visionary leadership
MEET THE
TEAM
Dr. Erin H. Moore
Executive Director
Dr. Erin H. Moore joins Shaw University as the new Executive Director for the Center for Racial and Social Justice.
A native of Durham, North Carolina, Dr. Moore earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from Spelman College. After several years in telecommunications marketing, Dr. Moore decided to pursue a career in African American Studies after serving as a mentor to young people to pursue careers in the STEM fields and noticing a lack of representation of African Americans in the telecommunications industry. She went on the earn her Master’s Degree in African American Studies from The Ohio State University and her Doctorate in African American Studies from Temple University. Additionally, Dr. Moore has studied at The London School of Economics as the Luard Scholar to Great Britain and at The University of Accra, Ghana.
Dr. Moore has had a diverse career in higher education and in nonprofit social justice. She served as the Assistant Professor of History at Central State University and as Adjunct Professor of History at Spelman College. In her nonprofit career, she has worked on such vital areas as environmental racism and worker’s rights, violence prevention among African American youth, and expanding philanthropy in communities of color. Her most recent work includes serving as a consultant for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training and creating African American Studies Curricula for K-12 schools.
Dr. Moore’s research interests include Classical African Civilizations; African Social, Spiritual, and Ethical Structures, African American Leadership, and Post-Civil Rights African American Women. She has a long tradition of community and volunteer service in a variety of organizations and has been a guest speaker regarding issues facing the African American community in a variety of forums, including conferences, international and community events, and live streaming platforms. She is extremely excited to help foster and promote the work of the Center for Racial and Social Justice!
Dr. Valerie Ann Johnson
Advisor
Dean of Arts, Sciences, and Humanities and Professor of Sociology at Shaw University
Dr. Valerie Ann Johnson is the Dean of Arts, Sciences, and Humanities and Professor of Sociology at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. She also serves as co-director for the newly established Center for Racial and Social Justice at Shaw U. Previously, Dr. Johnson was the Mott Distinguished Professor of Women’s Studies and Director of Africana Women’s Studies at Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina.
She holds a Ph.D. in Medical Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco; M.A. in Sociology from Atlanta University (now Clark-Atlanta University); and B.A. in Sociology from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Johnson has also completed doula training focused especially on women of color.
Her research conducted in Costa Rica, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, the Seychelles Islands and the US, center on gender, bioethics, disability, the health of women and girls, and environmental justice. In addition, she has published and given lectures in these research areas. In North Carolina, Dr. Johnson conducts research on both African American foodways, and African Americans attitudes toward and experiences with “nature spaces” with special emphasis on Black women’s garden clubs. Her speaking engagements include this work as well as public commentary on the issue of confederate monuments on public lands.
Dr. Johnson chairs the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission, serves on the North Carolina Historical Commission, National Register Advisory Committee and is member of the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network (NCEJN), North Carolina League of Conservation Voters (NCLCV) Board of Directors, Scarritt Bennett Center Board of Directors (Nashville, Tennessee), the Ms. Committee of Scholars and an advisor on the Humanities Action Lab’s initiative on climate change, immigration/migration and environmental justice. Dr. Johnson is also active on the board of directors for both NARAL Pro-Choice NC and Preservation North Carolina, where she has just been elected to serve as Vice-chair and president-elect. She also serves as an advisory member for Scarritt Bennett Center’s Racial Justice Initiative.
Dr. Johnson lives in Oxford, NC with her family.
OUR STORIED PAST
Leonard Hall
Leonard Hall housed the first four-year medical school program in the nation. The first class was awarded degrees in 1886 and the first graduates went on to become prominent members of the Raleigh community, developing a strong Black middle class in early 20th century Raleigh.
Ella Baker
Ella Baker was born in 1903 and grew up in North Carolina. Baker graduated as valedictorian from Shaw in 1927, moving to New York City to become an activist. By 1960, Baker was back in Raleigh to help form SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, in the wake of the Greensboro Woolworth’s sit-ins. She convinced Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to help fund the committee and became an integral part of the civil rights movement. Baker connected various leaders across the nation to push for nonviolent protests, channeling the energy of college students.
David Forbes
David Forbes was among the first members of SNCC. He joined while a student at Shaw and worked closely with Ella Baker and others to develop their outreach. Forbes was already a front-line organizer, helping transport his peers to attend protests. With the creation of SNCC,
he played a major role in channeling the energy of his fellow students toward nonviolent protest.
SNCC
Rev. Dr. CT Vivian
Cleveland Sellers
Cleveland Sellers was a student at Shaw when SNCC was formed. He joined the committee and became a fierce advocate for Black empowerment, leading voter registration drives in the Deep South. He was arrested during a segregation protest in South Carolina which would become known as the Orangeburg Massacre; the South Carolina Highway Patrol shot into the crowd, killing three and injuring many more. Sellers ultimately served seven months on charges intended to stifle the movement. Decades later, he received a pardon from the governor of South Carolina. In his later life, Sellers joined Voorhees College in South Carolina as president. His youngest son, Bakari Sellers, is a Democratic politician and CNN pundit.
Representative Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
Representative Adam Clayon Powell, Jr., was a graduate of the Shaw University Divinity School. He went on to become one of the most powerful Black members of Congress where he represented a New York district. As chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, he helped usher consequential civil rights bills through the House of Representatives.
Shirley Chisholm
Kamala Harris
Nearly 50 years after Chisholm, then-Senator Kamala Harris visited Shaw University while campaigning as Joe Biden’s running mate. She spoke to students on campus outlining the importance of the 2020 election. Harris would go on to become the first Black Vice President. Harris herself is a graduate of another HBCU, Howard University.