Black art is in high demand from people and institutions outside Black culture today, but that wasn’t always the case. In fact, the opposite was true.
Racism caused many colleges and art schools to reject Black art and Black artists. HBCUs like Hampton Institute, Howard University, and Atlanta University then offered Black artists a home, using their limited resources to train and nurture their creative growth.
Black literature and film also have ties to HBCUs. Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes got their start as students at HBCUs. Director Spike Lee found his voice at Morehouse.
Legends like Hurston and Lee exist because HBCUs gave them the power and skill to portray Blackness on their terms. No longer could the racist caricatures of Black people define us.
Sometimes, looking to the past is the best way forward, and these campuses can inspire new ideas and possibilities for the next generation of Black artists. For Black liberation to be a reality, we need imaginative minds that conceptualize life beyond coloniality.