Jamala Rogers
Newspaper columnist and community organizer, Jamala Rogers was born Terry Massey on October 11, 1950 in Kansas City, Missouri to Lollie Massey and Bennett Woodward Massey. Rogers attended Phillips, Ladd and Moore Elementary Schools and graduated from Central High School in 1968. An activist at Tarkio College, Rogers was a leader of the black student organization. She also tried to join the Kansas City chapter of the Black Panther Party during the time that its leader, Pete O’Neal, was leaving the country. After earning her B.A. degree in education in 1971, Rogers relocated to St. Louis, Missouri.
Rogers helped to found the St. Louis Chapter of the Congress of African People (CAP) under the leadership of Amiri Baraka in the 1970s. There, along with Haki Madhubuti, Kalamu Ya Salaam, Jitu Weusi and others, Rogers practiced a version of Maulana Karenga’s black nationalist Kawaida Theory. She was also involved in the African Liberation Support Committee and the National Black Political Assembly. In 1980, Rogers joined Herbert Daughtry, Conrad Worrill and other black activists to form the Black United Front. The Organization for Black Struggle (OBS) was founded in St. Louis, Missouri in 1980 by Rogers and other community activists, students and union organizers to help the black working class and extol the principles of Black Power. OBS programs include community civic, youth, education and cultural arts activities from the African oriented Rowan Community Center.
In 1993, Rogers was appointed director of the City of St. Louis’ Office of Youth Development by Mayor Freeman Bosley, Jr. and fostered innovative approaches to addressing youth services . She served in that capacity until 2001. During this period, Rogers also served as chairperson of the St. Louis Black Leadership Roundtable. In 1998, Rogers joined with Angela Davis, Bill Fletcher and 2,000 other activists to form the Black Radical Congress (BRC) in Chicago. The BRC is a grassroots network focusing on civil and human rights. Rogers has served in a number of leadership capacities with the BRC, including as a coordinating committee member and as national conference coordinator. In addition to being chairperson of OBS, she is co-chair of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression (CAPCR) and sits on numerous boards of youth and education oriented agencies. Rogers is a prolific contributor to websites and blogs and is also a featured contributing writer for The St. Louis American and an editorial board member of the Black Commentator. Her writing focuses on issues like Hurricane Katrina, the Jenna Six, police brutality and the environment. She is married to veteran civil rights activist Percy Green II.
Rogers was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on October 16, 2007.
A2007.290
Female
10/16/2007
Rogers
Central Academy of Excellence
Phillips Elementary School
Ladd Elementary School
Moore Elementary School
Wendell Phillips Elementary School
Tarkio College
Yes
Depends on Schedule
Jamala
Kansas City
ROG07
Any, does better with young people
Yes - 0 - $500
Fall
Honorarium Specifics: $200-500
Preferred Audience: Any, does better with young people
Kansas
None
Forward Still

Missouri
10/11/1950
St. Louis
United States
None
Community activist and newspaper columnist Jamala Rogers (1950 - ) served as Director of the City of St. Louis’ Office of Youth Development from 1993 to 2001. She founded the Organization for Black Struggle and writes for the St. Louis American.
Kansas City Public School System
Congress of Afrikan People
Blue
Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Jamala Rogers's interview
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Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Jamala Rogers describes her mother's family background
Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Jamala Rogers talks about the importance of family photographs
Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Jamala Rogers describes her mother's childhood
Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Jamala Rogers describes her parents' move to Kansas City, Missouri
Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Jamala Rogers describes her relationship with her paternal grandmother
Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Jamala Rogers describes her great-aunt, Sadie Gibson
Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Jamala Rogers describes her family's education
Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Jamala Rogers describes her likeness to her mother
Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Jamala Rogers describes her earliest childhood memory
Tape: 1 Story: 12 - Jamala Rogers describes her neighborhoods in Kansas City, Missouri
Tape: 1 Story: 13 - Jamala Rogers describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood
Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Jamala Rogers remembers her interest in reading
Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Jamala Rogers describes the black media outlets in Kansas City, Missouri
Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Jamala Rogers describes her relationship with her father
Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Jamala Rogers describes the St. Paul Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Missouri
Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Jamala Rogers remembers her involvement as a Girl Scout
Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Jamala Rogers remembers her early understanding of racial discrimination
Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Jamala Rogers recalls her early advocacy
Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Jamala Rogers describes her mother's parenting style
Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Jamala Rogers remembers her influences at Central High School in Kansas City, Missouri
Tape: 2 Story: 10 - Jamala Rogers describes her activities at Central High School
Tape: 2 Story: 11 - Jamala Rogers recalls her aspiration to attend college
Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Jamala Rogers remembers her conflicts with her stepfather
Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Jamala Rogers describes her stepfather
Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Jamala Rogers recalls the aftermath of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination
Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Jamala Rogers remembers her college scholarship
Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Jamala Rogers remembers the Black Panther Party in Kansas City, Missouri
Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Jamala Rogers remembers Tarkio College in Tarkio, Missouri
Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Jamala Rogers describes her student activism at Tarkio College
Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Jamala Rogers describes the history of Tarkio College
Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Jamala Rogers talks about attending a majority-white college
Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Jamala Rogers recalls attending the Communiversity in Chicago, Illinois
Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Jamala Rogers talks about the black nationalist perspective
Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Jamala Rogers remembers student teaching at Central High School in Kansas City, Missouri
Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Jamala Rogers remembers her introduction to Afro-centrism
Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Jamala Rogers talks about Pete O'Neal and Charlotte O'Neal
Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Jamala Rogers remembers her move to St. Louis, Missouri
Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Jamala Rogers describes the history of the Congress of Afrikan People
Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Jamala Rogers describes the changes in the Congress of Afrikan People
Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Jamala Rogers describes her involvement in the Congress of Afrikan People
Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Jamala Rogers recalls the pushback against the Congress of Afrikan People
Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Jamala Rogers describes communal living with the Congress of Afrikan People
Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Jamala Rogers describes the changes in the Congress of Afrikan People
Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Jamala Rogers talks about the Revolutionary Communist League
Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Jamala Rogers describes the white members of the Revolutionary Communist League
Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Jamala Rogers describes her work with the Revolutionary Communist League
Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Jamala Rogers describes the Organization for Black Struggle
Tape: 5 Story: 9 - Jamala Rogers talks about the National Black United Front
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