This pancocojams post presents some general information about United States historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
This post also presents a list of the top ten HBCUs (based on enrollment in 2024).
The content of this post is presented for historical and socio-cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. -snip- Click the "HBCU Historically Black colleges and universities" tag below for links to a number of pancocojams posts on HBCUs.
**** INFORMATION ABOUT HBCUs from AI Overview [result of my query in October 2026]
"Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are
institutions of higher education in the United States established before the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the principal mission of serving African American
students. Today, there are 107 recognized HBCUs across the country, producing
significant shares of Black college and STEM graduates.
Overview and History
• Definition: Colleges and universities founded prior to
1964 to provide education for Black Americans locked out of traditional
segregated systems.
• Oldest Institution: Cheyney University of Pennsylvania was
founded in 1837 as the Institute for Colored Youth.
• Land-Grant Impact: The Second Morrill Act of 1890 forced
segregated states to build public Black land-grant institutions or grant
admission.
Key Statistics and Status
• Total Count: 107 accredited institutions (public and
private).
• Impact: Represent roughly 3% of American colleges yet
produce 20% of Black graduates and 25% of STEM graduates.
• Geographic Spread: Most are located in the American South,
with Alabama, North Carolina, and Georgia hosting the highest counts."
**** THE TOP TEN HBCUs (based on enrollment) from AI Overview "Based on Fall 2024 total enrollment data from the National
Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the largest Historically Black Colleges
and Universities (HBCUs) overall include major four-year universities like
North Carolina A&T State University and Howard University, as well as
unique dual-designated community colleges.
Top 10 Largest HBCUs by Total Enrollment (Fall 2024)
St. Philip's College (San Antonio, TX) – ~14,000+ students
( dual-designated as an HBCU and Hispanic-Serving Institution)
North Carolina A&T State University (Greensboro, NC) –
~14,000 to 15,000+ students
Howard University (Washington, DC) – ~14,500–14,890
students
Morgan State University (Baltimore, MD) – ~11,559 students
Prairie View A&M University (Prairie View, TX) –
~10,085 students
Florida A&M University (Tallahassee, FL) – ~9,313
students
North Carolina Central University (Durham, NC) – ~9,281
students
Texas Southern University (Houston, TX) – ~8,704 students
Southern University and A&M College (Baton Rouge, LA)
– ~8,279 students Alabama A&M University (Normal, AL) – ~7,295 students -snip- This AI Overview write-up gave the following online source for this list:
This pancocojams post presents the history of the motivational (hype) sports song "We Ready". That song has also been adopted as a motivational song for some protest marches in the United States.
This post includes some videos of and lyrics for the hype song "We Ready".
The content of this post is presented for historical, socio-cultural, and motivational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Archie Eversole, the composer of this song. Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
"Looking down from nosebleed seats, in a sea of orange and blue, the field looked tiny but the anticipation was huge. Players jumped up and down as chants of "Weeee readayyy, for y'all" filled the air.
It was a Denver Broncos game years ago, and that memory still elicits goosebumps. And that song — "We Ready" by Archie Eversole — has contributed to countless fans experiencing similar unforgettable moments.
"When that song is playing, you know what's about to happen next," Brandon London, a former NFL and Canadian football player, told USA TODAY Sports. "And whether you're a fan or whether you’re an athlete, coach, doesn't matter. You know what's about to go down."
NBC used the song to preview the NFL wild-card matchup between the Los Angeles Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars, and it wouldn't be surprising to hear it ahead of this weekend's AFC and NFC championship games.
But who is Archie Eversole? And how did his song become one of the biggest sports anthems of all time?
The story of 'We Ready'
Born Arthur Eversole, the Atlanta-based rapper released the song he would be remembered for at the age of 17. "We Ready," along with its remix featuring Bubba Sparxxx, was part of his first and only full-length album, "Ride Wit Me Dirty Style," released in 2002.
"It was a major, massive hit, not only just in the nightclubs in the Atlanta area, but it became a national hit because of the aggressiveness," A.R. Shaw, journalist and author of "Trap History: Atlanta Culture and the Global Impact of Trap Music," told USA TODAY Sports. "It was one of those songs that inspired you to move."
[...]
Twenty years later, Eversole was shot and killed in April of
last year at the age of 37.
[…]
His legacy lives through "We Ready," which gives
to the world the same energy those close to Eversole said he effused throughout
his life.
[...]
"We Ready" was a derivative of Pastor Troy's 1999 single "No Mo Play in G.A.," which also used a chant of "We ready" and said people needed to respect the Peach State just like California or New York.
"It was the crunk era. Everybody wanted to get crunk," Baby D, who had Eversole and Pastor Troy on his own Atlanta hit, told USA TODAY Sports. "'Eastside vs. Westside.' It was like, we was all just representing where we was from."
Bem Joiner, a friend of Eversole's and founder of creative
agency Atlanta Influences Everything, said "We Ready" uses a
call-and-response musical pattern that's popular in the South, giving it a
Gospel feel.
And Eversole's authenticity and energy on "We
Ready" helped it transcend the hip-hop scene, according to Shaw.
[...]
That quality translate well as an ambassador to Atlanta United FC, which made its MLS debut in 2017. Atlanta United fans adopted "We Ready" as an unofficial anthem."...
**** Source #2 from AI Overview "The most famous song titled "We Ready" is by
hip-hop artist Archie Eversole, released in 2002 on his album Ride Wit Me Dirty
South Style. Its iconic hook—“We ready, we ready, we ready for y'all”—is a
massive stadium and hype anthem, particularly in football culture.
"We Ready" Chorus Lyrics
We ready, we ready, we ready for y'all
We ready, we ready, we ready for y'all
We ready, we ready, we ready for y'all
We ready, we ready, we ready for y'all
Key Song Details
• Artist: Archie Eversole (featuring appearances/mentions of
Pastor Troy and Bubba Sparxxx-affiliated production elements)
• Release Year: 2002
• Album: Ride Wit Me Dirty South Style
• Legacy: Widely adopted as a hype and entrance song by
college and professional football teams, most notably the Atlanta Falcons and
various Clemson Tigers teams."
**** SHOWCASE VIDEOS OF EXAMPLES OF THIS SONG
SHOWCASE VIDEO #1- Archie Eversole - We Ready (Official Music Video) ft. Bubba
Sparxxx
ArchieEversoleVEVO, Dec 24, 2009 #WeReady
#ArchieEversole #BubbaSparxxx
Official music video for "We Ready" performed by
Archie Eversole and Bubba Sparxxx.
Music video by Archie Eversole performing We Ready. (C) 2002
Geffen Records
Lyrics: caller- Everybody say [The caller then sings along with the group] group/response- We ready We ready to vote.* caller -Say what? Say what? group/response -We ready We ready to vote*
*I couldn't decipher the last two words of this song in this video. However, the words "to vote" fits the context of this march. Also, the words "to vote" are clearly heard in this video at 1:10 to 1:18: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzxcqywBkc4 "NC A&T, Bennett College students march to the polls for
primary election" published by Common Cause North Carolina, May 6, 2022 "Students from NC A&T State University and
Bennett College marched to the polls together in Greensboro to vote early in
North Carolina's primary election".... -snip- That 2026 video included this portion of a speech that a Black male student who was identified [in that video's caption] as Leyton
Maluka, March organizer and President of UNCG Democratssaid these words as he marched and the other students marched silently behind him: "Today we are walking to the polls to tell other
students that their voice matters and to tell the people in DC and the people in Raleigh that
we will not allow them to bully us into not voting. That we are here. It is our turn to lead And we got it". -snip- Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/10/north-carolina-hbcu-students-march-to.html for the 2026 pancocojams post entitled "Black Students From Three Greensboro, North Carolina Universities March To Vote In The 2024 Midterm Election (information, videos & chants)"
This pancocojams post showcases some YouTube videos of some Black students from North Carolina Universities* who marched 45 minutes to cast their ballots in the 2024 United States national midterm election. This march was in response to their failed efforts to get the county to restore their voting sites on their campuses.
This pancocojams post also documents the words to a few protest chants that I could decipher those North Carolina university students vocalizing.
The Addendum of this post presents some information about one of those chants: "Shut it down!"
The content of this post is presented for historical and socio-cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all the students who participated in this march to the polls. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube. -snip- *The university students that marched to the national midterm polls October 29, 2026 were from North Carolina A&T (a historically Black College & University), University of North Carolina at Greensboro (a public state university), and Bennett College, a private, liberal arts college for women. Bennet college is also a HBCU.
One of the videos showcased in that post is given as Showcase video #2 below.
**** PART I: SHOWCASE VIDEOS
These videos are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
SHOWCASE VIDEO #1- North Carolina college students march to the polls
CNN, Oct 17, 2026
Video shows hundreds of students across North Carolina’s colleges and universities, including from the largest historically black university in the country, marching to the polls after local county officials removing polling stations located on their campuses earlier this year.
**** SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - NC A&T and UNCG march to the polls
https://youtube.com/shorts/S28f9F1VJpk?si=umtPEKnDaVw9Wb6P -snip- North Carolina A&T University is a historically Black College & University (HBCU) . That university is located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Its students are colloquially known as "the Aggies".
"UNCG" is "University of North Carolina at Greensboro". That university isn't a HBCU.
**** SHOWCASE VIDEO #3- Students march to polls after Republicans shut down campus
sites [portion of the “No Lie” podcast]
Brian Tyler Cohen News, Oct 19, 2026 Breaking
News
Breaking: Students march to polls after Republicans shut
down campus sites. -snip- The portion of that podcast that refers to these students is from .01 to 5:20. -snip- Here's the complete reprint of this portion of that podcast' automatic transcript (with my corrections of the abbreviations for those universities).
"If you watch one video today, it should be
this. This is what it looks like when the Republicans effort to suppress voting
backfires.
Those are students from North Carolina A&T,
that's an HBCU. in Greensboro walking back to campus after casting their
ballots on the first day of early voting in North Carolina.
And the only reason
they were on that march is that Republicans on the local and state election
boards decided those students didn't get a polling place on their own
campuses anymore. So here's what happened.
A&T along with UNC [University of North Carolina] - Greensboro both
had early voting sites on campus in 2024. But for this
year's midterms, 2026, the Guilford County Board of Elections, which has a
Republican majority, decided to approve an early voting plan with no sight
at either college campus. The Republican controlled state board of elections
voted 3 to2 along party lines back in January to deny A&T a voting site
and then denied the campus again in August.
And students, for their part, they
spent months fighting against it. They packed state board meetings in Raleigh.
They protested. And yet, despite all of that, of course, they were denied. So, in
spite of the effort to make it more difficult for these students to cast
ballots, instead hundreds of A&T, UNC-Greensboro, and Bennett College students marched
for about 45 minutes in 85° degree heat to the nearest early voting site at Union
Square and then 45 minutes back. It was reported that more than 300 votes
were cast at that site that day. And that one organizer said that some students
waited 3 hours to vote.
And I get that there are going to be people who say,
"Look how great it is that that these students overcame those those
obstacles and were still able to make their voices heard."
And that's true. But at the same
point, how bleak is it that what Republicans are doing right now is creating three-hour waits for the right to
vote all on purpose by the people who run the election?
Now, interestingly,
when state board members were asked to explain their decision, they cited a bunch
of excuses. They talked about proximity to the polls, parking, administrative
concerns. One member at the January meeting asked in effect whether
people could just park on campus without a pass. Would that pose an issue?
But
here's the problem with that explanation: When this came up for
Western Carolina University, that's another campus site uh on the chopping
block. A county board member told the state board that closing it
wouldn't save any money and would quote create barriers to voting for young
rural residents.
So that's what this is. This wasn't a budget fight. It's not a
parking problem. This is about making sure that likely Democratic voters would
have a tougher time while likely Republican
voters wouldn't.
And let's be clear, this is a pattern. Last month, we covered Tarant County, Texas, where
Republican commissioners voted 3 to2 to shut down 92 polling places ahead of
the midterms. So same playbook,
different state. Their goal is to make the polling place harder to reach and
hope that enough people just give up. Why?
Because they can't win on the merits. And so instead, they're doing what they
always do, which is pivoting to just preventing people from being able to cast
their ballots outright.
But here's the tragic irony. As far as the Republicans
are concerned, their efforts to suppress the vote are very clearly backfiring.
On the first day of early voting in North Carolina, more than 201,000 people
voted in person. That's according to the state board of elections. in 2022. So the
last midterm cycle, that number was 137,000. So this is a 47% jump from one
midterm cycle to the next. Registered Democrats outvoted registered Republicans
by nearly 28 points. In 2024, that
advantage for for Democrats was two points. So this is a massive swing to the left. Registered Republican
turnout was actually down from 2022. And 94 of the state's 100 counties saw
higher first day turnout than 4 years ago.
Now, it's worth noting that this march that we're talking about here obviously
wasn't solely responsible for the huge numbers considering early voting
was up everywhere across the state. But here's what the numbers do tell you.
The students who were supposed to give up and stay home didn't. They walked
and they made their way to the polls and they cast their ballots and they made
their voices heard. And that's the bottom line here. A county board in
Greensboro looked at a campus full of young voters, mostly black of course, and
decided to make voting harder for them. And those students answered
by showing up in even greater numbers, on foot in the heat to a site that was
an hour away. The people who built those barriers are still betting that
voters are going to quit. But these students just showed the entire country
that they won't.
If Republicans want to win over voters in North Carolina, they've
got an option that doesn't involve a long walk. They can just try winning those
students over. But until then, expect the marches to keep getting bigger."
**** PART II- PROTEST CHANTS THAT ARE HEARD IN THESE VIDEOS
Pancocojams Editor's Notes: Some of the words to these chants are difficult to decipher. Please add and correct my attempt to document the words to these chants in the comment section to this post. Thanks!
Description: All of these chants appear have a call/response format
Here are the chants that I heard and could decipher in these showcase videos and in other online videos that I watched of that march
(given in alphabetical order)
call: "No justice!" response: "No peace!"
** ** call - [indecipherable]
response- "Shut it down!"
** call- This is what democracy looks like response- This is what democracy looks like [repeat both lines]
"Protesters are heard chanting 'Shut it down!
Black Lives Matter!' and 'No justice, no peace!'"
**
This title to this video about that North Carolina HBCU student march to the polls may have been a chant that those students said: "You can move our polling site but you can’t stop our vote!”
NC HBCU Students March 45 MINUTES to Vote! #HBCU #VotingRights #LamontTyson
**** ADDENDUM- Some information about the "Shut It Down" protest chant
AI Overview "The "Shut it down" chant is a popular, direct
protest slogan used across labor strikes, civil rights demonstrations, and
political movements to demand an immediate halt to operations, unfair
conditions, or systemic injustice.
Meaning and Purpose
Direct Action: The phrase serves as a call to halt
business-as-usual operations, symbolizing the disruptive power of organized
workers or citizens.
Escalation: It is often used as a response line in
call-and-response chants when negotiations fail or urgency needs to be
emphasized (e.g., "And if we don't get it... Shut it down!").
And if we don't get it (SHUT IT DOWN) If we don't get it
(SHUT IT DOWN) Ain't no power Like the power of the union 'Cuz the power of the
union don't stop Hey ..." -snip- The earliest date for an example of the "Shut it down!" protest chant that AI Overview cited in that write-up was from 2021. However, that protest chant could have been used before that date.
The words in that protest chant that begin with "Ain't no" are patterned after lyrics that have been re-worked countless times in Hip Hop and elsewhere. Based on online sources such as https://www.quora.com/Who-was-the-first-person-to-use-the-phrasing-There-aint-no-party-like-an-X-party Tupac's 1994 record lyrics “Ain’t no party like a thug life party”... were the first Hip Hop use of that phrasing, but Coolio's 1996 record "1,2,3,4 (Sumptin New)" ["Ain't no party like a west coast party cause a west coast party don't stop"] was the first popular use of that saying.
Those lyrics have been reworked countless times using that same pattern.
This post is part of a periodic series that highlights the top twenty pancocojams posts that were viewed on a particular date.*
This post presents a list of the twenty most viewed pancocojams post on October 20, 2026.
This is part of a periodic series that documents which posts in this blog have top views within a certain period of time*. There's no discernable reason why I chose this particular day to publish this post.
*Google blogspot automatically publishes a list that the blog's editor can view of the top twenty posts in a blog that have been visited within a certain time period. Statistics for every post that has been published in this blog that I haven't deleted for one reason or another could be included in this top twenty list. It's probable that this top twenty list changes from one day to the next.
The first post that I published in this series was on May 16, 2026. I focused on that date because I noticed that this pancocojams blog had reached a total of 18 million + views since I launched it on August 29, 2011. (That number doesn't included my views .) Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-twenty-most-viewed-pancocojams.html for that post.
It's interesting to notice the differences in the subjects for the twenty most viewed pancocojams posts on the different days that have been showcased in this series. **** This post is presented to document meta information about this blog. This list is also presented as a way of highlighting these showcased posts.
Thanks for supporting pancocojams!
**** PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE The mission of pancocojams is to showcases the music, dances, language practices, & customs of African Americans and of other people of Black descent throughout the world.
This pancocojams blog has had a total of 23,838,064 views* from the date that this blog was launched on August 29, 2011 to the publication date and time of this particular post.
*This number doesn't include my views.
A total number of 6077 posts are available on this pancocojams blog as of October 20, 2026-including this one.
This list that is given in this post presents the title for each of the top twenty posts that were viewed during the time period that is shown in this blog statistic's page for October 20, 2026. in addition to the post's title, these entries include the hyperlink, and that post's publishing date.
**** All of the top twenty lists that have been published in this pancocojams meta series document the eclectic nature and the wide range of socio-cultural and/or folkloric topics that are featured in this blog.
Click the "pancocojams blog meta" to find the other posts in this series.
I determine the subject of each pancocojams post as the Spirit (or my spirit) moves me to do so.
Publishing this list can help visitors to this blog find posts that they may be interested in visiting again or visiting for the first time. -snip- Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/12/links-to-twenty-five-pancocojams-posts.html for the post entitled "Links To The Twenty-Five Pancocojams Posts With The Highest Number Of Views (From 2011-2024)."
In 2025 I decided not to publish an annual "most viewed" post from this blog's launching because the list of posts with the most views has remained very similar for a number of years.
**** A LIST OF THE TWENTY MOST VIEWED PANCOCOJAMS POST (October 20, 2026)
[The post with the highest number of views on that day is given first, and all the other posts are given in descending order.]
1. Dread Drama - Did Celts And/Or Other White People Historically Wear Their Hair In Dreadlocks?
