Professor Channon Miller

The legacy that she is leaving behind at USD

Contributor / Alexandria Nazareno / The USD Vista

Residing and teaching in San Diego for over seven years, Professor Channon Miller has been across the country, 2,900 miles away from home, and committed to the passion and cause of Black voices being heard. Miller has devoted her career to uncovering and sharing the undermined, lived experiences and history of African Americans in the US. Among the many courses taught at USD, Miller contributes refreshing perspectives in the history department such as African American History and African American Women’s History. She has set an example and paved the way of making a diverse and equally-heard campus. Yet, a chapter of her life is closing as she disclosed that she will soon depart from USD, leaving a legacy that will not be forgotten. Professor Channon Miller is the epitome of exactly what USD needed: a changemaker. 

Miller was born and raised in a single-parent household in the capital city of Hartford, Connecticut. She emphasized that Hartford is a place near and dear to her heart. 

“Just my heart for Connecticut is so important. You know it’s where I’m from, where I’ll be going back to,” Miller stated.

However, Hartford being more diverse than most places in the U.S. also unveiled the isolating and marginalizing experiences that communities of color were susceptible to.

“Economically, we do not have the  types of infrastructure or funds that the largely white suburban areas have. So our schools do struggle and need a lot more community help to actually succeed.”

Regarded as a mature minority city, Hartford is composed of a large Caribbean, Jamaican, Puerto Rican, Trinidadian, Barbadian and African immigrant population; the white population is the minority, making up 10-12% of the whole. Looking back now, Miller notes that where she grew up contributed to her ambition to have people of color’s lived experiences heard. The people, culture and support that her hometown ingrained in her is something that cultivated her into the person that she is today. 

Miller felt inclusivity and experienced this united effort by community leaders and members of Warburton Community Congregational Church, who participated in empowering her to pursue her education and, most of all, her dreams. 

Another pillar in Miller’s life was her mother, Laura Taylor, who was devoted to raising her daughters and putting them through school. 

“I was raised by a mom who is very present and engaged with all of her children’s lives, and she always was committed to making sure that we were doing our best, and had access to as much opportunity as she could create, and really it was inspiring.” 

Along with Miller’s mother being a role model growing up, Miller had encouraging teachers, such as Miss Rice and Miss Wright, who had an important impact on her path to becoming an academic scholar and historian. After graduating from the Metropolitan Learning Center, Miller was the first person in her family to attend a four-year college and received a scholarship to the prestigious liberal arts institution, Trinity College. 

When Miller got to Trinity, she was uncertain of her career path. She considered pre-law and social work, but ultimately found a love for learning about history, specifically Black women’s history. 

“I always knew that there were certain topics that I care passionately about. I’ve always wanted to do something that contributed to Black people in America and Black people in my particular community of where I’m from,” Miller  said.

After sampling different classes in her first year, Miller was positive about pursuing an occupation that encapsulated her passion and her lived experience as a Black woman. Miller declared her major in American history and earned her bachelor’s  degree in 2011. 

Continuing her education, Miller felt  most connected  to the history, literature and sociology behind Black voices, which were often marginalized. She was inspired to pursue multiple layers of history, such as looking at Black women’s historians in archives and researching gaps in Black people’s history. After taking the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and being nominated as a Ph.D. candidate, Miller went on to earn her masters and doctorate in American Studies  at Boston University in 2017. After completing her Ph.D. USD offered Miller her a Postdoctoral Fellowship,  which she accepted, and began as an Assistant Professor in 2019. Her area of expertise surrounds Black feminist theory, Black cultural studies and oral histories and modern Black diaspora studies. Her teachings have brought light to marginalized communities of color, especially women of color, which is also motivated by her passion of promoting equity and justice. 

In May 2014, Miller had her first article published while in graduate school. Writing on behalf of history, Miller expressed how there are multiple layers to the job, such as being in the archives, writing and trying to capture these stories. Professor Miller continues to publish her works from “Jazmine Headley to the Black Mothers Who Knew Her Name”  to “Motherlines Conceived from Disparate Roots” in 2019.

Emphasizing her own and many Black womens’ experiences that have come before, Miller has given continuous effort and contributions to filling in the gaps of African American histories through the lens of race, class, gender: an intersectional lens. Miller  was also actively involved in the efforts to diversify and create change, aiming to promote equity and inclusion on USD’s campus and throughout academia.  

In addition to her academic work, Miller has been an active participant in promoting social justice on campus. In 2020, after the murder of George Floyd and within the uprising of the Black Lives Matter movement, Professor Miller, along with other Black faculty members, came together to take a powerful stand against anti-blackness at USD. In their collective statement to administrators and colleagues, they addressed the aggressions and experiences they faced as Black professors. 

“Anti-blackness is an issue at USD. So that’s no secret. We expressed our grievances with working, as Black faculty on campus, the types of aggressions that we faced on the part of other professors who are non-black who can be either isolating or harmful in ways they may know or don’t know,” Miller elaborated. 

This letter also addressed the different treatment in terms of respect Black faculty have received from students; many expressed that they felt they had to work harder to establish and be seen as a legitimate figure of authority by their students. As a Black professor, Miller shared how the impact of anti-blackness is something that is deeply felt in the classroom and, in larger context, of the country. Unfortunately, this often means that Black professors are not afforded the same level of respect as their white counterparts. 

Despite the challenges they faced, Miller and the Black faculty members at USD did not back down. Working collaboratively with the university to address these issues head-on, their main objective was creating a more inclusive and respectful environment for all.

“It also shows a positive thing is that I was able to work alongside the other Black faculty. We really support one another. We advocate for one another and organize for a university that reflects the values that it says that it believes in. Ultimately, we’re saying we want it. We want to actually hold you to that,” Miller  said.

Setting an example of the leadership and advocacy, Miller and her fellow faculty members made a powerful statement about the power of community and the collective action essential for combating systemic racism. After several dedicated years teaching in San Diego, Professor Miller formally announced that she will be leaving the familiar sidewalks of USD and embarking on a new adventure, teaching at Trinity College in Hartford. 

Miller expressed how this change is bittersweet, but more sweet than bitter. 

“I had opportunities come up in the last year, where folks are reaching out, wanting to provide new opportunities and giving opportunities to… climb the ladder… toward experiences…that you really want to have. And so it’s good to be able to get access to things that you know. For a time in my life, I just dreamed about so I’ll be going.” 

Fulfilling her aspirations, Professor Miller has come full circle to give back to the community where she was born and raised. Yet, before saying her final farewell, Miller also wanted to express her appreciation and gratitude for being a part of USD history and learning experience. 

“For all the students I’ve had an opportunity to work with or teach, or just have in a classroom, it’s been phenomenal getting to know you all; I’ve learned so much from our interactions, so much about how to teach or what to teach and how to relate. There’s been so many lessons, and yes, the colleagues to this have been, as I’ve expressed to so many of them, such a great great groundwork for what’s to come. It laid such an important groundwork and foundation… Our department is so supportive. The faculty are there for one another, supportive of one another, always trying to seek opportunity and possibility for especially junior faculty like me. Being a junior faculty is another word for, like assistant professors, and here there are a lot of senior faculty at USD who’ve been doing this for decades. They always are willing to go back and say, ‘Okay, how is this going? Let me let me give you some tips on how to address this, or maybe you can do things this way.’ They’re just always there to be a help and I’ve so appreciated that. I’ve learned what support looks like in a department or in a college.” 

Although Professor Channon Miller’s story ends here at USD, another is just beginning for her when returning to her roots back in Hartford. Her passion for educating herself and others on African American and African American women’s histories raises awareness for empowering past, present and future Black voices, whether at the University of  San Diego or beyond.