Commentary

COMMENTARY: HBCUs are going where the Black Church can’t

FLORIDA COURIER — Several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have quietly changed admissions policies to better reflect diversity in gender identification and sexual classification over the last decade.

Published

7 years ago

April 22, 2019

Oakland Post

By J.L. Carter, Sr.

Several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have quietly changed admissions policies to better reflect diversity in gender identification and sexual classification over the last decade.

In the last two years, the sector’s single-sex delegation, Morehouse College and Spelman College, have broken free of a few of the chains of identity politics to help drag the Black America further into the 21st-century.

They’ve always been there

The logic behind HBCU’s policies of admitting students who identify as, or whom have transitioned to the opposite sex, is simple.

Transgender students have been enrolling in and graduating from our schools for years without disclosing their gender or their identity. Why clarify rules to prohibit what HBCUs have largely been unwilling and unable to stop for years prior to changing the bylaws to be more tolerant?

What message is sent by our schools by dragging their feet on sex and gender equity on our campuses, while working to remain as America’s conscience on racial equity? Would rejecting LGBTQ students make us stronger in our faith and traditions, or would it make us more like White people who reject us out of their interpretation of the same racial legacy?

HBCUs have the latitude and the legal obligation to constantly find ways to be a more perfect version of themselves. Now, several campuses are taking the bold step of proving themselves to be greater than the guidelines of their origins. HBCUs’ growing courage on this subject is a welcome lead role where the Black Church has (and almost has to) falter in its realm of being a control in the great American race experiment.

Schools are stronger

HBCUs and the Black Church are the two rails upon which Black democracy has always traveled to help us find the path to health, wealth and prosperity. But only one is strong enough, liberal enough and well-funded enough to support the evolution of our thinking on identity and survive the consequences of its best efforts.

In February, the Methodist Church conference voted by a slim margin to maintain its positions against non-heterosexual leadership in clergy, and prohibitions on gay marriage. Prior to the vote, several presidents of Methodist-affiliated HBCUs worked to build consensus around the church, better reflecting their campus profiles and teachings of religious tolerance.

HBCUs have become increasingly present in partnerships with LGBTQ organizations like the Human Rights Campaign and the National Black Justice Coalition. The ways in which HBCU students, faculty, staff and alumni can be kinder, more loving people are becoming more ingrained in our public conversations about HBCU advocacy.

Black people, however slow the pace, are getting better at understanding that gender and sexuality is more than what we’ve been taught as scholars and believers. But we still have much ground to make up for the years that brothers and sisters have suffered violence, isolation and maltreatment at our own hands for what we couldn’t understand.

We need more

We need more research, more space and more public conversation on how HBCUs can better reflect the diversity of our own communities. We need to build the context of what it is like to be a member of the Black LGBTQ community, and how sections of that community can live and prosper based upon geography, resources and religion.

Ideally, this would be joint work between HBCUs and the Black Church. But at this point in history, only one of our two most important community resources is strong enough to carry the cross of unburdening us of our own confusion and self-hatred.

Our schools may stand to lose a lot as a result of their work, but they deserve our support and credit for doing the work we have waited too long to deliver for our own people.

Jarrett L. Carter, Sr. is publisher of HBCU Digest (www.hbcudigest.com).

This article originally appeared in the Florida Courier.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

COMMENTARY: Who Gains When Democracy is Destroyed?

Don't Miss

South Florida expo to focus on fertility

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Black History

Oakland Observes Black August with Block Parties, Film Showings, Workshops

POST NEWS GROUP — Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

Published

23 hours ago

August 15, 2026

bpusa-syndication

George Jackson wrote two books: “Soledad Brother,” and “Blood in My Eye” before her was killed in an attempt to escape prison on Aug. 21, 1971.

By Jana Lang, Propel Youth Reporter

Study. Train. Fast. Fight.

These are the four tenets of Black August, a month dedicated to commemorating the sacrifices of political prisoners and Black revolutionaries in the struggle for Black liberation.

Observers are urged to study the history of the Black struggle for freedom, train their bodies for health and self-defense, fast to cleanse the mind, body, and spirit, and fight ongoing oppression alongside their communities and local political organizations.

Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

While in prison, George befriended fellow prisoner W.L. Nolen, who introduced him to the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Frantz Fanon. This radicalization coupled with his experiences of violence while imprisoned led to him writing and publishing two books, “Soledad Brother” (1970), and “Blood in my Eye” (1972). In January of 1970, George and two other prisoners were charged with murdering a corrections officer at Soledad State Prison in Monterey County.

On Aug. 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson burst into a Marin County courtroom armed with a shotgun to demand the freedom of the Soledad Brothers. He, along with the inmates he freed, was shot and killed while driving away. This involved one of the Black Panther Party’s most notable associates, Angela Davis, because the shotgun was registered in her name. She was later acquitted of charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder in 1972.

On Aug. 21, 1971, George Jackson was assassinated by a corrections officer after attempting to escape and free other inmates. As a result, there were uprisings and protests within prisons all over the country that year, calling forth resistance against racial oppression and mass incarceration.

Since its outset, Black August has evolved across the country, taking many forms to honor this history and embody the four tenets.

In Oakland, the upcoming Black August Experience, hosted by Youth Alive! and the East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA), is a free, family-friendly event celebrating the legacy of Black August. Activities include free food and drinks, a kids’ activity zone, interactive workshops, live cooking and boxing demonstrations, and more.

Happening on Aug. 21 from 4-8 p.m. at the EOBA Patio, Carolyn Flynn, director of administration at EOBA, said the event, in its second year, will be an opportunity to engage with people in person through food, shared space, and education.

“We do regular classes in education, and those are ongoing programs that we offer, but we wanted to have [an opportunity] for our neighbors to utilize this space.” Combined with Youth Alive’s work in community violence prevention and youth leadership, this event surely aims to bring the Oakland community together to capture what Black August means today.

Here are additional Black August events happening in Oakland:

Forum and Community Discussion hosted by the Oakland Liberation Center, 1499 Fruitvale Ave., Aug. 14, 7 p.m.

“George Jackson/San Quentin” Screening hosted by Nostalgic for Nothing Cinema at Moments Co-Op, 410 13th St., Aug. 16, doors at 6 p.m., show at 6:30 p.m. (Masks required and scent-free)

Commemorating the Struggle, Building the Altar for Liberation: Black August at Bandung Books, 2269 International Blvd., Aug. 23rd, 1-5 p.m.

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

bpusa-syndication

Posts by bpusa-syndication

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of August 12 – 18, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of August 12 – 18, 2026

Published

23 hours ago

August 15, 2026

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Commentary

COMMENTARY: Why Local School Tax Measure G1 Will Not Be on the November Ballot

POST NEWS GROUP — Measure G1 is the local tax measure that supports middle school teacher retention and the expansion of arts, music, and world language programs at both OUSD middle schools and charter middle schools. The current measure expires in 2029.

Published

23 hours ago

August 15, 2026

bpusa-syndication

By Jennifer Brouhard, Oakland School Board President

There has been considerable speculation recently about why Measure G1 will not appear on the November ballot and what that means for the Oakland Unified School District’s current budget.

I want to provide some clarity about what happened and, importantly, what did not happen.

Measure G1 is the local tax measure that supports middle school teacher retention and the expansion of arts, music, and world language programs at both OUSD middle schools and charter middle schools. The current measure expires in 2029.

Because these funds are important to our schools and to the continuity of these programs, the district initially intended to place a renewal initiative on the November ballot to provide greater early certainty about funding beyond the expiration of the current measure.

As part of that process, the Board scheduled a special meeting for the required public hearing on the ballot initiative. There has been some suggestion that this meeting was noticed only one day in advance. That is not accurate.

Public hearings of this nature are subject to specific notice requirements, and the meeting must be noticed at least two weeks before the hearing. In practice, the notice may appear even earlier depending on publication schedules. The notice for the Measure G1 public hearing was published in the Tribune on 7/24/2026 and 7/31/2026.

So, why wasn’t the Measure G1 paperwork ultimately filed?

After the Board approved placing the measure on the ballot, the next step required the Alameda County Superintendent of Schools to sign the necessary paperwork before it could be submitted to the Oakland City Clerk.

During that process, Alameda County Superintendent Alysse Castro raised concerns about potential litigation stemming from another court case unrelated to OUSD and about whether proceeding with the measure could expose the district or County to legal challenges. Superintendent Castro’s action is unprecedented and concerning.

It is important to distinguish between the Board’s decision to pursue Measure G1 and the subsequent procedural and legal issues that arose. The Board did approve moving forward with the measure. The measure did not fail because the Board chose not to support it, nor was the public hearing improperly noticed.

The decision not to proceed with the November ballot was made in light of the County’s concerns about potential litigation and the County’s required approval process.

We also need to be clear about what this does, and does not, mean for OUSD’s current budget. The existing Measure G1 funds remain available through the expiration of the current measure in 2029. The immediate issue is the longer-term continuity of funding beyond that date, not the elimination of these resources from the current year’s budget.

Our responsibility as a Board is to protect the educational programs and services our students depend on while ensuring that our decisions comply with the law and protect the district from unnecessary legal and financial risk.

We will continue working to understand the County’s concerns, explore our options, and advocate for the resources our students deserve. Our middle school students, teachers, and school communities deserve stability, and continued investment in arts, music, world languages, and teacher retention—and that work remains a priority for Oakland Unified.

Jennifer Brouhard is a retired OUSD educator and is the current OUSD School Board President representing District 2.