It was 80 years ago today, in 1926, that Mordecai W. Johnson became the first African-American president of Howard University. There is an incredible picture in Howard's Moorland-Spingarn Research Center of President Mordecai W. Johnson escorting His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, to a special convocation during which the Emperor receives the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, May 28, 1954. I didn't see that picture until the late 80s and was blown away. So much history.
Speaking of Howard and back in the day, anybody remember the Bison Cafeteria during The Summer of '77 when they had an actual bison's head up on the wall and The Brothers Johnson's, 'Strawberry Letter 23' and The Commodores, 'Easy' were the most popular tunes of choice in the jukebox that only cost you a quarter?
Anybody remember the old man that sold those slammin' hot dogs on Howard's Campus back then right out in front of the Bison Cafeteria? The ones with the Chili and Sauerkraut? The man who always had a longer line then any other hot dog vendor on the entire campus? He was a popular dude in the Summer Time next to the ice cream man!
Memories...OK, how did this post lead me to thinking of Ben's Chili Bowl?
Anybody remember the Howard University Children's Theatre (H.U.C.T.) in the 70s? Aside from DC/MD/VA peeps, we met kids those summers from California, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Hollah if you hear me! LOL! Where are my H.U.C.T. alumnus from the 70s?! To pull that reunion off would be an awesome feat indeed.
I was blessed with being able to participate in five different programs on Howard's campus over the years.
The Howard University Children's Theater in the Summers of '76 and '77 when I was 6 and 7, The Howard University Summer Journalism Workshop in the Summer of '83 when I was 13, Mayor Marion Barry's Summer Youth Leadership Program in the Summer of '86 when I was 16, WHMM Channel 32's Television and Engineering Program when I was 16 going on 17 and as an intern on the news show Evening Exchange in 1993 when I was 23.
There is a funny story behind the TV and Engineering program because of how it happened for me. Suffice it to say, that my curiosity, courage and determination got me into that class. I was the youngest student in the class, and only the second youth to inquire about getting into that program. I didn't tell anyone until I got in, even my parents.
The head of the department told me in an interview that a young lady in another high school was actually the first that had inquired about participating in such a program. It was really reserved for Howard Communications students already enrolled and in the Communications Department. The deadline had already passed to make matters worse for me.
I got a seat in that workshop because I knew I was interested in Television at an early age and wanted to learn more about it. I actually took off one day from my last year of High School one rainy afternoon early so I could get into this program but I had to be interviewed first by the Head of the Department! LOL. It went very well. I think the Head of the Department was tickled, surprised and impressed that a youth from a DC High School set this interview up on his own and was able to convince a grown adult he had to be in this upcoming program. He signed me up that day and shook my hand with a smile after a great conversation, gave me my paperwork and welcomed me in. "See you next month." A brotha was happy and proud.
Another great influence for me going into Radio/TV/Film was that our father used to take my older sister and I to WHMM Channel 32 in the early 80s and we would all volunteer our time during fundraisers that broadcast live on air. WHMM premiered on the air on September 29th, 1980. We volunteered several times. Our first experience on TV! LOL. It was really fun answering phones and all and taking pledges but what really fascinated me was watching the cameramen, engineers and lighting men work behind the scenes. Also watching the On-Air Talent prepare themselves before that red light lit up on top of the cameras. Watching them do what they do. All of that inspired me.
All of them were incredibly beneficial programs for me in my life and many other young people I know who grew up around that time. What I learned from those five programs have stayed with me to this day.
We had the opportunity to stay in Howard's dorms during the Journalism and Leadership programs which were really fun and exciting experiences at those ages. Our first taste at independence away from our families in a college type atmosphere where the campus was your summer home. A lot of growing up for me took place during those years. It was really great.
Howard also had some incredible Black speakers that came through especially between the years of 1987 and 1991. You talk about an education you couldn't get in a classroom!
There was also a natural, from the streets, grassroots, socially conscious, Afrocentric, awareness movement that was going on in the late 80s and early 90s that a lot of young Black people who were just entering college were feeling with great curiosity. You could hear it in our music, Hip Hop, in the way we started dressing, expressing ourselves, etc. Baby Boomers even had to comment they hadn't seen that type of interest in our roots and culture as Black People until going back to their time in the 1960s and 70s.
I think some of our parents and families feared we were getting too militant. That's not even what it was. We were gettin' that knowledge. Knowledge that had been suppressed. That knowledge that we sho' nuff had not gotten in school growing up. It was like good food for your brain. The energy was so good you had to come back again and again to see who was next. And it was all good. You see what the alternatives for the youth are out here today, right? And they got on us for gettin' the knowledge? Are you kidding me?
There are times where I have wondered, "OK, Baby Boomers, some of you got on our case for showing interest in our culture back then, are you happier now with what the youngsters are into today? Do you approve of this era of blinged out, strip club sounding, misogynistic, thug junk more than that Era of Elders Droppin' Science that we had?" I'm talkin' here about Conscious Hip Hop and what was going on across America on Historical Black Colleges and Universities campuses with different speakers we saw and heard.
Some have said the 90s were the 60s turned upside down and since we were the children of the children of the 60s we couldn't help but feel some of that spirit around that time. We were actually coming into our own. I thought that was an interesting comment.
A good TV visual of this would be this suggestion: Check out Different World on DVD. Get the episodes of when Howard Alum Debbie Allen took over the show. You will see the difference of how it was before she got there and after. After Ms. Allen started producing and directing that show it started reflecting the consciousness that was happening on HBCU's around that time. They all did a good job. The feeling was natural, real and genuine and not manufactured.
If you notice, commercial Hip Hop took a totally different direction after that era or those years. I would clock the last good year as '93 as far as consistency. Really, the first 6 months of '93. The second six months of '93 is when I started noticing something else was happening. It was actually on a positive track right up until then, even commercially. But as soon as young Black people started waking up to our original cultures complete with social and political awareness, a more negative direction for Hip Hop all of a sudden "replaced" it. Do you think that was an accident? But that is for an upcoming post, so stay tuned. Yes, I'm going to tell that truth up in here! You see what we got out here on the Hip Hop radio stations now, right? Like I told you in my profile...The Best Is Yet To Come. So watch out for LT's Take On The Current State of Hip Hop. We gonna get busy. ;)
But I digress. I mean, we would run to those campus events with the same energy as running to a concert or a dance or show. You couldn't miss it. They were just that good. Historians, Playwrights, Actors, Actresses, CEO's, Entrepreneurs, Business Men and Women, Nutritionists, Religious and Spiritual Leaders, Political and Social Activists. And it was always Standing Room Only. Those years were off the hook on Howard's campus and I benefited from all of it and feel blessed and fortunate to have experienced it all.
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