Should aspiring college students who are Black stick to HBCUs in blue states?
The Rev. Otis Moss III has a point about choosing an HBCU in a state supporting the Voting Rights Act
The following post is part of my former Substack publication “One Black Woman’s Vote” that is now in “I Do See Color.” To see more OBWV posts from 2026, click here. For 2025 OBWV posts, click here. For 2021-2024 OBWV posts, click here. New OBWV posts will be published by the second Saturday of each month.
As much as I vent on social media, I always find joy in answering Sophia Nyx’s random questions on Bluesky. The latest one was “Name your fav item of clothing,” and this was my answer.
I’m not exaggerating. I had this Lincoln University sweatshirt for so many years that I managed to get a hole the size of a cigarette burn on the belly area (even though I’ve only smoked cigarettes once in my life, in 1999) and still have no clue what happened. The cuffs were completely frayed to the point that I had to cut them off. That’s how much I didn’t want to part with this shirt.
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While it’s not the most popular HBCU of the 107 total, it means a lot to me because of the verbal battle I had to deal with all summer to attend. One parent graduated from an HBCU. Another parent was completely opposed to the idea of me going to an HBCU because co-workers (who had never stepped foot on or graduated from an HBCU) ran their big, loud-and-wrong mouths about how “all HBCUs are party schools.”
For whatever reason, these co-workers were believed over the proven reputation of the university and the degree program I was pursuing. It got so bad that even the tour guide of one HBCU said he was uncomfortable and asked if he could do the rest of the tour with just me — and leave my anti-HBCU parent to stroll around alone.
Recommended Read: “HBCU graduate: Trump assists with $85 million for HBCUs and I still despise him ~ Funding black colleges doesn’t change America’s history”
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I would not back down. I’d already attended a PWI, and it was pure hell. That’s not to say all PWIs are awful. I know this firsthand because I went to a private, Catholic graduate school that would be considered a PWI — and I loved it 95% of the time. One of my favorite professors was a white guy who spoke at length about “white privilege.” That’s the kind of PWI this was, and I took two of his grad school classes.
But I absolutely did not want to be robbed of the “A Different World” experience or have a bad taste in my mouth by letting Northern Michigan University be my only college experience. I knew it had to be better elsewhere.
Recommended Read: “Lincoln University and two Virginia HBCUs get financial classes from Jay Z’s charity ~ Shawn Carter Foundation and Champions for Financial Legacy work to improve money management”
Trinity’s Rev. Otis Moss III shows love to HBCUs
I’m not Catholic. I’m also not Christian nor do I attend Trinity United Church of Christ. That doesn’t stop me from enjoying the five-minute, weekly segments from Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. (Yes, the Trinity that former President Barack H. Obama attended during the Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy. And I absolutely enjoyed some of the speeches I’ve heard online from the Rev. Wright, so miss me with any insults directed at him. I think he made solid points and didn’t act like America was too delicate to be criticized.)
But there was one recent “Five Minutes” segment from the Rev. Moss III that caught my attention more than a few others. In it, he stated, “Take your talents to an HBCU … do not take your talents to places like the University of Alabama, the University of Mississippi, states that are very clear that they want to roll back our voting rights.”
I see what he’s saying, and I respect it. But I started counting off HBCUs in my head that are in blue states.
California
Delaware
Maryland
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Washington, D.C.
West Virginia
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Recommended Read: “10 things I wish I bought before my first day in the dorms ~ The everyday things college freshmen, including car owners, will need to make campus living easier”
But for high schoolers (or continuing education students) who want to go to one of the more popular HBCUs that are in red states, the Rev. Moss III’s request might be a little tougher. Granted, the late Chadwick Boseman and former Vice President Kamala Harris made “HU, you know” sound like the coolest college on the planet, but I’m not nearly as familiar with the rest.
Recommended Read: “Sorry, aspiring college students, but your parents aren’t required to pay tuition ~ Tips to afford college when your parents haven’t saved for your educational expenses”
Does that mean you can’t attend a less popular HBCU? Absolutely not. I’ve had to correct a few people who assumed the Lincoln University I attended was in Pennsylvania, where Jay Z started a financial literacy course, not Missouri. And as “blue” as LU felt for me the two years I lived there, it really is in a red state — and Nelly performing for Trump sure is a reminder of that. If an HBCU in a red state is the one that can offer you the most scholarships and grants and is the best for your major, I can see why you’d want to attend.
But have you actually taken the time to even see what blue state HBCUs have to offer?