After greater than 30 years of protecting HBCU athletics, I knew it was time.
There’s no scarcity of content material about HBCUs nowadays. You’ll discover documentaries, media protection, social media moments, and, sure, even books in regards to the topic. However what actually pushed me to jot down HBCU Sports activities 101: A Information to Understanding Black Faculty Athletics was the conclusion that so lots of these narratives aren’t being instructed by individuals who truly lived the HBCU expertise.
That, to me, is a sort of injustice.
And I say that with all due respect. But when the nationwide media can acknowledge how particular our establishments are, then it ought to be clear that the individuals who walked these campuses sat in these school rooms, marched in these bands, and performed on these fields are those finest outfitted to inform these tales. I felt chargeable for ensuring not less than a few of these tales had been instructed with a unique lens.
A Perspective Rooted in Expertise
I’m not coming into this area as an outsider. I’m not right here for a pattern. I’m right here as a result of I’ve been in it for 3 many years. As a journalist, as a storyteller, and as a graduate of an HBCU.
Whenever you spend that a lot time immersed in a tradition that’s typically misunderstood, you begin to see the distinction between the way it’s portrayed and what it truly is. Folks on the surface typically see what HBCUs lack. However these of us on the within? We see what they’ve constructed, with much less and towards the chances. That’s what this guide is supposed to replicate: not simply our challenges however our power.
Who This E book Is For
This guide is for anyone who needs an actual understanding of HBCU sports activities: college students, mother and father, alumni, sports activities followers, and even individuals who simply need to know what the hype is about. HBCU Sports activities 101 is for all of them.
It doesn’t draw back from the realities. The underfunding. The neglected athletes. The media gaps. However it additionally reveals how, regardless of all that, HBCUs proceed to provide excellence. On the sector. Within the classroom. On this planet.
What Folks Typically Miss
HBCU sports activities have by no means been about making an attempt to mimic mainstream school athletics. From day one, we’ve needed to make our personal manner. Not as a result of it was stylish however as a result of it was essential.
We created our personal classics. Our personal bowl video games. Our personal band tradition. Our personal fashion of play. Our personal satisfaction.
And we didn’t ask for approval. We simply did it.
That independence — that creativity — is what makes HBCU sports activities so distinctive. And too typically, it’s neglected. I wrote this guide to assist change that.
The Actual Takeaway
In case you learn this guide cowl to cowl, I need you to stroll away with one factor: HBCUs are nonetheless right here, and so they’re nonetheless doing the work they had been constructed to do.
Sure, we’re nonetheless pushing by way of challenges, outdated and new. However that’s all the time been a part of the story. What issues is that we hold urgent ahead. That we don’t simply survive however transfer ahead on our personal phrases, at our personal tempo.
HBCUs weren’t created to win championships. They had been created to coach and empower Black minds. That’s the mission. And every thing else, together with our athletic traditions, flows from that.
Preorder HBCU Sports activities 101
In case you care about Black tradition and imagine within the energy of HBCUs, this guide is for you.
HBCU Sports activities 101: A Information to Understanding Black Faculty Athletics tells the complete story of Black school athletics. It covers the primary video games performed, the best rivalries, the legendary coaches, and the traditions that turned our colleges into nationwide treasures. That is the place tradition and competitors collide.
It’s greater than a guide. It’s a reminder of who we’re and the way far we now have come.
The signed paperback + prompt eBook bundle is on the market now at KennRashad.com
