Chicago Insight August 9th 2026

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This morning, we'll talk to one such individual, Homer Bryant
of the Chicago Multicultural Dance Center, which is producing the
next generation of black dance professionals. Historically, black institutions or

(00:29):
HBCUs have done an extraordinary job of educating millions of
black Americans for decades despite overwhelming obstacles. Foremost, there's a
lack of proportionate funding in comparison to predominantly white institutions.
This morning, we'll talk to Dr. Glenda Glover, former president
of Tennessee State University, who wrote a book called How

(00:51):
Dare You? An HBCU's President's Fight for a Half a
Billion Dollars Ode. and the state's action to avoid payment,
which details the hundreds of millions of dollars in education
funding that is owed to TSU and other HBCUs. So
there is a lot to discuss this morning, and we
begin with the Chicago dance treasure known as Homer Bryant.

(01:14):
Chicago is a world-class city, not just for its architecture, art, sports, commerce,
and politicians, but also the individuals who make up the
fabric that is the Windy City. Joining me this morning,
is a true Chicago treasure who has enriched the city's
already formidable dance scene for decades. Here's our intern with
Northwestern University, Evan Blake, with more.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Evan Blake reporting for Chicago Speaks and Chicago Insight. Dance
has long been a tool for expression, but in the
right hands, it becomes a tool for opportunity. A Chicago
Dance Center is training the next generation of Black dancers,
creating pre-professional pathways designed around each student's potential. This is
Evan Blake reporting.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
Thanks, Evan. And joining us this morning is Homer Bryant,
founder of the Chicago Multicultural Dance Center and creator of
the international dance sensation known as Hip Lay, which has
been viewed by the world on America's Got Talent. Homer,
always a pleasure to talk to you, my friend. How
are you doing, sir?

Speaker 3 (02:13):
Good morning, my friend, and thank you for having me.
All is well on this end. How about yourself?

Speaker 1 (02:17):
I am doing well and even better now that I'm
talking to you because we have to give people their
flowers while they can still smell them. And you are
truly a treasure, my friend. And I have to, by
way of personal disclosure, say that we have a relationship
that goes back professionally and personally for decades. In fact,

(02:38):
when I first arrived in Chicago back in the late 80s,
I had a young daughter who was seven, eight years
old at the time. And And we wanted to give
her as much exposure to the Chicago cultural scene. And
we heard about this wonderful little studio that existed right

(02:59):
off Plymouth Court there and near Printers Row. And everybody
was talking about, yeah, you got to put your daughter in.
Bryant Ballet. Bryant Ballet. So take us back in terms
of how Bryant Ballet got started. But even before that,
How did you, as this international sensation in terms of dance,

(03:23):
get exposed to this career that you love so dearly
back in St. Thomas of the Virgin Islands?

Speaker 3 (03:31):
Back in St. Thomas, I was always running around watching
Black and White TV because that's all we had. Looking
at Fred Astaire and Sammy Davis Jr., Ginger Rogers dancing,
and I would jump in on my mama's furniture, knocking
things down. And she realized I really did have a talent.
My buddy and I would pass by a ballet school
and watch the kids in the window. They were all

(03:52):
like really good. And I said, maybe, maybe I should
be doing that. And after the teacher said the third time,
you keep watching in the window, I'm gonna call the police.
I said, I really wanna dance. So she arranged for
me to have the scholarship. Years later, she arranged again
for me to come from St. Thomas to go to
Jacob's Pillow in New York. This was 1968. Dr. King
was assassinated. Arthur Mitchell in 1969 decided to start the

(04:15):
Dance Theater of Harlem. Somebody said, Arthur Mitchell is starting
a company. You need to go to Harlem. Luckily, I
was living with my cousins in Brooklyn, New York. Went
up to Harlem, met Mr. Mitchell, and the rest is history.
I danced with Dance Theater of Harlem and traveled the world.
I am standing on the shoulders of Arthur Mitchell and
Carl Schultz and Jeffrey Holden and Carmen de la Valla

(04:36):
and Lois Johnson and all these great African-American people that really...
He decided that dance was for everyone. As a Black person,
we can do anything.

Speaker 1 (04:46):
And you can because the wonderful thing about Mitchell is
that he broke down so many barriers in terms of
saying that Black men and women can perform at the
same level as their white counterparts in this very rigidly
structured classical ballet.

Speaker 3 (05:06):
Mr. Mitchell had a way of putting the technique on
the different body types. Dance was for everyone back then.
It still is, more so now than ever. He had
this chemistry and this really gift of putting classical ballet
on black bodies. I was very fortunate.

Speaker 1 (05:24):
People cannot see this man, all right? I'm not going
to disclose his age and stuff like that, but Homer
is ageless. I'm being realistic. Fortunately, I'm slim, you're slim.
And you have the same body, man. When I look
at those pictures, those black and white pictures of you
in performance, man, I'm like, you look like you could
still go out there and do some plies and all

(05:47):
the arabesque and all the rest of the moves associated
with classical dance.

Speaker 3 (05:52):
And I do because I teach every day. But your
body becomes your instrument. And if you don't care, it
is the house that you live in. If you don't
take care of it, where are you going to live?
So I watch what I eat. I watch what I drink.
And I try to encourage the kids to do the
same thing. I'm always drinking chlorophyll and wheatgrass. That's what
I like to do.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
It's like what you like to do. But so let's
continue this look in terms of your timeline. When were
you hit by the bug in terms of instruction? Of course,
with Arthur Mitchell, but then also migrating to Chicago.

Speaker 3 (06:26):
But here's the thing. I left Dancer of Harlem to
do the Wiz movie with Michael Jackson and Diana Ross.
I still get residual. This was back in 78, okay?
And after that, I joined Eartha Kitt in Timbuktu on Broadway.
Isn't that amazing? Yes, I remember Timbuktu.

Speaker 1 (06:42):
Traveled around the country.

Speaker 3 (06:44):
Ended up at the Pantages Theater in L.A. And then
from there, I came this towards Chicago with a show
called Evolution of the Blues. It was in the theater
around at the Jewelry Lane. Donald McHale was the choreographer.
One thing led to another. I ended up joining Maria
Tolchie here in Chicago at the Chicago City Ballet.

Speaker 4 (07:03):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (07:03):
I danced with them for many years. And when that
company folded, Ms. Tolchie said, I know you're going to
have a school one day. Take the mirrors, take the bar,
take the Marley floor. That's what I did. And we
came over here to 47 West Polk in Printers Row.
We've been here for 38 years, just about.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
I remember that in terms of going into the studio.
And seeing, you know, all of these young girls and
then you opened it up to a few boys. But,
you know, that's just the way ballet is. You know,
girls are much more attracted to doing it. But it
was just an extraordinary experience to go back all of
these years. And I had the wonderful opportunity to document

(07:44):
some of that. And and we'll talk about that later.
But I want to bring Evan into the conversation because
she also in terms of her family. has a personal
connection to you and also her love of dance.

Speaker 5 (07:57):
Evan.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yes.

Speaker 5 (07:58):
Uh, so I know that it's really important for you
to have a pre-professional program, um, for your students at
the school. And I was also put into a pre-professional
dance program, um, when I started. So why should people know,
why is it important to have these pre-professional programs for
young black dancers, um, within their training?

Speaker 3 (08:21):
They have to know how really how it is. They
have to know how difficult or how rewarding and how
intense it is in a professional environment. So you put
them in a pre-professional environment like we do here now.
We have like tour prep, work with an artist prep.
One of my hip-hop ballerinas tours with Missy Elliott. She

(08:42):
comes back and she gives back. One of my guys
that performed with Lady Gaga, he comes back and he
gives back. And he says, this is how it is
to be on tour. This is important. If you're really
going to arrive to that professional status, there are certain rules.
There are certain things you have to remember to do
or certain things that you don't do. Focus and concentration.

(09:03):
I tell the kids, we are our ancestors' wildest dreams.
We are our ancestors' wildest dreams. Imagine your ancestors never
think that you could be doing this at this time
in your life. So being African-American and doing what we're
doing is absolutely amazing. And these kids have to realize
that in this professional environment, here is your pre-professional track

(09:27):
that's going to get you to the next level. That's
what it's all about.

Speaker 1 (09:31):
Homer, take us in terms of a progression from how
did it change from Bryant Ballet to the Chicago Multicultural
Dance Center?

Speaker 3 (09:40):
I changed it from the Bryant Ballet to the Chicago
Multicultural Dance Center because I had so much diversity coming in.

Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (09:49):
Black kids, white kids, mixed kids, you know, it was
absolutely unbelievable. So, and then I had to change the
name and I got a plaque from Richard Daly, Mayor
Daly at that time, from Bryant Ballet now the Chicago
Multicultural Dance. Because the multiculturalism that was coming in through
the doors, reflected through the diversity of the children, was

(10:09):
absolutely amazing. To this day, it still is. And the
wonderful thing, too, is I have a lot of white
parents that have adopted black kids.

Speaker 6 (10:15):
Over the years.

Speaker 3 (10:16):
And they keep coming. They keep coming. They keep coming
because they said this child needs to know about the
culture and they need to learn it from a black person.
So we have mixed teachers here, mostly black, lots of females,
lots of strong males. But it's the multicultural thing that's
really important to me.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
And also passing on in terms of that father instinct
that is inside of you, passing on this to children.
through adulthood. And I say that because ballet is one
of those particular activities where you really have to train
a child at a young age.

Speaker 3 (10:50):
Absolutely. Daryl, you probably know, my daughter was born with
cerebral palsy. I remember. Alexandra never walked, talked, or crawled.
I would bring her into classes in her little wheelchair.
The music would go on, the kids would be dancing,
and you would see her little fingers moving all the time.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
I remember, man. You remember that? I remember filming you
and your daughter. Yes. On the floor, out of the wheelchair,
and you would just caress her and hold her, and
you could see it in her face that she was saying, yeah, Dad,
I love you.

Speaker 3 (11:20):
She was into it. She was into dancing and movement
through her little fingers. So I would tell the kids,
don't ever tell me anything hurts. You've got to say
it's slightly uncomfortable because life will be slightly uncomfortable. That
was my therapy. So I am giving back to all
these kids with all this physical ability and all this movement.
And every time I train one of them or look

(11:40):
at one of them, I see the potential that my
daughter would have arrived to. And they must tell me
it doesn't hurt. It's slightly uncomfortable because life will be
slightly uncomfortable. So they are on this journey and you
never know where it's going to end up. But through
the discipline of dance, through the focus and the concentration
and being intentional about what you're going to do, you'll

(12:01):
get there.

Speaker 1 (12:02):
Dance is tough. It's like football in a sense. You
have to really get down to the nitty gritty and
go inside and develop an inner strength as well as
an outer strength.

Speaker 3 (12:15):
And I tell the kids, some kids say, well, I
don't want to do this anymore. I say, well, fine.
You go to football, it's going to be the same discipline.
You go to basketball, the coaches are going to be
just as tough as I am because they're trying to
get you to be the best that you can be.
And I always tell them, OK, be better than yourself.
Who's your favorite artist? Oh, I like Beyonce. I like so-and-so. Well,

(12:36):
when you're in class, pretend you're that person because they're
better than you in their head, you know?

Speaker 1 (12:41):
Indeed. Evan, I know you have another question.

Speaker 3 (12:44):
Yes.

Speaker 5 (12:45):
I was wondering, since we do have that connection with St.
Thomas and the Virgin Islands, what's one thing that you
like to bring as a reminder back from home into
your everyday life or here in Chicago or in your teaching,
how you dance?

Speaker 3 (13:01):
I am a product of my grandfather, so that never leaves.
I always say, what would Grandpa do? Oh, I always say,
what would Mr. Mitchell do? My grandfather was a carpenter
in St. Thomas, so he would do a lot of
stuff with his hands. I have a creation of point-shoe-shaped
earrings and bracelets and necklaces that I've done. I'm trying
to get to market right now. That's my grandfather in me.

(13:24):
When it comes to choreography and teaching and doing stuff,
as far as the dancers go, that's the Arthur Mitchell
in me. So I build and put the bars up
and I put the dance floor down. That's my grandfather.
When I'm choreographing and teaching ballet, that's Arthur Mitchell. When
I get mad at the kids, my West Indian comes out.
So St. Thomas is always with me. We went down

(13:45):
to St. Croix for the centennial. Oh, really? Yes, and
we performed at St.

Speaker 4 (13:52):
Croix.

Speaker 3 (13:52):
We were there for a week. We had such a
wonderful time. I'm in touch with a lady named Carol
Burke right now. We're trying to get back there, you know.
We went to St.

Speaker 1 (14:00):
Thomas.

Speaker 3 (14:01):
We've been to St. Thomas doing hip plays several times, actually.
Before the two hurricanes passed through, you know, the Reichel
Center is a mess right now, but yeah.

Speaker 1 (14:11):
So let's speak specifically of hip play and what was
the inspiration because It became an international sensation and doing
part to the company's exposure on America's Got Talent.

Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yes, but you know, back in the day, I remember
I had the rap ballet.

Speaker 1 (14:30):
That's right, I remember that.

Speaker 3 (14:31):
Yes, through Urban Gatesways doing the rap ballet. And then,
don't forget, rap changed to hip-hop. So this idea came
to me. Since rap changed to hip-hop, I cannot go
around saying I'm the guru of the rap ballet anymore.
So I thought it's ballet, hip-hop, hip-lay. So smartly enough,
we went out and we got a trademark on the
word Hipple. I don't know if you remember Jada Russell.

(14:55):
She was a PR lady back then. She's since passed away.
But she took us to Germany. We did a Mercedes-Benz
commercial in Stuttgart in the Mercedes-Benz Museum. We went to
Paris Fashion Week. We went to LA Fashion Week, New
York Fashion Week. She said, this is about to blow.
Next thing you know, we went to Good Morning America.
And then America's Got Talent. You know. And Simon didn't

(15:18):
like us, but we got to the next round and
then COVID hit. But then we were doing lots of
performances and some commercials now. There's a ton of stuff
we're trying to get back to. We're looking for sponsors.
We're looking for investors. I mean, the school is 38
years old, just about. We're still here in the basement
of the Dearborn Street Station. But we're changing lives. Through

(15:40):
the discipline of dance, we are changing lives. And I
tell people all the time, we're not only creating good
dancers or great dancers, All around, we're creating better human beings.
The wonderful thing, the ultimate teen takeover is to see 30,
40 kids in the dance class down in this station,
in the basement. That is the ultimate teen takeover.

Speaker 1 (16:01):
It truly is. So what can our listeners do, not
only to, of course, hopefully bring their children there, but
to support the effort? What's the best way for them
to find out more information?

Speaker 3 (16:13):
If you don't have kids, invest in a kid. It
takes about $ 6, 000 a year. So our kids will go
through the program all year round. Invest in a car.
Sponsor a kid. Sponsor two, three kids. I'd love for
some corporation to come in and say, you know what?
We're going to sponsor 25 of your kids. Let's put
them on a full scholarship. Because right now sometimes kids

(16:33):
come here for free because I'm like, okay, I'm not
going to take a salary this month, this month. Let
this kid go through some dance classes. And then they
end up loving it and staying, and the parents can't
afford it. So we have a lot of kids here
sometimes that say, okay, What are we going to do?
If I'm teaching the kids, then I don't need to
be collecting money for classes. You know, I'm a salary.
I'm the one that's teaching the kids. But we have
some incredible teachers here in every discipline. Afro beats, classical ballet,

(16:58):
hip hop, Latin, jazz, you know, hip hop, hip lane.
And what are the ages? We start kids at three.
As a matter of fact, this is the last week
of our summer program. And then we start back Saturday,
September 12th. We have four students here in the basement.
At 9 o'clock on a Saturday morning, you've got the

(17:18):
3- and 4-year-olds in one studio, the 5- and 6-year-olds
in another, and then it goes on and on and
on until 5 o'clock in the afternoon. The younger the kids,
the earlier they come. The older the kids, the later
they come.

Speaker 1 (17:28):
We go back generations because my granddaughter, in terms of Milo,
she went through the program in addition to Autumn.

Speaker 3 (17:37):
Milo, I remember her. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (17:40):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (17:41):
And so what more can we expect in terms of
matter of fact, even before that?

Speaker 2 (17:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (17:47):
What more can we expect from the Chicago Multicultural Dance Center?

Speaker 3 (17:51):
You know what? We would like to get out of
this basement and have our own home. We really would.
And I would like to stay relatively downtown because that's
what you have to bring kids out of their environment.
and let them experience something that's new and professional. The
Joffrey Ballet is down the street. You know what I'm saying?
Kids come from all over to that. Yeah, but they
have the money, they have the influence, they have the connection.

(18:14):
I would like to grow my board of directors, get
things better here, find a new way, be able to
pay my teachers more, be able to pay my executive director, period.
It's very challenging being an African-American-owned organization. And trust me,
the equity and diversity thing from this administration has cost
us a lot of money. We're not getting the grants

(18:37):
that we used to. You know, everybody's feeling this pressure
and this pain, this crush. So, yeah. Any way that
people can help out, they would be grateful.

Speaker 1 (18:47):
And what is the best website to go to? What
is the website to go to for more information and information?
C-M-D-C school.org.

Speaker 3 (18:54):
W-W-W dot C-M-D-C school.org. And you can also go to
the Hippley ballerinas.com and donate. And we have to do that.
And then, you know, we need to hire some new
African-American Hippley ballerinas. That's not easy because the establishment out there,
there's still people that turn their nose at what I'm
doing with these girls on point. You're a ballet purist.

(19:16):
Some of them don't like Hippley, but then people are
copying my stuff off from all over the world right now.

Speaker 1 (19:21):
And we need another Misty Copeland now that she's retired.

Speaker 3 (19:25):
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, we got to get.

Speaker 1 (19:27):
Some black men in there in terms of, even though
I know there are a number of them in terms
of doing extraordinary things, but to reach international status.

Speaker 3 (19:38):
But I'll tell you too, if there are black organizations
and corporations out there that are willing to help us
and sponsor us and be a part of what we're doing,
I invite them to come and give us a call.
You know, some corporation that can sponsor 50, 60 kids.
That would be wonderful.

Speaker 1 (19:56):
We definitely do. You have done an extraordinary job at
saving and also inspiring them to be the best that
they can be. We want to thank Homer Bryant as
well as Evan Blake for joining us this morning.

Speaker 3 (20:08):
Thank you so much. Remember, dance changes lives.

Speaker 1 (20:10):
Thank you. The facts supporting the effectiveness of historically black
colleges and universities or HBCUs are impressive and unquestionable. HBCUs
make up only 3% of American colleges, but they produce
25% of all bachelor degrees earned. by black students in science, technology, engineering,

(20:31):
and math fields known as STEM. They provide quality education
to low-income students, rolling nearly 70% of students who receive
federal Pell Grants. And the cost of education is 26%
lower than other four-year nonprofit colleges, and they do this
while maintaining the same educational standard. Yet despite these impressive facts,

(20:55):
many HBCUs struggle to keep their doors open because of
rising costs and lack of federal and local education funding.
My next guest is Dr. Glenda Glover. She is a
former president of Tennessee State University and author of the book,
How Dare You? An HBCU President's Fight for a Half
a Billion Dollars Owed and the State's Actions to Avoid Payment. Dr. Glover,

(21:20):
welcome to the program.

Speaker 3 (21:21):
Thank you.

Speaker 4 (21:22):
Thank you for inviting me.

Speaker 1 (21:24):
You are the first and only female president of Tennessee
State University. You held the position for a decade. What
was your motivation for writing the book, How Dare You?

Speaker 4 (21:35):
I wrote the book because I wanted the public to
know that There was another side to the story of
what's happened at Tennessee State.

Speaker 3 (21:46):
I want to.

Speaker 4 (21:47):
Ensure that the truth is a part of the public
record because I know the truth has no expiration date.
And I want a future generation to understand what happened
at TSU. and why it could not be swept under
the rug again, that the state of Tennessee for decades
avoided paying the underfunding of Tennessee State University, an amount

(22:07):
documented by the state to be over $ 544 million, half
a billion dollars. That number didn't come from Tennessee State.
It came from the legislative committee commissioned by the state itself.
And so that's what's so important about this book is
that the state itself determined how much was owed to TSU.
And it was shared by Reverend Harold Love. Special thanks

(22:30):
to him because his father raised the same issue back
in the 1970s. And so I wanted the public to
know that when confined with the truth, the state would
not respond with, let's get a payment plan. They had
a series of shifting narratives that were designed to justify
why they had not paid and why they're not paying
it now. So that's why the book was so important,

(22:52):
so the public could know what was actually happening with
the funding owed to TSU.

Speaker 1 (22:57):
Tell us how this particular story is outlined in the book.

Speaker 4 (23:01):
In the book, the way it's outlined, I go through
and let them know How we came about from being
a land-grant institution in 1890, it was called the 1890 Institution,
and then how we present the main character, who was
the comptroller himself, who commissioned several audits. In fact, the

(23:21):
audits became weaponized against Tennessee State University to keep from
paying the funding. That's how we interpret it. We have
that many audits. In a short period of time, artists
that came from nowhere, but no other institution had these artists.
We have six public institutions in one system. The University
of Tennessee, which has four institutions, four or five schools

(23:42):
itself in another system within the state of Tennessee, and
none of those had these same artists. It's just Tennessee
State University. So we went through it, and I outlined it,
how the committee came about. to determine how much was
owed to TSU. Then we had our stay in court,
and I went through all the audits, and how it
got to the point it was so many that I

(24:04):
created a term called malicious compliance, because audits are supposed
to be about compliance, but it got to the point
it was malicious. And then they did a forensic audit.
That's how the book is laid out, to go through
just what the state did to keep from paying TSU,
and the debt is still owed. That's where we are
with it.

Speaker 1 (24:23):
And what do you hope this particular book will inspire
its readers to do?

Speaker 4 (24:31):
To band together and demand the funding owed to TSU,
not just to TSU, but to HBCUs in general. The
federal study that was commissioned, I think about three years ago,
that study showed that there were 19 HBCUs, there are
19 HBCUs that are land-grant universities, and of those, There

(24:54):
were 16 that the study showed owed enormous sums of money.
Enormous sums. And of those 16, three were at the
top of the list with owing $ 2 billion. Tennessee State University,
North Carolina A & T University, and FAMU all owe

(25:14):
$ 2 billion by their respective states, which is unconscionable.

Speaker 1 (25:19):
And in many respects, this is legal reparations in terms
of this is money that was codified in the law.

Speaker 3 (25:27):
Absolutely.

Speaker 4 (25:28):
And that is why I covered a whole chapter on
the Morrill Act, so we can see how we got here,
how this came about. Because in 1958, TSU was designated.

Speaker 1 (25:38):
As a.

Speaker 4 (25:44):
As a land-grant institution. Because in 1862, when slavery was
about to end, and I think there was a realization
that we don't know what we're doing now. These slaves
have built this economy. We need to put together processes
to ensure that we can survive. Let's get together institutions,

(26:07):
make some land-grant institutions, grant them land and show they
can teach people how to do certain things. And we're
about to lose the biggest boost that we had in
our economy.

Speaker 3 (26:16):
That's the slaves.

Speaker 4 (26:18):
And then that happened in 1862. From there until 1890,
there were conversations because all the money and land went
to white institutions, and there were no black schools involved.
So in 1890, there were black schools that brought into it.
But the rule was you could not discriminate. The law

(26:39):
said you had to prohibit discrimination in any schools receiving
any federal funds. And you must provide equitable funding, no
discrimination and equitable funding. But I'll give you a way out.
If you refuse to integrate your land grant institutions, to
be fair about it, fair with quotation marks, you could

(27:01):
establish a separate institution of like character for black students.
So most of the schools, most of the states, if
not all, chose to establish a second institution and make
that land grant institution. That's how TSU became a land
grant because.

Speaker 1 (27:16):
This is 1890.

Speaker 4 (27:17):
When we were separate but equal was the law. As
you know, Placid v. Ferguson didn't come about until 1896.
So we're still under the separate but equal rules. So
that was the prevailing theory of the day.

Speaker 1 (27:31):
You know, they say that the devil is in the details,
and here you chronologically in very detailed fashion talk about
this process underfunding of these institutions that have done extraordinary things,
what do you hope will be the action that readers
of this book will partake in?

Speaker 4 (27:53):
I hope the readers of the book will understand the
plight of HBCUs when it comes to state funding. Most
of these are land grant, most states have underfunded the
land grant institution. The other HBCUs also deserve funding. To
Tennessee's credit, on the other hand, we do have an

(28:13):
HBCU officer who deals with funding HBCUs and helping HBCUs.
but on the other hand, the land-grant institutions across the
country are not receiving the funds they're owed. So you
have to band together and work through it as a
team because one school can't do it. TSU is going
to be the model for how we do things, but

(28:34):
it takes all the work. We've never gotten anything by
sitting back and hoping that things happen because hope is
not a strategy. And so having grown up in a
civil rights home, I understand at a very high level
what needs to be done. I understand the marches. I
understand what has to be done in the boardroom, what
has to be done outside the boardroom to get things
to happen. So I'm hoping that when people read the book,

(28:58):
they'll get excited and understand that we must fight for
what's fair for HBCUs.

Speaker 1 (29:03):
Well, that is Dr. Glenda Glover. Former president of Tennessee
State University and the author of the book, How Dare You?
An HBCU President's Fight for a Half Billion Dollars Owed
and the State's Actions to Avoid Payment. It is available
at all purchasing platforms.

Speaker 2 (29:21):
Dr.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
Glover, we thank you so much for joining us this morning.

Speaker 4 (29:25):
And thank you very much.

Speaker 1 (29:26):
Well, that wraps up this edition of Chicago Insight. In closing,
please take advantage of the useful information that we presented
to you today. I'm Daryl Denard. Always remember to use
informed insight in everything that you do. And above all,
please be sure to take care of the.

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