The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Do Majorette Teams Belong at Predominately White Institutions? | Beyond the Scenes

Episode Date: October 1, 2023

USC junior Princess Isis Lang started the Cardinal Divas of ‘SC, the school’s new majorette dance team, for her and other Black women on campus. After a video of the team went viral on Twitter, critics didn’t agree with her bringing something rooted in HBCU culture to a predominantly white institution. Host Roy Wood Jr. sits with host of “The HBCU Band Experience” podcast, Dr. Christy A. Walker, and star of Lifetime’s Bring It!, Dianna Williams, to discuss the challenges of creating safe Black spaces on predominantly white college campuses.   Original air date: December 6, 2022See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. You're listening to Comedy Central. Hey, welcome to Beyond the Scenes, The Daily Show podcast that goes deeper into segments and topics that originally aired on

the Daily Show. That's how you got to think about this podcast. All the Daily Show is a Christmas tree. If the Daly's tree is a Christmas tree, we're the ornaments you use to decorate the tree. You know, the little twinklyly lights and the little, the little, the little, the little, the little, their, the little, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the little, the little, th.tree, th thiolk, thiolk, thiolk, thiolk, thiwea, thiwea, thi.s, thi.s, thi.s, thiwea, thiolate, th We're, th We're, th We're, th We're, th We're, th We're, th We're, thiolate.a, thiolate.a, thin.a, thin'goyoyoyoyoyoys.a, thin'a, thin's, thin's, thin's, thin.a's, thin's's, they's's.a's isg's soooooooo look like icing and then in January when you go to clean up your house you get caught in the vacuum and mess up your good ass vacuum. I like Christmas. Today we're expanding on a topic covered by a daily show correspondent Dolce Sloan in a segment

we call Dulceying about the impact of HBCU marching bands. Roll the clip. All of this marching band culture found a new home in 1890 when Tuskegee University started the first HBCU marching band. It turns out college and marching bands are a natural fit, like college and STDs. Over the next 50 years, marching bands popped up at Alabama State, Florida A&M, Kentucky State and other HBCUs. But the big turning point came in 1946 when Dr. William P. Foster, at Florida A&M, discovered the missing ingredient.

Choreography. Dr. Foster taught his barching band new dance moves with help from a PE teacher named Beverly Barber. And that must have been cruel for all those band nerds who thought that going to college meant no more gym class. Oh, you thought you were done running? Mm-mm. Now you got to do it with a toub. But it was worth it because choreography took margin bands to the next level. Adding dancing to anything makes it more entertaining. Karaoke, in flight announcements, finding out you are not the father.

By the 1960s and 70s, HBCU bands had gone mainstream. They were playing Super Bowls, and they even marched JFK's inaugural parade, which had to be the most memorable parade JFK was ever in. Wait, that seems wrong. So recently, a junior over at USC, Princess Is Lane, created the Cardinal Divas, which is a Majorette dance team. Now if you're not familiar with the Majorate Dance Team, Majorate Dance teams are, they're a dance team that's rooted in West African dance traditions and it's a fusion of, you know, jazz

and hip hop and buck and step and they do a lot of baton twirling and a lot of these traditions started in the south and the Midwest where these major dance teams would dance alongside high school bands and support high school football teams and that tradition has matriculated up into historically black college and university bands. And so the mainstream exposure for the Cardinal Divas, you know, they got a little bit of backlash, you know, whether or not activities rooted in HBCU culture should have a place in a predominantly white institution. So to help us delve into that a little bit more, I'm joined by Tech Elevator Pathway Program or developer, Banhead, and HBCU advocate, Dr. Chisty, A. Walker, Dr. Walker, Thank you for going beyond the scenes with us today.

First and foremost, how are you feeling? I'm feeling great. I mean, that was a great intro. I appreciate it. Well, you know, you know, I do what I can for, you know, my fellow black college brethren and sister and even though you didn't go to Florida A&M. Now, you know, you went to North Carolina, A and T. Much to the Aggies. Yes, and much love to the Rattlers. Well, thank you. Thank you. Later on, we'll be joined by dance coach and owner of the Dollhouse Dance Factory and

Star of the Lifetime show, bring it, Diana Williams. But first, Dr. Walker, walk me through your black college experience and how you land it at North Carolina, Aintee, and to to to rundown real quick. My dad is more house, my mama's family. And so in my house it was pretty much look you can pick any of these black colleges but that's where you need to go, you need to go get some knowledge and you need to get a little bit of culture on top of that. How did you land at North Carolina ANT and how did you end up in the in the band over there the Blue and Gold Marching Machine? Yes well the A&T and the Blue and Gold Marching machine is literally in my blood. My parents met while being in the band at North Carolina A&T. Wait a minute that ain't allowed you're

supposed to be focusing on the sound you're supposed to be fratizing the woodwinds can't be talking to the percussion. The woodwinds can't be talking to the percussion. Well, you know, stuff happens and you know, I'm a band baby. What can I say? Yeah, so my parents were marching in the Blue and Goat Marching Machine. It was called the Marching Aggies back then in the 1960s. And so I just grew up, you know, just being surrounded in that environment. Going to games as a little girl. I can remember being, you know, five, six years old, going to games.

And I grew up in Hampton, Virginia. And so I can even remember going to Hampton University, well it was Institute back then, but you have the University games with my grandmother when I was little, and I just always grew up in an HBCU environment. And so my parents were basically like yours. They said, you gotta go to AHBCU. We don't care what you do for grad school, but for your undergraduate education,

and we're paying for it, we're gonna go to a black college. And so that's how it happened. My parents, they didn't pressure me to go to A&T, like everybody thinks that, like they hear that, you know, well both your parents with the A&T, they made you go, it wasn't that at all. It was just, you got to go to a black school. You have a podcast called the HBCBand Experience. And the discussion we're trying to have thian thian thian thian to have thian thian thian thian thian to have thian to have today is about the idea of black students who are creating black spaces for themselves at white institutions and whether or not that is a bit of a, I don't like the word violation, but does it cross a cultural line, does it break a traditional standard?

But I think the first thing we need to do is establish black college marching band culture from white college marching band culture. In your definition, because I'm tel rig now, I didn't play in no band. I played flag football for about two weeks. That was it. I didn't do nothing to represent the school in any capacity other than write for the student paper. Having marched in a black college marching band, in your opinion, what separates an HBCU marching band from marching bands at other schools? Well, I think there is a couple of things. I think first of all, the music selection. So a lot of times, HBCUs will play songs that are top 40 or what's on the radio, hip hop,

hip hop, as opposed to, you know, bands at predominantly white colleges, they may play more Sousa Marches, John Philip Sousa, who's a famous march. Yeah, exactly, exactly. And so they were played more of that kind of music. But that's one of the big things is the difference in music selection. And then I just think in showmanship, there are qualities that both kinds of bands have, but as far as like the showmanship, the kind of presentation they put out there, it could be even the marching style that they have

to the announcer getting on the mic and talking a little smack to the other school, you know, you don't really hear that in predominantly white colleges. And so those are the biggest differences I can see. Let's talk a little bit real quick just about the evolution of the black college marching band because it wasn't always like that. Like, you know, let's be real, black music started way before radio. So, you know, when we talk about, you know, the fact that, you know, a lot of black soldiers

in World War II weren't allowed to carry weapons and were assigned to be in the drum corps and stay, hey, hey, darky, give us some rhythm while we marched down the street and get our victory parade for coming home safe. I know Tuskegee was the, if I'm not mistaken, Tuskegee was the first HBC'm not mistaken, Tuskegee was the first HBCU marching band in the 1800s, give her, I think like 1890? Yeah, I think it was 1890. There's this debate between Tuskegee and Alabama and him having the first band, but Tuskegee, you know, we can go with that. Okay, and so then let's talk a little bit about the evolution then.

If that was the first band, and that was just some drums and, you know, very African influence, when do we get into the choreography and the dancing and all of the more fanfare, when did the glitz start getting sprinkled in? Well, I think it was more along the 1950s. So what happened was you were talking about the military folks in the band. There's a unit called the Navy B3 band that were around in during World War II. And it was composed of all black musicians.

And a lot of those musicians that were in the Navy B3 band. They went on to become band directors at historically black colleges. And so a lot of times, they were the Navy B3 band, they went on to become band directors at historically black colleges. And so a lot of times they would get their graduate degree, their master's degree, or their doctorate from schools in the Midwest mainly to Big Ten because colleges in the South, because of Jenn Crowe would not allow them to attend.

And so they would pick up things from your University of Michigan,, the, their black, their black, their black, their black, their, their black, their black, their black, their black, their black, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thi, thi, their, thi, thi, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, and th, th, and th, and their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their their their their their their their their their their their their their thiiiii, thii, their musicians, their musicians, their musicians, their musicians, their musicians, their musicians, their musici, their musicia, their their musicia, thi not allow them to attend. And so they would pick up things from your University of Michigan's, your Ohio State, your Michigan states, and they would bring them down to the HBCUs where they would take those Michigan fundamentals but put a little bit of flair in it and play Motown songs and do-op songs from back in the 50s. So it really started in the 50s and Dr. Foster from Famu was one of the originators of that, if not the originator of having popular music and dance routines and things like that being in a black college band. Like he's definitely the pioneer. If he was on, if there was a HBC band Mount Rushmore like he is his head would definitely be on that.

What was really funny is I was at Fam You during Dr. Foster's last year kind of like his last ride. Okay. And the entire all of the home games were a tribute to Dr. Foster and they always spelt Foster's name out the margin 100 did on the field at halftime and I just remember it being such a quintessential black experience because they would spell out foster you see it's foster we know it's foster but the announcer would always go F O S T E Ara foster I'm like did you have to make R two syllables? Well I have ask Joe Bullard, because I'm pretty sure that was the person who was doing that. Yes, it was.

Now, we know that the marching band culture, at least for sure, we know it started in the state of Alabama. We don't know if it was up in normal or if it was down in Tuskegee, that's Dr. Foster and the Flair and the World War II starts coming in in the 1940s and the 1950s. Let's talk about present-day black college band culture. What are some of the things that set each school apart? I know the majorettes are there, the flag girls are there, but there's really no one-size-fits-all with these marching bands. So, you know, what have some of the bands done that you've seen, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, and, the, the, and, and, the, and, the, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, th... And, th. And, the, the, the, their, the, their, their, their, their, their, they-a, they-a-a-s-a-a-s-a-a-s-s-a-a-a-s.a-a-a-a-a-s. And, th done, what have some of the bands done that you've seen in your analysis that sets them all apart from each other? Well, different bands have different characteristics.

So like, for example, Southern University, they're known for their big, brassy sound. For a long time, they were an all-male squad. They have a very much masculine, aggressive, assertive kind of sound, which I really like. Florida A&M, their arrangements are second to none. They're known for having a very much symphonic sound. A&T, for example, my alma mater, their auxiliary is known very well. They're a group of women that can do it all, whether it's tore on the flags or whether it's tore on a baton or whether it's dancing. They're known in that aspect. I mean, I can probably

pick something out that's unique about every band program. Norfolk State, for example, they are the Spartans and they have the whole theme with the Spartan Legion, which is, you know, they have very whole theme with the Spartan Legion, which is, you know, they have very militaristic kind of movements and the songs that they play. I mean, I can pick out something in just about everybody. The thing I think that's also interesting is that to a degree, there are people who go to Black College Football Games just to see the band.

Like, that's's not a joke at all. It's so serious. Like, I mean, I just had my home coming a couple of weeks ago. And I remember, you know, just nobody moves at halftime. Where at white schools, you've got people going to the popcorn stand or the restroom or whatever, during half time. Nobody moves. All right. time for the popcorn.

I'll be right back, baby. Yeah. Yeah, nobody, nobody at a black college leaves at half time. They leave during the third quarter. In fact, they may leave the game. They may not come to the second. Right, exactly. So now we've set the table. You understand the history of black college marching bands.

You understand the culture that it's attached to. So now you can understand why someone creating their own thing for themselves at a white school might have ruffled some feathers. I don't think it's that big of a deal. I need to back up off Princess Isis Lane. But after the break, we're going to break that down a little bit more and discuss everything that's going on over there at USC with the Cardinal Divas. And later, we're going to be joined by dance coa and the dance co-ander, D'oeckon, the Lifetime Show, bring it, Diana Williams. This is beyond the scenes. We'll be to'nighthe-inne. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. thin' the, the, the, the, the, the, the. the. the. the. the. the. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, the. And, the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. And, th. And, th. new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls.

What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts, but how many of them come out on Thursday? Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast................ the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to, to, to, to, to to to to the, the, the the the the the the ea, the ea, the ea, the ea, the ea, the ea, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. the. the. te. tea. tea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea. te. toe. to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. Beyond the Scenes, we're back. We're talking about Black College band culture. Now, Dr. Walker, we're gonna be joined by Diana Williams in a little bit. But I wanna talk to you first about what happened at USC with the viral video from the Cardinal Divas, Major Ed Dance Team. Now, it caused a big divide to to to to theeeeeeee, the, the, the, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the, wherever the, the, wherever the, wherever tho, tho, wherever tho, wherever the, wherever tho, wherever tho, wherever, where tho, where the, where the, wherever, where the, wherever, where the, wherever, wherever, where th. th. th. th. th, where, where, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. the, the, the, the, thea, thea, thea. thoo thoo thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean, thea, thea, the video from the Cardinal Divas major ed dance team.

Now it caused a big divide and a lot of outrage between people that attended black colleges and people that attended white schools. Now if you never seen the video, it's just a group of black girls being excellent, doing the exact same things and moves that you would see at a black college, but they go to a white school. And so there were a lot of people that were, they were upset. There was some people that were upset because they feel like this was an introduction into allowing white people to appropriate something

that is traditionally been black. And in terms of protecting black culture from culture vultures, they felt like this was a way or an end to normal. Because we all know imitation is the biggest form of flattery because all they do is steal from us on Tick To Tick To the Video. As a Black College alum, what was your first reaction when you saw this? Oh wow. Well, my first reaction was, I was noticing little things that somebody who's not

in our band world would notice. So when I first saw the video and I saw them dancing, I noticed their style of dancing wasn't as tiak as I would like for a HBCU Dance Squad to be. I could tell that it to me it looked like a bunch of women just getting together and doing a dance like it didn't seem that tight and I was noticing the people in the background because they were doing it at a USC game and nobody was even paying attention to them like They looked kind of I don't know like out of place to me. So that was my first reaction And then when I realized that it was at USC. I was like well, why are y'all doing this here? There are what a hundred and seven HBCUs? Why couldn't y'all do that here?

So that was my first reaction. I'll tell you what I thought when I first saw Dr. Walker. Like, I was like, okay, you're trying to do your thing where you are. You're trying to have a piece of your culture at this place where you've chosen to go. And I understand the nature of, well, if you want a culture, you should have went to the place where the culture was created. But I know that I just know that a lot of black kids end up at black colleges for a lot of different reasons. You in California, ain't a lot of black, black, I don't know where she from. Maybe you wanted to be in school close to home. Maybe this school hatch program and it's a more esteemed. And it's, the graduates, the graduates, the graduates, the graduates, the graduates, the graduates, the graduates, and the graduates, and the graduates, and their, and their, and their, and their, and their, their, and their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I th. I their, I their, I their, I their, I their, I just, I just, I just, I just their, I just, I just their, I just their, I just their, I just, I just, I for black student unions, I know that they are always appreciative of there being a smidget of black culture within this sea of whiteness that they delve into on a regular basis.

So, you know, I don't know. I guess it didn't throw me off as much as it did a lot of other people. But do you think that black college alumni feel that their culture is misunderstood by people who attend white schools? I don't know if it's necessarily misunderstood, but it's more of like, I'll say it like this. Myself and the people that I interact with, a lot of them did not have a problem with this dance squad doing this.

My personal issue is that they were getting all on national TV and talk shows and I mean, even just, you know, this, like this podcast, bringing it up now. Like they're getting all this shine. Wow, we have been doing this for literal decades. Nobody was checking for us, you know, and so why are they getting shine for doing what we've been doing all along and then kind of doing a halfway job of it because the dancing wasn't tight? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Here's a question that I had with my team on my podcast. Shout out to Roy's Job Fair. Also part of the Comedy Central Iheart Media Network family. Where is the line of where black culture starts and stops in terms of it permeating into a white school? Because on the one hand, we could say, all right, hey, if you want to be to be to be to be to be to be to be you can be the best black dancer and you can actually shine and do the thing in the right way versus trying to create a culture for yourself where you are. So based on all of those reasons why you might choose a white school. I would assume that is also why we have black Greek organizations on white school campuses. Is that. It, the, the, the, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, where, where, where, the same, where, where, the same, the same, where, where, the same, where, where, the same, the same, where the same, where, where, where, where, where, where, the the the the the there, there, where there, where there, where there, where there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the the the the the th is that, that, the thi, the tha, the the the the the the would assume that is also why we have black Greek organizations on white school campuses. Is that same but different in the sense of black culture that started at black school? All those black fraternities all started at black colleges, they all have roots in the south? Is it the same or is that different in a way because

that is permeated nationally across all white schools? I think the issue here is being a PWI student and claiming HBCU culture because you and your friends when you were in school together, you and the black friends at the white school, you know, had your own parties and your own this and that. And, so, that, and so, I hear. I, the same, this and that, and, that, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the the, the, the, the, the the the the the the the the the, their, their, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the in school together, you and the black friends at the white school, you know, had your own parties and your own this and your own that. And so I hear a lot of times, we were like a mini HBCU. No, that is not the same. That's true. That's my big issue. Like, that's not the same. Just because you and your 200 black friends got together and did y'all parties and, you know, had your black student union,

don't claim that it's an HBCU experience. I definitely think you can have your own piece of black culture. I mean, I don't feel like I am the gatekeeper and I don't want to be thought of as a gatekeeper. So, I mean, people get with the groups of people that they can relate with and when you're in an environment that is different from yours. So there's nothing wrong with bonding in that aspect.

My one issue is that when you try to claim it's an HBCU thing or HBCU culture or saying, like, oh, let's throw a HBCU party. No, no, no. Don't. I I I I I I I I I I. I. I. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I mean, I, I mean, I mean, I mean, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I mean, I mean,, let's throw a HBCU party. No, no, no. Don't, I mean, you know, it's like kind of like my culture is not a costume kind of thing. Like you can't cosplay it like you were saying. I just, that is my issue. Bond with your people, but don't, but don't put HBCU label on it or don't say you were like an HBCU, because you're not. Sorry, that, that, that, that, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, th, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, they, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi.a, thi.a, thi.i. I th. I thi, thi, thi, because you're not. Sorry, that just really gets under my skin. Clearly, but that's why we're here.

That's why we're here and that's why we're grateful that you were on the podcast. Thank you, Dr. Walker for going beyond the scenes with this. After the break, we'll be joined by dance coach and owner of the Lifetime show, Bring It. Diana Williams. We'll be right back. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show. It's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting you'll be saying

yourself TGID. Thank God it's Thursday we're going toto be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast.

Now we need to get a little deeper into the weeds of major red dance teams, the styles, all the different styles of these teams, the importance of exposing this dance form to black dancers. And here to help explain all of this. I'm joined by dance coach, owner of the Dollhouse Dance Factory and star of the lifetime reality show, bring it. Diana, Diana, how are you doing today? I am fun, I am fabulous, I am fit, I am blessed, I am favored. All the things. Also your background is sparkling. That's coordination right there. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you. Also your background is sparkling. That's coordination right there. Coordinating. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Now you attend to Jackson State University for college. And you know before we get into the black dance culture over there, just start with me and talk to me a little bit about your HBCU experience and you know what was it like there for you at Jack State and then also what drove you to choose that school in the first place.

Wow okay so Jackson State University has been a part of my bloodline since I was born literally my mom went to Jackson State University back in the 70s she pledged on the campus Delta Sigma Theta in 76 I was born in 78 so it's like it's been throughout my life to know I was supposed to go to to to to to to to to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the school. the the school. the the the school. the school. the school. the school. the school. the school. the school. the school. the school. the school. the school. the school 78, so it's like it's been throughout my life to know I was supposed to go to JSU. Like everything about me was Jackson State University. I've come from a long history of HBCU participants in my family, when I say participants, me and they attended school, Morris Brown College, Morehouse College, Clark, Atlanta, you know, it was all a part of my family. Jackson State University is a school that I can't

even really call it a school. It's more like an experience. It's more like a state of mind, you know what I mean? Because when you walk on to the campus, you instantly feel like this this warm air around you where you feel like you're part of a big family and you're at home. You know, I'm southern. I'm from the south. Everybody speaks, what's up?

Hey, how you doing? You know, it's the yes, ma'am's. You know, it's the normal ambience of just love and that family feel. And when I was on the campus of Jackson State in 2001 I graduated in 2005 my experiences there were life-changing they were unforgettable in so many ways there were some great experiences there were some bad experiences but they were all life-changing and life lessons I started my dance team while at the school my dance team was given their first opportunities for large performances at the school it's because of the school yes it's because of the school. Yes it's because of Jackson State's the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their the the the the the their their their ch changing ch changing their changing their changing their changing their changing. their changing. their their their their the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their their ta. their their their their their their ch. their their ch. their their their their their their their their their the school. My dance team was given their first opportunities for large performances at the school. It's because of the school. Yes, it's because of Jackson State that I am who I am if I'm being very very honest. You know, I tried

out for the dance line at Jackson State, the Prance and Jay sets over six times and was denied every single time and it wasn't until you know lifetime showed up with this TV show that I it's just like a light bulb when I was said okay I was never supposed to do that anyway because if I did there would not have been a this because there wouldn't have been time for it I needed to grow my company grow my brand the team needed to be good to be on TV so how in the world could I have done both? During those four years, 2001 to 2005, were the prime years that the team was found at the foundation, the core, all of it. And it is because of Jackson State allowing the kids to perform at the football games,

the basketball games, performing at J-Said tryouts as the feature performers that we got our start and everybody started to really pay attention to these these these these these the the the the the the the their their. their. their. the feature performers that we got our start and everybody started to really pay attention to these kids. That's a beautiful story now, much like yourself, I try it out for Famuse baseball team twice and was told, no, I'm still waiting on God to give me my blessing. They do baseball and be a 43-year-old rookie at some point. Let's break down the roots of Majorette Style and what is it that you think that separates it from all of the other styles of dance? Like what sets all these teams apart from one another?

Because like you can all be majoret dancers, but you all can have a different type of sauce, right? Right, oh absolutely. Well, let's just start with the first part of it. Major dance in my definition. It is like a pot of gum, but it is a mixture of every style of dance that exists from square dancing to folk dancing, to clogging, to ballet, to jazz, to liturgical, to hip hop, to modern, because Major Eddance takes you on a range of emotion and it doesn't just lead you to

just one place. You could get really, really, really hype or you can be really, really chill. You can be really, really sassy or you could just be really, really demure. It just, it depends on which direction you want to go versus ballet is very structured. It has to be this, has to be that. Hip hop is very this or very that, but with majoret is all of those things. It even encompasses African dance and gymnastics because you got the tum-a-a- doing pop-ups off their heads. They're doing helicopters now. There's all kind of things that the trends have changed, you know, with Majorette. So when I look at the style of dance that is my profession, it is awesome in so many ways

because you can't put it in a box. You can't put it in a box. And when I look at the different majoret styles of all of these HBCUs, every single one of them got their own sauce. It is like how you got you, different types of hot sauce, different types of barbecue sauce, different types of creole season, and you know it's not the same. It's similar, but it's not the same. You look at Jackson State University, they are your acrobatic, very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very of majoret. You look at the golden girls,

they're more of your African dance, get low, very aggressive majoret. You look at the Alabama state stingets. They're like the Naomi Campbell of the swag. They're just very just like, yes, yes, yes. But then yeah, but they have a little bit of extra little fire, because you know Naomi Campbell got a fire side to her. But then you go to the other the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the but they have a little bit of extra little fire, because you know Naomi Campbell got a fireside to her. But then you go to the other side and you look at Southern University, they're like Misty Copeland, very much so so just prim and proper, put me in a box, I'm very cute, I'm not gonna do too much to sweat. You know, every one of to meet Texas Southern, the dance line, the motion,

and they're all over the place. Like they're all of these things that I just named from all four schools. So it's just no one way to explain it. And each school just has their own swagger. It's kind of like women. You know, we as women are different their shades of melanin. We have a different attitude a different attitude the different attitude the different attitude, we have a different attitude, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, tho, tho, tho, thi, thi, that, thanks, thanks, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, and, th, and, thi, and, thi, and, and I I I'm, thi, and I'm, and I'm, and I'm, thanks, and I'm, and I'm, thanks, and, thanks, and I'mauan, and I'm just justaugh, thanks, thanks, and I'm just just just just, that walk in fair heels, that's where we talk. Same thing with guys, but having this conglomerate of things and being so different is what makes major red so awesome.

And your show bring it, right? You have figured out a way to present all of these different sauces to the world through, you know, through this type of competition. And the competitiveness of this, the idea that I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I'm that I'm that I'm that I'm that I'm that I'm that I'm that I'm going the thi thi thi the the the' the' the' thr competition. And the competitiveness of this, the idea that I'm the best and that I'm going to try my damnness to show you just how amazing I am. When you turned on your Twitter that morning, you turned on the Twitter like a television, I'm so old. When you opened up your phone, and you see this video of Princess Isis Lane and you see her doing a lot of these different styles and and the Cardinal Divas doing this thing. You know, it caused a huge divide between the black college and predominantly white

institution between the black college alum and non-black college alum community. What was your initial reaction? Because you are essentially a curator of the, you are Somali, if you will, of black dance and black major culture. What was your first reaction when you saw what you had done and what you had seen, you know, championed so well at so many black institutions happening at a white institution I didn't look at it as an HBCU PWI think it's just dance

I just looked at it as a young girl deciding that she wanted to do that? toobey. I guess I'm the wrong person to ask that question. Well, I guess I may be the right person because I mean I go against the ground. I'm gonna do what I want to do. I don't tell, to to to to to to to to to to to to to tell tell tell tell tell tell tell tell tell tell tell tell tell tell tell me tell me tell me tell me to to to to to the tell they they they they they they they they they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. I'm they. I'm they. I'm they. I'm they. I try. I'm try. I'm try. I'm try. I'm try. I'm try. I'm the the they. I'm they. I'm they. I'm they. I'm that question. Well I guess I may be the right person because I mean I go against the grand I'm gonna do what I want to do anyway. I want nobody tell me what to do. I don't care if I'm in the middle of the cornfields or standing in Alaska and in an igloo. I'm gonna do what I want to do. I'm gonna do what I'm tell me. That's just how I moved in life period. So seeing this girl create this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl this girl the the the the the the the the the the the the the girl the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the toolooen tooloen tell tell tell tell to tell tell to tell tell tell tell tell tell tell the the the the the the care about the school like that just never dawned on me oh she's black at a PWY like that never dawned on me I was like oh I like the curls in her hair oh she's cute oh they look great oh this is interesting why is everybody so mad like I had a range of emotions like it didn't dawn on me so when I realized that she was at a PWI I still was just like, I didn't get it. I didn't get my husband another conversation, he was pissed, but I didn't get it. But this idea that black culture can often be misunderstood, if not presented in the proper context within a white space, did that not give you a fear or concern of the possible appropriation? And we know that Princess is doing her thing. She clearly has studied the culture. Like, it's not like she's, she's th, she's th, she's th, she's th, she's th, she's th, she's th, she's th, she's th, she's th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, but thi, but, but I, but I, but I, but I, but I, but I, but I, but I the conversation, but I the conversation, but I the conversation, but I thi, but I thi, but I thed, I thed, I thed, I thed, I thed, I thed, I th. I thi, I thi, I thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi's thi's thi's thi's thi's thi's thi's thi. thi. I was thi. I was thi. But, thi, thi, th we know that Princess is doing her thing.

She clearly has studied the culture. Like, it's not like she's someone that's not of black culture that was just trying to copycat some stuff. But do you not have a fewer concern of people going, of white majorette teams, if not at USC, whoever, whatever school they're playing, looking across the field and going oh yeah maybe we need to put a little sauce in our thing maybe we need to put a little Naomi Campbell and our white thing but they're already doing that they're already doing that I watched it on the show that I was on I was on bring it but then you had dance

moms on the other side of it we've been doing depth drops and head pop-ups and tie touches forever then all of a sudden they they they they the the the their their their their their th th th their th th th thus thus thus thus thus thus thus thus thus thus thus thus tho tho they're they're tho tho they they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're to to to to to to toy to toy to toy to to to toy to to toy to to to toy to the to the they're they're they're they're they're th toe touches forever. Then all of a sudden they do a Devdrop on their show and it's like, oh, I'm like, what? Like we've been doing that, like what are you talking about? We went to a competition that was white structured, it was a national type event, it wasn't our thing, and there was not even a genre for majorette to check off a box. it's kind of like you go like you you you you like you you like you you like you you like you th you th you like you like you th you th you like th you th you go like th you go like th like the like th like th like th like th like th like th like th like th like th, th, to go to go to go to go to go to go to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th. I. I th. I th. I th. th. the. the the toooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. too. too. We were the other in the building and it was weird. So I understand, you know, HBCU culture, PWI, the black, the white, the different styles of dance and how it could be, it could feel. I understand like how I personally felt as a dancer, to me, dance is dance.

But if I'm looking at it outside and everybody else's retrospect and their understanding, I can understand how everybody feels feels the the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their. their understanding I can understand how everybody feels because yes she is in a PWI space doing the culture of style of dance that we've cultivated that we've created that we have nurtured and loved on and made it to be this awesome sauce but this is no different than any other thing in the world that we've been doing from straightening our hair to curling our hair to wearing certain clothing and even the hip-hop culture of corn roll breads and it's like nothing it's the same so I get what they're saying but they have is I'm trying to find the right word to make it make sense because I don't I don't to me she looked like me

Roy she looked like me and I'm like regardless of where she is like, regardless of where she is, it shouldn't matter. If she is creating a lane for herself there, I don't personally have a problem with it, but I can understand how someone's saying, well, they're stealing our culture. She took our culture there. Why not just go to an HBCU? Why talk to Princess? And I asked her those questions. You know, and she just said that, she's from Chicago, and she just said that, you know, when I was in school, I had to go to school online

because of COVID, I couldn't be in the school system. And then, you know, I went to the school because I'm assuming that diversity was something that that that that that that that that that that that that that was something that they were looking for in their school, just like, we look for diversity at HBCUs. And maybe the school offered her a for a ride or a scholarship or whatever, and she had to pay nothing for school. I don't know, I'm assuming. I don't feel like Princess owes an explanation to black folks why she didn't want to go to no black college. I don't, like, I almost hate that that question was posed to her. You know, I do, when you look at other aspects of black culture stepping into mainstream, I don't think what she was doing

was some sort of unprecedented thing, not when you got marching band, black college marching bands playing during the Super Bowl, shot out Florida, and then played with Prince and Miami that's a football. Also, you know, if I'm not mistaken, there were marching bands that was part of Biden's inauguration with a Kamala, when Biden and Kamala were doing the inaugural parade. So is that a black man in a white space? Because what is showcasing blackness versus you're setting us up to have our culture

poach? And that's the line that I feel like everybody that's mad about it can't define clearly not when you have black fraternities and sororities walking around. But how is she and then you have you have Caucasian students and other other students of other races that are pledging these fraternities and sororities. So are they are they setting our us up to have our our cultures stolen by someone? I don't get that. I don't I don't I th I th I th I th I th I don't I don't I don't I don't th I don't th I don't th I don't get th th th th th th th th th th th th I don't get th th th th th th th th. I th. I th. I don't th. I don't I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th th. th th th th th th to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the up to have our to have our have our cultures stolen by someone? I don't get that like I don't I don't get that I just hate that she's not she's not setting anybody up or anything You know you got people that have that have mixed we are mixed we are mixed race because we are all mixed race Because massa was raping you know the slaves went and went and all of us coming out in different color. Hell, my background is Indian, Cuban, white, black. I got so much mixed up in me, child.

I'm trying to figure out, am I the hoodside today? Am I buggie? What am I? You know, because some days I don't really, I don't really get it for, but I just, when I say get it, get it, I'm not, when, when, when, when, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, I, I, get, get, I, get, I, I, I, get, I, I, I, get, I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm, I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, th.. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. tap, th. th. tod, th. th. thi, th. to, th. I'm, I'm, I'm, pro black, I am Black Lives Matter, I am shop black, buy black, support black, I am all of that. And I think with that is the reason why I was so supportive of Princess, not because she's in a PWI space, but just because it's her. And I never want anybody to stop their dream or stop chasing something,

for whatever her reasons were, simply because your own people don't accept it. I mean, let's be clear. When bring it started, my own people came after me. They told me I got my black girls on TV, dancing like stripples, and they do. I was like, what? I'm like, wait a minute. Did our African ancestors? Now, talk to the talk to the talk to the talk to the talk. I'm confused. I am am am am. I am I am. I am. I am I I I I I I I I I I I I I. I. I. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was like. I was like. I was like. I was like. I was like. I was like. I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like. I was like. I was like. I was like. I. I. I was like. I. I was. I. I was like. I was like. I was like. I was like. I was like. I was like. I was like. I was like. I was like. I was like. I was like. I was like. I was like. I was like. I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I'm. the. the. to. to the talk to the talk to the talk. I'm confused. Am I not watching? The blackness to everybody, that's our secret. Listen, I was confused and I love my people.

I love being a black child. I don't, I wouldn't change anything about me in the world, but it's crazy. Did you get any grief for being on a life on a life on? It wasn't that, it was more of, I was told that I am dumbing down myself for this network and I'm not being my natural self. Now, if you watch that show, you know everything about me was me. So I don't know what they talking about. But at the same time, it was me kicking down doors

and opening up another opportunity for us to be seen on television, we're the fastest growing show in the history of that network, period, that's Googleable. Like we're the and we're an all black cast of young kids doing a style of dance that nobody really even talked about until we got on TV. So lifetime, us being on that network to me, it really helped us cross another line. It's kind of like a black, a black star becoming a pop star or our country singer. You know, we're crossing different lines and showing that we deserve to be in this particular space. So you start, you start this group at Jackson State.

So you know of the hurdles when it comes to starting a group. Now, it's one thing to talk to Princess and give her emotional support and the backlash.... the the the the the their, their, or their, or their, or their, or our, or our, or our, our, or our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our country, our country, our country, our country, our country, our, our, our country, our country, our country, our country, our country, our country, our country, our our, our our, our, our our our our, our our our country, our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our, our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our our, our our our, our our, our our, our country, our their their their their their ca, our country, our ca-s, our tha-s, country, country, country, country, country, country, country, country, country, country, country, country, country, country, country, country, country, country, country, ta-ca-ca-couca-s counta-s, their cou, the the their the the hurdles when it comes to starting a group. Now, it's one thing to talk to Princess and give her emotional support and talk to her about the backlash. But what were some of the other blind spots that you were able to hip her to? Like, just in a support, like, how do you offer support to, to Princess and the Cardinal Divus?

Like, what things, what other things did they they they they they they they th, this? Like what things, what other things did they, did you look at that and go, oh, she gonna need this, this and I gotta get this girl on the phone. Mm-hmm. Well, I started dancing dolls at a community center in Jackson. I just so happened to go to Jackson State at the time where my team started. So I didn't start mine like she did hers. told her, they need to tell. their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, I, I, I, I thi, I thi, I'm, I'm, I'm, I th. I th, I th, I th. I th. I th. I th. Well, I, I, I, I, I, I th, I, I th, I th, I th. I th. I, I, I th. I, I th. I, I, I, I I th. I, I, I, I thi, I thi. I thi. I, thi. I started, thi. I started, thi. I started, thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm toeean, toean, toean, toean, thi. I started, thi. I started, thi. I started, thi. I started, thi. I just feel like they need a look. They don't have a look, something that sets them apart from everybody else versus them just being in a uniform that they created or something that they bought a sports bronze and briefs and they're out there.

They need an overall look. She needs overall structure. They need to understand the style of major rent. They also need to start paying tribute and respect to some of these other teams. Because it's like it's like when I started dancing dolls, I always get a respect to the Prince and J-Sets. Always. It was we call our J-SET, we call our walk, J-SET walk. Like we've created costumes and named them after them to show respect for who came

before us and we're not getting it from. Right, she didn't do that and it's like you have to let people know I started this because I saw this. This is a team that I love and show grace to and I love what they do. I want to create my own space in this world but I need to pay homage to these other teams and show respect and let people know that this is what you're trying to do and I think that it will come across. There probably people still probably gonna be mad, but at least it'll come across a little bit differently. The biggest advice I did give her, though, I did tell her about their overall look, and they needed to have some structure with choreography, for sure, for sure.

It's sound like everything you're talking about, cost of money though. How do you fund an operation like this because I don't know if this counts as a student activity group or if it's an actual covered by USC football booster money or whatever like how do they get money to maintain this because you're talking about costumes you talking about choreography you talking about the space to do the dance is you talking about doing 20 people's hair what what what what what I did have to listen well they say they're not doing it the things you they they're to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to to to the their to their to their to to their their their their their their to their to to to to to to to to to to their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their too. their tooe. tooe. tooe. their their their their their their their their their20 haircut. Now they can't just all get a Bucci thing. Well, you're right about that. Now I did, but I did have this conversation with her

and she told me that they are officially a student organization on campus. So she did do that part of it right. They were given a space to practice in. But when it comes to custom. If you're th, to ca to ca to ca to ca to ca to ca to ca the ca to ca to ca to ca to ca, to ca, to cuss. I the to to to the to to tho. I to to tho. I thoen, the the the the thuski. thi. thi. thus. thus. thus. thus. thus. I thi. I thi. I, thi. I, that. I, that. I, thi. I I I, th. I I I, th. I I I I, I, I I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I th. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I'm to to to ci. I'm toe. I'm toea. I toea. toea. toea. thi. thi. thi. I did thi. I did to do you got to invest you got to invest in yourself and if you're a college student you know you want to get something done a specific way okay I need to figure out if I'm gonna take out a student loan am I gonna get a grant am I gonna get a job if I need costumes what are the costum's the costum's look like what does the pricing look like even they got just one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th is I th is I th is their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their the is I I the is I thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. theea. their their their their their their their their the whole particular season. Princess has gotten a lot of notoriety behind this.

There's a lot of people that have, she's been on the Jennifer Hudson show, she's been on all these different news shows, she's been everywhere. Yeah, gave her shut up. Yeah, she should be using these opportunities, not just a viral, but I guess I'm, my head is always in business, but to build another space her to make money and it's like do you start to go fund me do you

create a donation account where there's money's there for you to be able to get donations for your kid for your on your dance song but then on top of that Roy the world we live in now is black women there's there we're wegs we wear wigs we wear wea we can wea we can we can we can we can we can we can we can you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you th you th you th you th you th you th you th you th you can th you can th you can th you can th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th the the to to to to to to to to the to to done underneath it for $30 every time you have to perform. It's a one-time thing. Trust me, I know because I got almost 100 kids and they all wear wigs and we got one wig. the beginning of the year, they get their hair braids, they spend $30 every time they get it done. All the head whipping and neck snapping that wig. It, that, that, that, th, th, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it's, and it's, and it's the their, it's a their, it's a their, it's a their their, it's a thi, it's a thi, it's a thi, it's a thi, it's thi, it's th, it's th, it's th, it's th, it's th, it's th, it's th, it's th, it's th, it's th, it's th, it's th, it's th, it's th, it's th, it's a th, it's a one it's a thi, it's a one, it's a one thi, it's a one thi, it's a one thi, it's a one thin, it's a one one one thin, it's a one thin, it's a one one thiii, it's a one one thi, it's a one thi, it's a staying together? It's sewn down. It's no, it's sewn down. It's sewn down. I'm pretty sure that somebody would want to donate their time to have an opportunity to work with Princess and I'm going to tell you two people I know for sure. One, her name is Jesslin Stegel. She's a former member of the Jackson State University, Prance and Jay said. She lives in California.

She offered her services and she said that she would be happy to coach them. Also, a makeup artist by the name of Monet. Monet was my makeup artist for three and a half years for the Bring It Live to her and on Bring It. She's awesome. She lives in Los Angeles and is willing. willing to donate services to them as well. I offered to purchase a uniform for the girls and I also offered to come to California during basketball season to help them with choreography because my thing is it's like if I'm not a part

of the solution that I'm a part of the problem. If I can't donate a dollar to them that I'm not going to talk about it I'm not going to sit back and look at them look a mass but but but but but but but but I. but I. but I. but I. the the the the same. But I. But I. But I. the same. the same. the same. the same. the same. the same. the same. the same. the the. th and I'm th and I'm not th and I'm not them. them. them. them. the. the. the. them. them. them. them. them. them. the the the the the the their the the the the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their the. the. the ca. theats. thea. I thean. I'll thean. I'll tea. I'll tea. I'll thea. I'll thea. I'm theathat are willing to help. She just has to be willing to get in the right space to be able to do that. And then on top of that, you can't come with your fists like this because you're going to miss out on your blessing. You got to have your hands open to be able to receive it. I think that a bigger issue that was kind of bared. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. to be kind thi. to be kind kind kind to be kind kind to be kind kind to be kind kind kind kind kind to be kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind to be kind to be kind to be kind to be kind of to be kind of to be kind of to be kind of to be kind of a to be kind of a thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. to to to to to to be to be to be to be to be to be to be th. to be th. thi. thi. to to be kind of a thi. thi. thi. ththat I think that this exposed to some degree why a lot of black kids don't go to HBCUs. And it's not always because they don't want to. And there was a conversation happening underneath the surface about that, because you know a lot of kids are from states that straight up don't have a black college and they can't afford the out-of-state fee. I went to fam you out-of-a-state from Alabama., and th-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-in, and th-in, and th-in, and th-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-s, th, th, th, th, th, th, tha-s, tha-s, tha-s. tha-s. tha-s. tha-s. tha-s. tha-s. tha-s, tha-a-they can't afford the out-of-state fee.

I went to fam you out-of-state from Alabama. And I tried to get in-state my junior year. They said if you get one bill in your name for a year, you can get it. But I didn't know you also had to have a Florida ID and they got my ass. Why is funding essential to remedying the issue of, you know, the number of black kids across the country who often choose a PWI over a black school? Money's going to always be an issue for everything. If you don't have the money, you can't move like you want to move.

It just is what it is. And I know kids, I love my girls girls okay have girls on my dance team now that cannot select an HBCU because the schools of their choices are states away and they cannot afford to go. They may have a scholarship but it's not enough the scholarship may be enough for tuition but it's not enough for housing they may have a dance, they're academics. They're academic scholarships. I always tell my kids, don't base your life based off of dance, because when those four

years are over, you still have to have a career and a way to make a coin when it's over with. So you're going for a degree. So make sure that's sure that's your that's your that's your that's your that's your that's your that's your that's your their their their their their that's your their their their their their their their their their their their their their that's, their their, their their their their their, their their their their their their their their the cinematography you know the people the places that have their majors are not always HBCUs and the ones that do have it they're so far away or they don't want to dance on this team they want to be on this team but this school doesn't offer this that in the third and the outside of even the dance part of it. They may just not have the means, the means or the motive to be able to get there. And some parents are not willing to let their kids go either. They don't want their kids to go that far. They want to keep them close for whatever the reasons may be. Money and funding is going to. to always be an issue for these kids, trying to make a decision to go to school. And we can't ridicule, th th thheir thheir thheir their their their, their, their, their, their, their, their, to their, to their, to to their, to to to go, to to their, to to go. And, their, their, to to to let's, to let's, to let's, to let their. And to let to let to let to let to let to let to let to let to let their their their their their their, their, their their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their. And, their. And, their. And, their. And, their. And, their. And, their. And, thea, tha. And, tha. And, tha. And, tha. And, tha. And, tha. And, tha. And, to. And have to have an understanding for each other as a people to say, you know, maybe they weren't able to get here for whatever the reason they be, but if I'm able to give them a little

bit of my HBCU experience when they come to visit or if I see them, let me explain to them what it's like being on the campus of your fam you or your Fayetteville State, the the the their university their university their university their university their university their the can see another side of life because I do feel like a lot of us are missing out on culture and love and that family feel from our people because we are at other schools and then when you get to an HBCU or you're around a lot of black people, you're assuming, oh, they're going to be this or that based off of what you see on the news. There's a lot of educated black women and men in the world that come out of these HBCUs, but because we're not PWY, we're assumed to be beneath arrest

because we're not a part of what they assume to be the best. You got some of the best doctors and lawyers and judges, and police officers coming out of HBCUs. I just don't get it sometimes with the way we treat each other, but it's just That's a very sensitive topic for me because I've just been treated multiple different ways Even at Jackson State even when I left Jackson State and I was in the entertainment industry being on the sets of the different places that we had to go for bring it and I was treated in multiple different ways and I had to contain my blackness and I had to not don't be this loud. this this this this this this this this this this th get th get this th get th get th get th get th get th get th get th get th get tho get tho get tho get tho tho that. that. the different the the different the the the the different the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. the the the the the the the the the the to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to go for bringing it and I was treated in multiple different ways and I had to contain my blackness and I had to not, don't be this loud ghetto black girl, you know, because they got you f-fed up like don't do it girl. I had to constantly have consensual with myself because I'm like I'm in a different space.

When I go to the corporate offices I have to be this or that, you know, because they expect the wow and pizzazz and I can't be myself, but I had the, my, my, my, HBC, you education is what got me through being on that television show. Jackson State taught me how to fight using words. Jackson State taught me how to think, utilizing my degree and what I learned in those classrooms by critical thinking. I have a criminal justice degree. Learn how to argue without arguing. One of my teachers always told me that. Learn how to argue without arguing. Learn how to speak that argue with arguing, argue without to speak and present and talk in commander room no matter where you go. These are things that I learned at my school. But I also learn that no where you go or what you do, somebody going to try you and you got to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their ar... ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar. ar, ar, ar, things that I learned at my school, but I also learn that no matter where you go or what you do, somebody gonna try you and you gotta be

able to have that ethnic side, okay? And you gotta also be able to have the professional side where you can turn it on and turn it off. And I do feel like, I love all schools and all people and I have to say that because get what you're gonna get at an HPCU. And being at an HBCU, you're not gonna get what you're gonna get at a PWI. It goes both ways. But looking at the princess situation, it's just for me, she's trying to blend both of what she knows and feel comfortable on both sides. Then we'll end with this question then.

I feel like what she did was net positive for the culture. Why do you think it's important, or do you think it's important, I think you do, why do you think it's important to have something so culturally specific, be it a dance team, major eds, black Greek organizations hill, a Drake concert? Why is it important to have culturally specific things at a space at a PWI? Because you know I did a a ton of comedy shows for black student unions at white schools and the black student union's job was to bring something culturally specific to the campus. So in Princess's case, why do you think that was important? People need to see who we are all the way across the board and again

stop trying to put this category or this label on who you think we are. Like, and I think that what Princess did was she showed a different style of dance that some of them are trying to do because there are other dance teams that do exist at all these, at some PWIs, but Princess is the first person that just kind of went viral for it, but there needs to be a space where people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people their their th. thi. thi. thi. But thi. thi. thi. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, their s s thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. to thi. thi. thii. thi. thi. thi. th-talented. Yeah, you see the different artists, the different rappers, the different singers and songwriters, but there's other, what else is there? And then on top of that, there's no black she rose and dance anymore. Misty Copeland was there for a while and she was a part of the American ballet theater. She was a black ballerina. That don't happen. So she crossed over lines. So we need to always be represented

in every sense of the space so that we don't become invisible or disappear or they forget. Then it's like, oh, I didn't know that that happened. Oh, I didn't know that was a thing. No, you need to know. I went through this being in a dance mom space. I would never forget how I felt. I was pissed. I would never forget how I felt. And I was trying to keep it together because my girls are looking like, oh God, we don't belong. I'm like, you're trying. I'm like, you belong anywhere you want to be child. You're supposed to be here. We're here. We're going to to turn. to the too. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their parents. their parents. their parents. their parents. to. to. to. to be. to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be thea. I'm to be to be to be to be to. I to. I'm to keep. I'm to keep. I'm to keep. I'm to keep. I to keep. I to keep. I to keep. I I I I I I. I I I. I I I. I I I I. I I I. I I I. I. I I I. I I. I I. I. I. I. I. I. I t t t t t t t t t t t t te. I'm te. I'm te. I was try. I was ttte. tttry. tttte. tttry. t are we doing? I just remember how I felt in that moment.

So when Princess came out with this and the world is yelling at her, I know how I felt. And I put myself in her shoes, and I'm thinking, this Black girl just want to to dance, it's not about Black versus White to me. But I understand the world, especially with what's happening in the world. I'm not ignorant or quiet to not know what's happening around me.

I know what's going on. But I think it's always important, Roy, for representation to be everywhere. You need to know and understand that this is who we are as black people. Whether you accept it or not looking for your acceptance, sir. Not looking for your acceptance, okay? just know that we're here. This is what it is. Whether you like it or not, because Princess has run into some obstacles. What that girl has been told, no.

Since all the media and everything has come around this, she's going to hit some walls since then. And I think it's just too much for them them them them them them them them them their their their their their their their their to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to get, to get, to be to get, to get, to get, to thi, thi, thi, thi, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, thi. thi. to be thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. to to thi. to to to the. to to the. toe. toe. the. that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's thi. that's th and I think it's just too much for them to expect except and now it's like oh damn what did we do we allow this black girl into this space and she's bringing too much noise that's what that's the point that's the point there needs to be noise made around so many different aspects and if the HBCU culture is big right now people are using us Roy using HBCUs and that's a different topic for another day because baby I got a whole who. HBC use major rat dance marching bands you're using us as a box to check off to

say oh yeah I donated to an HBCU we don't need the donation okay we don't need any of that don't do that if you want us here if you want us here really want us here and I think that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the too. to to to to to to to to to really want us here. And I think that that's just exactly 1,000 percent. And I really believe that that's just what it was for me. And I keep saying for me, because I'm opinion like a month. I said, but it's just me. You know, I just think that people need to accept all sides of all walks of life. If I want to be accepted when I walk into to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the to the to the the to accept to accept to accept to accept to accept the the the the the to accept to accept to accept to accept to accept tox. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the tha. tha. thi. thi. thousandexxxxxa. thousand. theatseats. thousand. theats. thousand. thia. thousand. thia. I. I. thi. I I walk into sprouts or whole foods. You know, I want to be accepted when I walk into a car lot to buy a car, whether I'm in sweat or a two-piece suit.

I want to be accepted no matter what. So inclusion is everything. It's just going to be something that's gonna be a fight that's never gonna end. It's been, we've been dealing with this for the longest for ever since before my mom was born so well I cannot thank you enough for your expertise I'm gonna be back down south in a month or two I'm gonna hit you up see if you can teach me a eight count I'll come by your studio and see if I can learn one to kick in step ball turn push kick turn two got got you right yeah you did when when you come I'm gonna do you a

Jackson state tea shirt because I don't know nothing about that I'm gonna do it right. Yeah, you did. When you come, I'm gonna give you a Jackson State T-shirt because I don't know nothing about me. That's gonna give me a rash. Thank you so much, Diana. All right, thank you. And thank you, Dr. Walker, and thank both of you all for going beyond the scenes with us. See you next time.

All right. Listen to the Daily Show beyond the scenes on Apple Podcasts, the IHeart Radio App or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. John Stewart here. Unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show.

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