Seventy-one years ago, the Supreme
Court issued its ruling in Brown v. Board of
Education, declaring that separate
educational facilities are inherently
unequal. For generations of Black families,
Brown represented more than a legal
decision. It represented aspiration,
validation, and possibility. It affirmed a
simple but transformative principle: Black
children deserved access to the full promise
of American education.
That promise remains unfinished.
This year, Brown Day arrived during
a season of commencements and reflection. On
May 16, 2026, Bennett College celebrated its
centennial commencement, honoring one
hundred years of Black women pursuing
excellence against extraordinary odds. As
Bennett’s 15th president from 2007 to 2012,
I was especially honored to return for the
centennial celebration and witness another
generation of Black women stepping boldly
into their futures.
To stand on Bennett’s campus was to
witness the power of educational persistence
- generations of women who insisted on
learning, leadership, and achievement even
when the nation offered them unequal
schools, unequal resources, and unequal
expectations.
That history matters because we are
once again debating the meaning and purpose
of education in America.
We hear constant alarm about
declining test scores, learning loss,
teacher shortages, and struggling schools.
But too often these conversations avoid the
deeper question: who actually receives a
quality education in America, and who does
not?
Brown rested on a radical premise
for its time - that Black children deserved
the same educational investment as white
children. Not leftover resources. Not
overcrowded classrooms. Not crumbling
facilities. Not diminished expectations.
Equal opportunity.
Yet decades later, educational
inequality remains deeply embedded in
American life. School districts are still
shaped by segregated housing patterns and
unequal tax bases. Schools serving Black
students are more likely to experience
staffing shortages, aging facilities, fewer
advanced courses, and harsher disciplinary
systems.
And here lies the contradiction.
Many of the same political voices lamenting
declining educational outcomes are
simultaneously attacking the institutions
that help students learn. They denounce
falling test scores while censoring history,
restricting honest conversations about race,
undermining teachers, weakening diversity
initiatives, and reducing educational
resources for students who need them most.
The ongoing weakening of the Department of
Education sends a chilling message about
national priorities.
We cannot claim to value excellence
while starving the conditions that make
excellence possible.
Declining scores do not emerge in
isolation. Hunger affects learning. Housing
instability affects learning. Underfunded
schools affect learning. Poverty and
inequality affect learning. Educational
outcomes reflect the conditions under which
children live.
This is why HBCUs remain so
important. Institutions like Bennett
continue to nurture Black intellect,
cultivate leadership, and affirm Black
humanity, often while operating with fewer
resources than predominantly white
institutions. They remain places where
students are encouraged not simply to
survive, but to excel.
Many HBCU graduations also occur
near Mother’s Day, and that connection
should not be overlooked. Behind countless
graduates stands a mother or grandmother who
stretched limited resources, worked
exhausting hours, deferred her own dreams,
and insisted that education mattered. Black
educational achievement has always been
sustained not only by institutions, but also
by sacrifice.
Brown opened doors. America has yet
to decide whether it is truly committed to
what lies beyond them: equal opportunity,
equal investment, and equal possibility.
