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Alumni Interview: Five Things That Matter with Terrell Williams '97
Terrell Williams ’97 grew up in Newark, NJ, and attended BBA for four years. He graduated from the University of Vermont with honors in 2001, and earned his Master's degree in clinical social work in 2008 from Bryn Mawr. He works as a school social worker at Imhotep Institute Charter High School in Philadelphia, and teaches a History of Hip Hop class virtually for BBA, alongside BBA social studies teachers Pete Nicholson and Andrew Cassarino. Terrell lives in the Mount Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia with his fiancé and their nine-child blended family.
This is a preview of an in-depth interview with Terrell Williams '97 that will appear in the winter issue of The VIEW.
Terrell Williams ’97 grew up in Newark, NJ, and attended BBA for four years as part of a program known as “Link.” The Link program allowed for two to three students from the Project Link (now Link Community School) to board with local families while attending BBA. Terrell graduated from the University of Vermont with honors in 2001, majoring in sociology and comparative religion. While at UVM, Terrell studied abroad in Ghana, West Africa, focusing on humanities and traditional religion. He was also a college radio DJ and started a live hip-hop/jazz band. Following college, Terrell began working with children in a residential facility in Burlington, VT, then interned for Ninja Tune records in Montreal for a year before moving back to the United States to Philadelphia, to continue working with children and families. He earned his Master’s degree in clinical social work from Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work in 2008. After working in the field for more than 20 years, he began working as a school social worker at Imhotep Institute Charter High School in Philadelphia, realizing, he said, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men (Frederick Douglass).” Additionally, Terrell teaches a History of Hip Hop class virtually for BBA, alongside BBA social studies teachers Pete Nicholson and Andrew Cassarino. Terrell lives in the Mount Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia with his fiancé and their nine-child blended family.
1. What does a typical day look like in your work as a high school social worker in Philadelphia?
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Terrell Williams ’97 grew up in Newark, NJ, and attended BBA for four years as part of a program known as “Link.” The Link program allowed for two to three students from the Project Link (now Link Community School) to board with local families while attending BBA. Terrell graduated from the University of Vermont with honors in 2001, majoring in sociology and comparative religion. While at UVM, Terrell studied abroad in Ghana, West Africa, focusing on humanities and traditional religion. He was also a college radio DJ and started a live hip-hop/jazz band. Following college, Terrell began working with children in a residential facility in Burlington, VT, then interned for Ninja Tune records in Montreal for a year before moving back to the United States to Philadelphia, to continue working with children and families. He earned his Master’s degree in clinical social work from Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work in 2008. After working in the field for more than 20 years, he began working as a school social worker at Imhotep Institute Charter High School in Philadelphia, realizing, he said, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men (Frederick Douglass).” Additionally, Terrell teaches a History of Hip Hop class virtually for BBA, alongside BBA social studies teachers Pete Nicholson and Andrew Cassarino. Terrell lives in the Mount Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia with his fiancé and their nine-child blended family.
1. What does a typical day look like in your work as a high school social worker in Philadelphia?
As the school social worker, I do almost anything to support our students, except for teaching classes. I begin my day by crunching numbers, identifying students who are accumulating excessive absences and have significant behavioral challenges/needs, then I collaborate with support staff and grade teams leaders to find solutions, contact families, and conduct home visits when necessary.
I also lead and manage the school-wide positive behavioral program for students using a point system. All staff members can give positive points for Imhotepian behavior (identified positive behaviors), conversely, students receive negative points for undesirable behaviors. The balance of those points is used as currency to purchase items like snacks, Philly pretzels (not to be confused with NY pretzels!), pizza, and school swag in the Tep Store, set up just outside of the cafeteria. We also hold monthly ceremonies to recognize those students that have accumulated the most positive points. In previous years, this program focused on students that accumulated the most points, which were often the same students month to month. We wanted to shift the process so that students who may have earned only five points could purchase items. This way, it’s inclusive and encourages students with the most challenging behaviors, and recognizes their improvements.
(Driven by the daily data, Terrell said that the number of points spent went from just 145 per day early in the fall to 2,165 on the day that we spoke.)
2. You have managed to combine passions in your career: You co-teach the History of Hip Hop class at BBA, alongside your work as a high school social worker. How does your career in social work inform your teaching at BBA? How does your past work in music inform your work with high school students?
Hip hop music and culture have been extremely important to me and the main source of my cultural identity since I was about 9 or 10 years old in 1988-89. In 1993, at 13, when I moved from Newark, New Jersey, I embraced an almost opposite cultural landscape in Manchester, Vermont. The socioeconomic disparities between the two environments were vast and often unsettling, which peaked my sociological/cultural curiosities. As I teach BBA students, I seek to stay true to my lifelong commitment to break down barriers and educate folks from all socioeconomic backgrounds about the importance of diversity in every form. Hip hop is such a great space to do this as it’s a communal and ever-evolving culture.
While attending BBA, the music and culture kept me grounded and sane to a large extent. I remember early on in my stay, I had unintentionally been playing some offensive hip hop loudly and my host father, rightfully so, asked that I not play such music in the home. However, my host mother intervened and advocated to respect my cultural differences, allowing me to keep my music. That was so powerful that she understood that - perhaps more than I did at the time. I love them so much - I just communicated with them last week.
All three of us (Terrell, along with co-teachers Andrew Cassarino and Pete Nicholson) acknowledge the value of the diverse messaging in hip hop and are excited to deliver this curriculum. I want to make sure that students understand the music but also the greater context of strong cultural and socioeconomic messages. I think it’s important that folks don’t just see the current versions and variations of hip hop and think this is it. I want the whole story and evolution of the music and culture to be told.
3. What inspires you?
I’m deeply inspired by cross-cultural exchanges and communication that impacts change in positive ways, like this one. Through my experiences, I have been given this very rare opportunity to be able to live in and navigate these different worlds. To be from the inner city and to also have lived in Vermont, I find myself as part of multiple cultures at the same time. While I’m very African American and feel very comfortable in my skin, I also embrace my white family members in Vermont.
I’m inspired by understanding the world on a larger scale and embracing multiple truths at once. I consider myself a Pan-Africanist as well as a humanist. I really appreciate the ability to engage both worlds seamlessly. WEB DuBois coined the term ‘double consciousness’ for the internal conflict of attempting to reconcile his African heritage with European constructs. Sometimes, I even felt like there was a triple or quadruple consciousness. Upon arrival in Vermont, I couldn’t wait to get back to Newark. After visiting Germany in my junior year, my world opened up. I realized that there was something of great value in Vermont. I was (and am still) inspired by Clare, my 2nd Vermont host mother. I ultimately learned that loving Vermont didn’t mean that I had to denounce other parts of my identity or background that I loved.
Last but not least, I’m most inspired by adulting and parenting our nine-child blended family with my beautiful fiancé, Vanessa. We met in 2017 after I lost my twin daughter, London, while my other daughter, Brooklyn, lived in the NICU for seven months. After Brooklyn was discharged, Vanessa became my home nurse in late 2017. Early on, I learned that she had lost a twin son, Jordan, in 2015 and we became fast friends. We finally got together in the fall of 2019, just before Covid, and then had Autumn in May 2020. We had our twins Zaria and Zakhi (girl/boy) in May 2021 to join my two and her other four children. To raise kind, honest, and hardworking children is my greatest inspiration.
4. What has life been like for you during the pandemic?
In February 2020, I began working as a clinical supervisor for a residential treatment program for men with significant trauma and mental health diagnoses (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder). When the pandemic hit, the entire program was put on hold but still required full staffing. When covid hit, the residents lost all ability to go out into the community, get jobs, go to the library etc. The program became the opposite of what was intended.
Personal life in the pandemic was eventful, to say the least. My mom passed on March 2; her service was on March 10, just before the world shut down, and I’m pretty sure that’s how I caught Covid. Autumn was born in May then contracted Covid a month later! We were pregnant with twins by the fall. The pandemic in conjunction with the birth of our twins were also major forces that made me begin thinking, ‘What do I love? What do I want my legacy to be?’ Children will have a greater likelihood of survival and success when those invisible hands of systemic oppression are made visible for their comprehension, critique, and conquering. For my students, my mantra is: “When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” The pandemic guided me back to my original purpose and made me reevaluate who and how I want to be in this world, to my family, and for my cultures. All of this led me to join Imhotep Charter High School to impact the lives of young people.
5. How did your time at BBA shape your career path? What important things did you take away from your time at BBA?
BBA shaped my career path in EVERY WAY. I can’t overstate the positive impact that it has had on my life. I just talked to a frustrated student (about this) the other day. ‘If someone has a problem with you, remember, it’s their problem and they can keep it. No need to make it your problem.’ As a young person in Vermont, white folks would stare at me, and I would get really upset thinking, “You never seen a black person before?!” My girlfriend at the time would say, “Maybe they think you’re good-looking and it’s not something negative.’ I learned, you can have a problem with me, but it’s yours.
As I’m teaching History of Hip Hop, there’s so much that’s in this curriculum that I didn’t know about music when I was younger. When I was at BBA, I worked at a deli across the street from the Equinox, called Village Fare, and they introduced me to some of the best music. I didn’t know much about jazz, reggae, or rock until my peers and coworkers introduced me. It was strange how white folks put me on to all this music that fueled hip hop. These are just a few things that I take away from my experiences at BBA. I’m grateful for the experience as it changed the entire trajectory of my life for the better.
BONUS: So, what are you listening to now? (music, podcast, audiobook)
- King Tubby (‘68-‘79 roots reggae)
- Gold School Hip Hop (‘86-‘98)
- Invisibilia podcast
- Hidden Brain podcast
- The Moth podcast
- Code Switch podcast
- StoryCorps podcast
“I listen to NPR every day. The sensibilities and contexts have strong Vermont-ish undertones.”
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