In the education space, Caldwell goes above and beyond to educate and mentor young brothers. Additionally, he fights for diversity, equity, and inclusion even as programs that promote those concepts come under attack.
College administrator and creative Herb Caldwell is leaving his mark on college campuses and communities nationwide, through mentorship and documentaries designed to empower.
As a creative, he has only two feature-length films to date. However, each has had a profoundly outsized impact, signaling more great works to come.
EDUCATOR
Though based in the St. Louis, Missouri area, Caldwell’s Houston ties run deep, and he spends a lot of his time here in the Bayou City.
Still, his “day” job finds Caldwell serving as the Chief of Compliance & Engagement at Logan University (Chesterfield, Missouri). He has also held various positions at Saint Louis University, MacMurray College, and the University of Illinois. These roles have kept him out of the classroom for over a decade.
Yet, Caldwell has made his mark teaching and mentoring students nonetheless while championing diversity.
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“It occurred to me that I could talk about inclusion and diversity without ever having to use those words,” said Caldwell. “Because part of my message is if every student, professor and faculty member at this school is concerned about health, wellness, and improving community; if you really care about whatever this power and skill you have, are you also in a position where you can play God and determine what class of people, what group of people get it?”
Caldwell says he promotes diversity by “couching it within humanity.”
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He also uses the organization’s own data and mission statement (values) to navigate anti-DEI rhetoric and still advocate for and achieve diversity.
But Caldwell doesn’t stop there.
He began working in education (enrollment management) at 22 years old and “saw a lot of our Black and Brown brothers not understanding the game.” Though he was just one or two years older than many of them, he became a father figure, inviting them to his family’s home for dinner and conversations “teaching them about working through a checkbook, talking about how to navigate financial aid” and other things many first-generation students didn’t understand.
CREATIVE
The sense of pride Caldwell feels as he looks back and sees a generation of his mentors winning at life, feeds his creative spirit, where helping others continues to emerge as the theme.
His first documentary, “A Road to Recovery,” profiles Oval Miller Sr., a former heroin addict who founded a culturally specific drug and alcohol rehabilitation program to help Black people. Miller contended AA was designed for middle-class white men.
“Man, they had like an 83% success rate, which is amazing,” shared Caldwell.
MAMA JOE PROJECT
Caldwell’s latest creative endeavor, “The Mama Joe Project,” hits even closer home and reveals his love for and connection with Houston.
JoeAnna ‘Mama Joe’ Caldwell. Courtesy of Herb Caldwell.
Caldwell is the lead for the ‘Mama Joe Project,’ an initiative to reduce the disparity around health and caregiving, especially for those families that are dealing with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
“My own family is personally impacted,” said Caldwell, whose mother, JoeAnna “Mama Joe” Caldwell, is the film’s central figure and longtime Houston resident.
The project includes a documentary, “My Mama Joe, Hope & Help,” a series of Community Engagement Forums, and a research project that launches in 2025. The documentary will be shown in 23 states before airing on PBS in the first quarter of 2025.
I’m the lead for the ‘Mama Joe Project,’ an initiative to reduce the disparity around health and caregiving, especially for those families that are dealing with Alzheimer’s and dementia. My own family is personally impacted.
Dr. Herb. Caldwell
“Mama Joe,” a dynamic mothering force for thousands, education advocate, and general humanitarian, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The film tells her life story and the story of her family’s caregiving journey.
“Although dementia doesn’t discriminate, how it shows up in society, there are disparities. Two-thirds of those impacted are women. It impacts the Black community at twice the rate, and then our Latino brothers and sisters at 1.5 times the rate. So, I’m using this [documentary]to help raise awareness, to educate, and to connect to resources so that other families are aware so they can start at a higher point than my own family did in dealing with this,” said Caldwell.
Caldwell’s father and multiple siblings live in Houston, where they moved to care for “Mama Joe.” For years, Houston has become his second home and the location for much of the documentary’s filming.
JoeAnna ‘Mama Joe’ Caldwell (left) with daughter Rev. Joy Oliver. Courtesy of Herb Caldwell.
Reverend Joy Oliver is one of Caldwell’s Houston-based siblings. She appreciates the film her brother produced and their mother, who is the film’s central figure.
“My mother’s passion was to help others so they didn’t have to suffer as she did,” said Oliver. “She fought for those who were hungry, under-educated, and hurting wherever she went–in South Africa, the mountains of North Carolina, Illinois, and here in Houston.
“Through the Mama Joe Project, her legacy of love will expand to bring prevention awareness, healing and hope to families dealing with Alzheimer’s and other cognitive ailments.”
“The Mama Joe Project” will make its Houston debut on Jan. 10 and 11, 2025, at the Deluxe Theater (3301 Lyons Ave, Houston, 77020). For more information, email pherbertcaldwell@bommsolutions.com, call 618-977-6537, or visit www.mamajoeproject.com.
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