By Cheryl Smith
It was a hot Saturday afternoon at the Choctaw Stadium for the Arlington Football Classic and there were plenty of seats available as the Southern University Jaguars faced the Texas Southern University Tigers.
We knew who was going to win the contest for having the most fans in attendance. Of course, Southern University is ALWAYS strong and this year TSU did have a stronger showing than the previous two contests.
But one thing you can say about Southern University, with a winning or losing season; the support is going to be there and the fans are going to have a good time. The Tigers won the game, never letting up as they coasted to a 24-0 victory over the Jaguars.
People will debate for days to come which band took the halftime Battle of the Bands honors and I’ll just say there’s no halftime like an HBCU halftime.
Which brings me to my truth.
As I walked around the stadium, other than the two competing schools I saw a North Carolina A&T State University shirt and someone from Xavier and Dillard Universities; but I needed to see more.
I didn’t have on a Florida A&M University (FAMU) shirt but I was wearing a Beta Alpha-Delta Sigma Theta Sorority face mask and EVERYONE knows that the BADST is FAMU!
What I needed to see was an abundance of HBCU shirts at the game, though.
Why?
Because in one weeks Grambling State and Prairie View A&M will be playing at the Dallas Cotton Bowl and alums, students and everyone affiliated will be wanting folks to purchase tickets.
And if any other schools happen to be fortunate enough to have a game played in this area, their alums, students, etc., will want folks to show up and fill every seat.
I don’t blame them and I’d like to see every seat filled also.
But guess what?
If FAMU ever shows up on a field in the D/FW Metroplex, you best believe that I won’t be sounding like a hypocrite when I challenge my friends to support the game because I have supported every HBCU that has played in this market for the past 40 years.
So the truth is I have been what I am asking others to be and do.
Support our HBCUs.
Be to others what you’d like them to be to you.
Pull out the calendar, plan early and show some love for these schools. These teams and bands are traveling, some great distances, to put on a show, to entertain, and yes, to recruit for some fine institutions.
And if you can’t come, heck, make it so someone else can enjoy the experience.
Judge Valencia Nash went to law school at TSU’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law.
She attended the game along with her twin daughters (who want to go to FAMU), and her sister. She also purchased tickets and donated them to some folks who were more than grateful.
Then there was TX State Sen. Royce West and his wife, Carol (a Dillard University alum) who are always supporting HBCU games and encouraging others to do so.
Actually I don’t know a game that the senator does not attend!
And Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price is quick to purchase tickets for others to attend the games.
When you think about it, all elected officials, on the ballot or not, should have been out at the game or had some type of presence especially as we move closer to that oh so important midterm election. There should have been Get Out the Vote messages played constantly on the Jumbotron and folks should have been out there in potential voters’ faces.
True everyone was not from this area but the message of how important voting is needed to be spread to everyone because wherever they came from, it’s a battle ground for what is right and best for this country; thus the world.
Now we’re on to the next contest but the battle is never ending.
Don’t be one of those people who never helps others but screams bloody murder when they need help.
