Perry Wallace’s barrier-breaking experience as the first African-American student athlete to integrate the Southeastern Conference (SEC) is the pivot point for “Where Do We Go From Here?” with host Karanja A. Ajanaku. The show airs Sunday at 5 p.m. on WLOK (1340 AM, 105 FM).
Wallace’s life is featured in “Triumph: The Untold Story of Perry Wallace,” which was screened recently at the National Civil Rights Museum. It’s also chronicled in the book “Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race and Sports in the South.”
With the Vanderbilt University grad’s story as the backdrop, this week’s “Where Do We Go From Here?” segment showcases four panelists discussing what it’s like to represent something larger than one’s self.
The panel:
- Dr. Derrick Payne, a dentist who graduated Vandy in 1993 and played football at both Hamilton High School and Vanderbilt.
- Bertha Rogers Looney, who integrated Memphis State University as one of the “Memphis State 8.”
- Legendary high school and college basketball coach, Verties Sails.
- Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell, who earned Vanderbilt’s first creative writing degree.
