“A historically black what?” was the common refrain from my Bay Area high school friends when I told them I would be attending Norfolk State University in southern Virginia. It wasn’t just them, members of my own family were shocked when I shared the news that I wanted to leave the friendly confines of Northern California to go to school back East. Luckily, I saw something they initially didn’t.
Attending a historic black college was the best decision I ever made because it’s where I gained the insight and knowledge of being immersed in the black experience. For the first time, I felt that I was a part of something both captured African American history and was also living testament to the present authentic power and culture of our community. …
