Asa Grant Hilliard III
Asa Grant Hilliard III was an influential educator and scholar, born in 1933 in Galveston, Texas. He grew up in a culturally diverse environment in Denver after moving there at age twelve, where he excelled in school and earned a psychology degree from the University of Denver. Hilliard's professional journey included teaching roles and military service before becoming a professor and administrator at San Francisco State University, where he contributed significantly to educational practices and policies. In 1980, he accepted a position at Georgia State University, focusing on urban education and advocating for Afrocentric perspectives in academia. Hilliard was deeply committed to promoting awareness of African heritage and culture, leading study tours to Ghana and Egypt while engaging with multiple organizations dedicated to Black studies and education. He authored notable works, including "The Maroon Within Us" and "SBA: The Reawakening of the African Mind," and was honored in Ghana with a title recognizing his contributions. Hilliard passed away in 2007 in Cairo, leaving a legacy that profoundly shaped the understanding of African contributions to education and culture.
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Subject Terms
Asa Grant Hilliard III
Educator and psychologist
- Born: August 22, 1933
- Birthplace: Galveston, Texas
- Died: August 13, 2007
- Place of death: Cairo, Egypt
An educator and psychologist, Hilliard was known for work that critically questions traditional education and socialization of African Americans. He focused much of his writing on ancient Egypt and its influence on the pedagogy and psyche of African Americans.
Early Life
Asa Grant Hilliard III (AY-suh HIHL-yahrd) was born in Galveston, Texas, in 1933. His father, Asa Grant Hilliard II, was an educator-administrator, and his mother, Dr. Lois O. Williams, was a Pentecostal minister. Hilliard’s parents divorced early in his life (both parents remarried and had more children). Hilliard lived with his mother in Houston, where he attended segregated schools, and later moved to Denver, Colorado, at the age of twelve. He maintained a close relationship with his father and stepmother, Seretha Butler Hilliard.
Hilliard attended middle school and high school in a much more culturally diverse environment in Denver. He excelled at Manual High School, becoming actively involved in the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps and serving as student body president. He won the Joe E. Miller Scholarship to attend the University of Denver. There, Hilliard earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1953. After college, he taught social studies and mathematics at Baker Junior High School in Denver.
From 1955 to 1957, Hilliard served as an officer in the U.S. Army in Kentucky and Bad Nauheim, Germany. Upon his return to Denver in 1957, he married Patsy Jo Morrison. He resumed his teaching position at Baker Junior High and then taught at South High School. Hilliard earned a master’s degree in counseling and guidance in 1961 and a doctorate in educational psychology in 1963 from the University of Denver.
Life’s Work
From 1963 to 1980, Hilliard was a professor and administrator at San Francisco State University. During his tenure there, he was a professor, chair of the Department of Secondary Education, and dean of the College of Education. He worked with the Peace Corps and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), developed assessments for educators and students, and served as a forensic expert in several landmark test-validity/bias cases (two of which were decided by the U.S. Supreme Court). He also spent two years in Monrovia, Liberia, establishing a public school system.
In 1980, Hilliard was named the Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Urban Education at Georgia State University, a position he held until his death. Hilliard characterized himself as a teacher and a healer. He felt that it was very important for Africans from throughout the pan-African diaspora to know their true heritage. He encouraged this awareness through his writings and presentations at conferences and by leading study tours to Ghana and Egypt for more than thirty years. He also contributed to this understanding through his involvement and leadership in organizations such as the National Council for Black Studies, the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations, the Council of Independent Black Institutions, the Commission on Research in Black Education, the Association of Black Psychologists, and the National Association of Black Social Workers.
Hilliard was a driving force in the promotion of theoretical perspectives—most notably Afrocentricity but also multicultural studies—within the field of education. His direction of the Portland Baseline Essays provided a model for the instruction of American Indian, Latino American, African American, and Asian American history and culture in the Portland, Oregon, public schools. Hilliard’s commitment to pan-African development worldwide was honored in Mankranso, Ghana, in 2001: He was given the title Nana Baffour Amankwatia II, which means “generous one.” While he has an extensive list of publications, his two most prominent texts are The Maroon Within Us: Selected Essays on African American Community Socialization and SBA: The Reawakening of the African Mind.
Hilliard died of complications of malaria on August 13, 2007, in Cairo, Egypt. He was on an annual study tour with students.
Significance
Hilliard had a profound impact in raising awareness, especially among people of African descent, of the educational and psychological contributions of Africa to world history and culture. In the educational arena, he consistently challenged preconceived global views of ancient and modern pan-African society and promoted an educational, moral, and ethical grounding for all people based on a traditional African view of the world. He championed the achievements of African people throughout the world and, in doing so, inspired his many students.
Bibliography
Hilliard, Asa G., III. African Power: Affirming African Indigenous Socialization in the Face of the Culture Wars. Gainesville, Fla.: Makare, 2002. Commentary on traditional African education and socialization practices and their implications for modern global relations.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. “Language, Culture, and the Assessment of African American Children.” In The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom, edited by Lisa Delpit and Joanne Kilgour Dowdy. New York: New Press, 2002. Examines the impact of linguistic cultural bias on assessment tests and pedagogy of African American students.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. The Maroon Within Us: Selected Essays on African American Community Socialization. Baltimore: Black Classic Press, 1995. Collection of essays on topics such as Nile Valley education, socialization of African American children, and pedagogical approaches to teaching African Americans.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. SBA: The Reawakening of the African Mind. Gainesville, Fla.: Makare, 1998. Collection of essays on subjects such as African wisdom systems in Nile Valley civilizations and educational issues in the post-segregation era.
Nobles, Wade W. “Per Âa Asa Hilliard: The Great House of Black Light for Educational Excellence.” Review of Educational Research 78, no. 3 (September, 2008): 727-747. Scholarly assessment of Hilliard’s research on Nile Valley civilizations. Also contains valuable biographical information.
Tillman, Linda. “The Scholarship of Dr. Asa G. Hilliard III: Implications for Black Principal Leadership.” Review of Educational Research 78, no. 3 (September, 2008): 589-607. This article is a scholarly assessment of Dr. Hilliard’s work challenging racism within the discipline of education.