If you are an aficionado of Black “coming of age” comedies and commentaries that embed Black culture of the late 1980s and early 1990s, then you can appreciate my reference to Spike Lee’s 1988 film School Daze and NBC’s TV sitcom A Different World (1987-1993). Both were firsts (on the small and big screens) to dive into real, pervasive issues that persist in contemporary African descended communities in the U.S. while interweaving humor and poignant dialogue by its moxy characters on topics such as: racism, colorism, classism, sexism, A.I.D.S, brutality of the police state (via the U.S. or Apartheid South Africa), interracial dating and first generation college experiences.
The coming-of-age issues School Daze and A Different World also touched on, such as balancing studying (and striving for Black excellence) with college/fraternal life, political activism, complications and hilarity of dating, being homesick and learning to manage both time and money—were all real life and viable experiences that so many youth of this generation couldn’t wait to partake in—including myself! In fact, the rates of African descended youth applying to and attending four-year colleges and particularly HBCUs (historically Black colleges/universities) more than doubled during this same seven-year period. And I would, of course, be remiss if I didn’t mention an important social highlight depicted in the movie School Daze—the PARTAAAYS [parties]. Let’s just say I couldn’t wait to dance my two-step at a college-sponsored “Pajama Jammy Jam” party with The Jamaica Boys, Miller the Thriller and E.U/Experience Unlimited’s hit single “Da’ Butt” playing on the dance floor!
Like so many others, I, too, went off to college in the 1990s excited with these depictions in my heart and mind. And while I ultimately attended a PWI (predominantly white institution)—a stark contrast to my beloved sitcom characters that attended the fictional HBCU Hillman College—I contended with the same types of issues they did but against a very different campus climate and culture. Still, equally important to my college experience were the relationships I developed. I am blessed to have built a strong community of friends with other School Daze and A Different World-inspired African descended students from all over the U.S. and the world, with many of whom our relationships have endured the test of time (almost 25 years and counting!).
Yet, every May I am hit with a tinge of nostalgia of my own School Daze and creation of A Different World. Perhaps it is because this time of year we often feel a certain type of energy—anxiety and excitement—in the air. Whether you went to college, are making plans to attend an upcoming reunion weekend, looking forward to going to college in the fall, know of someone graduating from college, live in an area where there are colleges, or even work at one, this is usually the time of year when we are all impacted by the “end-of-year” school events and the promise of new beginnings.
But with this excitement, there’s also stress about what to expect before, during and after college, including how to pay for it—or even to how get in to a program of our choice! With the fallout from the most recent college admissions scandal (also know as “Operation Varsity Blues”), where affluent (and mostly white and Asian American) families paid as much as $6.5M to fraudulently inflate exam scores and bribe college admission officials to admit their children, getting in and attending a college or a university today seems more complicated than it was for me back in the day or what it will be like for my children as they look to apply in the next couple of years.
In an upcoming Tuesdays Tea: A Podcast episode, my cohost and I dig a bit deeper on our shared nostalgia of School Daze. We discuss our college experience and what it was like to attend a PWI and a HBCU. We elaborate on our decisions to go to college in the U.S., the process itself, our family’s engagement in the process, why going to college was important to us as African descendants and our thoughts on the college experience today, given the recent college admissions scandal and its impact on people’s understanding of affirmative action in higher education admissions.
It’s reunion time; what’s your nostalgia of School Daze?