Finding Racial Healing in an HBCU Sanctuary

Between the push to end diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and the demonization of critical race theory, honest conversations about race on college campuses are challenging to have. It’s no wonder that for the past few years, increasing numbers of Black students have headed to HBCUs so they can learn in an environment where their very existence isn’t under attack.

As a first-year student at Spelman College in Atlanta, I know about this firsthand. And for the next six months, I’ll be reporting on racial healing efforts at Spelman — what my fellow students are doing and how our faculty supports this work. 

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Spelman is one of roughly 70 campuses using the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation framework, created by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 2016. In 2018, Spelman sociology professor Dr. Cynthia Spence launched one of the very first TRHT Campus Centers, spaces designed to help students learn how to dismantle systemic racism, eliminate the idea that some people have greater value than others, and help us heal from the racism we’ve experienced so far.

The path to racial healing includes fighting for change, demanding a difference for the outside world, and, most importantly, having honest and sometimes uncomfortable conversations on the inside. Before I came here, I thought the HBCU experience would be a haven from the rest of the world. 

While that is true to a certain extent, it is not an excuse to avoid our current realities. I am learning that racism is a matter that stretches beyond the color of one’s skin. It affects our perspectives and ideologies, which, in turn, shapes biases. 

Blackness is also vast and not experienced in one particular way. Our experiences vary because of intersectionality — the multiple streams of identity that exist simultaneously, such as gender, class, and sexual orientation. And Black students attending HBCUs need a space to have crucial conversations about race, identity, and healing from racial trauma.

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I grew up in Baltimore in a family where my mother grounded me in truth through the study of Black history. This early influence ignited my fervor for activism. I am an awardee of the Princeton Prize in Race Relations, but I’m also passionate about the arts. I am a 2024 recipient of the NAACP ACT-SO gold medal for written poetry. At Spelman, I’m studying sociology and creative writing on the pre-law track. 

Above all, the Black community is central to everything I do. 

The broader society often neglects Black stories and experiences and erases our identities. Black students often find themselves erased, not just because of our Blackness, but also our youth. Sometimes, authority figures tell young people to stay in their place or not contribute, discouraging them from lending their voice to the conversation. We can communicate much when given the space and opportunity to use our voices.

Our differences should not be a threat or barrier to establishing a connection; they are a learning experience for us all — and we all can heal. Healing requires action, and I’m ready to report on it at Spelman.

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