Entrepreneurial Appetite
Entrepreneurial Appetite
HBCU Made: A Conversation with Ayesha Rasoce
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What if you could transform your life by choosing the right college? Join us for an inspiring conversation with Monique Cannon Broadnecks, founder of I Embrace Education, and Aisha Roscoe, host of NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday and author of "HBCU Made." We kick things off with Monique's compelling story of guiding students from San Antonio to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Aisha shares her heartfelt journey to Howard University amidst the chaos of the DC sniper attacks, and how this choice shaped her into the person she is today. They both reflect on the unique challenges and cultural shocks faced by HBCU students, emphasizing the transformative power of Howard's School of Communications and the sense of community instilled through vibrant homecoming events.
Ever wondered how Oprah Winfrey, Stacey Abrams, and April Ryan rose to prominence? This episode highlights the pivotal role of HBCUs in shaping successful careers, drawing from the poignant stories featured in Aisha's book, "HBCU Made." From Oprah's inspiring commencement speech at Tennessee State to April Ryan’s relatable journey as a radio station worker at Morgan State, we delve into how these institutions nurture talent through a blend of family, faith, and campus life. We also explore the meticulous selection of essays in the book, designed to maintain momentum and offer diverse perspectives, blending serious insights with light-hearted anecdotes.
Discover the broader impact of HBCUs on individuals and communities with our special guests. We'll discuss the nurturing environment of these institutions that turn students into successful professionals, regardless of their high school achievements. The episode also touches on the increasing competitiveness of top HBCUs, the unique camaraderie among alumni, and the significance of Vice President Kamala Harris's representation. Finally, we consider the future potential of HBCUs and the timeless relevance of "HBCU Made" as a resource for high school guidance counselors and prospective students. Tune in for a heartfelt tribute to the enduring legacy and transformative power of HBCUs.
I want to get into our conversation for tonight and introduce our special guest host, monique Cannon Broadnecks, who is, as I said, the founder of I Embrace Education, which does HBCU college fairs, tours and send offs, and she is a Howard alum and she's stepping in for me today as our special guest host. She is a Howard alum and she's stepping in for me today as our special guest host. I also want to introduce someone whose skills I wish to have as a host one day, miss Aisha Roscoe, who is the host of Weekend Edition Sunday and the weekend host of Up First, two NPR shows that are nationally syndicated. Also, she is an alum of Howard University and the author of HBCU Made a celebration of the Black college experience. So I'm going to leave it to the two of them to start the conversation. I appreciate all of our guests for joining us here today and I'll see you all in a bit as we get to the end of the conversation, for Q&A from the audience.
Speaker 2:All right. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, langston. I'm honored to serve as your co-host this evening and I truly appreciate your faithful support of me and to I Embrace Education. Throughout these years. We have sent plenty of babies from San Antonio to North Carolina A&T, so that's something definitely to celebrate. Aisha, it is a pleasure meeting you this evening.
Speaker 2:I enjoyed reminiscing about HU you know and yeah, there it is and celebrating the many HBCU experiences that were shared in your book. We had. Although we have an age difference, we had a lot of similarities growing up. I know you mentioned you were an introvert. I was not an introvert.
Speaker 2:However, my high school was predominantly Hispanic and it was about a handful of black folks.
Speaker 2:My father had the same ideas about DC At that time. It was a different crime element and I didn't know anybody and I had the support of my mom and my sister that just said you're going on a hope and a prayer and we're going to get you there and do whatever we need to do to make you stay there and graduate. But it was truly a culture shock and I think that was another thing that we shared and several other of the authors in the book had mentioned a culture shock going to the HBCUs, but I know you're so well versed in all things, foreign and domestic, regarding news, entertainment and culture, and you are truly the epitome of Howard's mantra in truth and service, so I'm just honored to be on this platform with you this evening. But with all that being said, but with all that being said, you chose to write your first book about the HBCU experience. So I applaud you for doing that and sharing things about little nuggets about our beloved Howard University and curating so many amazing HBCU experiences. Thank you again.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Thank you so much. It's just it's an honor to do it and to just pour out a little bit of what Howard has given to me, to kind of try to give that back out into the world.
Speaker 2:Good, yes, I agree. So let's talk, let's. I have several questions for you, and I'm sure the audience does as well, so I'm going to try to contain myself. We were both in the School of C, the School of Communications, and we were taught by Industries Finest and exposed to a wealth of opportunities. It was just unbelievable, and I'm so grateful for it. But what I really want to know is where were you when you fell in love with the Mecca?
Speaker 3:Well, you know, I had always, well, I would say, when I was thinking about going to college, I was thinking about going away. I didn't want to stay in North Carolina, I wanted to get away, maybe get to the big city. And so I was thinking about Howard, because Howard, to me, was the mecca. Like they, it had all of these alumni, you know, from Felicia Rashad to Toni Morrison, to Thurgood Marshall. It was just so many people, um, and I felt like if they could go there and they could make it, then I could make it too. But when I really fell in love with Howard and I knew for a fact that I wanted to go there was I had had never visited. And so I, you know, I was like we really need to go. I just wanted to see the campus, um, and so my mother, she was very reluctant. This was around the time of the DC sniper, and so she was like I don't know if we should go. I'm like, no, we need to have faith. You know, we need to go, god will protect us. And so we went to DC.
Speaker 3:And it was a rainy Friday, but you saw, you know, I saw people on the yard. I saw, you know, delta strolling and I just saw all of these beautiful black people and like as soon as I saw it I knew it's where I wanted to be. And you know my family, my mom and my sister to this day say that as soon as I got there they could see that I just lit up and I was just like this is where I want to be. They were not as impressed because they're looking at, you know, it's it's very nice over there now. It's very gentrified, but at that time it was not gentrified and so they weren't very impressed by it. But I was. You know, I was over the moon once I saw it. I really wanted to be there so it was immediate for you yes, it was there?
Speaker 2:was there any particular event or experience where you just got the aha moment or just said, oh my God, I'm really here?
Speaker 3:I'm really in it. I think it was all. I think homecoming is always like a major thing, and I mean at all HBCUs, but definitely at Howard. I know some people would try to say they got the biggest homecoming or the best homecoming. I think A&T tried to say, but it has the best homecoming. And so being there, like on the yard four yard fest, you know, with the, you know you're on, you know you're on the grounds of a school and they're having this huge concert and there's so many people there and they're selling fish and all this other stuff, like and you're seeing all these celebrities, like it was just. It was incredible.
Speaker 3:Um, and I think I'm pretty sure my first year or my second year, nelly was the big, like surprise act and at that time he was like the biggest around. So it was like, oh my goodness, like we're getting to see all this just for free. And Kanye West was also there too, but he wasn't big then. This is when he was just starting out, but yeah, so like, get it, and I have pictures of that. Like it was just, and you know I was like right up there in front and so I I loved it.
Speaker 2:Good. Okay, the access is unbelievable. I think I don't think people understand it unless they experience it, and I know you mentioned home homecoming, but it could be just a Tuesday at noon and somebody's on the yard that we just didn't expect to see, and so I really enjoy it and miss it and can't wait to go back. Are you going to homecoming this year?
Speaker 3:I will be there so.
Speaker 2:I'll definitely be there, okay, good so let's, let's go ahead and move on. What led you to become the editor of this anthology, as you mentioned?
Speaker 3:well, the, the publisher, actually reached out to Algonquin, reached out to me, and they said you know, would you want to pull together an anthology of essays from HBCU graduates? That this hadn't really been done before, where HBCU graduates, in their own words, in a book from a major publishing house, talked about the importance of the HBCU experience. And so I, you know, was shocked when I heard that this hadn't been done. I would have been done long ago.
Speaker 3:I did like take a little beef because I was, like I had just started hosting Week in Edition, like I got a lot on my plate, but, you know, the more I thought about it, I just couldn't, you know, not do it. I felt like I got a lot on my plate, but, you know, the more I thought about it, I just couldn't, you know, not do it. I felt like I had to do it because I had loved Howard so much, it had been so influential in my life, in my career, um, and just in everything that I've done since then. And so I felt like I had to do it, and I'm so glad that I did.
Speaker 2:Yes, I am too.
Speaker 3:Was it a difficult task? It was a much bigger task than I realized because what you're trying to do is get all of these different people together and trying to get them to write a 3000 word essay. It's not a small ask, you know you're asking very busy people take time out of their busy schedules and to write an essay and to go through editing and all of these things. So it was a very big task getting it all together. It was much more work intensive than I thought, but I think it also gave me so much pride in and I learned so much. But it was something that was became really, really special to me.
Speaker 2:OK, I can understand that you did something unexpected. On the inside cover, you decided to include a quote from someone who isn't a part of our HBCU fraternity. I read it and I kept saying okay, okay. So why did you choose to include a quote by actress Yvette Nicole Brown?
Speaker 3:Oh well, I thought that was great because when I reached out to her she was like you know, oh girl, you know I didn't go to HBCU. I wanted to, but I was like that's okay, cause this book is for everybody, this is a universal thing, and she wrote a great blurb just saying, like you know, this is one of her biggest regrets is that she didn't go to HBCU. She so wishes that she did, and I think that's a lot of people's experience, like a lot of people who didn't go are curious about or wish they did, and so I'm so glad, so grateful to her for, you know, doing that.
Speaker 2:Well, and for her to share it, actually, because she she had her hashtag should have been a bison. Yeah, I'm sure a lot of people can identify with it and I'm and I'm glad she shared. So I understand it now, but it threw me for a loop. But it does make sense, it's? We are definitely all inclusive. Yes, absolutely. So let's talk about these notable alums that you this did you say 3,000 word essay.
Speaker 3:Well, you know most of them, around 3,000. I say around 3,000.
Speaker 2:Okay, so who did you identify with the most during three stages of your life? So whose story did you identify with when it was pre-Howard, during Howard and post-Howard?
Speaker 3:oh, that's a good question, um, I mean I think that, uh, what I, you know, oprah Winfrey is in the book and I, I, what I loved about her essay is she talks about like how protective her family was of her um, specifically you know, her father, um, and she also talks about some of the very tough professors that she had, um, and what an impact that they had in her life. So I guess, like early on, I would say, like the protectiveness of my, my family. She also talked about her faith a lot. I would say I probably had a lot of connections with that Also, stacey Abrams and her story early on, her father was also pretty protective.
Speaker 3:I didn't have like an activist family the way she had, but, you know, always kind of being a high achiever, somebody who was always, you know, doing good in school, very focused. So I would say that was, I would say, those two for my kind of um, you know, for my, my early life. As far as on campus, um, I think that who would I say on campus? I would say maybe April Ryan has a great story of her being on campus.
Speaker 3:She worked for her for the radio station, I worked for her for the radio station, I worked for the school newspaper. She was always you know a lot of the connections that she made. And April Ryan is a White House correspondent with the longest serving African-American woman to serve in the White House press corps. She, you know, she talked about like kind of learning so much when she was at morgan state. So I think that and then afterwards like that's kind of let me see who else, who would I say is my post howard experience? Um, I think my post howard experience um would maybe be between probably the two people that went to Dillard, which would be Rebecca Roussel, who's same year as me, and she went on to do comms and things of that nature and then you know, oh, my goodness, my name, forgive me.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh, that's been my brain, don't just bring it on my brain. Nicole Perkins, okay, who also went there, and she's like an author and in media and things like that. So, yeah, blame it on my. It's been a long week so it's okay.
Speaker 2:You had so many in there, so many, and you just brought up Miss Oprah Winfrey and I was ask you, why did you choose to put her Tennessee State commencement speech at the end and how did you select the order of the essays overall?
Speaker 3:Well, we had like an order and Oprah's was one of the last that we got because we didn't get approval.
Speaker 3:You know, we had to get approval, we had to go through a long process and all these things and but what I?
Speaker 3:The reason why I wanted to put that at the end was because her essay, which is, you know, her commencement speech to Tennessee State what I love about that is that it brings the essays from you know, the past to the present, right Like she's speaking to the next generation, and so she's giving them a message, and really a message to all the readers of the book who may just be starting out about what they can do going forward. And so what I really always wanted this book to be about is not just about the past or this happened, but about to make clear that HBCUs didn't just make an impact back in the day. They're making an impact today and continue to make an impact. And I like to think about who was sitting in that audience at Tennessee State who's going to change the world. You know who was sitting there listening to Oprah Winfrey, whose name we don't know now, but we will know, you know, 15 years from now.
Speaker 2:And so that's what I love, and that's why I wanted to put that at the end. I think that was ideal. Now how did you select the order for the others?
Speaker 3:Well. So we liked it. We wanted to kind of switch it up, so we wanted some that were. So we started with mine as the intro to kind of like set the tone and set why we were doing the book. And then we wanted, you know, kind of male females. We wanted to. We have more women than men, which is often the case at HBCU, yes, but we wanted to like mix that up.
Speaker 3:And we also wanted, like anna ray fenone jeffers, who is an author, um, she wrote the love, uh, the love songs of web du bois. Oh, my goodness, like her essay just blew me away. She was in caledega and she just wrote this amazing essay and I was like we gotta, we need to put that first, because it was just it set the tone of why these places matter and all these things. And we also I know we have roy wood jr's essay close to the front, because I love that essay I felt like it also added some of the levity, like some of the fun, because obviously he's always funny but also very serious, um, and so we kind of did it that way, kind of just giving it momentum. One of the stories that I mean, one of the essays that I knew I wanted towards um the end. It's from another public media reporter, um, I wanted to make sure that and I'm blanking on everyone's name today. I don't know what is wrong with me today, chaz, it's okay.
Speaker 2:And a lot of these people you introduced me.
Speaker 3:I just can't. Yeah, leonita, okay, yes, she's awesome. She wrote a beautiful essay about FAMU and really a dedication to her father and homecoming and it was so beautiful and, you know, made me tear up and so I knew I was that close to the end because it really speaks to the legacy aspect of HBCUs and know how oftentimes there is a legacy from parents and child and how this is passed on and so you know it meant so much. So, yeah, so I kind of had some that I knew I wanted at the beginning and some I knew I wanted closer to the end, just because they were so special and you know and it was.
Speaker 2:It was so diverse. It was so so many different age groups, different backgrounds, legacies. Then you had first gen like me. You had folks still in the trenches trying to make a name for themselves, so I enjoyed it. You introduced me to some new HBCU alums, so I appreciate that to some new HBCU alums, so I appreciate that Was there anyone who didn't make the cut.
Speaker 3:Well, you know, I always say, like, with this book there were so many people who I would have loved to have gotten. You know, like the Spike Lee's and the Timmy L Jackson's and all of them, ta-nehisi Coates, I wanted him so bad. He's very busy and so he was always so supportive. But he's he's, he's a very busy man, um, and so there's so many people that I, you know, and I always say, you know, if there's enough interest, maybe we'll get to do another one people. But yeah, like there's so many people, and then some people will say, why didn't you have someone from this school or that school?
Speaker 3:there are, you know, around 100 hbcus and so, and I don't think we got any from like out west, they were like you know. You didn't get many that were from out of the south, so it's always more you could have done, but well and then some of them were still connected to other HPCUs.
Speaker 2:That was amazing. So, although they may have only attended one, they had siblings or they even worked at others, and so you did cover a lot of ground. You really did.
Speaker 3:We really wanted to make sure that we didn't just have the Howards and the Selmans, that we didn't just have the Howards and the Selmans, like we wanted some of the smaller HBCUs that don't always get talked about, like Dillard or Talladega. Like we wanted to make sure that we shine the light on, like the broad, diverse experience of going to HBCUs.
Speaker 2:Now you mentioned several people who were alive that you wish you could have maybe able to make them work into the book. Is there anyone who is deceased that you think would have been great to have?
Speaker 3:Oh, wow, I mean, I definitely would say Toni Morrison, because she's my favorite author and, you know, I obviously, to me, one of the greatest writers of all time. So, if, yes, if she could have been in the book, my goodness, I feel like it would have been incredible. So, yeah, I think someone like a Toni Morrison absolutely Beautiful.
Speaker 2:And I just want to put my little tidbit because I was thinking about it I would have loved some of our ancestors who founded the HBCUs, like Mary McLeod Bethune, the gentleman from Alabama, a&m Tuskegee just to have some insight of their struggle and their tenacity with just laying down the platform, the foundation, so that these institutions can still exist a century later is just amazing.
Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely Like. The people who really like lay that groundwork.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely Like the people who really like lay that groundwork. So is there?
Speaker 3:anything that was not shared in an HBCU experience essay that you just knew was probably going to be in there, not like a lot of the major experiences. I think that we we did get people who talked a bit about greek life um, I'm sure some people may have wanted some more of that or to talk about that. That aspect, um, we got, you know, we did like, you know, the homecoming aspect. We did kind of like the arts and the sciences. So we did, we did a wide range of the aspects of it. But I'm sure there may be some. They're not something, something I can think of off the top of my head, but there may be, I'm sure.
Speaker 2:Well, and you also had some of the political situations that, uh, usually the hbcus were always the grassroots operations during the political turmoil and activism and all of that. But culturally, one that I thought was I was surprised it wasn't mentioned was Freaknik.
Speaker 3:Oh wow, when was it? You didn't get some? No, we didn't hear anyone talking about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I'm going to move on to the next question, and you alluded to this somewhat in your intro. But how important is it for us to promote and advocate for our extraordinary institutions that expose us to the Black diaspora and instill Black excellence?
Speaker 3:Well, I think it's extremely important and I think that we see every day about how, even now, black people in academia and, you know, in the corporate world and all these different spaces, have to try to justify why, why they're there, why they deserve to be there, why they're not a DEI hire or whatever. And you have these things thrown around just to say, just to describe a black person being in a space. So you know, you being hired as being woke or you being in a space of DEI, and so I think that when you have, and then when you have a Supreme Court, that is striking down the use of affirmative action, I think what you see is a need for a continued need for spaces where Black people can be allowed to just be themselves and to be in a space where they don't have to defend their reason for being.
Speaker 3:They can be as diverse and thought and find and everything that they want to be, and they can really learn who they are in a space without all of these distractions from people who are questioning just their very identity, their very humanity. And so it's not that HBCUs are for every person, like they're not going to be, for you know, everybody should be able to choose where they want to go, but for some people HBCUs will offer a safe space, a safe haven where they can really grow and find their potential. And they also offer a lot of people second chances. They take chances on students that other schools wouldn't and give them, you know, an education and allow them to grow. And we talk about that in the book a bit.
Speaker 3:Mark Peace Brown, who's a businessman, a digital marketer, you know, who didn't have the greatest grades. He got into Houston but he had to. You know, it was like on a probationary period he had to take some remedial classes but then he ended up graduating, you know, with honors. And it was because Hampton took a chance on him right and gave him this opportunity where he could learn from other Black people Black mathematicians he could see, you know people and gave him this opportunity where he could learn from other Black people Black mathematicians. He could see you know people who look like him, and that inspired him, and so I think that is also the role of HBCUs it's giving Black students a chance who might not get that chance otherwise.
Speaker 2:Excellent, thank you for that. So why did you name the book HBCU Made?
Speaker 3:well, I was trying to think of like the best way to kind of describe it and like what, what would work? Um, and you know, as I was, you know, throwing around different things different ways to you know thinking of different kind of hashtags and things like that, hbc made came together because it was just like the idea of, like you know, this is a book about people who really grow and find themselves at hbcus. In many ways they are, they are made there, like how an hbcu can make you, uh, into the best version of yourself, right, like, go there and you learn about and I know I learned about putting my best foot forward what it means to give your all. You gotta come correct. Um, you know that's what I learned, how those seeds were planted in me. So, in in so many ways, I am hbc made, and not only that, but the opportunities you get, the people you meet, all of that. It all to me just made sense to say HBCU made.
Speaker 2:I love it.
Speaker 3:I love it now.
Speaker 2:You mentioned you have three babies, right? Yeah, what are their ages?
Speaker 3:uh, yes, I have a 10 year old, uh Reggie, uh, eight year old Gabrielle and ayear-old Annalise. Yeah, so three babies Beautiful.
Speaker 2:Are they required to continue the HU legacy or the HBCU legacy? And that was just like that. The person who wrote about their father went to FAMU and said his money was only going to FAMU.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know I say that they have a choice, but I am, you know, rooting for them. I said in you know, my acknowledgments that I hope that you know they will be HBCU made to, or at least get a chance to. So I think I'm trying not to press it too much, because they're at an age of I press it too much, they're not going to be as interested. But I do want to put it in their ear. They actually went to some of my you know, some of the places for my book tour and so they really liked at. They went to Winston-Salem State University and they really liked that. That's where my mom and my sister went, and some other family members. So they really like that. So we're going gonna try to get them, you know, to start thinking about Howard too. They definitely have the Howard shirt oh, great, wonderful.
Speaker 2:So what is next? You, you got all these things going on. What, what is? What are you thinking you're gonna do within the next couple of years or so?
Speaker 3:Well, you know, the Lord only knows. I think right now I'm really happy at NPR. I'm really happy hosting Weekend Edition Sunday and hosting the weekend episodes of Up First. You know HBCU Made will come out in paperback in January, so we'll continue to be pushing HBCU.
Speaker 3:Made will come out in paperback in January. So we'll continue to be pushing HBCU Made. I will continue to be speaking about HBCU Made because the great thing about this book is that it's not just a one-time book. It's really a book that I think stands the test of time.
Speaker 3:It's an evergreen book because you always have people who need to learn more about HBCUs yes interested in the HBCU experience and you have so many, you know, kids coming up who may be interested, um, kids who are going on tours that you're putting on and and they want to know about HBCUs, and so I feel like that that's the great thing about this book is that there will always be a need for it, and it's really meant to be something that will stand the test of time, and that it'll be this testimony that people can look to about why these institutions matter.
Speaker 2:I definitely agree with that. I teach high school seniors and I was thinking about how these guidance counselors need to have your book in their libraries or at least on their reference list, because they can go to the school's website a campus visit so they're just looking at the promotional materials that are coming through the schools, which is okay, there's nothing wrong with that. They do a job and then their only other option is just to follow the young people on TikTok or whatever. You doing a lot of stuff that we don't necessarily want promoted and this is just hardcore, factual, accomplished people who have been there and done that, and a lot of the writers mentioned a different world.
Speaker 2:I'm a product of the different world era and it was paramount to the influx of students at HBCUs. But there is no. There's a void right now, and we do have some of the other networks doing their rendition, but it just doesn't have the same substance. So I think that this is a timeless piece. I would love to see more. I would love. I'm definitely promoting it within my networks and just truly enjoyed reading it and being a part of this conversation this evening.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate it, and thank you for the work that you do, which is so important in promoting HBCU to students and setting them on a path. So thank you so much, thank you.
Speaker 1:So, aisha, before we get into the audience, if they have questions, there's a few that I have in addition to what Monique asked, and I'm going to start this first one off by saying that I love the chapter. I don't know how to pronounce her name. It was the lady you mentioned who went to fam you and it's um yes everybody was cheering you on.
Speaker 1:That one spoke to me as well. But the person I identify with the most was marquise and, as you mentioned, the Hampton story, right, and just a little bit about my journey, right. So I went to like really good public schools and you would say that my public school was predominantly white, although we were very diverse. We had folks, we had Black students, we had Black students from Africa, we had Black students from the Caribbean, we had like African American Black students, and then we had Asian students who were Asian-American, second-generation, third-generation, whatever. But then we had folks whose parents were immigrants, folks who were immigrants, but it was still a predominantly white space, elite public schools. So it would not be uncommon for folks from my high school to go to Ivy League schools or what they call a tier one, aau, top 50 type public schools.
Speaker 1:But man, I was a 2.3 student and it just, I think teachers identified that I was smart, I was inquisitive, I asked questions. I was smart, I was inquisitive, I asked questions, I wouldn't go anywhere, I just wasn't. And at the time my mom took me on college tour, you know, we went to the AUC, we went to A&T, we went to Howard Hampton, all of that and my sister went to A&T. So she was like I'd like to just go to A&T. You know, and at the time basically everybody going to A&T, like if you weren't like a 3.0, whatever type student, you were on probation, essentially because it was basically open admission, like everybody got in, everybody. For someone like me, who is probably the type of person I am, I'm a better college student than I am a K-12 student and A&T has a lot to do with that.
Speaker 1:But as you see, some institutions prepping and priming to be competitive with PWI counterparts raising admission standards or maybe just as students, more students, are wanting to go to HBCUs. They're going to pick the students with the higher GPAs because there's a limit on how many students can go. So can you talk about how you see that tension, with HBCUs having a mission to provide opportunities for students who otherwise may not have them? But like we are aspiring in ways that maybe we didn't aspire for and I'm wondering how that's going to change. Who gets to be in the third edition of this book, like 20 years from now or whatever? Could you talk a little bit about that from your perspective?
Speaker 3:I think that's a very good point, because I do think that part of what HBCUs do is that they take students who might fall through the cracks in other places and they know how to pour into them and to educate them. And they know, because of the nature of HBCUs it's more of a family orientation, the way a lot of the professors and all of that like it's just a difference. And I think that you see it in the outcomes, not only for students who you know have a difficult time or who maybe don't have the highest GPAs, but you see it in the fact that you know that Black people who go to HBCUs and want to be doctors are more likely to become doctors right Like they. They are able to do that Like they know how to not just get you into the school but get you out of the school, get you graduating, which a lot of other schools cannot do right. You know 80% of judges in this country Black judges in this country went to HBCUs right. So we have all of this evidence that HBCUs know how to educate Black people.
Speaker 3:I do think what you're pointing out is that some of them are getting more competitive because you have had this resurgence of interest. So, like at Spelman, for instance, I don't want to give out the wrong numbers, but I know like their application pool has jumped exponentially. Right Now they are getting thousands and thousands more applications than they did before, and I think they had still have their biggest freshman class that they've ever had this past year. And so you do see, and I think, howard and other places are getting the highest level of applications they've ever had. And so, that being the case, everyone can't get in. But I do think that part of what I want to do with a book like this is so that people know that Spelman and Howard are not your only options. Those are also like private schools, so they're going to be more expensive anyway. But, like there are a lot of state schools, there are smaller schools. Some of them are private, some of them are state, but there are other schools where you may have more options. Right, that everyone's not looking at. Everybody's not necessarily applying to get in, but you can get a great education.
Speaker 3:One of the people in the book, rebecca Roselle. She went to Dillard. She did not even apply. They called her and said we saw your transcript, we'll give you some money, you can get in, and so that's how she ended up going there. She had really wanted, I believe she wanted to go to Clark, one of the AUC schools, but she ended up at Dillard, and so I think that part of it is there is a tension there, because I do think that HBCUs need to educate as many students as they can. They do need the resources to do that, but I also think that there are a lot of schools who aren't necessarily getting those record numbers of applicants who would still give you a great education right, and so I think people also need to think about those schools as well yeah, I want to, um, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna frame a concept and then I want you to respond to me.
Speaker 1:There's a podcast that I love and it's called oh, it's called the Protege Podcast, and the host of the podcast had a funny episode where he talks about the seven types of bougie black people, and one of those types and the framework for bougie was that bougie just means you're aspirational.
Speaker 1:It's not a negative kind of it just means you aspire, right. And so he said that there's a blue collar bougie Black person and these are the people in your family who, when so-and-so can't pay for the funeral, you call that person, they pay for the. The person who's atlanta bougie, they spent all their money trying to look fancy, right. But the blue-collar bougie person lives in a regular middle-class neighborhood. They save their money, they can be good in retirement and that's the person everybody goes to when they need that. And so I'm thinking about we have these great examples oprah's billionaire, roy Wood, jr. Right, we have you people on TV and the media terrorist against, who are assuming. But can you talk a little bit about the everyday excellence that you see being produced, um, in folks who are graduates of HBCUs, and and what it means to be HBCU, made in that every everydayness type of accent.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I think that part of what I didn't want just celebrities for the book. So everyone is, like you know, super well known. Some of them are just people who are out there working and, you know, doing the best that they can do. I think that that is really what HBCUs have really accomplished is, you know, being like a backbone of the black middle class, which is always different from the white middle class, but it does exist.
Speaker 3:And I think that what and I see that in my own family, where my mother went to Winston-Salem State University she was the oldest of seven children but through Pell Grants and other things, she was able to go to Winston-Salem State. She got a degree in business and so she was able to go on and work in HR and, you know, not be some super rich woman, but she was able to have three children and all three of her children went to HBCUs. You know, I went to Howard, my brother went to Shaw, my sister went to Winston-Salem State as well, and so we're all on different paths, right, but we're all out here doing more than what we would have otherwise if it had not been for HBCU, like my, you know, my big mom worked at a factory. My grandfather, my big daddy, you know he worked picking tobacco and at hospitals, but they were not educated at, they did not have higher education. But my mother was given that opportunity right Because HBCUs existed and I think so many other people have that story right. Like they went, they got the business degree, so now they were able to work in HR, work at the bank or do something, and then they were able to have their children go to school and have more opportunities and do things like that, and I think HBCUs absolutely set that path for so many people.
Speaker 3:It's not about, you know, I never thought that I would be on TV, but God has blessed me, you know, to be on here and there. But really I just wanted a job, I just wanted to work, I wanted to be able to pay bills. That's what I wanted to do. And so I think that, you know, going to Howard, I was able to get my first job at Reuters. That's just what I. I just wanted a job and that's the. You know, that's where I made those connections.
Speaker 1:So I think so much of what happens at HBCUs it's not necessarily just about, you know, the Oprah's and the Rory Wood juniors, but it's also about people who go in there and they're able to get a degree that puts them in a position to give them more opportunities than they would have otherwise yeah, I, I know that this book is about it's testimonials from individuals, um, and one of the things I think about being an alum of a historically black college, um, what it means for folks who maybe don't even go to that HBCU but who are in that community, who benefit from the presence of that Black college. So could you talk a little bit about how you saw that, as during your time at Howard and as someone who has parents and siblings and went to Shaw, went to Salem State and all that, when you're in the communities surrounding communities of those HBCUs, can you talk a little bit about what the impact is for black folks who maybe don't even go there as students?
Speaker 3:I think that family atmosphere, you know, I think it transcends you know. I think that you know whether you know growing up, especially growing up in a place like North Carolina where there are so many HBCUs. You know, growing up in Durham, I mean, you got Central Pride, so you have all of these HBCUs just around. But you also have, you know, the community organizations that are, you know, working at those HBCUs, or the people, the graduates, or the people who are on campus now doing community service work. You have the people who are, you know, in those communities, who are trying to build them up, but the educators who are going out into community and doing programs, you know, oftentimes you will have people, you know kids, who will be going to those campuses, maybe to do some sort of camp or some sort of thing. You know they're like it is a part of the community, right, and people are very proud to have that in their neighborhood when it's homecoming.
Speaker 3:Whether you went to that school or not, you know you may be out in the print. You know, with the fish fry or at the parade or whatever, it's a sense of pride of seeing, you know, these other people, these black people, you know, doing amazing things, or whether you're just enjoying the band or enjoying the majorettes, like I just feel like there is a community there that is different, right, when you're around these HBCUs, and that it does reach out further than just those who actually attend the school. And I also think another thing about HBCUs is that it's not necessarily like you know, okay, I went to Howard, we went to Howard, you went to A&T, but if you meet someone else that went to an HBCU, there's still that camaraderie there, that's right Camaraderie of going to an HBCU, right Like whether there's a rivalry there or just showing love or whatever, or you're bragging about where you went to.
Speaker 3:But there's that connection. If you don't get just from going to a pwi hb, going to an hbcu is a special experience and even if we didn't go to the same school we have. You know, I understand things about you, know your experience and you would understand things about mine and, like I, I think there's a connection there so.
Speaker 1:So I'm going to build on that for my next question. Imagine that the three of us are on a connecting flight in Alaska. We got to lay over in Alaska, okay, and Monique is wearing her Howard shirt. Aisha, you're wearing your Howard shirt and, for whatever reason, I decided to wear my Texas shirt, because that's the PWI I went to for grad school, right? The two of you see each other, y'all going to say something. You know what I mean. You're going to say H-U-U-N-O Right, you're going to do it. Right, but I'm wearing my longhorn shirt. Somebody else is wearing the longhorn shirt.
Speaker 2:They're not saying anything.
Speaker 1:It's not the same, it's not, it's not this, it's not this, it's not the same. There's no, there's no hook and horns. There's none of that, because that person who's wearing that longhorn shirt, they're a fan, they're not really alone. They didn't they didn't really right, so it's. It's a whole different vibe and sometimes their.
Speaker 2:Their experience, I'm sorry, stops right there at graduation. It does not go to the grave like us. It's a forever united experience and we are committed to it for life.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 1:And so I want to ask talk about what it means for you to be in a community of alum from Howard University, Like when you meet somebody, and the importance of that because we say, oh, you want to go to Harvard because Harvard has this deep alumni base that's powerful and influential. Talk about what that means for you as a Howard University alum.
Speaker 3:I mean, I absolutely, you know, when people say you know you need to go to an Ivy League or this or that because you need to get those connections, I will say, as someone who has, you know, been around and met a lot of people, I have never, you know, hurt and met a lot of people. I have never, you know, hurt for connections by going to Howard. There are so many people that have gone to Howard, even like people like Ta-Nehisi Coates, like when I say, when I reached out, I've never talked to him before but I'm like, I went to Howard, I'm a Howard grad, you know, he responded Like, and I think that's because I went to Howard you know.
Speaker 3:So HBCU Roy Wood Jr was the first person that I reached out to. I was very nervous. You know I'm reaching out to people and as soon as I, you know, and in the letter I had said H-U-U-No, he responded back immediately. It was like never say H-U-U-No to me, don't you ever do that. So I mean, you see him, like you know, and even spike lee, like he didn't respond. He wasn't able to be in the book but he didn't respond.
Speaker 3:He went to boar house like I think that there's a love there, right, um, and even just like, not just with the book, but like going through life, like I meet so many Howard people that went to Howard, went to other HBCUs that have looked out for me, that have reached out to me, that have been so kind to me. You know, professionally and other ways, if I needed help with this or that. And you know, like I said, like I got my first job, it was because of a class at Howard, right, because of a class at Howard, right. You know, when I needed help after graduation or you know, and I'm like looking for a job, I was able to reach out to my professors who were putting me in touch with people. So I feel like, you know, and I still have friends and people who are you know, who I'm still in touch with right and who have still been there for me.
Speaker 3:You know, michael Arsenal also went to Howard. You know there's so many people who I feel like I've, you know, met on this journey, who are doing incredible things, who are at the tops of their industry. So, no, you don't have to go to Harvard to have people at the top of their, at the top of their industries, like no, like they're all, we're all over the place everywhere we go. You know, there are people who went to hbcus, who I've run into, who went to hbcus and I have that connection with and I asked that question for the students who are joining us today who may be considering their their options.
Speaker 1:Um, we are blessed to have a question in the chat. I'm going to read it off. It's from Stacey Hodges and she's asking do you believe that HBCU shed a light, specifically from our honorable, that the United States causes more tension and creates a greater sense of curiosity of the successful individuals who work hard to make an impact on the world? So it's basically talking about the impact or tensions associated with the vice president being an HBCU alum. She's also following up asking do you believe that the more money that is funded outside of private donations is a way to alter the purpose of the HBCU brand? So what would be the impact of donations outside of private donations?
Speaker 3:Well, I think, first, I think, the Kamala Harris Vice President Harris. I think that it is huge to have the Vice President of the United States to be an HBCU graduate, because there has always been this question from those who would question the reason for HBCUs, or why do they still need to exist? Or you know this idea that somehow by going to HBCU you may be lowering your standards, you may not be able to get as far in life, but when you see, you know a Black woman who went to an HBCU who has now climbed to the highest levels of politics and power in the world, I think that you that puts that to bed in a certain way, or it should. People will still make those questions, but you can say, look, we are in the White House. Right, it is not a limit on you, it's not a limit on what you can do.
Speaker 3:As far as the donations, I mean, I think that it's a double-edged sword. I mean I don't think I think a lot of HBCUs desperately need the funding and they desperately need the funding and they desperately need funding. They've been underfunded by the government intentionally, by billions of dollars. Many land grant universities have been underfunded and then they just have not gotten the level of support that they need and even though they've been able to punch above their weight, they still need money, they need dollars.
Speaker 3:I mean, you see all these stories about facilities that are not up to par and this or that you got to have money for that, and so I do think it's a double-edged sword and that you do not want you, you do not want that to change the nature and the character of an HBCU. But so far as this money can help actually support these HBCUs in their mission to educate and provide, you know, and allow more students to go to school, I mean I think it's a good thing. I hope that it's a good thing. You know, time will tell, but I do think that there is a need for that outside funding and, you know, for better or for worse, there is a need for that.
Speaker 1:And I always end with this question, and you kind of alluded to it already, but I always ask if there was another chapter in the book that you would write, what would it be about? And in this case, who might that person be? So you mentioned Spike Lee, you mentioned Samuel L Jackson. We have the vice president. We mentioned her. So is there anybody else, maybe for the next edition of the book, or wasn't included in this, that you would have liked to include, that maybe didn't get able to get in there?
Speaker 3:I think that there's so many people who I would love to get their stories in the book. I think some of the younger generation, I mean some younger people who are up and coming now. I think I would love to get some more of their stories. You know people younger, you know authors, younger people in the business, people just starting out to get some more of that, I think I would love to have that, you know. And as far as like big names, you know some of the names that you mentioned about. You know I would love someone like a Meg Thee Stallion, you know yeah yeah, yeah, I think that would be interesting and fun.
Speaker 3:You know she did a lot with HBCUs and she actually did graduate and while that was important to her, I think that would be like a fun addition. But yeah, I'm, you know, I'm open, you know, for more essays and more people you know who have stories to tell. I would love to do it.
Speaker 1:All right and I just want to read this real quick before I let you all go. And this is from Brianna Young. She says thank you all for your vulnerability and transparency. Your stories and critical conversations like this are so biteable. I look forward to reading an HBCU made. Thank you for all the work that you do so thank you both for joining us, Monique stepping in as a special guest host I know you're super busy NPR superstar and all that stuff, and thank you.