𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 • 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠

𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞

"WOW." Jordan sighed in astonishment as they walked through the gate. "I bet Princeton isn't doing all this for their homecoming." Jordan said as he, Spencer, Olivia, Simone, Teddy and Nadia all stepped onto the Bringston University campus.

"Princeton who?" Nadia asked sarcastically.

"Exactly." Spencer started. "Look, if they too wack to accept you, forget them." He said, looking over at the shorter girl at his side, causing her to sigh.

"Look, guys. I thought the whole point of this trip was to help cheer me up and take my mind off that school." Simone said sadly, looking at her friends.

"Well, yeah, and to scope the HBCU experience." Teddy said with slight nod.

"You, Liv and Nadia are the only ones with HBCU's on your list, Teddy." Jordan said. Teddy just glanced at him, since things were still a bit awkward between them. This was the first time one of them has even attempted to initiate conversation like this.

"Well, at least she has a list." Simone cut in with a sigh. " I ain't got nada." She mumbled.

"All right. Ok. Stop the college talk, all right?" Jordan asked his girlfriend sternly. "This weekend is about visiting your aunt and having some G.A.F!" He told her, raising his voice at the end so the others could hear him. "Grown Ass Fun. Come on, guys." He said.

"Would you quit it, already. That's shits lame, Jordan." Nadia said before laughing at the boy along with Teddy, causing him to look over and playfully glare at them.

Before their conversation could advance, Spencer looked around the corner of a sponsor booth to see where the music was coming from. "Hold up, hold up. Is that really Cordae on the stage?" He asked.

"Yeah, I heard some big names were gonna be here today. The whole Montgomery family is gonna be here since their youngest is entering college." Nadia told them, causing their mouths to drop and look over at the girl.

"Are you serious?" Simone asked her.

"As in, retired MLB Montgomery? The Jameson Montgomery? Or retired NFL star Matthew Montgomery?" Jordan asked the girl excitedly. His naming caused Simone to chime in with excitement as well. "Or Ms.Bringston herself, Lorianne Lewis-Montgomery?"

Nadia looked at the weirdly, chuckling at their reaction. "Yeah, they're all gonna be here. Her brother posted about it." She said, which caused them to now look at her suspiciously. Nadia turned her lips up at her, raising one of her eyebrows.

"What? Y'all know I would never do that to Darnell. And he would never even think about doing that to me. That's my husband." Nadia defended herself as she waved them off. Teddy let out a small scoff, looking the girl up and down with a smile. "Plus, they're family friends, Soraya's cool people." She shrugged before continuing to walk away from them. Teddy's face dropped at that, watching the girl. "Wait, seriously? Do you think you could introduce me?" She asked as she strolled after the girl. They were the only two that didn't have a bag to haul around since they decided to room together in a local five star hotel.

Jordan watched as Teddy ran after Nadia, excitedly throwing herself on the girl as they walked cuter. She shook his head with a small laugh.

"All right, yall." Simone said with a happy smirk. "Welcome to Bringston University. It's time to turn up."

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"It's just like in any other space. As Black journalists, you will be held to a higher standard.  There's a merger, unrealistic burden on Black journalists." The teacher spoke to her class as Simone and her friends quietly walked into class. "And if you take someone like me, who lies in the intersection of journalism and activism, that burden is even greater." She spoke.