CANTON, Ohio – To understand the significance of historically black colleges and universities, you have to go back more than 150 years - not to educational institutions, but to churches.

It was a time when laws restricted Black Americans from reading and writing, thereby preventing white-collar pursuits.

“HBCUs were born out of churches when Black folks could not go to colleges. So to disguise the college, what was happening is in the basement of those, the churches were schools. So that’s how HBCUs were born,” said Kevin Clayton, executive vice president, chief impact and equity officer for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Rock Entertainment Group.

“We weren’t allowed to go to state schools. So that’s why there’s more pride, because it’s a history. History of connecting, like a freedom out

See Full Page