Throughout the pandemic, I kept seeing different versions of this tweet: “As you binge watch your 13th entire series on Netflix in two days, remember that in the darkest
days, when everything else stopped, you turned to artists.” Science has a place, a true importance, but you can’t mistake the equal and irrefutable necessity of art.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have a wide range of notable alumni in the arts and media, from Academy Award winning actor Samuel L. Jackson (Morehouse College) to Emmy Award winning mogul Oprah Winfrey (Tennessee State University)
and Tony Award winning actress Anika Noni Rose (Florida A&M University). This week we’re highlighting amazing film, theater, and music programs and partnerships at several HBCUs.
Film and Theater
HBCUs’ contributions to the world of film and theater have been vast. Dillard University has the oldest degree granting theater program among
HBCUs. Today, all HBCU theater programs must fight the same stereotypes. “There’s this misconception that at a HBCU the only thing that you will do is work from the Black theatre canon,” says Professor Luther Wells, Associate Director of Theatre at Florida A&M University. “We are teaching theatre, not just Black theatre, [but] it is going to come from this perspective how we live as Black people in this world.”
Dillard has also been utilizing Louisiana’s recent wave of cinematic tax credits to draw filmmakers to give students extensive hands-on experience on professional movie sets. Its film students intern on the sets of several Hollywood productions,
including “The Magnificent Seven” with Denzel Washington and “Antebellum” starring Janelle Monae.
Academy Award winning director and Morehouse College alumnus Spike Lee has always been passionate about lifting as he climbs, particularly
at HBCUs. “From the jump, from the get-go, I knew when (not if) I opened a crack in the door, I was bringing as many Black and Brown folks with me in front and behind the camera,” Lee said. When Lee brought his 2013 film “Oldboy” to shoot in New Orleans,
he gave Dillard students production crew roles, and offered students jobs in his production company.
In January 2023, Lee by announced The Spike Fellows Program to HBCU students interested in film and entertainment. Partnering with the Gersh Agency and the three HBCUs in the Atlanta University
Center, Spelman College, Morehouse College, and Clark Atlanta University, the program will provide, “academic debt relief, industry mentorship, post-graduate internships and full-time employment, all provided by Gersh.”
Music
African Americans continue to make indelible marks on music history. HBCUs have been a huge part of that legacy, despite gross underfunding,
racism, and discrimination.
HBCU bands, until recently, were gems hidden from the mainstream. These talented ensembles have shown themselves to be the trendsetters in the creation and performance of music that they always have been. They have created a standard of excellence that
goes beyond marching bands, being imitated by popular Predominantly White Institution, or PWI, bands like The Ohio State University and being the inspiration for countless music producers like Pharrell Williams.
Tennessee State University’s band, the Aristocrat of Bands, was the first HBCU band to march in a presidential inauguration parade when they performed for President Kennedy in 1961. Today, the Aristocrat of Bands made history as the first collegiate band to win a Grammy. The band won twice at the 2023 Grammy Awards, a Best Roots Gospel Album Grammy for their album, “The Urban Hymnal,” and for their contribution on poet J Ivy’s win “The Poet Who Sat By The Door,” for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album.
Fisk University’s Fisk Jubilee Singers, an a capella ensemble that began in 1871 as a fundraising choir to build the University, grew out of the original nine students who
went on to sing for President Grant to being awarded the 2008 National Medal of Arts, America’s highest honor for artists. In 2021, these amazing students were the first HBCU ensemble to win a Grammy for
Best Roots Gospel Album for their album “Celebrating Fisk (The 150th Anniversary Album).” Original artifacts from the first Fisk Jubilee Singers are on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. The Fisk Jubilee Singers will perform at the Los Angeles Lakers game on February 23.
Howard University alumnus Michael Hamilton, class of 2012, is now the Senior Vice President of Streaming and Commerce at Def Jam Recordings. He spoke to the Recording Academy about how HBCUs prepare students for the realities of the entertainment industry. “There are so many Howard and other HBCU alumni in the music business. That common grind spirit is something that we all relate
to. I think that's why so many of us have been successful in this industry. You have to have a certain level of determination in order to make a name for yourself in music, no matter what side of the business you're on. Whether you have the resources
to do it or not, you learn how to be resourceful. HBCUs prepare you for that.”
HBCUs have cultivated and produced Black pioneers and icons across American media, but first, they build a community where students can thrive, academically, socially, professionally, without race being a burden.
Spelman alumna and Head of Music Industry and Culture Collaboration at Amazon Music Phylicia Fant explained that
the feeling of belonging at HBCUs doesn’t stop at school, saying, “What happens beyond graduation is when the experience truly activates. It is the unspoken language that says, ‘I see you and know your worth.’ If you call upon this tribe,
it is our duty to show up for each other personally and professionally. That bond can never be broken.”
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