HBCU made A celebration of the black college experience

Among African American cultural institutions, some of the most significant and yet least understood by outsiders are HBCUs, historically Black colleges and universities. Often condescendingly treated as "lesser" or "limiting," HBCUs have educated generations of Black cultural, political, business, and scientific leaders and continue to be a major driver of success. NPR host Rascoe's powerful collection of essays from HBCU alums, including Stacey Abrams, Branford Marsalis, April Ryan, and Oprah Winfrey, presents a resounding rebuttal to doubters, revealing the unique joys, challenges, frustrations, and rewards of the HBCU experience. Roy Wood Jr. poignantly recounts how Florida AMU took a chance on him when no one else would, and Shawn Zachery points out that "HBCUs exist to educate both those that have everything and those that may have nothing." Michael Arceneaux notes that Howard University was "the most diverse place I have ever been. There are students from all over the world with different religions, financial backgrounds, and yes, varied sexual identities and genders." Lauren F. Ellis writes that attending an HBCU helped her see that she had "internalized America's monolithic beliefs about Black people, that I was so limited in my understanding of the multitudes contained within us." Essential reading for our cultural moment.

Graduates praise their education at historically Black colleges and universities. Rascoe, host of NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday, gathers 16 essays testifying to the significance in the writers' lives of attending an HBCU. With contributors from the arts, academia, the tech world, popular culture, and politics, the essays represent a wide range of experiences, achievements, and schools. Rascoe, who grew up in North Carolina, went to Howard, where, she recalls, "I didn't have to worry about trying to break into spaces that Black people had been shut out of. That was a relief. It allowed me to focus on what those unburdened by racism generally focus on in college: figuring out who the heck I was!" Stacey Abrams went to the all-women's Spelman, which she chose partly because she hoped to date a Morehouse boy from the college across the street, partly because her mother urged her to attend. Like Rascoe, she chose an HBCU to immerse herself "in a singular experience, one where race and gender ceased to be wielded as weapons against us or used to justify questions about our capacity." After attending the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, jazz artist Branford Marsalis opted for Southern University, attracted by its marching band. Shawn Zachery went there, too, studied computer science, and became a dancer. MSNBC political analyst April Ryan applauds her years at Morgan State. HBCUs have also nurtured famous TV personalities: Roy Wood Jr., with aspirations to follow in his father's footsteps and become a journalist, went to Florida A & M because it had--besides a journalism program--a baseball team. Oprah Winfrey was one credit short for graduation from Tennessee State; reading news for a local TV station got in the way of finishing her degree. Other contributors include Nichole Perkins (Dillard University) and Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (Talladega College). Warm testimony about critically important experiences. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.