{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://saaacam.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/8s4jm2517n/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Karla Broadus Interview"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/571/original/full-color_2x.png?1735841768","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Publisher"]},"value":{"en":["The African American Network TV (TAAN TV)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eProfessor Karla Broadus talks about teaching, serving as the Director of the African American Studies  Department at UTSA, and founding a computer support company with her husband. She also discusses  the value of education and knowing Black History.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eAll materials are for noncommercial educational or research uses only. 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I'm your host, Tyrone Darden, and this is TAAN TV, the African American network. We have one of our 300 voices, Ms. Karla Broadus. We're gonna give her 30 brief seconds to introduce herself, and then we're going to jump right into the interview.\r\n\r\n\r\nKarla Broadus  0:18  \r\nThank you for having me, first off.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  0:20\r\nThank you for being here.\r\n\r\n\r\nKarla Broadus  0:22\r\nI am the director of African American Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio and I am the president of Commonwealth Computer Corporation.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  0:31  \r\nWow. That's a lot. So you- we were talking earlier about the computer, uh, the business side. Um, kind of explain to our audience how you got your business going? What motivated you to get into that sector? And- and how you've grown it?\r\n\r\n\r\nKarla Broadus  0:51  \r\nWell, my husband and I started the business back in 1996. So we've managed to stay alive. He was with IBM and he was setting up resellers, and then it hit him, “Why should I be setting up somebody else, and not set myself up?” And then he was a smart enough man to say, “If we're gonna have a business, you need to learn the business from the ground up.” Because at the time, I was still in the school district, but thank goodness, I learned how to do all of the facets of the business. And he passed away and I ha- in 2013, and I have managed to maintain that business and keep everything going because I learned the business.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  1:45  \r\nExcellent. And I think that's an important point to make. You know, a lot of us have- many of us African Americans have great talents, whether it be cooking, hospitality, we're inventors, there's so many facets to the many talents that we have. But if you don't know all aspects of the business, you're gonna have to depend on other people to run it for you. And a lot of times, those people aren't there for your best interest, they’re- aren’t there for your growth and for your positive gains. So it's good that you and your husband, at the ground level, started off with the understanding that you have to know your business in order to sustain your business, to grow your business, and to move your business forward. I think that's some very key advice and some very key information that those looking and listening and aspiring to be where you are today should really take heed to. So our next qu- my next question would be this. So on the business side, you know, you're an entrepreneur, um, you’re into technology and things like that. But on the professional side, you're in education. So you did mention you were with the school district and I know now you at UTSA with African American Studies. If you kind of give us some insight on that?\r\n\r\n\r\nKarla Broadus  2:55  \r\nWell, thank goodness I'm an educator. And the reason why I say thank goodness: I have learned that as an educator, I have to always be willing to be educated. And I have to learn several things. And most of the successful people that I know, have worn several different hats, and have been willing to learn and continuously learn. So being on that education side–which the education side is one of the groups that I sell to. For the business, I sell to state and local government and higher education. I just happen to be in higher ed– \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  3:38\r\nEducation, yes.\r\n\r\n\r\nKarla Broadus  3:39\r\n–And one of the jobs that I held was, once upon a time, the person that bought the computers for a school district. So I have the idea of what it is that's necessary. So m- and as long as I stay in education, I get to keep seeing what's going on in that house, in order to figure out how to sell to that house. I think we continuously learn. Let me give you an example. On Friday, I had to sit through a two hour and 40 minute lecture. Dell Corporation, on storage systems. After two hours and 40 minutes, I had to take a test and had to pass the test with at least 85% [pause] score. Well, as an educator, I had to sit there and I was thinking, “Take notes. Try and stay up on it.” Because who wants to listen to somebody for that long? The other part of me as an educator kept hearing the person that was presenting saying, “Um, um, um.” I was- it was driving me crazy to the point that I would say, “I hope when I'm standing up lecturing [pause] to students that I don't just go “Um, um, um.” Now I get a chance to see how they feel listening, and what they go through taking a test. So I ha- I have to keep learning. I- now I’ve learned in all my years–because I got my undergraduate degree way back in 1972. And something I tell students all the time, and I tell employees- I had a philosophy instructor tell me, way back when I was a freshman, he said, “Excuses are the tools of the incompetent, and those who dwell upon them are seldom good for anything else.” And I'm still remembering that from 1968. So I know that whether I am President, CEO, CFO, of Commonwealth Computer, or that Professor over at UTSA, trying to get that program together for African American Studies, I can't give excuses.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  6:14  \r\nNo excuse. And it’s- it’s not even funny, it's just interesting that, uh, you use th- you use that piece, to- to kind of bridge that gap in regards to excuses. What I- how I learned it was, “Excuses are monuments of nothingness and those who use them build bridges to nowhere.” But in 1991, when I learned it, it's still relevant to when you learned it in 1968. Uh, and that, to me, that's important, because something you said, and- and how I learned it is we should always be lifelong learners, we should never stop learning, we should never stop being sponges for information. And so transitioning to the African American Studies: so I- I- we interviewed m- many people. So we interviewed, um, the mayor of Prairie View A\u0026M, who also- I'm sorry, Prairie View, the city–\r\n\r\n\r\nKarla Broadus  7:09\r\nTexas. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  7:10\r\nTexas. I'm sorry. But he also was a graduate of Prairie View A\u0026M. So one of the questions I asked him was, why is it important, or is it still relevant to even have HBCUs? And his response to that was, as long as we have the UTs, and the Texas A\u0026Ms, we should have the Prairie Views and the TSUs. And- and to me, that was very, uh- a profound response. Going to African American Studies: so I went to- it was called SWT Southwest Texas State University back then, it's called Texas State now. And it would- it was awkward for me when I would hear my friends saying they're taking African American Studies, or even majoring in African American Studies. It was odd to me because it didn't make sense. I'm African American. I mean, am I studying myself? Am I studying my community? I- I didn't get it. It didn't resonate to me. C- For those who may have been like Tyrone Darden, growing up, coming up, being in college, not understanding the connection, not making the connection, what is African American Studies and why is it important for us to even know it?\r\n\r\n\r\nKarla Broadus  8:17  \r\nI’m so  glad you asked me that. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  8:19\r\nI’m glad I asked it too.\r\n\r\n\r\nKarla Broadus  8:19\r\nBecause I just- I just got through laying that out to some students the other night. You got to know where you people came from, to know where you're going because history repeats itself. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  8:34\r\nIt does.\r\n\r\n\r\nKarla Broadus  8:35\r\nAnd if you can understand what strengths build- built your people, you can work wonders. Many of our young people today don't know about “Colored Only” signs. As I told the young people the other night, I said, “You think that that afro you've got is brand new? My afro when I came across the stage in ‘72 was so big, I could not even put my graduation hat on my head. So it's nothing new. If you learn to respect history–because history repeats itself. So even as a business owner, if I look at some of the first Black-owned businesses, and I study how they managed to stay alive, that’s teaching me groundwork on how to do it. I think African American Studies also provides that hug that our African American students need in order to survive on these large campuses, as well as HBCUs. Because… [pause] if you have somebody that's pushing you, [pause] and that you can go back to, and that's mentoring you, you can go and function in a whole ‘nother place. I mean, I took Black history as an undergrad. That professor that taught me Black History is the reason why I'm in the state of Texas. That Black History professor ended up hiring me for a position at the university, and then he was the one that told UT Austin, “You want her to help get your Black students admissions up.” So I made that mentor connection, that if I hadn't taken those Black History classes, I maybe would have never, ever ended up in Texas. And that's what I'm trying to get students to understand: learn about who does- who built things. We have a lot of people that- we’re using products that we don't even know… [pause] that in our community is where they came from. We don't understand why some of us have our nose up sitting at the front of the bus. ‘Cause we had to sit in the back. I don't want our African American students to not understand what “Colored Only,” “White Only,” “Who's Malcolm X?” When I asked some students… [pause] I- I had some African American students in my Children's Lit. class actually a- say that they thought Martin Luther King wasn't a real person. And so I decided, “Let me make sure it's not just our kids that are way off.” So I asked in my Children's Lit. class, “Anybody know who Cesar Chavez is? Because we sit up here and park on the street.” No. Had no idea. I said, okay, that's why we've got to help your higher order thinking skills. Why should you be driving down Cesar Chavez Street and MLK Boulevard if you didn't even stop to even understand who those people were? You aren't going to have an appreciation for ‘em.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  12:19  \r\nAnd I- and I think that, uh, you've answered this question, but I want to ask it again. Why do you think it's important that we share our story?\r\n\r\n\r\nKarla Broadus  12:30  \r\nFirst off- and okay, I understand you got a children's lit person here, too… [pause] and a storyteller. Folktales… [pause] and all of those tall tales that our ancestors used to tell always had a reason behind the tale. There was a story, you were supposed to learn something. And… [pause] our kids need to learn those stories. So that they don't make some of the same mistakes. If you- if you don't have anybody that's building you up, you don't know where you're gon’ go. See, you mentioned Prairie View. Prairie View is one of my Commonwealth Computer customers. They support an African American business. When my youngest daughter was graduating from high school, she said, “Mom, I need the experience of being able to be in an HBCU.” I want to be around my people for a change, in order to learn what that environment’s all about. You've had me all over the country, and I've never had that opportunity. She went to Prairie View. And she just blossomed… [pause] from having that experience. I think many of our kids need an experience because we no longer have those tight Black communities, which is also a reason why we need African American Studies: to learn our history. We don't have grandma living next door anymore. We don't have the person that's going to say, “Don't you do that, I know your mama.” We don't have those communities anymore.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  14:34  \r\nYeah, I agree. When I- grow- when I was growing up, you know, we always said, “It takes a village,” and- and you know, you couldn't pass by three houses doing the wrong thing without somebody coming out and straightenin’ you out– \r\n\r\n\r\nKarla Broadus  14:44\r\nThat’s doggone right.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  14:45\r\n–and- and now we kind of livin’ in silos and- and we're disconnected, we’re disjointed. And- and you're right, it- that needs to change and we need to- we need to keep telling those stories. Before we go, uh, one last question. If you had a magic wand–you can only use it one time, and there's no limitations on it– how would you- how would you, uh, what would you impact in that one wave?\r\n\r\n\r\nKarla Broadus  15:09  \r\nWow… [pause] I would probably impact the family. Because I think if you have a strong family… [pause] that strong family will direct you academically, that strong family will support you in a business, and in any career that you might go in. I think because we've had a breakdown of the family, [pause] we don't have that strong, basic feel for, “I am somebody.” If you got Mom and Dad reminding that- you that you’re somebody from the very beginning, you gon’ be somebody.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  15:59  \r\nYou gon’ be alright. I want to thank you, Ms. Karla Broadus for being one of our 300 Voices in 300 Days. You have a lot of great things going on, and you have enlightened me and, hopefully, our guests on African American Studies. I get it, it makes sense, and I'm gonna study a little bit harder thanks to you. So again, thank you. This has been Tyrone Darden with the African American network TAAN TV. And this has been another episode of 300 Voices in 300 Days. Thank you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://saaacam.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2808/collection_resources/127828/file/239688#t=0.0,992.576"}]}]}]}