Carrying forward my family’s HBCU legacy with four years of Black Girl Magic
In our freshman year, we were required to take a class called “African Diaspora and the World,” focusing on the history and contributions of Africans and people of African descent above and beyond what we’d read about in our high school textbooks. For many of us, it was the first time we felt comfortable enough to openly discuss race, or to speak on uncomfortable topics without hesitation and judgment. We could be ourselves unapologetically in an environment specifically for us as women of African descent.
The following years, cultivated academic experiences honed our skills and encouraged our professional goals. We built relationships with our professors that would reaffirm our value and worth, while challenging us at every step to prepare for the expectations (or lack thereof) placed on us outside of the campus gate. My Spelman sisters and I made lifelong friendships with students from Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University, and other colleges in the Atlanta University Center Consortium, which is the largest adjacent consortium of African-Americans in higher education in the U.S.
Spelman helped us develop leadership skills and a passion to serve. We came to understand our responsibility to speak out for those without our platforms, whether through volunteering for local nonprofits or supporting grassroots advocacy. Friends of mine educated fellow students about reproductive rights, established new programs, advocated criminal justice reform, and challenged the portrayal of women of color in mainstream media.
In essence, I was able to take for granted witnessing Black Girl Magic first hand, long before it became a hashtag.
Spelman helped me find my own voice: I became a campus writing tutor and a newspaper editor. I faced my fear of public speaking by leading presentations at Spelman for a nonprofit that promoted financial literacy to Atlanta-area college students. By the time we walked across the commencement stage and received our degrees, we knew that we weren’t those same young women from orientation. We were Spelman women, committed to changing the world and bettering our communities.
When I look back on my time at Spelman, I see how much those four years shaped my adult life, and they continue to impact me every day. It was a place where I saw the best of myself and what I could become. Spelman instilled a sense of purpose and confidence in me and so many of my sisters. And those years influenced my mission to give back through my career in health care and my community engagement.
It’s the reason why so many HBCU graduates like me go back for homecoming and fully intend to encourage future generations to attend HBCUs. Far beyond the tailgating, social media posts, and step shows — we are literally going back home. Although I was fortunate to be part of an HBCU legacy before I stepped on campus, I graduated with an extended family far beyond my wildest dreams.
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A Philadelphia native, Deanna Jenkins graduated magna cum laude from Spelman College with a B.A. in history and earned her M.S. in health systems administration from Georgetown University. She currently works as a business process analyst at AmeriHealth Caritas. In addition to her work in healthcare management experience, she serves on boards and committees for several non-profits, including the Philadelphia chapter of New Leaders Council, The Junior League of Philadelphia, Mental Health Partnerships, and SeniorLAW Center.
