Beyoncé always walks it like she talks it, so 4 HBCUs are the new recipients of her Formation Scholarships! We've got all the deets inside, plus her explanation about why she decided to shine the spotlight on black culture and black excellence at Coachella.
Beyoncé kicked off The Formation Scholars Awards Program last year to celebrate her 1 year anniversary of the LEMONADE visual album. The awards encouraged and supported young women who are bold, creative, conscious, confident and unafraid to think outside of the box.
Now, she's dipping into her bag to give back even more.
Beychella paid homage to excellence in education by incorporating the theme of the homecoming weekend experience, the highest display of college pride. As stated in her press release,"she put the spotlight on art and culture, mixing the ancient and the modern, which resonated masterfully through the marching band, performance art, choir and dance."
While her Coachella show was arguably the biggest show of black excellence and HBCU culture on a majority white platform, she's not stopping there. She's shining even more light on HBCUs by establishing $25,000 scholarships through her program at four of them.
One winner from each school will receive $25K for the 2018-2019 academic year for study in various fields.
The institutions receiving Bey's scholarly bag are: Xavier University, Wilberforce, Tuskegee and Bethune-Cookman, all Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) established after 1964 with intentions to serve the African-American community who was marginalized or completely shut out of higher education.
"We salute the rich legacy of Historically Black Colleges and Universities," states Ivy McGregor, Director of Philanthropy and Corporate Relations at Parkwood Entertainment which houses BeyGOOD. "We honor all institutions of higher learning for maintaining culture and creating environments for optimal learning which expands dreams and the seas of possibilities for students."
Last year, the extra woke current queen of music also handed out four Formation scholarships, spread across four different schools. Two of the schools were HBCUs (Spelman and Howard), and the other two were for artistic schools Parsons School of Design and Berkee School of Music.
Saw this written above photo and commentary by: Alisa Adamson Profit and thought i would share it with you https://apple.news/AmQP7CFzMQOS7gDDGvfigMw I told Beyonce that i was afraid that the predominately white audience at Coachella would be confused by all of the black culture and Black college culture because it was something that they might not get. Her brave response to me made me feel a-bit selfish and ashamed. She said i have worked very hard to get to the point where i have a true voice and At this point in my life and my career i have a responsibility to do whats best for the world and not what is most popular “ She said that her hope is that after the show young people would research this culture and see how cool it is, and young people black and white would listen to “ LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING and see how amazing the words are for us all and bridge the gap. She also hopes that it will encourage young kids to enroll in our amazing HIstorically Black Colleges and Universities . I stand corrected
Beyoncé's mom, Tina Lawson, revealed what her daughter told her about putting on such a culturally rich show for a mostly white audience who likely wouldn't get it. It proves that even your family sometimes won't see your vision. And you must press on.
If you needed any more proof that Beyoncé is officially the undisputed #GOAT, here it is. Where much is given, much is required. She recognizes and acknowledges her responsibility, and obliterates the game while living up to it. When THEY don’t understand, THEY shall google and put in effort to learn, understand, acknowledge and respect. Just as blacks have done about everyone else’s history and cultures.
Our culture isn’t up for sale, despite the masses often loving everything black except for black people. Blacks people will continue showing the world and ourselves the non co-opted realness of our culture. Not a watered down, culture vulture version that never acknowledges the root of the inspiration. We will do it straight from the source - which is ourselves - and on the largest platforms. Unapologetically.
Salute!
Photos: Beyonce.com
