Ruth E. Carter is a legendary entertainment industry legend with no signs of letting up. She is a Hampton University graduate. She is well-known as a costume designer with over 40 credits to her name. Since her stellar work on Black Panther, she has become an Oscar-winner in Best Costume Design, making her the first black woman to do so. She has worked on classics like Malcolm X, Amistad, Selma, School Daze, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and most recently, Coming 2 America.
Ruth E. Carter (Credit: AMPAS/Jeff Lipsky)
With such an accomplished career behind her, we wanted to sit down not only with Ruth E. Carter, but with a roundtable of HBCU students to reflect on just how far the HBCU experience can propel you into your purpose. Ruth E. Carter’s passion for her work could be felt through every response she gave. Considering Carter’s accomplishments to the entertainment industry, her Oscar, and her upcoming star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, students were star-struck, yet eager to hear from the fashion maven.
Daniel Ryan from Tuskegee University inquired about how Carter’s experience attending Hampton shaped her work. She shared something that it seems the mainstream media is just beginning to realize: HBCUs actually do provide that solid foundation in preparing students for the working world. In addition to courses, HBCUs empower black students to see that success can look like them, so they excel fearlessly. Carter was able to be trained in college on tedious sets like A Raisin In The Sun, The Color Purple, and more.
Business permeates every industry, and student Glenn Crawley Jr. of Virginia State University asked Ruth how she navigated advertisements in her work. He asked because as he enjoyed the film, he had noticed Meeka (KiKi Layne) confidently wore Puma branded outfits in some scenes. Ruth E. Carter let the students in on a little secret. In fact, her outfits weren’t just Puma, but from a black artist who was famous for remixing designer and other brands to make her own looks. But she shared that some endorsements like “Nike” would generally be easy to incorporate because brand awareness is so strong that viewers wouldn’t receive it as being advertised to. Another surprising fact was Carter’s decision to use the designs of emerging black designer Sergio Hudson. Hudson has garnered a lot of buzz lately for dressing political leading ladies Michelle Obama and Kamala Harris for the recent presidential inauguration. The students appreciated Carter’s decisions behind the scenes to use her platform to support black designers in an industry where they are often overlooked.
To learn more about the engaging conversation, tune in here (HYPERLINK). Make sure you catch Carter’s hand-picked designs in the new and long-awaited comedy Coming 2 America, which is out now on Amazon Prime!
The Civil Rights Movement would not be what it was without HBCU students. These students, hailing from Tennessee State University, Fisk University, American Baptist College, and more, sacrificed not only their lives, but the lives of their families, their grades, and their careers. A recent story, originally titled “Nashville’s Freedom Riders: HBCU students risked all to end segregation” is looking to tell the stories of the late and still-living history-makers who put it all on the line for us all. The story below was originally published in the Wisconsin Examiner and written by John Partipilo, Anita Wadhwani, and Dulce Torres Guzman.
Frederick Leonard stands in front of the Civil Rights mural at the Historic Metro Courthouse. (Photo: John Partipilo)
On Feb. 27, 1960, John Lewis, then a student at American Baptist College, joined other college students in Nashville as they sat down at the “whites only’’ lunch counter at Woolworth’s in the heart of downtown to begin their work integrating the city’s stores.
Students at HBCUs, including Tennessee State University, Fisk University, Meharry Medical College and ABC, risked their reputations within their families, their educations — in many cases, they were expelled — and their lives. Few became famous but all took risks.
Civil rights activists known as the Freedom Riders disembark from their bus (marked Dallas), en route from Montgomery, Alabama, to Jackson, Mississippi, as they seek to enforce integration by using ‘white only’ waiting rooms at bus stations, 26th May 1961. (Photo by Daily Express/Archive Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
It was part of the historic push to tear down the walls of racial segregation in public accommodations and interstate travel that forced Tennessee and the rest of the nation to change.
Now decades after the Nashville sit-ins, the ranks of surviving activists who were on the front lines and the Freedom Rides that followed have thinned considerably. Lewis, the revered civil rights activist who led the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and longtime Georgia congressman, died in July. So did the Rev. C.T. Vivian, who studied at American Baptist College and worked alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Though not well known beyond Nashville but just as impactful in the community were Kwame Lillard, a Nashville sit-in organizer and political stalwart who died in December, and Matthew Walker Jr., a sit-in leader who also participated in the Freedom Rides, who died in 2016.
Efforts to acknowledge their sacrifices have been attempted through the years. Tennessee State has awarded honorary doctorate degrees to several students who were kicked out of school because of their participation. A 60th anniversary commemoration of the sit-in movement was scheduled last year, but canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Among the anticipated highlights was a reunion of surviving participants.
The military guard a bus en route from Montgomery, Alabama, as civil rights activists known as the Freedom Riders head for Jackson, Mississippi, 26th May 1961. (Photo by Express/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
“All that fell apart because of COVID,” said King Hollands, who helped integrate a Catholic high school in the late 1950s. “I’m not sure we’ll ever get another chance.”
Last summer, photojournalist John Partipilo conceived of the idea of documenting the remaining seven Nashville participants of the Freedom Rides, inspired by his friendship with one of those seven, Kwame Leo Lillard. There are no monuments to the seven men and women. Their names aren’t widely known and with the exception of Lillard, they didn’t hold public office and didn’t become household names.
But as teenagers and young adults, they changed America. They showed white people across the country what dignity looked like.
Through photography by Partipilo and their own words in interviews with reporters Anita Wadhwani and Dulce Torres Guzman, we share their stories.
Since Partipilo started the project, photographing the seven Freedom Riders in their homes and in the Civil Rights Room of the Nashville Public Rider, their number has decreased. Lillard died just before Christmas.
King Hollands in the Nashville Library Civil Rights Room. Hollands was anticipating a 60-year reunion of Freedom Riders in 2020 but COVID-19 prevented the event from happening. (Photo: John Partipilo)
King Hollands: An early integrator
Before he participated in the sit-in movements in 1960 that eventually led to desegregation in Nashville, King Hollands — then a junior physics major at Fisk University — saw how international students would freely sit at restaurants and lunch counters throughout the city.
“We had all these international students at Fisk, at Vanderbilt, at American Baptist College,” he said. “They were able to go to local restaurants. The American students would go, too, if they wore international garb.”
A childhood spent traveling with his parents and siblings across the country and a house frequently full of visitors from around the nation stopping in to see his father, a Church of God in Christ minister, gave Hollands a broader perspective about race than he learned in Catholic school in the segregated South. Then in 1954, after the Supreme Court’s Brown v Board of Education, Hollands landed in the first class of 14 Black students to integrate Father Ryan High School.
In February 1960, Hollands spent two weeks in jail after his arrest for sitting at the lunch counter at a downtown Nashville Woolworth’s store. Three months later, Nashville desegregated restaurants.
Hollands still has the metal cup that jailers used to serve him weak potato soup for his meals.
King Hollands poses outside the home owned by Nashville civil rights attorney Alexander Looby. Looby’s home, near Fisk University and Meharry Medical College, was bombed in April 1960 by segregationists. (Photo: John Partipilo)
The lesson Hollands would like people to take from that time is that change didn’t spring from spontaneous activism. It took months of training, education and planning. It built on movements that had come before.
“It wasn’t a flash in the pan,” he said. “The movement was already here. The sit-in movement came after that.”
As Hollands and fellow students headed to Woolworth’s that day in February, crowds spat on them, shouted and in some cases tried to attack them. They were prepared.
“Only students who had gone through training could participate,” he said. “Those who didn’t — or felt like they couldn’t not react, also had a role. They stood outside. They observed.”
He sees parallels to the Black Lives Matter movement today.
“Even though there were spontaneous protests over George Floyd, there’s planning there. The sit-in movement also had support from whites. That was important. You see that with Black Lives Matter. And there’s the emphasis on the importance of voting.”
There’s no better example of that, Hollands said, than Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia state representative whose efforts to fight voter suppression and turn out voters in that state is credited for helping elect two Democratic senators in 2020.
“This is the kind of leadership and planning that’s part of the new movement,” he said.
Hollands, now 79, is no longer involved in activism. He is a full-time caretaker to a family member at home.
But for decades he has been part of an informal Nashville civil rights veterans group that, before last year, met regularly.
“COVID has not made that possible,” he said. “I’m probably one of the younger ones in the group. We’re not tech savvy, so no Zooming. We don’t have the tools. That’s why younger people are so important. We can offer our experience. But it’s up to them now. We are the old folks.”
– Anita Wadhwani
Frankie Henry, photographed in her home, inadvertently became involved in the Movement when Diane Nash pressed her into service. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Frankie Henry: Scarred after 60 years
Frankie Henry became involved in the civil rights movement by accident.
On Feb. 27, 1960, Henry was a freshman at Tennessee State University and had just left her tap-dancing club. She had dreams of being a Pepperette — the university’s tap dance troupe —and had her tap shoes slung over her shoulder when she was approached by a light-skinned woman at a downtown Nashville bus depot asking if Henry could accompany her.
“I asked myself, ‘what does this white girl want with me?’” she said.
As they walked through The Arcade, a strip of enclosed stores in downtown Nashville, Henry noticed several Black students sitting at whites-only counters.
“They’re going to get in trouble,” Henry commented, and then the woman began to explain that the students were in the middle of a citywide movement to protest segregation. The woman then questioned Henry.
“Are you from Nashville?” asked the woman.
“I said ‘yes,’” responded Henry.
“Can you sit with us?” asked the woman.
“I said ‘no’,” said Henry.
She eventually conceded and sat down at a diner with the mysterious woman. Henry later learned the woman was Diane Nash, a leader of the student wing of the civil rights movement. Nash had been unable to successfully protest segregation as she was often mistaken for a white woman.
Frankie Henry sitting for photojournalist John Partipilo inside the Civil Rights Room of the Nashville Public Library.
While they sat at the diner, the waitress came and went without acknowledging Henry, but bringing coffee for Nash. The women then began to discuss the movement to end segregation and the practice of nonviolent protesting.
“We’re following the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Nash.
The women’s conversation was eventually interrupted when the waitress came back and confronted Nash as to why she was sitting with an “n-word”.
“I keep telling you we don’t serve the n-word in here,” the waitress told Nash.
“But you served me, and I’m a Negro,” Nash responded.
Henry jumped in surprise because that was the first time she learned Nash was a Black American. The women then walked down Fifth Avenue, past McLellan’s and Woolworth’s, to meet other protesters. Now in another diner, Henry continued to discuss the civil rights movement when suddenly a white woman put out a lit cigarette on Henry’s arm.
“She looked at me and I looked at her and looked down and she still had [the cigarette] there. I was thinking, I’m only 19.”
“ I said to myself this is my first day in the sit-in and I’m so sorry but I’m going to have to end this movement because I can’t take this,” said Henry.
Henry balled her fist and was about to strike the offending woman when she noticed a protester shaking his head, silently asking her not to resort to violence.
The white woman then attempted to set Henry’s poncho on fire, and when the protesters tried to leave the diner, they were arrested and taken to jail. Her parents learned from the 6 p.m. news about their daughter’s arrest, and they tried to bail her out. But Henry made the decision to stay.
“I said I’m not leaving until the rest of them leave. We haven’t done anything wrong. I didn’t know at the time that they were going to try us one by one and I would be in there for two weeks,” she said.
During that time, the protesters slept on cold steel bunk beds with no mattresses or blankets. Among the 80 of them was John Lewis, then another student who would go on to become a congressman. Locked up, they communicated with each other by using reflective compacts. They passed the time singing, chanting and talking about the movement as they stool trial one by one.
By the time Henry was released, she was given failing grades for missed classes at the university.
“They mailed my grades and told me I would never be able to attend a state-supported institution again because my grades were too low,” said Henry.
She later found out that people had attacked her parents’ house because the Tennessean newspaper had published her name, but despite her own worries about putting her family in danger, her father still supported her future involvement in the movement. He told her she did the right thing.
She eventually returned to Tennessee State in 1966 but was forced to take freshman courses over again. Henry’s education had been delayed by almost a decade, as she graduated in 1970 instead of 1962.
She spent the next few decades teaching and retired in 2006. During her career, she traveled to different schools throughout Tennessee to tell her story and teach about Black history. She was often asked for autographs, and on one occasion, she found herself teaching descendants of people who had confronted her during the civil rights movement, including the great-grandson of the director who had been ordered to give her failing grades.
She still bears the scar from the cigarette burn.
– Dulce Torres Guzman
Ernest “Rip” Patton reminisces about his days in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement while walking through the Nashville Public Library. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Ernest “Rip” Patton Jr.: A drum major for justice
Ernest “Rip” Patton Jr. was a drum major in the marching band at Tennessee State when he joined the newly formed branch of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960.
In February of that year, he took part in sit-ins at the downtown Nashville lunch counters with fellow students in a nonviolent protest of segregation, an effort that succeeded in integrating downtown businesses later that year. In May 1961, Patton boarded a Greyhound bus in Nashville headed for Jackson, Mississippi to challenge segregated interstate travel.
Patton and his fellow Freedom Riders were arrested at the bus station in Jackson and sent to Parchman Farm, the Mississippi state penitentiary notorious for its brutal conditions.
He was expelled from Tennessee State for his activism. He never returned. But nearly 50 years later in 2008, the university awarded him an honorary doctorate degree.
Ernest “Rip” Patton inside the Nashville Public Library’s Civil Rights Room. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Now 80, Patton worked as a jazz musician and a truck driver, and has talked at length about his experiences since.
In 2011, he appeared in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey describing what the students faced inside Parchman prison.
“We did a lot of singing,” he said. “They didn’t like the singing. And every time that they would threaten to do something, we would sing.”
Patton, his voice a deep baritone, began to sing: “You can take our mattress, oh yes,” in a melody that echoed spiritual music, repeating the verse several times. The audience, and Oprah, joined him.
– Anita Wadhwani
Near her Nashville home, Etta Simpson Ray reflects on the Civil Rights Movement. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Dr. Etta Simpson Ray: Faced anger, arrest, silence
Dr. Etta Simpson Ray was one of 14 students from Tennessee State University, then called Tennessee A&I State University, who boarded a bus in 1961 headed to Birmingham then Montgomery, Alabama as part of the Freedom Rides to desegregate interstate travel.
There was a quietness about it as a whole; Nashville didn’t want to talk about it. It was like — it happened, It’s over. – Dr. Etta Simpson Ray on not discussing her activism for decades after the 1960s
Like other participants, Ray went through training sessions on nonviolent resistance organized by the Nashville chapter of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Etta Simpson Ray holds a copy of her friend and civil rights leader Bernard Layfayette’s book. (Photo: John Partipilo)
In Birmingham, they were met by an angry mob, then herded by police into the bus station where they spent the night with no lights, water, telephone or use of bathrooms. The next day they were driven to Montgomery, where they were again met by a mob. Ray joined a later Freedom Ride to Jackson, Miss., where she was arrested and sent to Parchman state prison for a short time before she made bond. Along with other students who participated in the Freedom Rides, Ray returned to Nashville only to be expelled from college.
In the ensuing years in Nashville, the students’ heroic actions during the civil rights movement went largely unacknowledged, Ray said during an interview with Versify, a podcast by Nashville Public Radio station WPLN and nonprofit literary organization, The Porch, last year. She didn’t speak much about her experience, even with family, for decades, she said.
“There was a quietness about it as a whole Nashville didn’t want to talk about it,” she said in the broadcast. “It was like — it happened. It’s over.”
In 2008, 47 years later, Ray and her fellow expelled students, were awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Tennessee State University.
– Anita Wadhwani
Frederick Leonard stands in front of the Civil Rights mural at the Historic Metro Courthouse. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Frederick Leonard: A time like this
Sixty years after his imprisonment as one of the original Freedom Riders who boarded a bus in Nashville determined to desegregate the Deep South, Frederick Leonard’s thoughts turned to a Black man he only remembers as “PeeWee.”
At the notorious Parchman Farm prison in Mississippi — where Leonard and his cellmate Stokely Carmichael were sentenced to 60 days for the crime of walking into the white section of a bus depot in 1961 — Leonard would join other imprisoned Freedom Riders in singing while idling away the days.
In retaliation, white prison guards spiked their food with laxatives then turned off the water so the toilets wouldn’t flush, he said. They took away their mattresses, leaving them with nothing to sleep on but a wire frame or a hard floor.
After the second or third time guards tried to seize the mattresses, Leonard clung to his and wouldn’t let go.
“They dragged me and the mattress down the cell block,” Leonard recalled. “A Black guy there, real muscular — he was a prisoner, too, but I didn’t know him. He begged me to let go.”
Leonard didn’t let go.
“The guards were saying: ‘Get him, PeeWee, get him.’”
PeeWee, Leonard noticed, stood with tears in his eyes.
“It was really something,” Leonard said in a February phone interview. “This big Black guy started to cry. Then he started beating me. He didn’t want to do that. I could see it really hurt him.”
“I’ve always wanted to talk to PeeWee,” Leonard said. “I’ve wondered if he was still alive. I’d tell him the same thing I would have then. ‘I know it hurt you more than it hurt me.’”
Not knowing PeeWee’s real name, Leonard has never been able to find him, though he wishes he had.
Leonard was one of scores of Black and white civil rights activists who boarded buses from Nashville to Birmingham, Jackson and elsewhere to protest segregated restrooms and lunch counters at bus stations across the Jim Crow South.
In a way, we’ve done a 360. You’ve got mass incarceration, voter suppression laws and school segregation again. I look at this like, will this ever end? – Frederick Leonard
It was 1961 and Leonard’s first year at Tennessee State, where he was mentored by civil rights icons including the Rev. Kelly Miller Smith, John Lewis and Jim Lawson. They impressed upon him the need for nonviolent civil disobedience.
“They taught Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi,” he said. “They also convinced me that if I fought back, I might get killed. Of course, I knew we might get killed anyway. They just kind of convinced me that you don’t want to harm people.”
Leonard wasn’t always convinced that nonviolent action was the best tool for ending segregation in the 1960’s-era South.
In 1960, Leonard was a 17-year-old high school senior at the Howard School in Chattanooga reading newspaper accounts of sit-ins at lunch counters in North Carolina and Nashville. With no college leaders or ministers to guide them, Leonard and about 30 of his Black classmates walked down to three Chattanooga variety stores and sat at segregated lunch counters after school. When they were grabbed by the back of their shirts and pulled off the counters, Leonard fought back.
Guided by mentors at TSU, Leonard said his thinking began to shift.
Frederick Leonard’s nature vacillated between the non-violent teachings of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rev. James Lawson and a desire to fight back. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Leonard grew up in Chattanooga with segregated schools and pools and water fountains but didn’t really understand the racism underlying those realities until he was a teen.
He recalled that when he was 11 years old and a neighbor bought a television set —the first in his neighborhood — he was dumbfounded. How was it possible that he could see people broadcast from New York then switch the channel and see people from another city on that small screen?
“That’s the same confusion I felt when I realized how people hated us because we were a different skin color. I was really a confused person when I found out people hated us because of our skin color. Growing up in segregation didn’t feel like a big deal.”
After his release from Parchman after serving 44 of 60 days — by then the prison was holding an increasing number of Freedom Riders traveling from the Northeast and elsewhere and running out of room — Leonard thought hard about what he had experienced. He wasn’t convinced nonviolence was the answer. Carmichael, an activist who became known for his call of “black power,” would quote Malcolm X.
“Stokely would say ‘why are we on our knees praying while white men are violent?”
In 1961, Leonard plotted with a half dozen other activists to burn down a white-owned Nashville store on the corner of 40th Street and Clifton Avenue that he said extended credit to its Black customers then presented bills for more than they owed.
Police foiled the attack as Leonard and other young men arrived in a station wagon with Molotov cocktails in the back.
After his arrest and the court proceedings that followed, Leonard and his then-wife moved to Detroit to start a new life. They had a baby by then. Leonard went to work at the Chrysler plant before returning to Nashville. He founded his own company selling Afro hair picks out of a building on Jefferson Street in what is now an affluent Germantown neighborhood. The company was successful, selling picks to drug stores up and down the Northeast.
He wishes he’d held onto the building to cash in on the gentrification that has turned the area into high-value residential real estate, largely occupied by non-Black residents.
Today, he walks most days — sometimes 10 miles a day — and watches “the crazies” on CNN and MSNBC news, marveling at former President Donald Trump’s challenge to legal votes cast in the presidential election.
“I thought I’d never live to see a time like this,” he said, even at 78 his voice strong and rising. “I never ever thought there’d come a time when you would see them try to disenfranchise white people. In Georgia, a lot of white people voted for Biden.”
“In a way, we’ve done a 360,” he said. “You’ve got mass incarceration, voter suppression laws and school segregation again. I look at this like, will this ever end? We will never ever become the country we should be until we stop fighting the Civil War?
“Change is going to come. I don’t think I will live to see it. At one time, I thought I would. I don’t know now. I don’t know.”
Leonard has long since set aside what he calls his youthful ideas that people were born hating him because he is Black. Racism isn’t mysterious to him anymore, he said. It is learned, taught and chosen.
“But,” he said, “to be honest, I am still confused about the television.”
– Anita Wadhwani
Mary Jean Smith outside her North Nashville home. Another Freedom Riders, Alan Cason, gave Smith the rose bush she poses with. Cason died in March 2020; Smith could not be reached for an interview. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Kwame Leo Lillard: Rest in Power
Kwame Lillard was born in Florida but moved to Nashville with his family at a young age, becoming an integral part of the city’s fabric. He graduated from North Nashville’s Pearl High School before attending Tennessee State and joining the civil rights movement.
Lillard was an outspoken critic of a plan to route I-40 through North Nashville, a route that eventually bisected the city’s thriving Black business district along and near Jefferson Street. He was elected to Metro Council’s District 5 in 1987 and served two terms as a fiery spokesman for his community. Lillard served as a mentor for many of Nashville’s current Black leaders and elected officials and never stopped speaking out against unjust causes, including a potential police station that was slated to be sited on Jefferson Street.
The late Kwame Leo Lillard during his last visit with photojournalist John Partipilo, inside the Civil Rights Room at Nashville Public Library.
He founded the African American Cultural Alliance, organized the African American Street Festival and annually held a ceremony to honor the U.S. Colored Troops of the Union Army.
If you’re an HBCU creative, you’ll know that it’s not just about the help you receive, but what kind of help is available. Started by an ambitious group of working creatives, The Creative Collective NYC is now creating a space for black students and young professionals to learn and thrive.
Back before COVID, CCNYC demanded attention when it first came on the scene with the now unforgettable #CULTURECON conference. Creatives were able to enjoy sponsor pop-ups and networking. Celebrities like Tracee Ellis Ross, Lena Waithe, Will Smith, Regina King, and more held conversations that were beneficial to listen to.
Now they’re bringing that same vibe to Creative Curriculum! They’ve lined up several dope events for the HBCU creative in the month of March for you to get closer to your personal and professional dreams. In fact, there are two parts, an Open House and the Creative Curriculum, which comes afterward.
It all begins March 9-11 starting at 6:30PM EST with their Open House. For 3 days, you’re invited to enjoy live virtual opportunities to ask representatives from global companies real-time questions on various career topics. See who’ll be attending and the discussion topics below.
Tuesday March 9: Wethos, How to Identify Your Rates As a Freelancer
Wednesday March 10: HBO, Bringing Creative Projects To Life
Thursday March 11: Estee Lauder, Landing Your Dream Job In Beauty
Finally, beginning on March 13, you’ll be able to gain access to the coveted Creative Curriculum masterclasses. Think of informative, immersive classes that are on-demand like Netflix. For the next 60 days after March 13th, you’ll be able to access exclusive tips and information from industry experts and talent recruiters! Courses include:
How To Become a Successful Solo-prenuer
How To Land A Job in Tech
Marketing Masterclass: How to Tell a Compelling Story
How to Identify Your Career Goals and What Success Means to You
and more!
An added bonus is that The Creative Collective didn’t just choose just anybody for these courses. They have creatives and executives from global companies like Nike, Warner Media, and more giving their insider knowledge. So what are you waiting for?Get in free when you use our code “HBCUCULTURE” for a free ticket! Sign up before the early Monday March 8, 2021 here, and we’ll see you there!
“I never thought this day would come,” Norfolk State University alumna Maia Chaka. Today, Chaka joined the ranks of history-making HBCU graduates with her new appointment in the NFL! Read the story from Scott Stump at TODAY below!
Seven years after she was one of only two women selected for an NFL officiating developmental program, Maia Chaka has made history.
The NFL announced exclusively on TODAY Friday that Chaka has become the first Black woman to join the ranks of officials at football’s highest level.
Watch TODAY All Day! Get the best news, information and inspiration from TODAY, all day long.
“It didn’t really hit me until just now,” Chaka said on TODAY. “When I saw the introduction, I’m like, ‘This is really real,’ because this is just something that we’re just always taught to work hard for. Sometimes we just don’t take time to stop and smell our own roses.
Credit: Don Juan Moore
“I’ve just been grinding for so long at this, it’s just an honor to be able to join the National Football League.”
Chaka received the life-changing call on March 1, when NFL vice president of officiating evaluation and development Wayne Mackie told her she was joining the ranks of NFL officials. Mackie, who was an NFL official for 10 seasons, has been a mentor to her over the years, so she thought it was just a conversation to catch up.
Mackie told her he wanted her to get prepared for an upcoming meeting and then added, “Also, you have a lot of work ahead of you.”
“He goes, ‘Welcome to the National Football League,’ and I just went nuts,” Chaka said. “I asked him, ‘Hey are you punking me, you’ve gotta be kidding me,’ because I’ve been at it for so long, I just never thought the day would come. I just enjoyed working.”
Chaka has been training with the NFL since 2014, when she and Thomas were two of 21 referees chosen for the NFL Officiating Development Program after scouts observed Chaka officiating college football games.
She has worked NFL preseason games as part of the developmental program, but now she will be part of the crew for regular-season action. Chaka began her career in 2006 doing high school games and then moved up in the college ranks to Conference USA and then the Pac-12 Conference, according to The Virginian-Pilot.
Chaka and Thomas also made a bit of history in 2014 when they became the first female officials to work a FBS bowl game, between Washington and BYU.
Credit: TODAY/Twitter
Chaka most recently has been working Pac-12 games and also worked the sidelines for the short-lived XFL last year.
“You need to have a lot of patience,” she said about what makes a good official. “And then after having patience, you have to be able to listen, and then you need to have the confidence on the field to make the call. You also need to make sure that you are very decisive in that whatever decision you make, you stand by it.
“You’re going to make mistakes. It’s not necessarily how many mistakes that you make, it’s how you recover from all those mistakes that you make.”
Chaka can now look forward to the moment in September when she jogs on the field to officiate her first regular-season NFL game as a member of a crew.
Outside of football, Chaka has been a celebrated health and physical education teacher for the past decade at Renaissance Academy in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where she works with at-risk youth.
“I just want them to know if you have a passion for something and if have a drive for something, don’t let it hold you back just because you think that something may give you some type of limitation,” she said. “Just continue to work hard and always, always, always just follow your dreams.”
Florida A&M University has always been a leader in HBCU athletics, and now their games will look a whole lot sharper. Learn about FAMU’s new multi-year partnership with one of the biggest global leaders in sports and apparel in the release from FAMU below!
Florida A&M Athletics announced a six-year agreement with NIKE, Inc., to make Nike the official athletic footwear, apparel, and equipment provider for the Rattlers beginning July 1, 2021.
“FAMU is an elite institution with a rich tradition of first, and our student-athletes deserve a student-athlete experience that is second to none. As we transition into a new athletic conference and the opportunity to engage apparel partners, the 23-year relationship with Nike and their commitment to culture, diversity, inclusion, and innovation has never been clearer,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics, Kortne Gosha.
“My executive team and I are focused on setting a new standard and our top priority is to align with the best quality and most innovative products, brands and resources that position our student-athletes and coaches to compete for championships. This partnership allowed us to reimagine, challenge the norms of our industry and be the model for leveling the playing field with the most significant investment in the American Jewels known as Historically Black Colleges and Universities by any footwear and apparel company.”
The agreement will service the university’s athletic department, all 14 of Florida A&M’s sport programs and the Marching 100 band. NIKE will supply all team footwear, uniforms, apparel and equipment. Florida A&M’s sports teams will be outfitted in LeBron James uniforms, apparel and footwear, including footwear designed specifically for the university, as part of this relationship. Florida A&M is not only the No.1 public HBCU in the nation, but it has also produced some of the most significant trailblazers in American sports, with figures such as Althea Gibson, “Bullet” Bob Hayes, and football legends like Jake Gaither and Ken Riley to name a few.
“Florida A&M has a rich tradition of excellence on the court and field, which not only includes athletic success, but equally important is academics, preparation for future careers and community engagement,” said Sonja Henning, Nike’s VP of League Partnerships for North America. “Through our continued relationship with Florida A&M Athletics, we’ll have the opportunity to partner with some of the country’s preeminent student-athletes and the next generation of leaders.”
The partnership extends beyond outfitting some of the most iconic teams in collegiate athletics NIKE, Inc. will also support Florida A&M Athletics’ student-athlete development programs, offer internships and coordinate networking opportunities for Florida A&M students.
As more celebrities, athletes, and successful politicians bring awareness to the power of HBCUs, student-athletes are taking notice. Yet high profile athletes in particular beginning to realize it’s not just about the sport program, but the atmosphere the college or university provides. And especially for young black talent, HBCUs can be the best of both worlds. Catch the new report from Eric Mollo at ABC News below to explore this welcomed pattern.
When five-star high school basketball recruit Makur Maker was weighing offers from top college programs last summer, he looked at traditional powerhouses like Kentucky and UCLA. But the school he ended up choosing to attend was Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Maker felt he could be successful at Howard, even though the Bison won just four games the year prior and had not appeared in the NCAA Tournament since the early 1990s. He said he wanted to attend a historically black college, and encouraged more top recruits to follow his lead and “make the HBCU movement real.”
Historically black colleges and universities have a rich sports legacy and have produced plenty of star athletes despite their lower profiles. Basketball Hall of Famer Earl Monroe, Olympic runner Wilma Rudolph and Pro Football Hall of Famers Willie Lanier and Michael Strahan are a handful of high-profile athletes to come out of HBCUs.
“To go to Texas Southern … it was perfect for me,” Strahan, who was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014 and now co-hosts “Good Morning America,” told ABC News’ “Perspective” podcast. “Knowing the history when you really looked into not just NFL players, but Hall of Fame NFL players, definitely made me realize that if I really wanted to be an NFL player that it could happen.”
Lanier, a graduate of Morgan State University, also spoke with “Perspective,” saying he was ignored by predominantly white schools when he was being recruited.
“It wasn’t about talent, it was about race. It was about a decision that it was not going to integrate,” Lanier said. “The institutions that were white were not recruiting Black students or athletes.”
Despite their legacies, HBCUs have struggled to consistently attract the top athletes in America. Makur is the only ESPN five-star player to ever commit to an HBCU.
Howard University (Credit: Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Derrick E. White, a professor of African American studies at the University of Kentucky and author of “Blood, Sweat, and Tears: Jake Gaither, Florida A&M, and the History of Black College Football,” said that recruiting gap stems from decades of institutional inequality.
“What we see really in the late ’60s and early ’70s is desegregation,” White said. “Black colleges … did not have the kinds of resources to compete for the very best players. After 1984, what we see is a massive explosion of new television dollars entering into college sports and those television dollars are being thrown at primarily white institutions.”
Tyrone Wheatley, the head football coach at Morgan State University, was a star running back at the University of Michigan and said student-athletes can feel lost at big programs.
“My first semester at University of Michigan, I didn’t like it,” Wheatley said. “Now, you’re here [at Morgan State] and this is the first time ever in my professional career that I’ve ever felt comfortable doing a situation like Black Lives Matter. … I don’t have to explain if I want to take a knee … or me supporting the young men who want to take a knee.”
Wheatley, a first-round pick of the New York Giants in 1995, told “Perspective” that athletes who have ambitions of turning pro will get the necessary preparation at an HBCU.
“I have met some of the brightest and best coaches out there,” he said. “At the end of the day, we have the essentials and everything you need to be successful at an HBCU.”
Billy Hawkins, a professor at the University of Houston and author of “The New Plantation: Black Athletes, College Sports, and Predominantly White Institutions,” said the next few years could become a time when more five-star recruits consider attending HBCUs:
“I think there is … some racial fear when you talk about the radicalization, or the weaponization, of white supremacy,” Hawkins said. “I think a lot of individuals in the Black community are concerned about where we send our children and want to make sure they’re going to safe places.”
In this Jan. 19, 2020, file photo, Hillcrest Prep’s Makur Maker controls the ball against Sunrise Christian Academy during a high school basketball game at the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass (Credit: Gregory Payan/AP)
What could make this moment a turning point? Strahan said athletes should consider the advice they receive before choosing their school.
“A lot of these athletes are told that if you don’t go to one of the larger schools … then you’re not going to have a chance to make it to the next level,” he said. “It’s just not true. … HBCUs provide you with what a great education, but they also provide you with a great opportunity to get to the pros.”
Strahan added that alumni giving time or money to schools can also influence an athlete’s decision. He has been involved with and given back to his alma mater, as has Lanier, who told “Perspective” he is working to install modern playing surfaces at HBCU football fields through his program, The Honey Bear Project.
As for Maker, Howard’s prized recruit appeared in just two games before getting injured, and the Bison had to cancel their season due to a coronavirus outbreak.
Maker may enter the 2021 NBA draft and leave Howard. However, his decision to go to an HBCU could make other prospects consider the same route.
“That is legendary in so many different ways,” Strahan said of Maker’s decision. “If he can come out of there and still be successful, and I hate saying go to the NBA because there’s more than one way to be successful, but … I think it will add a lot of creed … to the argument that HBCUs can be great for young athletes.”
Listen to the full report and the rest of “Perspective” here.
Vernon E. Jordan Jr., Esq. is being remembered at Howard University after his recent passing on March 1, 2021 at age 85. He was not only a Howard University School of Law graduate, but also a member of the Board of Trustees. He was also was an activist who earned over 60 honorary degrees. Learn more about Jordan’s life well lived below from a statement released by Howard University President Wayne A. I. Frederick today.
Vernon E. Jordan Jr., Esq. (Credit: Howard University)
Dear Howard University Community,
It is with a heavy heart that I share the passing of a Howard and American giant, Vernon E. Jordan Jr., Esq. A proud graduate of the Howard University School of Law, Mr. Jordan served on the Board of Trustees from 1993 to 2014.
Mr. Jordan was senior managing director of Lazard Frères & Co. LLC in New York, where he worked with a diverse group of clients across a broad range of industries. Prior to joining Lazard, he was a senior executive partner with the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, where served as senior counsel. While there, he practiced general, corporate, legislative and international law in Washington, D.C.
Before his tenure at Akin Gump, Mr. Jordan held the following positions: president and chief executive officer of the National Urban League, Inc.; executive director of the United Negro College Fund, Inc.; director of the Voter Education Project of the Southern Regional Council; attorney-consultant for the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity; assistant to the executive director of the Southern Regional Council; Georgia field director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; and an attorney in private practices in Arkansas and Georgia.
Vernon E. Jordan Jr., Esq. (Left) with Former President Barack Obama (Right) at Howard University’s 2016 Commencement (Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Mr. Jordan’s presidential appointments include: the President’s Advisory Committee for the Points of Light Initiative Foundation, the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on South Africa, the Advisory Council on Social Security; the Presidential Clemency Board, the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, the National Advisory Committee on Selective Service and the Council of the White House Conference entitled “To Fulfill These Rights.” In 1992, Mr. Jordan served as the chairman of the Clinton Presidential Transition Team. His corporate and other directorships include: American Express Company (senior advisor); Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.; Howard University (trustee emeritus); Lazard Ltd.; Xerox Corporation (senior advisor); and International Advisory Board of Barrick Gold.
Mr. Jordan was a graduate of DePauw University and the Howard University School of Law, and he holds honorary degrees from more than 60 colleges and universities in America. He was a member of the bars of Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Georgia and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Bilderberg Meetings.
Mr. Jordan authored the book, “Vernon Can Read! A Memoir” (Public Affairs, 2001) and “Make It Plain, Standing Up and Speaking Out” (Public Affairs, 2008).
He blessed us through his annual sermon at Rankin Chapel, sharing lessons gleaned from the richness of his life and the remarkable role he played in movements to win civil and human rights at home and abroad. In his final appearance in April 2019, he reminisced about “four old men” who shaped his life and told a story of the changes he both witnessed and participated in through the years.
Former President Bill Clinton (Left) golfs with Vernon E. Jordan Jr., Esq. (Right) (Credit: Bloomberg)
To illustrate how slavery and Jim Crow had constrained the sense of possibility among so many, he recounted a 1947 conversation with his grandfather, Jim Griggs, who shared his life’s highest aspiration was to “be able to go to the bathroom indoors in a warm place once before I die.”
To call on a new generation of leaders to take up the baton and serve, Mr. Jordan shared his experience working as the chauffeur for former mayor of Atlanta Robert Maddox. Upon seeing Mr. Jordan on television years later working as a lawyer to integrate the University of Georgia, Maddox reportedly remarked: “I always knew he was up to no good.” Mr. Jordan then called to all in the congregation “I’ve come to ask you today: to get up to ‘no good’. The good kind of ‘no good’ that my friend John Lewis called ‘good trouble’… in the days of Jesus it was simply called ‘ministry’. The kind of ‘no good’ that at its core is defying oppression for the sake of justice. ‘No good’ for the greater good.”
To prove his belief that our common humanity can transcend even the sharpest differences, he recalled his interaction with former Alabama Governor George Wallace. Wallace was the first to send well wishes after the 1980 assassination attempt that almost took Jordan’s life. When they met at an event years later, Governor Wallace said, “Mr. Jordan: will you do something for me? Vernon Jordan will you reach down and hug me?” In this time of deep polarization, Mr. Jordan remained convinced that “the road may be long, but we can bring about change in this country in our laws and in the hearts of others.”
The final “old man” he described in his sermon was himself. In what would ultimately be his final address to Rankin Chapel, Mr. Jordan reflected on the words of Psalm 71: “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.” His declaration to current and future generations was that, in an age of immediacy, we must remember that the work of justice takes time, and it is important to find your “your rock” – a consistent source of inspiration to weather the moments of doubt and difficulty that will surely come. I was not deserving of his kindness or his love. I will forever remain in gratitude that he was more father than mentor. He never told me what to do or how to do it, but rather he answered my queries with stories of his lived experiences that guided me ever so gently but purposefully. Howard University’s Rankin Chapel was his rock, and Mr. Jordan remained faithful and focused on lifting up others and our community throughout his lifetime and encouraged us all to continue on in this important work.
His legacy as a Civil Rights activist and influential advocate for social justice will live on through the lives of the numerous students he mentored. Throughout the mountains and valleys of my presidency, Mr. Jordan has been a consistent support, offering both sage advice and constant encouragement. His love for this institution and our community are difficult to overstate. I have ordered flags across the Hilltop to be flown at half-mast in honor of this great man, who was also a father figure to me. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of this fallen Bison hero.
According to the founders of WEAR BRIMS, “everyone deserves a compliment.” And with the confidence that wearing their luxury fedora hats brings, it’s easy to get one. Since founding their hand-crafted brand in 2017, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity brothers Archie Clay III and Tajh Crutch have taken the hat game to another level. In just 4 short years, WEAR BRIMS went from being an idea on paper to a brand that is featured in Huffington Post, British GQ, and The Root. The brand has even more moves planned for expansion in its future.
We sat down with co-founder and Tuskegee University graduate Archie Clay III to learn how he was molded by his HBCU, and what it’s like being a driving force for Wearbrims.
Poising himself to learn the ins and outs of entrepreneurship, Clay graduated B.A. in Sales and Marketing at Tuskegee. His fraternity brother and business partner Tajh Crutch, attended Troy University in Alabama. Shortly after walking the stage, Clay entered the retail industry and focused his talents on Human Resources and Operations. Through having this foundation in the fashion industry, he prepared himself to run a business with Crutch from every angle.
Tahj Crutch (Left) and Archie Clay III (Right)/Credit: WEAR BRIMS
However, as most entrepreneurs can tell you, the path to success wasn’t a smooth one. Initially, Clay struggled to a build team and strategized how to handle people who didn’t believe in the brand. Some of those people even included manufacturers, who at times made building a lasting business relationship difficult. Yet, there was no mountain too high to climb. “If it was easy we wouldn’t be where we are right now,” said Clay.
WEAR BRIMS was built on “Family, Faith, and Confidence,” and those three pillars have provided the basis of a well-made, authentic brand that continues to thrive. In fact, WEAR BRIMS just launched an exclusive partnership with Nordstrom this month! It’s the first black-owned luxury fedora hat company to be positioned in Nordstrom. Celebrities and influencers such as Chris Paul, Eva Marcille, Mookie Betts, Karen Civil, and Lance Gross have all rocked WEAR BRIMS. Now with the brand’s expansion, this high-fashion brand will be more visible and accessible to there fashion enthusiasts.
With such an inspiring self-made story, we had to ask Clay what his advice would be to the HBCU students to aspire to attain similar success. “My advice to HBCU students on pursuing the dreams would be to have faith in their journey, keep their family close, and be confident in their ability to change the world,” he said.
Tahj Crutch (Left) and Archie Clay III (Right)/Credit: WEAR BRIMS
Bennett College President Suzanne Elise Walsh is the latest HBCU leader to be interviewed in our President’s Corner series! As an interviewer, HBCU Buzz Founder and CEO Luke Lawal Jr. helps show a different side to HBCU presidents that we rarely get to see.
As a leader of one of only two all-women HBCUs in the nation, Walsh is a bubbly person despite holding such a high office. For example, we got to enjoy an unbelievable story as she shared her favorite concert was when Whitney Houston open up for Chaka Khan! Walsh comes from a place of really wanting her students to enjoy their college experience, so you’ll also hear her talk about Bennett’s commitment to tailored mental health and wellness initiatives, and the unique women-centered culture she has fostered at Bennett.
Bennett wasn’t always a women’s college, but if you let President Walsh tell it, she’s happy that history turned out the way it did. “I’m so curious about the culture, said Lawal. “What it is like being at an all-women HBCU, and how is it to be the president of an all-women HBCU?”
“Women are leaders all over campus, whether they are students— every student club is led by a woman, specifically a woman of color, specifically a black woman,” answered Walsh. In fact, she shared that her leadership team and even the faculty also consists mostly of women of color.
The culture is one that reinforces the idea of black women as leaders… It’s a place where it’s okay to make mistakes, because you’re not going to be judged because you’re a woman, a woman of color.”
Suzanne Walsh (Credit: Bennett College)
Ironically, Bennett College was founded in 1873 as a co-ed institution. “So our football team is still undefeated,” joked President Walsh. It was a wave of the women’s movement back in 1926 influenced a change for the college to become all-women’s. It’s unique for an institution to be as ready to evolve as Bennett is.
That ability for the college, especially as an HBCU, to transform itself based on larger world events shows why Bennett is more prepared than many colleges to survive unexpected obstacles. This includes not only patterns of racial and gender discrimination, but an economic and scientific issue like COVID-19 as well.
“It continues to be important the role of women’s colleges, it’s never been more important,” said Walsh. “Specifically having HBCUs focused on women, [is] critical, given all that’s happened in the world. I think Bennett College is no stranger to radical transformation. “We’ve done it before, we’re in the midst of it yet again.”
To learn more about President Walsh, watch the full conversation here. For more President’s Corner, tune in live on Facebook and Youtube every Tuesday at 12pm PT/3pm ET. You can also listen to #PresidentsCorner anywhere you get your podcasts.
Journalism is an undeniably captivating way to combat racial injustices around the world. For Hampton University student Jamaija Rhoades, journalism is her way to address problematic discrimination in education in the city of Richmond, VA. Learn more about how she will be supported in journey towards activism from the Pulitzer Center in a release from Hampton below!
Jamaija Rhoades (Credit: Hampton University)
Hampton University student Jamaija Rhoades has won a Pulitzer Center Fellowship and will partner with journalism experts to examine racism in the Richmond, Va., school system. Pulitzer Center staff and editors will advise her throughout the process and act as her mentors. Her final project will be featured on the center’s website as well as on the website for the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications.
“We are incredibly proud of Ms. Jamaija Rhoades for winning this distinguished fellowship. Her proposal to report on racism in education in the Richmond school system reflects the university’s values of respect and inclusion of all people. We know that Ms. Rhoades will continue to live up to our university commitment to ‘Dream no Small Dream’ as she forges her unique path,” said Hampton University President Dr. William R. Harvey.
Rhoades is a senior journalism student in the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications from Midlothian, Va. She has written for the Hampton University newspaper, The Script, and Her Campus, a weekly magazine.
In her proposal, Rhoades wrote: “I would like to write a story that focuses on how Richmond’s history of discrimination and racism lives on through the city’s school system.”
The project will focus on racial disparities in the district, including the difference between the resources available for schools with a higher percentage of students living in poverty versus the resources available to more affluent schools. Additionally, she wants to examine the results of a study conducted by the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium, which indicates that Richmond black students are suspended four times more than white students.
“We’re excited to partner with Hampton University and want to congratulate Jamaija Rhoades. Exploring the impact of discrimination and racism on the Richmond school system is ambitious and challenging, and Jamaija, a journalism major, is uniquely qualified to take this on. She has deep ties to Richmond and is herself a graduate of Richmond public schools,” Kem Sawyer, Contributing Editor and Director of the Reporting Fellows Program, said in an email.
“Recent events have only underscored the importance of her topic. Reporting on racial justice is core to the Pulitzer Center mission—we look forward to adding Jamaija’s project to our portal [pulitzercenter.org] on this issue,” Sawyer said.
Her research will include interviews from Richmond teachers who can “speak to the disparities and the lack of resources provided for black students and how this has affected the district’s graduation rates and scores on standardized tests.” Because of the pandemic, much of the work for the project will be done virtually
Hampton University first partnered with the Pulitzer Center in 2020. The first fellowship was awarded to Sara Avery who proposed writing about 3-D printed houses being produced in Haiti for the homeless.
The fellowship is through the Campus Consortium, which is a network of partnerships between the Pulitzer Center and universities and colleges to engage with students and faculty on the critical global issues of our time. The consortium’s aim is to connect international reporting supported by the Pulitzer Center directly with communities across the United States to expand knowledge of the world, spark conversations across disciplines and inspire individuals to expand their horizons. Hampton University is a Campus Consortium partner.
Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications Assistant Professor Lynn Waltz helped Rhoades with the fellowship application. “Jamaija Rhoades is an excellent reporter who comes up with unique stories that no other students have thought of,” Waltz said. “For instance, she wrote about African Americans who think the statue of Robert E. Lee should stay in Richmond, Virginia because the graffiti makes it a new icon for this century. She truly wants to make a difference with her work. Her proposal about racial disparities in the education system in Richmond was very appealing to the Pulitzer Center selection committee.”
The Dean of the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications, Ms. B. Da’Vida Plummer, is excited for Rhoades. “We are very grateful to the Pulitzer Center for its work with the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications and with Jamaija. Her examination of racism in the Richmond school system is aligned with our effort to launch a Center for Investigative Journalism within the School,” Dean Plummer said.
Rhoades is excited about being accepted into the program, calling it an “honor.”
“Not only do I get the chance to work with some of the best journalists in the world, but I also get to shed light on my hometown,” she wrote in her application. “I get to use my platform to highlight the issues within the school system that have shaped me into what I am today.”
Rhoades said she wants to bring awareness around the issues of systemic racism in the educational system and “create change for a community of people who are often overlooked and mislabeled.” The fellowship, she wrote, is giving her that chance.
Rhoades is expected to graduate from Hampton University in May 2021. Her project will be completed by mid-summer.
Get ready to see some football for a good cause. This September, find out why the next matchup between HBCU football teams Tuskegee University and Fort Valley State University is significant in the new article below from Jayla Jones at The Undefeated.
Tuskegee University and Fort Valley State will play in the inaugural Red Tails Classic football game in September to honor the Tuskegee Airmen, the legendary Black military aviators who served in World War II.
Credit: Golden Tiger Sports
The game will open both teams’ schedules on Sept. 5 at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama. It will be among many football games from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that will broadcast across ESPN’s network.
“We are extremely pleased to highlight Tuskegee University in an annual kickoff event in Montgomery for the next three years,” said Pete Derzis, ESPN senior vice president for college sports programming and events. “The history of this outstanding HBCU institution is accented with the important role the Tuskegee Airmen played in World War II, and serves as a great source of pride we hope to highlight within the nationally televised event.”
The NCAA Division II Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) is home to both programs, and because of COVID-19, they opted not to play during the academic year. The Red Tails Classic will be the first game a SIAC team has played in since the SIAC championship in November 2019.
Tuskegee athletic director and head football coach Willie Slater didn’t hesitate to accept the offer when approached by ESPN Events.
“I am excited about it. I think it’s a great opportunity for our players and our school,” he said. “When the opportunity presented itself for us to play in the Red Tails Classic, I was all for it. I think it’s a real good opportunity to play on ESPN.”
Tuskegee interim president Charlotte P. Morris said it was a great chance to highlight the team and school on ESPNU.
“Tuskegee’s Labor Day football game will certainly be different this year,” Morris said. “We are excited about taking on conference rival Fort Valley State University in this year’s inaugural Red Tails Classic. The Tuskegee Airmen are our American heroes, and we are elated to honor them in this newly branded classic.”
The Tuskegee Golden Tigers and Fort Valley State Wildcats have a long-standing rivalry. Fort Valley State (6-4, 4-2 SIAC) finished third in the SIAC East Division in 2019, while Tuskegee (5-5, 4-2 SIAC) finished second in the SIAC West Division.
Slater said playing a longtime conference rival at the Cramton Bowl returns the program to familiar territory.
“We have a good history with Fort Valley and the Cramton Bowl,” Slater said. “Fort Valley is one of the best teams in the Eastern Division and we played them for the SIAC championship in 2017. We’ve played some big games in the Cramton Bowl.”
The Red Tails Classic joins more than 20 HBCU classic football games that are expected to return in the fall, including the Circle City Classic in Indianapolis and the Black College Hall of Fame Classic in Canton, Ohio, in September; the State Fair Classic in Dallas and the Magic City Classic in Birmingham, Alabama, in October; and the Bayou Classic in New Orleans in November.
It’s been a pretty good homecoming for Chesapeake native Thomas Calhoun Jr., all things considered.
The Norfolk State University graduate just secured a $600,000 contract for his employer to work on one of the largest roads projects in Virginia history.
Credit: Inside Business
Blackstar Diversified Enterprises, a Black-owned small business with headquarters in Baltimore and New Orleans, is providing key electrical components for much of the construction work on the $3.8 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project. And the company hopes that the contract will be the first of many it secures in Hampton Roads.
“I’m super proud of this particular project,” Calhoun said.
Thomas Calhoun Jr. (Credit: Inside Business/HANDOUT)
Blackstar’s leadership combines decades of experience and the foundational education from two historically black colleges and universities. Founder, owner and principal officer Hugh Blackwell earned his bachelor of science degree from Howard University. After working for years for companies like Siemens, Blackwell started Blackstar in 2016.
After finishing school at Norfolk State in 2000, Calhoun moved to the Washington, D.C., area and worked for companies like Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems in software development and management consulting. After a few years, he shifted to full-time entrepreneurship.
“I decided that ‘I get it. I can do this,’” Calhoun said.
That decision led Calhoun on a path toward Blackstar. After meeting at church and working on a few projects together, Calhoun joined Blackwell as the company’s vice president of marketing and innovation.
The company specializes in helping facilitate infrastructure projects in Virginia, Maryland and the D.C. area. It makes electrical equipment at its New Orleans location for use in everything from car tunnels to the Washington Metro. In Hampton Roads, Blackstar has sold electrical equipment for U.S. Navy dry docks. The company also makes and sells traffic equipment like traffic signals, traffic control cabinets and parking gates.
Calhoun said he found out about the bridge-tunnel job through an article in Inside Business about the Virginia Department of Transportation looking for small, women-owned and minority-owned businesses to fill hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts. Calhoun said he had to chase down the job while running his startup investment business, Nafasi, at the same time.
“We were just persistent, and eventually we got the opportunity,” he said.
The work was complex and under a tight deadline, Blackwell said. Blackstar had to ship 10 transformers, each weighing 18,000 pounds, from a supplier in South Carolina to its New Orleans facility. Once there, the company used cranes to mount the transformers on skids — steel rectangular bases that can contain the transformer fluids in case of leaks. The company then put the units on flatbed trucks and shipped them to Virginia the same day. The transformers will help power equipment like the tunnel boring machines in remote locations.
“It was a pretty good stress test of what our company can handle,” Blackwell said.
For Calhoun, the contract is an immense source of pride — the company was able to successfully transport all of the skids to the tunnel site and beat its summer deadline by several months. It was equally impressive for the company to do all this and survive during a global pandemic, he said.
“That’s a feat, in and of itself,” Calhoun added.
Blackwell said he was driven by a chance to help upgrade and maintain the country’s aging infrastructure. In its most recent report, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the U.S. infrastructure a grade of D+ and said the country needs close to $2 trillion in improvements.
Hugh Blackwell (Credit: Inside Business/HANDOUT)
“Firms like ours need to exist,” Blackwell said. “We need to exist.”
The bridge-tunnel project plans to add two more two-lane tunnels to the HRBT and widen the four-lane portions of Interstate 64 in Hampton and Norfolk. The project is expected to be complete by November 2025.
Blackstar isn’t finished working in Hampton Roads, either, Blackwell said. The company is bidding on several more local contracts. Additionally, he hopes to start hiring more talent and establishing a pipeline from schools like Norfolk State and Hampton University.
In honor of the end of Black History Month, and on this Golden Globe Awards Sunday, it’s important to honor the next generation of great black entertainers! Each of the 28 young artists below have excelled in acting, modeling, music, poetry, and entrepreneurship! Continue to look out for every single entertainer on this list in the future as they grace our tvs, speakers, magazines, and history books.
Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman is an American actress, singer and producer. She started her career as a child model, backup dancer, and actor on Disney Channel’s Shake It Up.
Storm Reid is an American actress first appearing in the period drama 12 Years a Slave and the superhero film Sleight. Her most recent breakthrough role was in the fantasy film A Wrinkle in Time, for which she received Teen Choice Award and NAACP Image Award nominations.
Miles Brown, also known by his stage name Baby Boogaloo, is an American actor, dancer and rapper. He is best known for his role as Jack Johnson in the ABC comedy series Black-ish.
Dominique Thorne is an American actress who most recently starred as Judy Harmon in Judas and the Black Messiah as Judy Harmon. In 2020, she was confirmed to be starring as Riri Williams / Ironheart in her first Disney+ television series, Ironheart.
Alex Hibbert is a young actor who got his start as Little Chiron in Best Picture winner Moonlight and will return for the upcoming second season of the Showtime drama The Chi.
Jaden Christopher Syre Smith sometimes known by just the mononym Jaden is an American actor, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Smith’s first role was with his father Will Smith in the 2006 film The Pursuit of Happyness and would again appear with his father in the 2013 film After Earth.
Amandla Stenberg is an American actress and singer. Stenberg has received several accolades, and was included in Time’s list of Most Influential Teens in both 2015 and 2016.
Lil Yachty (Miles Parks McCollum) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to fame in August 2015 for his singles “One Night” and “Minnesota” from his debut EP Summer Songs. He released his debut mixtape Lil Boat in March 2016.
Chance the Rapper (Chancelor Johnathan Bennett) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, activist, actor, and philanthropist. From Chicago, Illinois, Chance the Rapper released his debut mixtape 10 Day in 2012.
Megan Thee Stallion (Megan Jovon Ruth Pete) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter from Houston, Texas. She rose to fame from her freestyle rap videos posted on social media sites such as Instagram.
Doja Cat (Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini) is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer born and raised in Los Angeles. She was first noticed on SoundCloud as a teenager making music.
Saweetie (Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper) is an American rapper and songwriter. Her debut single “Icy Grl” got her signed by Warner Records and her manager Max Gousse’s record label Artistry Worldwide.
Lil Nas X (Montero Lamar Hill) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. His viral hit “Old Town Road” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus pushed the young artist to prominence.
Skai Jackson is an American actress, YouTuber, and author, who started acting at the age of 5. In 2016, she was named Time’s list of Most Influential Teens.
Caila Marsai Martin is an American actress best known for her role as Diane Johnson in the ABC comedy series Black-ish. She is also an executive producer and nine-time NAACP Image Awards winner.
Amanda S. C. Gorman is an American poet and activist who creates art to address issues such as oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora.
Imani Hakim is an American actress best known for her role as Tonya Rock on Everybody Hates Chris and her portrayal of Olympic gold medalist Gabrielle Douglas in the 2014 Lifetime original movie The Gabby Douglas Story.
Yara Sayeh Shahidi is an American actress, model, and activist who gained recognition for her starring role as the oldest daughter Zoey Johnson on the sitcom Black-ish and its spin-off series Grown-ish.
Kiersey Nicole Clemons is an American actress, singer, and producer. She rose to prominence from her role as Cassandra “Digirthe 2015 comedy drama film Dope.
Samantha Jade Logan is an American actress best known for her lead role as Olivia Baker in The CW series All American, Nina Jones in the second season of the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, and Tia Stephens in the Freeform series The Fosters.
Legendary TV Producer Bentley Kyle Evans famed for “Martin” and “The Jamie Foxx Show” introduces a new sitcom “Millennials” on ALLBLK. The series debuted yesterday February 25, 2021 and will run for six weeks with a new episode every Thursday at noon EST. ALLBLK is a streaming platform where Black creators can tell authentic Black stories. During the virtual CTAM Winter 2021 Press Tour, General Manager of ALLBLK and WeTV Brett Dismuke said this of the streaming network, “While we’ve updated our brand, what remains unwavering is our commitment to representation and identifying new and emerging talent both in front of and behind the camera.” Subscribers can expect a wide range of curated Black content spanning across genres and generations from movies to tv shows to short series, ALLBLK has it all.
The six-episode series “Millennials” follows the lives of four roommates as they navigate the chaos of being young, finding success, and finding themselves in Los Angeles, California. The hilarious group of friends includes a business student (Kyle Massey), a YouTuber (Philip Bolden), a college dropout (Aaron Grady), and a personal trainer (Keraun “King Keraun” Harris), and their aspiring actress neighbor from across the hall (Teresa “Topnotch” Celeste). The star studded cast will bring a sense of nostalgia for viewers that are fans of “That’s So Raven” and “Everybody Hates Chris.”
Viewers can expect a light hearted relatable comedy that reflects their own Black experience being freshly out of college and finding their place in the world. Bentley Kyle Evans says the show is, “The Black experience from a male’s perspective hasn’t really been seen in a fellowship kind of scenario, we wanted to give a message of what that black experience was like, like that dorm room experience. With this ensemble piece, I think we’re able to capture that in a very unique way.”
Don’t miss the exciting new sitcom series Millennials OUT NOW on ALLBLK with new episodes every Thursday at noon EST. Enter Code: HBCU30 at SIGN UP for an exclusive 30-day free trial!
We are sorry to share the sad news that Frank B. Coakley, a founding member Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Inc. has passed away. The fraternity shared the sad news today on Twitter.
“The Brotherhood of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Inc. has lost one of our most Honorable Founders, Brother Frank B. Coakley,” said the tweet. “As we remember Founder Coakley, tag @Ipt1963 to your photos and videos with him and use hashtag #IPTFounderCoakley.”
Frank B. Coakley served as a Chief Lending Officer at BC Lending in Baltimore, Maryland. According to the company, Coakley “served in a variety of community development and lending positions at the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, Harbor Bank of Maryland, and Fannie Mae” prior to joining BCL. Once he made the move, he worked at BCL to review and advise loan officers on applications, finalize Loan Committee requests, and connect with clients to conduct pre-loan review meetings.
Serving in the organization’s presidential role, 22nd International Grand Polaris Andre’ R. Mason remembered Coakley in a statement.
Credit: Iota Wear
“It is never easy to lose a loved one,” said Mason. “It becomes even more difficult when you lose someone who is a pillar, a giant in his own right, and an inspiration to so many… I cannot articulate the words or give enough examples to show the amount of love we have for our Beloved Founder. Please take this time to reflect on the importance and magnitude of the involvement of our Founders to our fraternity – the friendships formed and the moments that were and are shared…”
On September 19, 1963 Coakley, along with 12 other students founded Iota Phi Theta at Morgan State University. He was number 4 on his line. Currently, only founding members Lonnie Spruill, Jr. and Louis Hudnell are surviving. Today Coakley joins 8 other line brothers in transition into the posthumous Alpha Iota Omega Memorial Chapter. Those members are Albert Hicks, Charles Briscoe, John Slade, Barron Willis, Webster Lewis, Charles Brown, Charles Gregory, and Elias Dorsey, Jr. The whereabouts of 12th member, Michael Williams, are unknown. The fraternity currently boasts about 30,000 members worldwide.
Andra Day stars in THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY from Paramount Pictures. Photo Credit: Takashi Seida.
On Tuesday February 23, 2021, we hosted our latest HBCU Movie Night, and it was a moving way to honor Black History Month. It’s very rare that we are able to experience the mannerisms of a late legendary singer in the way that starring actress Andra Day is able to portray in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” Day, who is a Grammy-nominated singer and honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, incorporated, brings every emotion out of you, yet leaves you wanting more. Her portrayal of Billie Holiday brought a legend to life, and highlighted Holiday’s sacrifices to bring haunting racial injustices to light.
Also known as Lady Day, Billie Holiday had a charismatic voice that brought black and white audiences together during heightened racial tensions. It’s difficult to imagine how black Americans fought to thrive and break barriers during the Jim Crow era when they were still being lynched from trees. Yet “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” chronicles the bold way that Holiday used music to peacefully protest the violent killings of her people. Ironically, the film displays how her ominous record “Strange Fruit” confronted the bloody side of racism, and yet empowered the police force at the time to punish the words of the song more than the violence itself.
In an unfortunate way, “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” was a fitting film for the current political climate in the U.S. While some white Americans are privileged not to know the underhanded side of the police and the justice system, people of color in this country know it all too well. As a result, many won’t be surprised watching the depictions of the police’s relentless efforts to take down Billie Holiday by stalking her, harassing her, and censoring her. The idea of the police framing her isn’t surprising. The ascension of lead harasser commissioner Harry Anslinger’s career through the Bureau of Narcotics, to the point that he worked with U.S. presidents, isn’t surprising either. Holiday was cornered for her drug addiction in many scenes by the bureau, yet even that was politicized as the “war on drugs” harshly targeted and penalized users of color.
Ultimately, although Billie Holiday struggled with racism and drug use in her lifetime, “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” will show how much she laughed and loved as well. She left a catalogue of music that warmed hearts and opened eyes, and she is respected for it. In fact, in the film Day was correct, Anslingers’ grandchildren and those in their generation still analyze and appreciate “Strange Fruit” to this day.Be sure to watch Andra Day play the lovely Lady Day starting this Friday when “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” premieres on Hulu.
