“Grateful Farewell to San Jacinto College: Reflections on Four Years of Leadership and Service”

Today, Friday, July 17, 2026, marks my final day at San Jacinto College, where I have had the privilege of serving as Chair of the English Department for the past four years. It has been both an honor and a joy to lead an exceptional team of 37 talented, student-centered faculty members and staff. Together, our full-time and part-time faculty have remained deeply committed to student success, the English department, and to advancing the mission of San Jacinto College.

These four years have been among the most meaningful of my professional life. I have built lasting friendships and created memories that I will always cherish. Among the greatest joys of my role was taking the time to connect with faculty members, checking in to see how they were doing, supporting their professional growth, and celebrating their accomplishments. I also treasured the opportunity to continue teaching students and witnessing their intellectual, personal, and professional development.

I am especially grateful to Dean DeRhonda McWaine, who has been one of the finest supervisors and leaders with whom I have had the privilege to work. Her mentorship, unwavering support, thoughtful guidance, and wise counsel have shaped me into a better leader, educator, and person. I will always be thankful for her confidence in me and the opportunities she provided throughout my tenure.

As I close this chapter, I will deeply miss the English Department, my colleagues, friends, and, above all, the students who have made my experience at San Jacinto College so rewarding.

I leave San Jacinto College with a heart full of gratitude as I embark on a new chapter of my academic career. Beginning this fall semester, I am honored to begin serving as Professor of English and Endowed Chair in American Studies at Louisiana State University Shreveport (LSUS). I look forward to embracing new opportunities for teaching, scholarship, leadership, and service, while building meaningful relationships with new colleagues and students at LSUS. I am excited to invest in their success, contribute to the university’s mission, and continue growing as a scholar, educator, and leader.

To everyone at San Jacinto College, thank you for your friendship, trust, support, and partnership over these past four years. San Jac will always hold a special place in my heart.

“The Value of Philosophy”

As I am waiting at the doctor’s office to be called, I find myself doing a little philosophic contemplation.” I always bring a book with me wherever I go.

Several years ago, my philosopher-friend DrPaul Camy Mocombe recommended this book to me. Bertrand Russell is such a brilliant philosopher and good writer. It’s a joy to read his little book, “The Problems of Philosophy,” first published in 1912.

Interestingly, I began reading the book backwards (maybe, that’s a good hermeneutical practice; who knows? lol), starting with the last two chapters of the book: “The limits of philosophical knowledge,” in which Russell shows the limits of Hegel (The “Absolute Idea” vs the “Absolute Reality”), Descartes (“Methodical doubt”), and Kant (“the nature of space and time”)—three philosophical giants in Western philosophy—and “The Value of Philosophy.”

For Russell, if there’s any value in philosophy is the value of contemplation, taking us back to Aristotle’s thesis in “Nicomachean Ethics.” So he writes the following passage:

“One way of escape is by philosophic contemplation. Philosophic contemplation does not, in its widest survey, divide the universe into hostile camps—friends and foes, helpful and hostile, good and bad—it views the whole impartially. Philosophic contemplation, when it is unalloyed, does not aim at proving that the rest of the universe is akin to man. All acquisition of knowledge is an enlargement of the Self, but this enlargement is best attained when it’s not directly sought. It is obtained when the desire for knowledge is alone operative, by a study which does not wish in advance that its objects should have this or that character, but adapts the Self to the characters which it finds in its objects….In contemplation, on the contrary, we start from the not-Self, and through its greatness the boundaries of Self are enlarged; through the infinity of the universe the mind which contemplates it achieves some share in infinity.”

That’s the value of philosophy as “a criticism of knowledge.”

That’s the value of philosophy as “the great liberator of the imagination.”

That’s the value of philosophy as a path to critical thinking.

That’s the value of philosophy as intellectual inquiry.

Maybe, it might be helpful for (more) politicians and theologians to read (more) philosophy to avoid certain unnecessary hermeneutical errors and bad (political) decisions.😊

My central question is this : how do you philosophy correctly and ethically???

I’m concerned with the moral vision of philosophy as well as its intellectual integrity. I just don’t believe that philosophy is a “neutral” academic discipline. I think philosophy and ethics should go together. Every philosophy is built on ideas about people, justice, society power, civilization, and what it means to be human and live a good life. So I don’t think philosophy is ever completely neutral. Throughout history, philosophy has been used to defend injustice, but it has also been used to challenge it. The real question isn’t just whether an idea makes logical sense, but whether it respects or promotes human dignity, encourages us to question ourselves, and leads to a more just society toward human flourishing .

I believe the purpose of philosophy is not only to help us think better, but also to help us become better people.

Thanks, Paul!

“In Praise of our shared Humanity”

Here’s a truth about our shared humanity:

1. Whether you are African, European, Asian, Latin American, North American, or Caribbean, our deepest ancestral origins trace back to Africa. At the most fundamental level, humanity shares a common ancestral root.
2. Although race is a social construct rather than a biological reality, whether your skin is light, dark, or somewhere in between, we all belong to one human family. There is only one race: the human race.
3. Though I am not African by birth, I would never be offended if someone called me “African.” There is nothing shameful, demeaning, or embarrassing about being identified with Africa. To affirm Africa is to affirm our common humanity, for Africa is part of the shared story of us all.
4. Every human being bears the image of God and possesses equal intrinsic worth and dignity. Our ontological equality does not depend on race, ethnicity, nationality, or skin pigmentation, but on our shared humanity and the divine image we all bear.

“The World Cup and the Shadows of History”

The World Cup is more than the world’s premier sporting event. It is a global cultural phenomenon shaped by history, politics, economics, and the enduring legacies of empire. Like many global institutions, the history of the World Cup reflects broader patterns of inequality, including the long-standing concentration of influence and power within European football. Yet the story of the tournament is also a story of extraordinary achievement, creativity, and resilience, especially from nations of the formerly colonized world whose athletes have transformed the meaning and beauty of the game.

As someone who grew up outside the United States, I sometimes wish more of my American friends could see football through the eyes of those who experience it in the Global South. For millions across Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and parts of Asia, football has never been simply entertainment. It has been a language of identity, a source of national pride, a form of cultural expression, and sometimes a symbol of resistance and hope.

The beauty of the game cannot be separated entirely from the history that shaped the world in which it developed. Football, like many other global institutions, carries the marks of colonialism, race, nationalism, and unequal systems of (economic) power. To recognize these realities is not to diminish the greatness of the World Cup or the achievements of the athletes who have given the world unforgettable moments of joy and inspiration. Rather, it is to understand more fully why this game matters so deeply to so many people around the world.

The World Cup has the potential to represent something greater than competition. If football truly belongs to the world, then the tournament should continually strive to reflect the values that make the game so powerful: dignity, equality, respect, inclusion, and the recognition of our shared humanity. Ultimately, the World Cup is about more than who lifts the trophy. It is also about the kind of global community we aspire to build together and the kind of human connection we’re trying to foster transnationally.

As the Americans call it, soccer reminds us that even within histories marked by inequality and division, human beings continue to create beauty, connection, and meaning. The challenge before us is to ensure that the world’s game reflects not only our passion for sport and athleticism, but also our deepest hopes for a more just, democratic, and humane world.

“On the Meaning and Democratic Promise of the United States at Its 250th Anniversary”

As the United States commemorates the 250th anniversary of its founding this Fourth of July (1776-2026), I believe that as a people we have an opportunity not only to celebrate our shared history but also to reflect on this nation we aspire to become. We have an opportunity to reflect critically on the meaning and democratic promise of this great nation. Observably, anniversaries are moments of remembrance and celebration, but they are also invitations to moral imagination and self-reinvention. They call us to envision, together, what we can achieve, what we can build, what we can transform, what we can construct and deconstruct, and how we can help our country more fully embody its highest ideals and greatest democratic promise.

I am suggesting the following ten principles that are rooted in a philosophy of democratic humanism and an ethics of collective care. The principle of democratic humanism construes democracy, human dignity, justice, empathy, the common good, and moral responsibility as inseparable. This vision of America’s multicultural and multiracial democracy also recognizes the importance of secure and just immigration laws and policies while insisting that every person, whether a citizen or non-citizen, documented or undocumented, possesses an inherent human dignity that should never be denied or diminished. As a civilized nation, our laws and public policies should reflect not only our shared national interests but also our shared humanity.

As we reflect collectively on this historic milestone, I offer these ten principles as an invitation to imagine together a United States that more faithfully lives up to its founding ideals and more courageously fulfills its democratic potential. They place a clarion call upon us as citizens to ask this pressing question: “How Do We Measure the Greatness of a Country?” This is not a question that sides with a particular political party, nor should it be interpreted as an ideological statement; rather, this existential question is framed within our hopeful civic reflection and truly democratic nation.

The work of democracy:

1. Cares for the least among its citizens. This will ensure that no one is abandoned because of poverty, disability, age, education, status, or circumstance.
2. Prioritizes the health, safety, and well-being of its people. This recognizes that human flourishing is among the highest responsibilities of a just and democratic society.
3. Treats every person with equal dignity and respect. This categorically rejects dehumanization, discrimination, xenophobia, and racism and unapologetically affirms the equal moral worth and inherent value of every human being.
4. Champions democracy, justice, and the rule of law. This will ensure that power is exercised with accountability, integrity, responsibility, transparency, and fairness, as well as within an ethic of relationality and mutual reciprocity.
5. Provides quality education for all. This will foster an environment of informed, thoughtful, and engaged citizens capable of sustaining democratic life and civic participation.
6. Removes barriers that prevent the poor and the vulnerable from realizing their full potential. This will expand opportunity and access and promoting genuine social mobility and success.
7. Protects the fundamental rights and freedoms of every person. This includes freedom of conscience, expression, religion, peaceful assembly, and civic participation.
8. Builds institutions that embody hospitality, compassion, dignity, respect, and mutual responsibility. This attitude will strengthen trust and solidarity across differences and cultures with our multicultural and multiracial democratic society.
9. Promotes the common good and human flourishing in society. This kind of practice will ensure that economic prosperity, political power, and social opportunity advance the flourishing of all rather than the privilege of a few.
10. Enacts laws and public policies that respect the inherent dignity of foreigners, refugees, immigrants, and undocumented individuals. Such idea categorically rejects language, stereotypes, public discourses or practices that dehumanize them while upholding justice, due process, and the equal worth of every person.

The greatness of the United States will not be measured not merely by its wealth, military power, intangible qualities, or global influence, but by the dignity this great nation extends to every individual, the opportunities it creates for all people to flourish and achieve their full potential, and the justice it champions on behalf of the most vulnerable, the least fortunate among its citizens. This is the true identity of a multiracial and multicultural democratic society. This is the democratic future we aspire to become as a country.

Happy Fourth of July, Fellow Americans!!!🇺🇸