FORT PIERCE FOLKS
FORT
FORT
FORT
FORT
FORT
Hobson, an associate professor at Indian River State College, first learned
of Hurston when he taught an honors English class for middle schoolers.
45
online. I like to make sure the students are fulfilled academically
and holistically. I like to be able to help them find
resources and become a stronger human being.
“Now when I get to see students live, I appreciate it even
more. Teaching is not just assignments; it’s in the skills where
you interact with the students and helping to strengthen their
soft skills.”
Hobson, who heads the Zora Neale Hurston Florida
Education Foundation in Fort Pierce, is excited about sharing
more of the famous author with the community.
“The foundation is hoping for a grant to renovate the
building and do literacy programs there,” he says. “The
Zora Foundation is doing a reader’s theater later version of
Fort Pierce legend Brenda Cooper’s play, Grandma’s Wedding
Dress, soon. We have so much talent here in this community
and we are trying to find ways for young people to positively
express themselves and contribute to the community. We
want people to know that you can be right here in Fort Pierce
and use your gifts and talents through The Zora Dust Tracks
Museum and Humanities Center.”
Hurston and Hobson may not have connected in real life,
but if you believe in those things, it appears fate seems to
have moved time and space to bring them together.
sociate degree in business. He was immediately recruited and
hired by Chase Manhattan Bank in Hicksville, New York, making
more money than he ever dreamed a 20-something could
make. But Hobson found the position mind-numbingly dull
and before even knowing what he wanted to do next, he quit
the job and headed upstate, garnering his bachelor’s and master’s
degrees at the State University of New York at Albany.
“I tried my hand at music and Africana studies,” Hobson
says, “but I kept acing the English classes I loved, which
helped keep my GPA high.”
Hobson’s advisers begged him to switch to an English degree,
but “How many big, 6’2” black men do you know have
a degree in English? I fought them tooth and nail. Then I met
Dr. Kamberellis, an old white guy who’d gotten his degree
late in life, and I think having a male mentor and representation
showed me that this was something a man could do.”
After graduating with a master’s degree in reading education,
Hobson interviewed for and was offered nine positions
in Florida, which had just begun implementation of the No
Child Left Behind Act.
“I was certified at the time when reading programs had
become very popular and began my teaching career at a high
school in Tampa in the middle of the school year,” he explains.
Hobson says working in an inner-city school that had been
burned down during desegregation and risen from the ashes
was a terrific learning experience.
In 2005, Hobson and his wife, Sherise, moved to West Palm
Beach to be closer to family and Hobson tried his hand at
teaching middle school.
“Teaching middle school was the most fun I ever had,”
Hobson says. “You’d be breaking up a fight one minute, then
learning literature the next. I was tapped to teach an honors
English class at the last minute, and the required reading was
Zora. I had never even heard of her, but I was hooked.”
As fate would have it, the year Hobson taught students
about Hurston was the year the mass grave of 674 African
American victims of the 1928 hurricane was dedicated. Hobson
FORT
accompanied his students on a very moving and educational
journey that brought Hurston and her account of the
deadly hurricane in Their Eyes Were Watching God into crystal
clear focus.
But Palm Beach County didn’t feel like home for the Hobsons
and though they lived in Port St. Lucie for a while and
commuted, the couple longed for a place with a strong sense
of community and belonging. They found that in Fort Pierce,
and eventually settled in Lakewood Park in the Portofino
community of homes.
“When we moved to Fort Pierce,” Hobson says, “we
became involved in the River of Life Fellowship Church off
Juanita Avenue and we felt connected.”
Hobson took a position as an adjunct English instructor
at Indian River State College and was soon hired into
the English Department as an associate professor, a job he
loves. Hobson and his wife, who is an advising coordinator
at the college, welcomed daughter, Shayla, 10 years ago and
recently added Obi, a long-promised puppy for Shayla.
Teaching and working on a doctorate during a pandemic
was tremendously challenging, but Hobson finally added a
Ph.D. to his credentials last year.
“Being a student during the pandemic and trying to finish
the degree helped me to understand what some of my students
are going through,” Hobson says. “Mentoring students
is really what I feel like my calling is and it’s hard to do that
MARVIN HOBSON
Age: 45
Lives in: Lakewood Park
Occupation: Associate professor
at Indian River State College
Family: Wife, Sherise; daughter,
Shayla; and family dog, Obi
Education: Bachelor’s degree in
English and master’s in reading
education from SUNY Albany; doctorate in English literature
from Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Hobbies: Music — “I have a soprano sax and a clarinet,
and I hope to learn to play them both this year. I also sing
with my church.”
Who inspires me: “My family, my students, my community.”
Something people don’t know about me: “I started my
career in banking.”
PIERCE
PIERCE
PIERCE
PIERCE
PIERCE
PIERCE