HBCU Made: A Celebration of the Black College Experience, edited and with a foreword by Ayesha Rascoe, host of National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition Sunday, is a joyous and moving collection that includes a distinguished and diverse set of contributors including Oprah Winfrey, Stacey Abrams, Branford Marsalis, and Roy Wood Jr., along with other prominent and up-and-coming alumni. HBCU Made beautifully pulls back the curtain on the lived experience of prominent graduates while also shining a bright light on the significant contribution that HBCUs have made to American culture.

HBCU Made, the first book of its kind to feature famous alumni sharing direct accounts of their Black college experience, presents a collection of vulnerable and candid personal essays about the schools that nurtured, challenged, and educated them. From political figures to respected writers, from outstanding dancers to prominent performers, this array of voices describe why they chose their HBCU, their first days on campus, the excitement of homecoming, and the relief of finally feeling understood.

Rascoe, a proud alum of Howard University, will be in conversation with Natalie Y. Moore, a fellow Howard alum and an award-winning journalist covering segregation and inequality for WBEZ, Chicago’s NPR affiliate. Moore is the author of The Billboard, a play about abortion, and the acclaimed book The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation (2016). Ms. Moore’s reporting tackles race, housing, economic development, food injustice, and violence and her work has been broadcast on the BBC and Marketplace, and on NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition.