College: Alabama State University
Major: Psychology
Born Tauheed Epps, 2 Chainz is making waves in the music industry while featuring on songs with Nikki Minaj and many more. He recently released a new single and is previewing music for his next project.
College: Honorary Doctorate in performing arts from Shaw UniversityShaw University
The “Empress of Soul” is a seven-time Grammy Award-winner who is still performing for audiences all over the world. The singer and songwriter will be on tour until January 2019. In 2017 she appeared as herself on the musical drama TV show “Star.”
College: Oakwood University
A singer-songwriter, arranger and producer, McKnight is music industry royalty. He plays eight instruments but is most recognized for his strong falsetto and belting range. He has earned 16 Grammy Awards nominations but never won. He attended Oakwood (previously Oakwood College) before leaving to pursue music. McKnight is still stealing hearts with his stage presence. He performs at weddings, on tour, and has a new single out on iTunes.
College: Alcorn State University
Date Graduated: Dropped out to support his mother when she became ill
Major: Communications
Duncan was an actor best known for his role as the wrongly accused John Coffey in the film, “The Green Mile”. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role. Duncan died in 2012 at age 54 from a heart attack. At the time of his death, Duncan was engaged to reality TV personality Omarosa Manigault.
College: Central State University
Date Graduated: 1996
Major: Broadcast journalism
Manigault spends most of her time speaking on political issues in 2018. An “Apprentice” reality TV contestant and former aide to President Donald Trump, her memoir came out on Aug. 14 entitled “Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House.”
College: Howard University
Date Graduated: 2000
Major: Directing
Film and TV actor and director Chadwick Aaron Boseman is best known for lead role as a superhero in the Marvel film “Black Panther.” A former pastor, Boseman said he prayed to be cast as the Black Panther. His other superhero roles include “Captain America: Civil War” (2016), “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018) and the upcoming “Avengers 4” (2019). Boseman is also acclaimed for his portrayals of real-life and historical figures such as Jackie Robinson in “42” (2013), James Brown in “Get on Up” (2014), and Thurgood Marshall in “Marshall” (2017).
College: Howard University
Date Graduated: 1995
Major: Theatre Arts
Actor, singer and author Taraji Penda Henson is starring in the fifth season of her hit show, “Empire” on Fox and recently got engaged to Kelvin Hayden. She has been cast in two movies this year (“Proud Mary” and Tyler Perrys “Acrimony”) and has two more films coming out in November and January.
College: North Carolina A&T University
Date Graduated: 2004
Major: Mass Communications
Actor, model and TV personality Terrence “J” Jenkins is best known for hosting BET’s music and video countdown “106 & Park” from 2006 until 2012. He co-anchored E! News from 2012 to 2015. Now he’s pursuing his acting career, and has already scored roles in six films. Most recently he hosted the BET Awards Red Carpet pre-show event.
College: Bowie State University & Virginia State University
Of Nigerian-American descent, Olubowale Victor Akintimehin, aka Wale, is a recording artist, record producer and actor. He rose to fame in 2006 when his song “Dig Dug (Shake It)” became popular in his hometown of Washington, D.C. His third studio album, “The Gifted” rose to No. 1 in 2013 one on the Billboard 200. In 2015, he scored a second Billboard No. 1 album with “The Album About Nothing.” Wale attended Virginia State University on football scholarships, then transferred to Bowie State but dropped out for academic reasons. He’s known for his love of the game and the Washington Redskins. Wale uses rap to highlight black issues. He recently released a music video, “Black Bonnie” highlighting the beauty of black women. “Self Promotion” is his latest EP.
College: Tuskeegee Institute
Date Graduated:
Major: Economics
A singer, songwriter, actor and record producer, Lionel Richie co-wrote the 1985 charity single “We Are the World” with Michael Jackson, which sold more than 20 million copies. He sold more than 90 million records worldwide, making him one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time. He became a judge on American Idol this year, and he has a line of bedding and bath merchandise launching in September in 200 J.C. Penney stores. He shopped there as a kid growing up in Tuskegee, Alabama, according to Forbes. Trekking to the Penney in Montgomery “was a family outing,” He told Forbes. Lionel and his oldest daughter, Nicole Richie, were featured in the newest issue of Harper’s Bazaar magazine.
College: Norfolk State University
Major: Studied engineering design
Jerry Angelo Brooks, aka J.B. Smoove, is an actor, writer, comedian, and voice actor who started his career with the TV series “Def Comedy Jam” in 1995. He is best known for his role as Leon on the HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and has just joined the cast of Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” set for 2019 release. The actor’s most recent major film was “Uncle Drew”. He attended Norfolk State University in 1984, where he shortened his name to J.B. and added “Smoove” as his name for stand-up comedy, according to the Spartan Echo.
College: Bowie State University
Date Graduated:
Major: Teaching
Braxton spends her time focused on her family, and her singing career. The singer released a visual to her most recent single, “Long As I Live” and is full support of her sister Tamar Braxton’s musical career. She was attending Bowie State University in 1990 to pursue a teaching degree when her talent was recognized by Antonio L.A. Reid and Kenneth Babyface Edmonds and soon her solo recording career was launched, according to BowieState.edu.
College: Fisk University
Major: Theater and art
Comedian and actress Kym Whitley is the fifth generation of her family to graduate from Fisk University. Her docu-series, “Raising Whitley” premiered in 2013 on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) with 1.2 million viewers, making it the fifth biggest premiere in the history of the network. She hosted a comedy event in August (“Kym Whitley & David Arnold LIVE”) and has performed with HBO, Showtime and Comedy Central.
College: Texas Southern University
Date Graduated: 1993
Michael Strahan was a star football player at Texas Southern University from 1989 to 1992. He went on to play with the New York Giants, Strahan helped the Giants win the Super Bowl in 2007. After retiring from the NFL, he became a media personality. He is a football analyst on Fox NFL Sunday, and co-hosted the morning talk show “Live! with Kelly and Michael” from 2012 to 2016. He was recently named co-host of ABC’s new “Good Morning America” hour. https://www.buzzfeed.com/sydneyscott/40-awesome-celebrities-who-attended-hbcus?utm_term=.qoeBBBa6e#.qtqKKKMme
College: Bowie State University
Major: Music education
A well-known name in R&B, Towanda is an actress, singer, dancer, reality TV personality and philanthropist. The sister of Toni Braxton, Towanda is making her rounds in the entertainment industry on VH1s’s “Hip Hop Squares”.
College: Prairie View A&M University
Date Graduated: 1990
Major: Marketing
Singer–songwriter and actress Terry Ellis is best known as a founding member of the R&B/Pop vocal group En Vogue. Ellis attended the 2018 Billboard Music Awards with her fellow group members in May and the Wendy Williams Show in April.
College: Morehouse College
Date Graduated: 1963
The 16th Surgeon General of the U.S., David Satcher was inspired to be a doctor after almost dying at age 2 from whooping cough. The only African-American doctor in the rural Alabama area came to his parents’ farm and he wasn’t expected to live. Satcher said that he grew up hearing that story. A four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, he was the 10th Assistant Secretary for Health.
College: Morgan State University
Date Graduated: 1976
Born Frizzell Gerald Gray, politician Kweisi Mfume changed his name in the ’70s to a Ghanaian name that translates to “Conquering Son of Kings”. Mfume is the former president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). After serving five terms a Democratic Congressman in Maryland’s 7th congressional district, he left the House to accept the NAACP presidency, saying he could do more to improve civil rights there than in Congress. He reformed the association’s finances and paid off its considerable debt while helping advance civil rights for African Americans.
College: Morehouse College
Date Graduated: 1948
Major: Sociology
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a predominant leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He worked diligently to end racial segregation and discrimination in America during the 1950s and 1960s. King was assassinated April 4, 1968.
College: Southern University
Major: Business
Lavell William Crump, alias David Banner has taken his rapping platform and turned it into a space to promote activism. He released a song and video, “Magnolia” which symbolized discrimination and hangings in our country’s past. He also speaks openly about controversial issues regarding race and celebrities. After graduating from Southern University, where he served as president of the Student Government Association, he attended the University of Maryland Eastern Shore to pursue a master’s degree in education but left to do music full-time. https://www.essence.com/20-celebs-who-graduated-hbcus/#150083
