For HBCUs, the bands are about much more than the show to the Black community: 'This is family'

It’s almost 10 p.m. and still a sweltering, sticky 95 degrees when Texas Southern’s Ocean of Soul band marches onto the top of a parking garage a stone’s throw from downtown Houston.

The glittering skyline is close enough to provide some illumination to the dimly lit structure. It reveals beads of sweat dripping off many faces as the students near the end of a 10-hour rehearsal day. One of the three drum majors, Dominique Conner, speeds through his bandmates, handing out kudos when earned and criticism when needed.

Band director Brian Simmons climbs to the top of a nearby ladder and lifts a bullhorn.

“Everything you do matters,” he barks.

Just why more than 100 student musicians are honing their routines on a giant slab of concrete in the brutal August heat of a Houston summer is a microcosm, in many ways, of life at a historically Black college or university like Texas Southern. They are here because it’s the best available option at a school where resources are rarely plentiful. They are here because they need the practice for a showcase against seven other HBCU marching bands that is coming up fast.

https://apnews.com/article/hbcu-bands-culture-33ac33f006b67ad1713a07843ad6172a

I really didn't know where to put this, but these kids ARE students, repping HBCUS, so...! And a treat to watch besides.