Howard University, from what I have experienced so far, is much more than just books and lectures. I have only been here for three weeks and I have already been deeply embedded in, what people refer to as, “The Black Experience.”
The Black Experience is when you can leave your dorm building and hear the band playing the latest hit by Soulja boy or Jennifer Lopez. The Black Experience is when you’re at a football game and everyone anticipates the band more than the actual game. But the most important factor about The Black Experience is when you’re sitting in class and you’re surrounded by African-Americans who are striving for higher learning and an education beyond imagination. That is the true Black Experience, something that can only be found on the campuses of Howard, Hampton, Morehouse, Spellman, and many other Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
But at the REAL HU the experience is unlike any other. I walked out of the infamous Charles Drew Hall (5th floor! Penthouse!) and into Africa. Just outside my dorm building was a festival of some type. There were vendors and enormous groups of people just buying all the latest imports from Africa–masks, jewelry, art. You name it, someone was selling it.
Just last night there was a campus-wide water fight on the YARD! It was crazy to see all these Black WOMEN running with water and not caring a thing about their hair. And the one’s who did had on everything from shower caps to plastic bags. To see the “track stars” in action was nothing but a sight. Personally, I was terrified standing in the middle of the yard watching my back at every moment and simply waiting for someone to slam me with a water balloon, spray me with a water gun, or dump a bucket of water over my head. Thank GOD none of that happened. Unfortunately, after a “LOOK OUT!” my friends were both hit with hurricane size amounts of water! I did feel bad, but at the same time I was happy that it wasn’t me.
The bottom line is: this Black Experience transcends the classroom and leads to wild adventures in DC, club hoping, and even meeting “f***ed up” people that become friends! Oh, and not to mention Black women throwing water on each other!
