This time of year is absolute torture for an HBCU band diehard…*smh*
The football season is about two months away, so I thought it would be appropriate to take a brief look at some HBCU band headlines from the past year. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few seasons, The Robert Champion tragedy has dominated media coverage pertaining to the culture behind our craft. The practice of hazing is an old one; It’s something that’s not isolated to a given community or environment. That being said, the act of hazing has been especially damaging to OUR craft, as well as the overall visibility of H.B.C.U. institutions in general. NO parent should have to deal with this kind of thing when they entrust their children to an institution of higher learning. With that being said, let’s focus on the people and programs that have been essential to making the Black College Football experience what it is today. In a month or so, band camps and Pre-Drill sessions will spark up from Pennsylvania to Texas, Washington, D.C. to Baton Rouge, and from Ohio to Alabama.
A brand new crop of bright, enthusiastic young men & women will walk into bandrooms all across the country ready to put in hard work; Hard work necessary to bring one of the greatest spectacles on turf to a football stadium near you this fall. Combat Boots, Mean Mugs, 4 a.m. practices, and late night music sectionals are all part of the season of renewal that is HBCU football in the fall. Above all else, it’s a renewal of what makes the HBCU environment, in general, special. Until that time comes, here’s a glimpse inside of the preparation process of one of the best band programs in the country, the Jackson State University “Sonic Boom of the South” Marching Band. Enjoy!