I love teaching kids about HBCUs. I don’t need a special reason to celebrate the beauty of historically black colleges and universities, but September is HBCU Awareness Month, so it’s the perfect time to share the love and spread the word.

I attended undergrad and grad school at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, FL where I pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and the experience changed my life! I cherish the years that I spent in an amazingly supportive and inclusive environment, I talk to my children about it often, and I share about it in my book A PLACE TO BELONG.

Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Most of these institutions were founded in the years after the American Civil War and are concentrated in the Southern United States.

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To celebrate HBCU Awareness Month, I interviewed Claudia Walker from HBCU Prep School, a family-owned multimedia education company that amplifies Black voices and Black joy through children’s literature and videos. Claudia Walker is an Oakland based author, speaker, and former principal whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Essence, and Vogue.

As a proud second generation HBCU graduate, Claudia’s best-selling book series, The ABCs of HBCUs, was inspired by her undergraduate experiences at Spelman College and as a student in the Atlanta University Center. Claudia is deeply committed to showcasing and celebrating stories that mainstream publications tend to overlook, and that’s what makes me so excited about her work. Our missions are aligned, and we have much in common. Check out our interview to learn more:

HBCU Prep School Resources

Check out the HBCU Prep School website to see all that they have to offer. Their growing collection of resources for teaching kids about HBCUs along with other aspects of Black culture is FUN, encouraging, and inspirational. SPECIAL OFFER: Receive 15% off your order with the code HERITAGE until September 30, 2022.

The ABCs of HBCUs Board Book

From Homecoming to the Halftime Show (Activity Book)

Other HBCU Prep School Books and Notebooks

Learn More About HBCUs

During the period of segregation prior to the Civil Rights Act, the great majority of institutions of higher education served predominantly white students, and disqualified or limited black American enrollment. For a century after the end of slavery in the United States in 1865, most colleges and universities in the Southern United States prohibited all African Americans from attending, while institutions in other parts of the country regularly employed quotas to limit admissions of Black people. HBCUs were established to provide more opportunities to African Americans and are largely responsible for establishing and expanding the African-American middle class.

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This TEDx talk is a great overview of the history and importance of historically black colleges and universities:

Keep in Touch!

You can find me hanging out on Instagram @heritagemomblog, and be sure to check out my new book A PLACE TO BELONG where I share my experience attending an HBCU and how it changed me.