Prairie View A&M University was featured in a special segment on Independent Lens following the premiere of “Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities” a film by Stanley Nelson and Marcos Williams. The documentary tells the story of the rise, influence, and evolution of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and highlights institutions from across the country who have nurtured the most influential Americans of our time like Martin Luther King, Jr., W.E.B. DuBois, Alice Walker, and Booker T. Washington. “In a Historically Black University there is a shared sense of history and experience,” said Ruth J. Simmons, President of Prairie View A&M University.
The segment about PVAMU speaks on the legacy of the University and features President Ruth J. Simmons, Frank Jackson, assistant vice chancellor for state relations for the Texas A&M University System, and Chad Watkins, a sophomore Business major from Dallas, TX. Watkins is also the son of alumni Craig Watkins ‘90, the first elected African American District Attorney in the state of Texas, and a legacy student whose parents and grandparents attended the University. “A legacy students is, simply put, someone whose parents, whose grandparents whose relatives have been to Prairie View before them,” said Simmons, “but in another sense is someone who owns their relations to the history of this place.”
She also speaks on the history of educational opportunities for African Americans post slavery and how the concept of access and limitation played a role in the development of HBCUs. Jackson provides a brief overview of the University’s conception and history while highlighting different locations on campus. “At one point in time, Prairie View A&M University was totally self-sustaining,” said Jackson, “We grew out our own food, processed our own food, and served our own food.” He talked about the University’s deep reach in the African American community because the teachers were going back into the community and being leaders. “The first who came and learned the power of what this place could do insisted on sending others behind them,” said Simmons.
A film viewing and discussion will be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday, February 28, 2018, at the Prairie View A&M University Northwest Houston Center. To view the segment video in its entirety, click the link.