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<\/a>By Charles McKinney<\/p>\nRay Gavins began making a difference in my life exactly five years before I actually took a class from him. This was because my mentor at Morehouse, Marcellus Barksdale<\/a>, studied under Ray when he was a graduate student at Duke. Ray helped shape Dr. B\u2019s exploration of the freedom struggle in Monroe, North Carolina \u2013 the home of Robert Williams. Ray Gavins \u2013 a man who\u2019d been the first black student in the department of history at the University of Virginia from 1964 to 1970, would helped guide my mentor Dr. Barksdale through Duke. Barksdale finished his doctorate in 1977, making him only the second black student to finish in Duke\u2019s history program. Eight years later, I started at Morehouse. Five years after that, I would be one of seven black graduate students (out of a class of twenty-one) entering that same program. Twenty years later, I would become the first African American faculty member to earn tenure in the History Department at Rhodes College. So goes the Circle of Academic Life\u2026<\/p>\n When I arrived at Duke, I didn\u2019t feel ready. I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d read the right books, I didn\u2019t know the names of the right theorists, and I couldn\u2019t write my way out of a paper bag. In his own way, Ray reached out to me. He was a proud graduate of Virginia Union; he could hardly contain his glee whenever they would beat my beloved Morehouse in either football or basketball (\u201cI see that Virginia Union defeated Morehouse last night\u201d \u2013 big smile). The connection was intentional; Ray let me know that he too had attended an HBCU, and that our journeys weren\u2019t all that dissimilar. He also modeled for others and me an unrepentant, unparalleled mastery of the historical literature. You will never be able to convince me that Ray Gavins did not read every book ever written about black life and history over the past sixty years. Nope. Nyet. I\u2019m not having it. The man possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of African American history. And he expected us to follow suit. Hey ya\u2019ll \u2013 remember the utter horror we felt the first time we saw one of Ray\u2019s syllabi? The \u201csuggested additional reading\u201d section of the thing was 6-7 SINGLE SPACED PAGES. Seriously \u2013 who does that? Well, Ray Gavins, that\u2019s who. Ray set an incredibly high bar for all of us, and it\u2019s one of the reasons we can shine. Let\u2019s be clear: by no means did I always meet Ray\u2019s high standards. More than once, I would get a paper back with his meticulous hand writing splashed \u2013 no, placed \u2013 all over the place. Notes about structure, argument, phrasing and sources \u2013 dear God, the sources. Ray had every expectation that I could be excellent if I wanted to be so. That was up to me.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know that I\u2019ve ever met another scholar as thorough and meticulous as Ray Gavins. At my dissertation defense, I weathered some heavyweight questions about theoretical frameworks and such from my chair, Bill Chafe, and from Charles Payne, who brought a sociologist\u2019s eye to the historical enterprise. When it was Ray\u2019s turn to go in, he said, \u201cChuck, if you would turn your attention to footnote fifty-four in chapter three\u2026\u201d Wait \u2013 is he getting ready to ask me about a FOOTNOTE?! Why, yes, yes he is. Ray talked about this footnote for the better part of what felt like three days before asking me to respond to his query. So, Ray\u2019s exploration of my research began with footnote fifty-four in chapter three, and radiated out from there. Classic Ray.<\/p>\n Ray\u2019s quiet demeanor masked an iron determination. He wrote history that was thoroughly researched and utterly fearless. White supremacy and the \u201ccoerced poverty and desolation\u201d it wrought were frequent topics, alongside the power, vision and will of black women and men who stood in the face of Jim Crow. He was a pioneer and a warrior who wore his battle scars lightly, though I also know he struggled with high blood pressure. The battles always take their toll on us.<\/p>\n Several years ago, I wrote an article for the North Carolina Historical Review. The article went on to win an award \u2013 for which I\u2019m thankful. But the highlight of that experience was sending a draft of that article to Ray, and getting a note back that said, \u201cChuck \u2013 this is solid work. Well done.\u201d THAT was the true award, the one that matters<\/p>\n Those of us who studied with Ray Gavins, we are part of a legacy \u2013 a legacy of struggle, a legacy of survival, and perhaps most important \u2013 a legacy of excellence. Ray Gavins made me *possible*. As I said to some students in another venue, if I\u2019ve moved anyone to understand the transformative nature of African American History, it\u2019s because of people like Ray Gavins who played such a gigantic role in my life.<\/p>\n Rod Clare went to see Ray a few days before he died. His son was there, and the O\u2019Jays were playing on the box \u2013 Ray loved the O\u2019Jays. Rod whispered in Ray\u2019s ear \u2013 telling him thank you for all that he\u2019s done for us, and for the community at large. I\u2019m so thankful to Rod for telling Ray what I have to hope he already knew \u2013 that we love and appreciate him.<\/p>\n Thanks, Ray \u2013 for so very much.<\/p>\n Charles McKinney, PhD,<\/a>\u00a0is an associate professor of history and the Neville Frierson Bryan Chair of Africana Studies at Rhodes College<\/a> in Memphis, Tennessee<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Donate to the Work of R3<\/b><\/p>\n