Description

In this joyous essay collection edited by NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe, celebrities and other alumni provide testimonials about their experience attending historically Black college universities–which shaped their lives and made them who they are today.

With a diverse set of contributors, including Oprah Winfrey, Stacey Abrams, and Branford Marsalis, HBCU Made celebrates the experience of going to a historically Black college or university. In moving essays, a wide range of alums share their accounts of how they chose their HBCU, their first days on campus, the dynamic atmosphere, and how they were shaped by their rigorous training. 

A collection that brims with insight and school spirit, HBCU Made is a perfect gift for each generation of prospective students and graduates to come. 
 

Meet The Author: Ayesha Rascoe

Ayesha Rascoe is the host of Weekend Edition Sunday and the Saturday episodes of Up First.

Prior to her role as host, Rascoe was a White House Correspondent. She covered three presidential administrations. As a part of the White House team, she was also a regular on the NPR Politics Podcast.

Before joining NPR, Rascoe spent the first decade of her career at Reuters, rising from a news assistant to an energy reporter to eventually covering the White House. While at Reuters, Rascoe covered some of the biggest energy and environmental stories of the past decade, including the 2010 BP oil spill.

She’s a proud graduate of Howard University.

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Meet the Contributors

  • Ayesha Rascoe (editor), host of NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday
    • Alma mater: Howard University
    • Essay: Introduction: “Finding My Voice at the Mecca”

  • Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, bestselling author
    • Alma mater: Talladega College
    • Essay: “The Black Woman Artist and her Black-Owned Songs”

  • Roy Wood Jr., correspondent on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show
    • Alma mater: Florida A&M University
    • Essay: “Kid in a Wrinkled Ass Suit”

  • Stacey Abrams, bestselling author, entrepreneur, and political leader
    • Alma mater: Spelman College
    • Essay: “The Renewing Power of HBCUs”

  • Lauren F. Ellis, Senior Visual Effects Producer at Industrial Light & Magic (Aquaman, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
    • Alma mater: Hampton University
    • Essay: “I Love My HIU”

  • Shawn Zachery, Director of Prairie View A&M majorette team, Black Foxes
    • Alma mater: Southern University
    • Essay: “A Southern Girl in a Complicated World”
  • Tendayi Kuumba, dancer, choreographer, singer, and songwriter
    • Alma mater: Spelman College
    • Essay: “The Sisterhood that Changed My World”

  • Branford Marsalis, Grammy-award winning Jazz Master, saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator
    • Alma mater: Southern University
    • Essay: “It’s About the Culture”

  • Michael Arceneaux, New York Times bestselling author
    • Alma mater: Howard University
    • Essay: “Howard Is Where I Belonged, But It Wasn’t Easy”

  • Rebecca K. Roussell, Senior Vice President of DEI communications at Current Global
    • Alma mater: Dillard University
    • Essay: “Perseverance Every Step of the Way”

  • Marquis Brown, Managing Partner and Head of Strategy at Bravo Growth
    • Alma mater: Hampton University
    • Essay: “The Feeling of Finding Home”

  • Nichole Perkins, author
    • Alma mater: Dillard University
    • Essay: “HBCUs Taught Me”
  • April Ryan, White House Correspondent and author
    • Alma mater: Morgan State University
    • Essay: “Loving You to Success”

  • Melonie Parker, Chief Diversity Officer, Google
    • Alma mater: Hampton University
    • Essay: “Let Your Life Do the Singing”

  • Brandon Gilpin, actor; our youngest contributor, graduated in 2022
    • Alma mater: Morehouse College
    • Essay: “Dear Old Morehouse”

  • Leoneda Inge, Race and Southern Culture Reporter for NPR affiliate WUNC
    • Alma Mater: Florida A&M University
    • Essay: “Everybody is Cheering for You”

  • Oprah Winfrey, global media leader and philanthropist
    • Alma mater: Tennessee State University
    • Essay: “Anything Is Possible”

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, January 30: Brooklyn, NY
Brooklyn Public Library with Greenlight Bookstore
Ayesha Rascoe in conversation with Astead Herndon
Details & tickets here


Wednesday, January 31: Baltimore, MD
Enoch Pratt Free Library with Urban Reads Bookstore
Ayesha Rascoe in conversation with Juana Summers
Details & tickets here


Thursday, February 1: Virtual
Family Action Network with The Book Stall Bookstore

Ayesha Rascoe in conversation with Natalie Y. Moore
Details & tickets here


Monday, February 5: Washington, DC
MLK Library with Loyalty Bookstore

Ayesha Rascoe in conversation with Nikole Hannah-Jones
Details & tickets here

Wednesday, February 7: Decatur, GA
First Baptist Church with Brave & Kind Books
Ayesha Rascoe in conversation with Dr. Beverly Tatum
Details & tickets here


Thursday, February 8: St. Louis, MO
St. Louis County Library with EyeSeeMe Bookstore
Ayesha Rascoe in conversation with Marissanne Lewis-Thompson
Details & tickets here


Monday, February 12: Winston-Salem, NC
Winston-Salem State University with Bookmarks
Ayesha Rascoe in conversation with Dr Santiba D. Campbell
Details & tickets here

Tuesday, February 13: Chapel Hill, NC
WUNC with Epilogue Books at The Varsity Theater
Ayesha Rascoe in conversation with Leoneda Inge
Details & tickets to come