Laz Alonso Speaks on Howard University and Black Women Are Changing the Narrative of Black Hollywood

HBCUs have a long history of producing some of our favorite faces in entertainment, politics, music, entrepreneurship and more. Howard University or “The Mecca” as it’s called, is specifically responsible for birthing a plethora of our favorite TV Stars including our May/June 2020 magazine cover star, Laz Alonso. We have had the pleasure of seeing him grace our television screens for the past two decades. While working at a marketing agency by day, and looking for a creative release on the weekends, he was able to dig into and realize his passion for acting. The Washington D.C. native spoke to us about his HBCU experience and Hollywood career span.

When asked about the significance of HBCUs

“The reason why I love HBCUs so much and I think is extremely important for African Americans to attend HBCUs is because for these four years, you are building yourself up. You have plenty of time in life where the world will try and tear you down one way or the other, but during four years at an HBCU, you are not black. You are a human being. The blackness that you experience is a pride in your culture. It’s not a culture that teaches you slavery as African American history. It teaches you who we were before slavery. It also teaches you that in spite of slavery, we have overcome every step of the way and continue to do so. It puts you in contact with some of the top African Americans in your field. “

“For the first time in my life, I felt completely accepted for who I was. It was tremendously empowering to spend four years of my young adulthood, where I was discovering who I was as a man in an environment where all it did was build me up and not try to tear me down”

On the relevance of HBCUs today

“Regardless of how generations change, the relevance of HBCUs stays the same”

Listen to our Full Audio Interview of Laz Alonso below

Interviewed by Adrena Martin

READ the full May/June 2020 issue herehbcusince.com/magazine