Ep. 7: Healing through history with Dr. Maurice Hobson.
WATCH:
LISTEN:
As a historian, Dr. Maurice Hobson believes that there are three things that he must do:
1. Always tell the truth.
2. Always be loyal to his people and the land that they stand on.
3. Always provide a solution.
So many beautiful things from this conversation resonated a lot with us so we’re delighted to share this with all of you.
In this episode, Dr. Maurice Hobson, Associate Professor of African American Studies and Historian at Georgia State University chats with us about finding purpose in our history.
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR:
Maurice’s journey towards his purpose work [2:33]
Being a “heat seeker”
Seeing the connection in terms of civil rights and Black struggle
His struggle in med school
Pursuing being a historian because of his gift of discernment
Recognizing how elders’ wisdom are a gift to us
How Maurice achieved the three dreams he listed when he was in seventh grade—a doctor, a history professor, and a musician
Why it takes discernment to teach history [13:46]
The way history is taught in basic ed is flawed
The idea that anybody can just teach history
How the key to history is investigation
The three things that a historian must always do
History is a weapon of freedom
The haze of the work Maurice does [20:44]
What are you going to do to help change the conditions of your people?
Applying to seven PhD programs and getting rejected by every single one of them
Taking a serious job in the academe at the age of 25
Changing how history is to be told
The tumultuous book writing process
Trusting the process
When people see you in documentaries, they may want things from you for free
Separating personal and professional life
Continually moving towards our purpose [46:11]
Paying attention to spirituality
How do you take on other people's burdens?
How are you able to cleanse yourself of some of the things that need to be cleansed?
Realizing that humanity is dark and scary
Thinking how you’re build for something great plays a huge part in obedience and sacrifice
Healing is part of your journey towards your purpose
The easy way to figure out your purpose [59:43]
What do you like to do? (if you love sleeping, maybe your purpose is to build mattresses)
Always being self-aware
Staying committed and obedient
EPISODE QUOTES:
The first is I must always tell the truth. The truth of the matter is that Black history is not warm and fuzzy. It’s a history of murder, it’s a history of sexual assault. It's a history of violence, it's a history of trauma. But we're still here. So it is a history of resilience.
- Dr. Maurice Hobson
In the environment that we're in and with what we're seeing happening to our people, many of us can't afford to be still, we got to keep moving, we got to find a way to take care of ourselves. But we also got to keep moving towards this purpose working what we have to be doing.
- Scott Hayes
What worked then doesn't work now. Everything is about time and place, there's a time to be steel. But then there's also a time for warfare.
- Dr. Maurice Hobson
When you are obedient, the world will know you for your work.
- Dr. Maurice Hobson
RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
The Legend of the Black Mecca by Dr. Maurice Hobson
PROMO CODE: 01DAH40
Listen to In Due Time by OutKast
Listen to Cruisin’ by Smokey Robinson
CHECK IN WITH SCOTT AND SHATÉ:
Spotify Playlist - Music for this moment.
Follow @iamshate on Instagram
Follow @scotthayes_lcsw on Instagram
ABOUT DR. MAURICE HOBSON
Dr. Maurice Hobson is an Associate Professor of African American Studies and Historian at Georgia State University. He earned the Ph.D. degree in History, focusing in African American History and 20th Century U.S. History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests are grounded in the fields of African American history, 20th Century U.S. history, comparative labor, African American studies, oral history and ethnography, urban and rural history, political economy, and popular cultural studies. He is the author of award-winning book titled The Legend of the Black Mecca: Politics and Class in the Making of Modern Atlanta with the University of North Carolina Press.
Dr. Hobson engages the social sciences and has created a new paradigm called the Black New South that explores the experiences of black folk in the American South, with national and international implications, since WWII. For this, he has served as an expert witness in court cases and as a voice of insight for public historical markers, monuments and museum exhibitions.
In popular media, Dr. Hobson was consulted for the Netflix documentary "The Art of Organized Noize," which featured the Atlanta production team that changed the sound of hip-hop with their work with OutKast and Goodie Mob. Also, he was the chief historian for the documentary "Maynard," which detailed the life and times of the honorable Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr., Atlanta’s first black mayor. He is also the consulting historian for the "ESPN 30 For 30: Vick" documentary detailing the controversial career of NFL quarterback Michael Vick. Most recently, he served as a consulting producer and historian for HBO Documentaries’ "Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children," which details the dark history of the Atlanta Child Murders, where Atlanta’s most vibrant yet vulnerable population—its poor black children—were being hunted, kidnapped, murdered and left in fields around the Atlanta metro-area. Currently, he serves as the chief-historian for the award-winning iHeartRadio podcast titled “Fight Night and the Million Dollar Heist,” a true-crime podcast series detailing the infamous armed robbery after Muhammad Ali’s historic 1970 comeback fight. He has two forthcoming documentaries; “Downing of a Flag: A Documentary, A Film” detailing the removal of the Confederate Battle Flag in South Carolina and “A Man Named Bo, “ a documentary on the life, career, and impact of Judge Marvin S. Arrington, Sr of Atlanta.
After graduating from Selma High School in Selma, Alabama, he went on to the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he was also a student-athlete, playing Fullback/H-Back for the Blazer Football team. He earned a B.A. Degree in History and African American Studies from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1999.
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