MLKFS HBCU TOUR 2026

On Saturday, March 14th, our young men attended the Young Men’s Leadership Conference in Boston. This conference was hosted by the Greater Boston Morehouse College Alumni Association (GBMCAA) where young men were able to connect with mentors and ignite potential to shape their futures. During the workshops, they enjoyed great presentations and shared innovative business ideas. They also connected with the President of the Morehouse Boston Alumni Chapter.

Last Saturday, we hosted our February workshop at Springfield College. Our scholars took a tour of the school and learned valuable information from the admissions team. Scholars also engaged in our discussion about mental health especially when you are away at college and from home. We are exactly 43 days away from a great experience.

Ray Charles (born September 23, 1930, Albany, Georgia, U.S.—died June 10, 2004, Beverly Hills, California) was an American pianist, singer, composer, and bandleader, a leading entertainer billed as “the Genius.” Charles was credited with the early development of soul music, a style based on a melding of gospel, rhythm and blues, and jazz music. When Charles was an infant his family moved to Greenville, Florida, and he began his musical career at age five on a piano in a neighborhood café. He began to go blind at six, possibly from glaucoma, and had completely lost his sight by age seven. He attended the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine, where he concentrated on musical studies, but left school at age 15 to play the piano professionally after his mother died from cancer (his father had died when the boy was 10). Charles built a remarkable career based on the immediacy of emotion in his performances. After emerging as a bluesand jazz pianist indebted to Nat King Cole’s style in the late 1940s, Charles recorded the boogie-woogie classic “Mess Around” and the novelty song “It Should’ve Been Me” in 1952–53. His arrangement for Guitar Slim’s “The Things That I Used to Do” became a blues million-seller in 1953. By 1954 Charles had created a successful combination of blues and gospel influences and signed on with Atlantic Records. Propelled by Charles’s distinctive raspy voice, “I’ve Got a Woman” and “Hallelujah I Love You So” became hit records. “What’d I Say” led the R&B sales charts in 1959 and was Charles’s own first million-seller.

Sidney Poitier (1927–2022) was a trailblazing Bahamian-American actor, director, and diplomat who became the first Black person to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for Lilies of the Field(1963). Rising from humble beginnings in the Bahamas to become a Hollywood icon, he broke racial barriers in the 1950s and 60s, starring in landmark films like Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and In the Heat of the Night. Born on February 20, 1927, in Miami, Florida, while his Bahamian parents were visiting; he was raised in the Bahamas. • He grew up in poverty, the youngest of seven children. At age 16, he moved to Miami and later to New York City to pursue acting, overcoming challenges with reading and speaking. Started with the American Negro Theatre, making his Broadway debut in 1946. Appeared in No Way Out (1950), playing a doctor, a role that set the stage for his dignified character choices. Starred in The Defiant Ones(1958, first Black male nominee for Best Actor), A Raisin in the Sun (1961), and a banner year in 1967 with Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night, and To Sir, with Love. Poitier was known for refusing roles that relied on racial stereotypes, choosing instead to portray characters with, as he described it, "some measure of dignity".

Jackie Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was a trailblazing American baseball player who broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier on April 15, 1947, with the Brooklyn Dodgers. A phenomenal four-sport athlete at UCLA, he defied intense segregation and racial abuse to become a Rookie of the Year, MVP, and Hall of Famer, using nonviolence to dismantle professional sports segregation. Born in Cairo, Georgia, to a sharecropper family, he was the youngest of five children. Attended Pasadena Junior College before transferring to UCLA, where he became the school's first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track. Drafted into the Army during WWII, he was an officer in a segregated unit. He was court-martialed for refusing to sit in the back of a segregated bus, but was later acquitted and honorably discharged. Played for the Kansas City Monarchs in 1945 before being scouted by Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947, becoming the first Black player in the modern MLB era. In 10 seasons, he was a six-time All-Star, won the 1947 Rookie of the Year, and was the first Black player to win the NL MVP (1949). Helped the Dodgers win the 1955 World Series. His #42 jersey is retired across all MLB teams. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. After retiring in 1956, he became an active civil rights advocate and businessman. He passed away in 1972 at age 52 from heart problems aggravated by diabetes.

Yesterday, our attendants for the 2026 HBCU Tour prepared for our signature “Business Casual Day” while we visit campuses. The young ladies were styled by Dress for Success Western Massachusetts and the young men were styled by Suit Up Springfield. Later, some received video and photo training to capture our furture travels with Focus Springfield Community TVV.

Deadline for all applications is approaching. Secure your spot today!!!

Misty Copeland (born September 10, 1982) is a historic American ballet dancer who became the first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) in 2015, a position she held until her retirement in 2025. Known for breaking barriers, she began ballet at the late age of 13, rapidly rising to stardom despite a turbulent, underprivileged childhood. Raised in San Pedro, California, she started dancing on her school drill team before beginning formal ballet training at age 13. Despite this late start, she became a prodigy, winning the Music Center Spotlight Award at 15. She joined the American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company in 2000, became a member of the corps de ballet in 2001, and was promoted to soloist in 2007, becoming the first African American female soloist in two decades. On June 30, 2015, she was promoted to principal dancer, the first Black woman to hold that title in the company's 75-year history.