The Historic HBCU Photograph

(Sound of bass being played) DARRYL ROBERTS: You know the two photos.

You know, they represent a story.

I think everyone who looks at the picture is probably going to have a different question that pops into their head.

What is somebody who went to school in Mississippi versus somebody who went to school in Pennsylvania?

What kind of interconnectedness did they develop from this photograph?

And you'll be able to create that dotted line reference to every two individuals in that picture.

(Street noise) (Jazzy music) DARRYL: So, the inspiration for this picture, of course, was a picture called "A Great Day in Harlem."

You know, we all know about that.

It was iconic, you know, steps of a brownstone.

We wanted to do that.

We wanted to do something a little different.

(Music crescendos over title) MARLO COZART: What does this day represent to us?

It represents for me something very historical, something very family oriented.

Even though, we went to different HBCUs and are in different organizations, it's still all love and family.

WOMAN: I'm just like, oh, this is so exciting.

I'm glad to be a part of it.

MR. LEROY FRAZER: Epic, to be here where you can see all the people from HBCUs, from all over the country.

And it's just wonderful to smile and say hello and to represent.

DR. LONZO SASSO: This day is historic and monumental.

To reenact and relive the historic moments of the Harlem Renaissance with HBCU alumni.

(Jazzy music) (Sound of chatter and laughter) DARRYL: The original photograph and the inspiration for the Historic HBCU Photograph, was a photograph that was taken in 1958.

The name in the photograph was "A Day in Harlem."

It was a group of 57 Jazz musicians.

Count Basie, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey.

It was just an enormous picture that is almost in every barbershop, every liquor store, you know, in their vestibule of this picture.

I mean, this picture is so iconic when it comes to New York.

You know, because it was 57 of world-renowned Jazz musicians in 1958.

And that was still during a time it was before the civil rights movement.

You know, you still had, you know, The Green Book through the South.

So, when you would travel through the South as a musician, you had to stay in different, separate hotels.

You know, it was just an enormous picture with, with a back story.

And I think the back story was something that kind of intrigued me more than just the picture.

The fact that it was on a brownstone in Harlem.

And, you know, when you look at those faces and you start thinking about, you know, their...their stories, their narratives and, and, you know, that kind of really intrigued me.

STACEY FRAZIER: I actually think that is really dope.

So, when I was invited to participate in it, um, I was thinking less about the original photo and just more about how epic it would be to have folks from dozens of HBCUs get together in a photo.

Um, a lot of times there's always, sort of rivalry between HBCUs.

And so, this just felt like an opportunity for us to kind of come together, do something fun, and represent the greatness that there are historically Black colleges and universities.

DR. RICHARD STEWARD: I think the photo is actually going to give people, an inspiration to know that even coming from an HBCU, whether it's from, an urban center or a small town that like, no matter where I get my training from, I can navigate and move in one of the largest cities in the world.

And knowing that, I think it will give people so much confidence that they can succeed in life.

KEVIN BRACEY: The highlights of all HBCUs over the past, you know, five years has been extraordinary, and to be a part of this picture.

It's going to be history.

TERRY LEWIS: It's amazing.

I'm glad that I was selected and be a part and I'm glad to see that all the universities will be represented.

And I'm glad to reenact that very moment, because I know it's going to be an epic moment and very, uh, prestigious.

And I'm just looking forward to be a part of it.

DR. LONZO SASSO: It's very, very meaningful to me to be a part of this reenactment.

And my school, the pride of the swift growing South.

The ball and parlay culture.

I'm here to represent in all aspects.

From the foundation that Booker T. Washington laid.

VAN CORBIN: This day is unbelievable.

'Cause (inaudible) has been talking about it for months and months and months.

And I can't believe it's here.

This is going to be epic.

We keep saying it's epic, but it's going to be epic.

To have this many people from HBCUs to get together at this historical site that (inaudible) will talk about later, of course, is just major.

But uh, Wash and I go back to my high school.

ERWIN WASHINGTON: High school.

Martin Luther King.

I was, I went to Cheyney.

Cheyney State then, Cheyney University now.

Photography wasn't really my thing until I started uh, teaching young people, and that was it.

VAN: So, we came up.

So, I was in I came from Virginia, stayed over in Philly last night, and we drove up this morning, and we were the second, second and third people here.

So that tells you how excited we are about the opportunity.

ERWIN: Yes, yes.

ROBERT NEWMAN: Yes, she's got the same colors at Morehouse.

She used to do hers here and... DARRYL: Rob is a Morehouse alum.

And we're doing an art project.

It's going to be a graffiti because it's New York.

Abstract art.

Um, we have all the colors that are connected to our universities, and we're going to be doing graffiti symbols, and we're going to take a picture of that picture, and we're going to turn it into a limited edition photograph, which I'll give you more details on once we line up for the picture and we get everything set up.

DARRYL: We have 85 schools represented here today.

HBCUs.

(Applause) DARRYL: Yeah.

85....85... (more applause) DARRYL: And there are actually 85 four year schools, you know.

So, you know, we got 100 percent some people are coming from as far as L.A...

I don't see Kian here yet.

He's coming from L.A. We got a lot people came up from D.C, Rochester, New York, Baltimore.

Brooklyn.

(laughter) The Five Boroughs, Staten Island, you know, Baltimore.

So, this...this.

And I normally use this word at least, at least several more times today.

But what we're doing today with a big "E" ...is going to be epic.

CROWD MEMBER: Yeah.

DARRYL: You know, never you know, some of these people, some of these schools that I didn't even know, University of the Virgin Islands existed, but they're going to be here.

And well, Cheyney...1837, you know, we're celebrating over 184 years of our struggle as African-Americans in this country.

And we're going to tell the story about these steps because there's a history, around why we're using these steps versus some brownstone or some random group of steps.

So, what we can do now, um, Rob has a little presentation about what he's going to do in terms of the, the art project.

So, take a lot of pictures, you know, the wall and the scenery in the background, um, is...is compelling.

DARRYL: And when I saw these steps two years ago, I said, "This is where we have to do it."

So, just hang loose.

Um, have a good time.

Connect.

You know, one of the things that they say that we don't do is network and connect.

Got an opportunity today 'cause you got some people here from schools that you said.

"Damn, I didn't know that was a school and they were an HBCU," but they here with you today.

(Soft R+B piano music) DARRYL: You go all the way back to, you know, the early days of HBCUs and of course, you know, we have to talk about, you know, and there's going to be much debate about this.

But, you know, the first HBCU founded was, Cheyney University in 1837.

And, you know, after that, you had University of District Columbia, and then, of course, Lincoln University was the first degree granting.

When you think about their purpose, that's what is probably the most compelling issue about HBCUs is that these universities were founded because of the denial of educational opportunities to African-Americans who were living here in the United States.

So, you know, their development was, was...was very rapid because, you know, everyone wanted to get, you know, to be better educated.

You know, they came off the fields and, you know, they came into commerce, and industry, and finance, and law, and medicine, and technology.

So, the universities continued to grow.

First, 1837 and the last HBCU, um, was 1962: University of the Virgin Islands, and, you know, they're primarily located, you know, up and down the Eastern seaboard.

You know, we go into the southeast and then we have a few located in Texas in the southwest.

But their purpose, you know, upon the beginning was to educate.

And that continues to be their purpose today.

And they have become, you know, more diverse institutions.

You know, they not only cater to, you know, African-Americans and people of color, but, you know, the populations of these HBCUs have become a lot more diverse.

MARISOL QUINTERO: When I went to Gram, it was during that era where "A Different World" just came on.

So, the enrollment to all HBCUs really went up because everybody thought, "Hey, your school's going to be just like it is in "A Different World.""

So, it was a big thing.

Um, it was totally a culture shock for me being a Latina going to an all-Black school.

Deep, deep, deep in the red clay South, you know, from New York City.

Um, there were things that I didn't know about that I learned, like, "what is shrimp and grits, right?"

But you pick up different things and customs, and um, it was the best four and a half years of my life.

I wouldn't trade it for nothing in the world.

Here's to GSU where everybody is somebody.

KIAN BROWN: My father uh, the late, Terry Brown, uh, he's a 1981 graduate of North Carolina Central University.

And I would not have even known anything about NCCU if it wasn't for my father.

Uh, he passed away in 2019.

And, Look, it's the only school that I ever applied to.

I remember looking at, high school pictures and the official picture day.

I had a NCCU lanyard in one of my high school pictures.

So, I had a choice, but I really didn't.

I didn't apply to anywhere else.

I was so grateful for everything my father instilled in me and uh, that's why I'm a Legacy Eagle.

DR. JESSICA MITCHEM: I went to LeMoyne-Owen from 2005.

I graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor's in social work.

I was on an athletic scholarship to play tennis at LeMoyne-Owen college, and it's the only HBCU in Memphis, which is a great thing.

Um, we are in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, so we play schools such as Morehouse, Lane, Clark-Atlanta, Miles College, Tuskegee.

I mean, the list goes on.

STACEY FRAZIER: I can't actually say where I first heard about Spelman, but I just remember being five years old and having heard about this school in Atlanta that was all Black women.

And I was like, "That's where I'm going."

I hadn't been, hadn't visited, didn't know anybody who attended.

But that was what I kind of purposed in my mind, like, I'm going to Spelman and literally everything that I did from the time that I started elementary school on up through college was focused on me going to Spelman.

So, I had to get the best grades.

I wanted to make sure that I could afford to go.

Um, I went to a private college prep school, and so I was very focused on making sure I could get, you know, really grades... really good grades on the SAT and, you know, good grades in school so that I could go.

And it's actually the only school I applied to.

So, I don't necessarily recommend that to folks nowadays, but it was Spelman or bust (chuckles).

KEVIN BRACEY: I went to Saint John's Prep High School, which is in Astoria, Queens.

Played basketball for Saint John's prep, and coming out was looking at schools.

I was being recruited by a couple of small schools, and then my sister was telling me about a HBCU, Delaware State because she was in the Air Force and she said you know, look into HBCUs.

And I really didn't know nothing about it, because being in New York, being out of Catholic school, which was, probably 90 percent white when I went there.

They were always pushing the local schools in the city, and no one ever talked about HBCUs.

So, she told me about it.

And a friend of mine, Keith.

Keith Joyner, was going to orientation at Winston-Salem State University.

So, he said (inaudible) come down there and I was like, well, I'm not being recruited by them, but I'll go visit the school.

Uh, so he and I, this is when People's Express was $29 round trip out of Newark.

So, we got on a plane and went down to Winston-Salem State.

TERRY LEWIS: On the block that I grew up on in East Elmhurst, 97th Street, 25th Avenue was the same block that Malcolm X lived on.

So, I had that...that...that sense of, community advocacy, being a part of, the movement.

So, knowing and connecting to Shaw University, where you had a lot of leaders, that came out that community did was advocating for, you know, freedom, justice, and equality.

It was a fit.

And when I went there, I discovered the fact that it was like a Mecca to me of, Black leaders that was there to educate themselves, to groom us as leaders.

So, I immediately felt like it was a fit.

And I've seen some of my closest friends and some young leaders that are progressing well today and doing great things not only from Shaw University, but from other universities as well.

PRECIOUS NZIMA-MOSES: I graduated from Rush-Henrietta, a good friend of mine from high school, her parents both graduated from Rust and, Doctor McMillan came to Rochester to an alumni meeting, and they invited me to come.

And here I am 25 years later, a graduate of Rust College.

So, Doctor McMillan was the reason I went to Rust College and the Rochester Alumni Club that was functioning at the time.

So thankful to that experience and that I made some...met some really great friends, great college experience that prepared me for the real world later on.

Went on to graduate school at a non-HBCU, but it was all good because of the foundation that I received.

It was awesome and I made some great friends like sisters, who is right here with me.

We go back 25 years and we're still kicking it strong, as the kids would say.

DOLORES STUBBS: Yes, what's good about Rust College is...even though, like, we... Rust College is in Mississippi, we were both from the north, so to speak, and so we connected being from the northern states.

And, you know, her in New York and I'm from Pennsylvania.

And so, we were able to travel together, coming back and forth down to Mississippi, driving that long, long journey.

PRECIOUS: Yes, long drive and she is the reason why I can drive on the expressway.

She taught me how to drive.

So, you know, (Delores laughs) I learned a lot in college, but more importantly was, coming from South Africa and going down to Mississippi, it reminded me of home because people were friendly they would speak to you.

So, it wasn't like kind of the typical New York where everybody's just doing their own thing, hustling and bustling.

Like, we got that Southern experience, that Southern feel where we really enjoyed and, and made lifelong friends that, that we still connect with on a whole other level.

And thanks God to Facebook, we were able to connect with others that we had, you know, lost touch with.

So, it's been really good.

And I thank Darryl for this opportunity that he invited us.

And I thank Red, who is one of our classmates, who actually connected us.

So, it's all good and we're excited and we want people to learn about Rust College.

It's a great school, a great opportunity to learn about who you are and just, you know, learn about, our culture.

You know, it's about the culture and about the learning and the experiences that you receive when you go to, you know, a historically Black college.

DR. CANELA UNA ACOSTA-EATMAN: Attending Hampton University was not my idea.

It was my mother's, and it was the best decision I've ever made, and it started the foundation for me to go to the other HBCUs I attended: Norfolk State and Morgan.

It gave me the foundation to become a doctor and to do things for my community through the diaspora.

I'm Puerto Rican and with understanding how the diaspora works, I was enabled to utilize all the HBCUs that I attended and start my business, HBCU Pa'lente.

ANTONIA BADON: My first amazing experience at Dillard University was Assembly.

I got a chance to perform "Ain't I a Woman" by Sojourner Truth and I was influenced for the rest of my life to join the theater division at Dillard University, as well as majored in communication.

Now, I learned so much about the greats: Zora Neale Hurston, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie.

I mean, I was so influenced by those amazing people during the Harlem Renaissance that I'm now living in Harlem.

How amazing is that?

Got a chance to perform the Zora Neale Hurston play in 19 characters, a one woman show, 19 character portrayals of Zora Neale Hurston.

So, HBCU was a big influence in my life, and it still is, and I hope we can continue to...to strive and of course, bring more kids to...to those amazing universities.

One: so, they can get that background of our history and our culture and they can go on and influence the world.

Just like Langston, just like James Weldon Johnson, just like Marcus Garvey, all those great American cultural giants.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Good.

Good morning.

Great to see you this morning.

I'll be taking the group picture.

Got a couple quick things: If you... if you...the first picture will have your masks and then the rest of them will not have masks.

So, keep your mask handy for the first picture.

(R+B music) DARRYL ROBERTS: So, these steps are significant for African-Americans worldwide because in 1968, three weeks after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, these steps were the steps of a protest that took place at Columbia University that revolved around the eminent domain flex of the school.

They felt that even though this is green space opened to everyone, and it was like a separation of this space from the elite of Columbia to the residents of Harlem who had been occupying Harlem since the 1920s during the Harlem Renaissance.

So, it was uh, decided by the administration that they would take the space and they would create a gym.

So, they gave the protest the name Gym "G-Y-M" Crow.

And it was, infringement.

It was disrespect.

It was racist to do it.

The Black Panthers got involved.

H. Rap Brown, Stokely Carmichael, the big four from New York, uh, Percy Sutton, Basil Paterson, David Dinkins, and Charles Rangel.

We're not going to have it.

And they occupied Hamilton Hall, which is one of the most revered buildings on the campus of Columbia.

And they said, "We're not going to have it."

They brought the National Guard in.

They arrested people.

It was a violent protest on these steps that led to Columbia.

And guess what?

The good guys won.

The good guys won.

(Cheering and applause) Crowd starts to sing "Happy Birthday."

Happy Birthday to ya Happy Birthday to ya Happy Birthday to ya Happy Birthday Happy Birthday to ya Happy Birthday to ya Happy Birthday Hap...py Birth...day Happy Birthday Happy Birthday One, two, three... Happy Birthday to ya Happy Birthday to ya Happy Birthday Happy Birthday to ya Happy Birthday to ya Happy Birthday (Crowd cheers and applauds) DARRYL: Yo, Daria, you back here?

We got one person coming down.

We're trying to situate her.

Um...I think she's (inaudible) PHOTOGRAPHER: All right, everybody.

Can everybody...put your phones down, please.

Okay.

First picture we're going to take is going to be, we're going to call it the money shot.

On three: I want you to say "money."

All right?

KIAN BROWN: Being a part of today's event with all the HBCUs really is incredible.

It's, a testament of, the vitality of HBCUs and how important they are, their lifelong learning, lifelong fidelity.

You're not just in school for four years, it's a lifelong commitment.

And the ages and everybody is here is a testament to the importance of HBCUs.

NIKKI JOHNSON: Represents strength and power, Black excellence, love, appreciation, grounding, um, the love of God that shows up in our lives, even, well, after graduation.

So, I'm grateful to be here.

KAREN NICHOLAS: I could not have imagined a more inspirational, more unified, more incredible day...meeting, HBCU alum from all over the country, including, you know, the University of the Virgin Islands representative, and our young man who flew all the way in from California.

So, um, it's been incredible.

MRS. LEROY FRAZER: This is a great feeling.

You know, just the camaraderie it just exudes love.

You know, it's just really nice.

Very nice.

DONALD NOTICE: To me...it's, it's unity too.

It's getting together.

It's um, meeting with lifetime friends, classmates and...and just enjoying each other.

And it's, you know, it's just, you know, in the, in the village of Harlem, it's also.

IMAN HILL-BURNS: It seems to be another Renaissance going on in Harlem.

And I'm glad to be a part of that, considering that there's so much gentrification happening in this particular neighborhood.

I'm glad that we're still putting our foot down and letting them know that we're still here.

DARRYL: When you look at the original and you know, you have artists, you know, play different instruments, different styles, you know, you have Benny Goodman, you know, you had Count Basie, you know, you had Sonny Rollins.

So, the relationships that they may have had, you know, will cause you to look at that picture and, and kind of question or confer exactly what their relationships really were outside of this picture.

And, you know, maybe this picture kind of brought them together, not just, you know, because of their musical backgrounds, but because of other interests that they may have had outside of music.

So, when I compare that to the, um, Historic HBCU Photograph, I can't help but think that, you know, 25, 30 years from now, somebody may look at the picture and they'll see in the picture, they'll say, "Wow, there's somebody in the picture from Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, and there's another person in the picture who... Rust College from Mississippi.

The Bearcats."

I wonder what kind of connectedness this picture helped them develop, because chances are, based on the geography, you know, they probably didn't know one another.

And, you know, this picture brought them together for an opportunity.

And you can draw that same comparison to other people that may be in the picture.

You, you know, you may have an individual, uh, from Virginia who went to Hampton and, you know, they might be standing next to someone in the picture from, from Lane College.

So, one is in Tennessee, the other one is in Virginia.

What kind of connectedness and solidarity did this picture that was taken on September 25th, 2021, allow them to develop?

(Smooth R+B music continues) (Camera shutter noise)