HBCU Band Donations Pour In For Parade

Members of the Mississippi Valley State College Band carry out through the recreation between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Cleveland Cavaliers at FedExForum on February 1, 2024, in Memphis, Tennessee. | Supply: Justin Ford / Getty

A web based crowdfunding effort to assist pay for an HBCU marching band to carry out throughout Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration festivities subsequent month has been steadily attracting donors amid sharp criticism for the traditionally Black college looking for a way to attend the occasion.

Mississippi Valley State College (MVSU) has been getting nearer to its fundraising targets to pay for its marching band’s journey to Washington, D.C. As of Tuesday morning, in keeping with an account on the GoFundMe web site, MVSU wants about $30,000 to achieve its aim of $120,000. Nevertheless, that’s nonetheless a fraction of the aim of $350,000 that MVSU set by way of a Fb submit, presumably reflecting the rising outrage that the HBCU would even take into account serving to to have a good time a person who has proposed insurance policies that may jeopardize traditionally Black schools and universities.

MORE: Which HBCU Has The Greatest Marching Band?

Mississippi Valley State wrote in a Fb submit on Thursday:

The MVSU ‘Imply Inexperienced Marching Machine’ is headed to Washington, D.C., for the sixtieth Presidential Inauguration Parade! This invitation is a testomony to our college students’ excellence and dedication. Assist us elevate $350,000 to make this once-in-a-lifetime expertise doable for all our college students!

The related GoFundMe web page stated MVSU would additionally use any funds raised “to amass devices, uniforms, present scholarships, and get different important sources for its continued growth,” together with “improving the band corridor to facilitate band observe.”

MVSU President Dr. Jerryl Briggs stated in a separate assertion that the inauguration parade could be “a possibility to showcase our legacy, have a good time our tradition, and make investments sooner or later leaders of our neighborhood. This participation permits college students to have interaction within the peaceable transition of energy and acquire world publicity whereas celebrating the college’s seventy fifth anniversary.”

However Bishop Talbert Swan, the senior pastor on the Spring of Hope Church in Massachusetts who has been commonly outspoken on social media about Black tradition, has repeatedly stated that acting at Trump’s inauguration parade was at odds with MVSU’s distinguished historical past that Briggs referenced. The truth that MSVU could be performing in celebration of Trump — who lower HBCU funding by billions — on the identical day the nation observes the annual Martin Luther King federal vacation makes it a very “disgraceful betrayal of that legacy,” Talbert additionally stated Saturday in a submit on X, previously Twitter.

“Trump and his administration have labored tirelessly to erase Black historical past from school rooms, immediately opposing the very struggle MVSU college students took on in 1964 once they boycotted for programs in Black historical past and entry to works by Black authors,” Talbert wrote earlier than including: “It’s shameful for the college’s management to have a good time this as a ‘once-in-a-lifetime alternative’ as an alternative of recognizing it as an affront to the cultural and historic values of an HBCU. Quite than aligning with a president who has confirmed his racism by means of phrases and insurance policies that hurt Black communities, MVSU ought to prioritize efforts like renaming campus buildings that honor white supremacists corresponding to Walter Sillers, Jr., Fielding Wright, and J.H. White. This determination not solely insults the reminiscence of Dr. King however undermines the very mission of HBCUs to uplift and empower Black excellence.”

Talbert adopted that up with a prolonged open letter to Dr. Briggs that stated partially:

To simply accept this invitation—significantly on Martin Luther King Jr. Day—comes throughout as each insulting and hurtful. Dr. King’s life and legacy have been fueled by the pursuit of justice and equality. How does MVSU reconcile participating in an inaugural celebration for a political chief who undermines the core of Dr. King’s dream and threatens to erase or punish the educating of Black historical past, the very basis of HBCUs?

Whereas I respect that showcasing the band’s excellence could be an vital second for college students, it mustn’t eclipse the broader ramifications of aligning with a person and administration which have traditionally demonstrated antipathy towards our progress. If something, this second requires renewed dedication to MVSU’s ethical compass—a spirit seen within the 1964 pupil protests for educational integrity and inclusive schooling.

Whereas loads of others on social media expressed related criticisms as Bishop Swan, HBCU advocate Danny D. Glover reasoned that the vitriol directed at MVSU was selectively short-sighted since there’s a historical past of traditionally Black school bands performing on the inaguration parades for different Republican presidents relationship again to 1981.

Why it issues

Apart from Trump’s documented decades-long discrimination towards Black folks, each within the U.S. and world wide, he has continuously lied concerning the degree of help that HBCUs obtained from his first presidential administration.

Trump has stated he “saved” HBCUs — “They have been going out, and I saved them” — and his administration made a everlasting dedication of $255 million in annual funding for traditionally Black schools. However that quantity was considerably lower than what Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden pledged, underscoring how far more Trump may have achieved and putting in query his dedication.

Specifically, Trump’s “FY 2018 funds proposed cuts to important federal pupil help packages that disproportionately have an effect on HBCU college students—corresponding to Pell Grants and Federal Work-Examine packages,” Duvalier Malone defined final month in an op-ed for NewsOne. “Pell Grants are significantly essential for low-income college students attending HBCUs, and freezing their funding for over a decade has diminished their buying energy. The proposed elimination of $733 million in Supplemental Instructional Alternative Grants (SEOGs), which complement Pell awards for the neediest college students, would have negatively impacted greater than 55,000 HBCU college students. Moreover, whereas Trump maintained degree funding for Title III grants at $245 million per 12 months—effectively beneath what advocacy teams like UNCF had requested—he eradicated funding for different important packages just like the HBCU Endowment Problem Grants. These grants have been designed to assist construct long-term monetary stability at traditionally underfunded colleges.”

Notably, Trump has vowed to abolish the U.S. Division of Training, which distributes Pell Grants.

That’s Trump’s true legacy on HBCUs and helps clarify the outrage round MVSU’s intentions to take part within the inauguration parade celebrating the forty seventh presidency.