Documentaries showcase NC Black college culture

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

North Carolina Central University cheerleaders pump up the crowd at the Duke’s Mayo Classic against rival North Carolina A&T in Charlotte in 2022. The A&T-NCCU rivalry is highlighted in Local, USA documentary “HBCU: Tradition & Competition” on Feb. 26 on WORLD’s YouTube channel, worldchannel.org and the PBS app.

North Carolina’s contributions to Black college culture are the focus of documentaries this month.

“Local, USA,” a documentary series from WORLD, debuted “HBCU Week: Beyond the Field” on WORLD Feb. 19 and “HBCU Week: Tradition and Competition” Feb. 26 at 9 p.m. Both episodes will also be available to stream on WORLD’s YouTube channel, worldchannel.org and the PBS app.

Local, USA brings viewers to communities around the country to examine important issues and the community figures doing something about them.

“HBCU Week: Beyond the Field” tells the story of the Charlotte-based Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, America’s oldest Black athletic conference. The film highlights the CIAA basketball tournament as well as the Bayou Classic football rivalry between Grambling State and Southern universities.

The Feb. 26 episode, “HBCU: Tradition & Competition,” looks into the history and culture of a couple of long-running rivalries among some of the best-known Black college brands. In North Carolina, N.C. A&T State and N.C. Central universities settle the score in football at the annual Aggie-Eagle Classic while Howard University in Washington, D.C., and Hampton University in Virginia bring together students and alumni making their case for which is “the real HU.”

The HBCU Week films are partnerships between Maryland Public Television in coordination with WHUT (Howard University Television), PBS North Carolina, SCETV and Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

The series also exposes environmental issues with Freedom Hill — presented in partnership with Black Public Media — a portrait of Princeville, N.C., the first town incorporated by free Blacks, which is devastated by frequent “100-year floods” and efforts of citizens to combat the issue.

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