GW American Studies alums continue to make us proud! We want to share more of your stories. This semester we highlight the achievements of Talib Hudson, who serves as the Deputy Director of the Community Partnerships Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Since graduating in 2004 with a B.A in American Studies, Talib has gone on to apply the skills he learned as an American Studies student in a varied career. After graduating in 2004, he worked as a Legislative Affairs Associate for the International Economic Development Council in DC. He then went on to a Master of Science in Urban Policy Analysis and Management at The New School in New York. Outside the classroom, Talib focused on anti-violence initiatives at Street Corner Resources, a community-based service organization in Harlem. Prior to his current position as Deputy Director, Talib joined the District Attorney’s office as a Reentry Coordinator, working to improve the reentry process for people returning to Manhattan from prison. We are very proud of Talib and can’t wait to see what more his future holds!
1. What is your current job and what do you like best about it?
I am the Deputy Director of the Community Partnerships Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. My role is to help lead a team charged with building community partnerships to prevent crime and enhance public safety. What I love is having the opportunity to serve the community I’m from. I’m from Harlem, New York, and my community is very important to me. I have an opportunity every day I go to work to get to learn about how we can prevent crime, and work with the community to achieve the goals that we all have in terms of public safety. That’s something I appreciate having the opportunity to do.
2. You have recently been named a “New Leaders Fellow” in New York. Can you describe what this means, and what it will allow you to do?
The New Leaders Council is a nationwide institute to train the next generation of progressive leaders in different facets of life; entrepreneurs, people in the public sector, and political realm. I was selected as one of 20 fellows for the New Leaders Council. For one weekend each month for five months we come together and receive leadership training. We hear from speakers from a number of different fields, and also receive training on race, diversity, and gender identity. It has been great for building networks and skills and connecting with other people who are trying to make the world a better place. The highlight has been the incredible people I’ve met and working with interesting, dynamic young leaders.
3. What paths did you take to get to where you are now? What have been your goals; what led you from one place to the next?
I worked in economic development as the Legislative Affairs Associate for the International Economic Development Council in D.C. for a few years after GW, but I wanted to come back home and have an impact on my community and policy, so I came back to New York in 2010 and enrolled in the master’s program in Urban Policy Analysis at The New School. While I was there I really wanted to get involved in the community, and the issue I gravitated towards was violence among youth, because that was something I was hearing from youth that was important to them.
I eventually met a woman named Iesha Sekou, who is the founder and Executive Director of Street Corner Resources. She became a great friend and mentor to me. I learned from her about activism and anti-violence work. The work I did in my graduate program and the community work I did with Street Corner Resources led me to my work in the DA’s office.
4. Where do you see yourself going next in your career?
There’s a lot of great work to do here. We’ve only scratched the surface of building partnerships in the community to enhance public safety. In the fall I’ll be going to school part time to get my PhD in policy and sociology, but still working full time.
Long term, I would like to have a broader impact on the policy process, particularly policies that impact urban communities of color. Whether that’s in the justice system, education, housing or community development, I think the best solutions to fix the problems in the community are the solutions that come from that community. We need to elevate the voices of people in Harlem, and in other similar communities—people who may not have access to academic and policy journals and lawmakers and policy makers. I want to bring those voices and that expertise to the discussion.
5. What made you become an American Studies major at GW
It all started in 1999 when Prof. McAlister was my freshman advisor. I was searching for a major, and she suggested I look at American Studies. Then I took a class with Prof. Murphy and found it refreshing, because it wasn’t a sugar-coating of American history. I felt that it was giving a more honest depiction of American history, that she really told the story of people on the ground. So looking at the Revolutionary war, we didn’t necessarily focus on just the war and the Founding Fathers, we focused on farmers or how the price of sugar was impacted. Having a view of the common person – that was great. As an American Studies major, I was able to take lots of courses that interested me. I was also able to minor in Africana studies, which was important to me.
6. Do you have a favorite American studies course?
Academically, Professor McAlister and Professor James Miller had the greatest impact on my experience. I now read books from cover to cover because of Professor Miller. I didn’t read prefaces or introductions until his class on literature of black America. He taught me to read texts in a way I hadn’t before. Now, the first thing I read in a book is the preface and the introduction. I make sure I get that grounding before I jump into the text. That has really shaped how I read.
7. Of all the things you learned in this department, what has made the biggest impact on you as a person?
Everyone has a perspective. Whether you’re a white male, Latina woman, gay Native American, — whatever way you want to slice how someone lives or identifies—everyone has a lived perspective. As I think back to what I learned in American Studies, that’s definitely a thread that has run through a lot of the courses. And everyone’s perspective has value.
8. How have you applied what you learned from American Studies to your work and life?
I really learned how to be a much better writer. Now being a professional in the workforce, I realize this is very important. Learning how to write and communicate in the written word is very important. One practical skill I use from day to day is all the writing we did, especially in graduate school.
9. What is the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Relax. Whatever you major in, 10 years from now there’s going to be a new technology, a new industry, and something that didn’t exist before. When I majored in American Studies, the internet was not as ubiquitous. But now there are whole other industries and jobs built on things that did not exist. To someone who’s picking a major, pick what you enjoy, do what you love and do it well. No matter what job you have, it’s about finding those skills that are applicable to other situations.
10. What advice would you give American Studies students?
Take advantage of Washington D.C. I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time, but you’re going to school where you have National Archives. I remember doing primary source research on Revolutionary War pensioners, veterans writing the government in 1800s demanding their pensions. Being in Washington D.C., you have close proximity to Philadelphia and New York, and other places, so especially when you’re studying early American history, there is so much rich material and sources right at your fingertips. Take advantage of being in the capital, and all of the history and culture that it offers. Go across the river; go to Anacostia, or Frederick Douglass’ house.