00:00Go!
00:13What's going on, Essence family?
00:15It's your girl, Cherie Nicole, here in Boston.
00:18And I'm here for the HBCU Classic Football game
00:20between Morehouse College and Johnson C. Smith University
00:23right here at the Harvard Stadium.
00:27So join me on this journey.
00:28I'm going to explore, I'm going to have fun,
00:30I'm going to meet new people, I'm going to have some good food,
00:32some laughs, some love.
00:33Thank you all so much!
00:35Discover and uncover just in how much opportunity is meeting history.
00:42Welcome home.
00:44It's going to feel like a homecoming this weekend.
00:46I call him my key to the city.
00:49John Borders the Fourth, a Boston native, a Morehouse grad,
00:52a former football player, and a person deeply committed
00:55to the advancement of both HBCU causes and the city of Boston.
00:59It's almost been 55 years since the last time two HBCUs faced off on this exact field.
01:05So the significance of this moment is Boston deserves a new narrative.
01:09HBCU!
01:25HBCU!
01:28Well, I certainly found home in one of the most unlikely of places
01:32during the street renaming for Boston's very own new addition.
01:36Just steps away from where they grew up,
01:38I found my opportunity to make the most of the moment by playing double dutch.
01:42Now, I've been retired from my double dutch days for about 30 years,
01:45but the ladies of the 40-plus double dutch club pulled me right out of my retirement,
01:50and then I didn't do too bad.
01:53And if jumping rope wasn't enough,
01:55the aunties who were there to celebrate and also have a good time
01:58wouldn't let me leave without getting my fan dance on.
02:02And you already know I wasn't going to leave them hanging.
02:08So in hindsight, what started as a street signing
02:11for one of the most iconic music groups in history
02:14became a neighborhood block party all its own.
02:19When I found out I was coming to Boston, admittedly, I was curious.
02:22All I'd ever heard about this city was that we don't exist.
02:25But with every encounter I was coming to find that simply wasn't the case.
02:30I can see why folks have that misconception,
02:32but I have to name that it is a misconception.
02:35Boston is a majority-minority city,
02:37which a lot of people do not know that.
02:40Boston has a strong legacy of black excellence and advocacy.
02:44We know that Dr. Martin Luther King got his Ph.D. here.
02:48We know that there were a lot of folks from the civil rights movement.
02:51And so we do have a history of liberation and justice.
02:55Whether it's the past or the present,
02:57black people in Boston, and in this particular case,
03:00black women, are prioritizing representation.
03:03Meet Sheena Collier, the founder of Boston While Black,
03:06a membership network to foster cultural connections
03:08for black entrepreneurs, professionals, and students in the city.
03:13Boston is such a dope place.
03:14It really is a lot to experience here.
03:16And I realized that black people weren't really taking full advantage of it.
03:20Boston While Black was really my way to say,
03:22we're here.
03:23Yes, there are black people in Boston.
03:24But also, how can we find each other easily?
03:28So once I was assured that black people have lived and do live in Boston,
03:32it was time to hit the yard to immerse myself in all the pregame action.
03:36Let me get two claps in and end it.
03:38Yeah!
03:43Tailgating is one of the cornerstones for not only the Essence HBCU classic,
03:47but the culture itself.
03:48With the city of Boston as their backdrop,
03:50students and alum from both schools came to represent.
03:53And yes, I'm partial, don't hate.
03:55Shout out to my sorors of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated.
04:00No shade to Morehouse, to the J.C.S.U. band,
04:03for letting me get some reps in with them.
04:04Oh, you want to bring the right side under your arm.
04:06There you go.
04:06Or at least that's what I'm calling it.
04:08That's it.
04:09Boom!
04:10Bam!
04:10Before they took to the field for the game.
04:14As a former athlete myself,
04:15I'm often curious about how leadership handles the calm before the storm.
04:19With history literally in the making,
04:21how are the heads of Morehouse College and J.C.S.U. Athletics managing this moment?
04:26Meet Harold Ellis, Athletic Director for Morehouse College,
04:29and the former pro basketball star in his own right,
04:31admits this game goes way beyond football.
04:35So I got a chance to speak to Dr. Goldman, our new president.
04:38He's all about academics and athletics.
04:40We're not only bringing the football team,
04:42we're bringing our alumni out.
04:44That was another reason to make it up here to Boston.
04:47On the other side of the sideline,
04:49Johnson C. Smith University Athletic Director
04:51and my soror, Denisha Hendricks.
04:53It's clear on the connection between this game
04:56and the impact it's making on the city she once lived in as a child.
04:59And you guessed it,
05:00that city is Boston.
05:01What a moment.
05:03You know, for us,
05:04Johnson C. Smith University being one of the two teams
05:07who played in the very first HBCU football game in 1892,
05:11and then of course to be here at Harvard,
05:13where it's the birth of football, right?
05:14I mean, talk about just walking in history.
05:16And so my hope and my prayer is that our young men
05:20are just taking it all in
05:22and really, really understand what this means,
05:25not just to them,
05:26but to really the community as a whole.
05:30With both teams braced for battle
05:32and after almost two days of celebrating the culture
05:35and catching up with people
05:36who are driving the black experience in Boston,
05:38it was time for the big game.
05:40Morehouse College and Johnson C. Smith University.
05:43Winner takes the trophy,
05:44and even more importantly, bragging rights.
05:47And yeah, that applies to the bands as well.
05:51All in all, the SSHBCU Classic
05:53and the city of Boston did not disappoint.
05:57HBCU football or not,
05:58the culture was there,
05:59is here,
06:00and not going anywhere.
06:02So if anyone ever asks you,
06:03are there black people in Boston?
06:05Hold your head up high,
06:06look them straight in the eye,
06:07and tell them yes.
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