Black History Month: Rise Celestial Studios Honors Dr. Zebulon Vance Miletsky

t seems almost unreal to say this but I never had a Black teacher in my life as a student through my stages of adolescence to adulthood…not one!

Only after meeting Zeb for the first time did I realize what I may of been missing out on — A connection and relatability that could of made all the difference to a little kid growing up where everyone that held a role of authority looked nothing like me and sounded nothing like me.

I was thrilled when he agreed to be a part of a project I was filming, Boston X. It was a lot to ask for a man who has so many responsibilities and so many that look to him for guidance.

He showed up and he had such a great attitude! A sense of humility that I quickly found to be the best thing about him. He was early to set so we had plenty of time to talk about his new book and his background growing up as a mixed race teenager.

I’ve reached out to Dr. Zeb a few times since our first introduction and each time we speak it’s always about what we are up to and how we are continuing to push forward the culture and efforts for social advocacy. I am honored to call him a friend.

-CEO of Rise Celestial Studios, Ralph Celestin shares insight on his first introduction to Dr. Zebulon Vance Miletsky.

Dr. Zebulon Vance

Dr. Zebulon Vance Miletsky is an Associate Professor of Africana Studies. His new book “Before Busing: Boston’s Long Freedom Movement in the ‘Cradle of Liberty’” is being published by the University of North Carolina Press for release in 2021. Dr. Miletsky, is an historian specializing in recent African-American History, Civil Rights and Black Power, Urban History, Mixed Race and Biracial identity, and Hip-Hop Studies. His research interests include: African-Americans in Boston; Northern freedom movements outside of the South; Mixed race history in the U.S. and passing; and the Afro-Latin diaspora. He is the author of numerous articles, reviews, essays and book chapters and is currently working on a manuscript on the civil rights movement in Boston. Ph.D.; African-American Studies with a concentration in History, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 2008.

Selected Publications:

Miletsky, Zebulon V. “Before Busing: Boston’s Long Movement for Civil Rights and the Legacy of Jim Crow in the “Cradle of Liberty”. The Journal of Urban HistoryFebruary, 2017

Miletsky, Zebulon V. “Separatist City” The Mandela (Roxbury) Movement and the Politics of Secession, Self-Determination and Community Control, 1983-1986. The Trotter Review, October, 2016

Miletsky, Zebulon V. “The Dilemma of Interracial Marriage: The Boston NAACP and the National Equal Rights League, 1912-1927”. Massachusetts Historical Journal, January, 2016