses whenever possible.

Song that best describes life: "Climb Every Mountain"

Favorite Quote About African American (AA) Women: " Ain't I a Woman?" (Sojourner Truth)

Favorite Books: Black Women in America edited by Darlene Clark Hine, Elsa Barkely Brown and Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, and Groundbreak: Charles Hamilton Houston and the Struggle for Civil Rights by Genna Rae McNeil. I prefer reference books, anthologies, biography, and some historical fiction.

Favorite AA Female Activist: Judge Constance Baker Motley who won all of the cases she presented before the Supreme Court on behalf of the Civil Rights Movement!

Favorite AA Contemporary Figures: Marian Wright Edelman and First Lady Michelle Obama

Carolyne Scott Blount served as a Community Torchbearer for students enrolled in the St. John Fisher course Assume[d] the Position[s]:Re/is/uncovering Resistance & Resilience in the Black Female Body. Assumed Positions refer to the myths, stereotypes, and controlling/disfigured images that often have characterized Black women's lives. Students in the course analyzed the representation, resistance, resilience, and reimagination of Black women in America by interrogating the historical and contemporary issues of their colonization, marginalization and subjugation. The course is grounded in Black feminist/womanist theories, enhanced by the use of fiction, non-fiction, films, discussion, and distinguished speakers including UQ's Dr. Barbara Seals Nevergold. Students explored the work, contributions and agency of early feminists as well as contemporary scholar-activists and Black women leaders in the Greater Rochester community. The course was created & taught by Dr. Arlette Miller Smith (asmith@sjfc.edu).