MARY SEYMOUR - Congratulations and Reflection [2024]

Reflection for Mary Seymour, M.A. Africana Studies, May 16, 2024
Playwright. Musician Extraordinaire. Entrepreneur. Community-Builder. Business-owner. Mother, Grandmother. History-Maker. Mary Seymour. I am incredibly proud of the work that Mary has done to earn her master's degree in Africana Studies from Stony Brook University. Mary has long been a part of our departmental family for years, we were pleased when she graduated with her B.A. a few years ago, and now she has come back to complete her master's degree. From the very beginning, Mary has been a blessing to our department, bringing her wealth of expertise, life experience, and connections to us. She has helped plan events, bring speakers, and contribute to our strategic mission; she was particularly involved in the Africana Studies at 50 celebration in 2019 and has been consistently generous in pouring into the department. We have been lucky to have Mary with us here in Africana Studies over the years, and glad to support her blossoming as a scholar.
Her master's thesis project, Labyrinth of Inequality and Exploitation in Black American Music, Culture, and Creative Labor, is a work that only Mary could write. It is creative, and piercing in its analysis, and draws on her own experiences as a music industry insider to shape a rich analysis of the systemic economic exploitation of Black musicians from the time of US slavery through the present. It is a wonderful and necessary work. Her other papers and projects, particularly her archival and video work with the Matron's Praying Circle of the St. Luke AME Church in Harlem, NY are necessary and will make a lasting impact far beyond the Stony Brook campus.
For all that I have said about Mary above, none of it paints the whole picture of her brilliance, work ethic, and empathetic leadership. This year Mary has played a key role in supporting other graduate students in their academic journeying providing a vision of passion and calm that has allowed this cohort to make it through. She is a leader who invites others to delve a bit more deeply into their truth, to own the unique and specific gifts that they are blessed with, and to SHINE.
Thank you, Mary, for shining for us and with us throughout the years. We are in awe of your beauty, your brilliance, and your persistence. We are proud of you, we honor you and we wish you the best as you move forward.
--
Dr. Abena Ampofoa Asare
Associate Professor, Modern African Affairs, Stony Brook University
MUSIC: Musique - Summer Love Theme - Patrick Adams - © Unidisc Music
PHOTO: Kenny Seymour, Mary Seymour, and Rosalind Brown
Created by DALE RICARDO SHIELDS - Iforcolor
BIO - iforcolor.org/mary-seymour/
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