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Born in 1949 in Louisville, J. Blaine Hudson began his fight for social change in junior high school, when he was refused admittance to a downtown movie theater. Later, as a student at the University of Louisville, he demonstrated at the Arts and Sciences dean’s office, demanding improvement in educational opportunities for African-American students. He and several fellow protestors were arrested and tried under the newly enacted Kentucky Anti-Riot Act. The charges were eventually dismissed, but Hudson was forbidden by the judge to return to campus for one year. He also lost his prestigious national AFL-CIO scholarship because of his arrest record, although the organization did send him a letter in support of his position. After the Black Student Union made some gains on campus, its members expressed their community concern by founding Stop Dope Now in 1970.

Hudson, a history professor and chairman of the Pan-African Studies Department at U of L, is also associate dean for retention and diversity in the College of Arts and Sciences and chairman of the Kentucky African American Heritage Commission.

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