Hbcu Grad, August 13, 2021
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morehouse_College
"Morehouse College is a private historically black men's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. Anchored by its main campus of 61 acres (25 ha) near downtown Atlanta, the college has a variety of residential dorms and academic buildings east of Ashview Heights. Along with Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, and the Morehouse School of Medicine, the college is a member of the Atlanta University Center consortium. Founded by William Jefferson White in 1867 in response to the liberation of enslaved African-Americans following the American Civil War, Morehouse adopted a seminary university model and stressed religious instruction in the Baptist tradition.
[…]
The college has played a key role in the development of the
civil rights movement and racial equality in the United States.[8][9]
[...]
The largest men's liberal arts college in the U.S.,[10]
Morehouse has been home to 11 Fulbright Scholars, five Rhodes Scholars, and
five Marshall Scholars, and is the alma mater of many celebrated
African-Americans.
[...]
Notable alumni
Morehouse alumni include notable African-Americans such as: Martin Luther King Jr., theologian Howard Thurman, filmmaker Spike Lee, filmmaker Robert G. Christie (a.k.a. Bobby Garcia), actor Samuel L. Jackson, civil rights leader Julian Bond, United States Senator Raphael Warnock,[80] businessman and former 2012 Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, Secretary of Homeland Security in 2013 Jeh Johnson, University president and health care executive Albert W. Dent, NFL Referee Jerome Boger, celebrity physician Corey Hébert, U.S. Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Gang Starr rapper Guru, Four-time 400 meter hurdles world record holder and twice Olympic gold medalist Edwin Moses, U.S. District Court Judge George J. Hazel, Lloyd McNeill, Jazz flutist, USPS Kwanza Stamp designer, the first recipient of Howard University's MFA Degree, former Bank of America Chairman Walter E. Massey, the first African-American mayor of Atlanta Maynard Jackson, Major League Baseball first baseman and 1969 World Series MVP Donn Clendenon, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Louis W. Sullivan, former United States Surgeon General David Satcher, musician PJ Morton, rap producer Metro Boomin, Sunday Best season 7 winner Geoffrey Golden, Montgomery County Alabama Circuit Court Judge Greg Griffin[81] and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) scientist that attempted to stop the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, Bill Jenkins.[82]
According to Morehouse's own "About Us" page, Morehouse was the first historically black college to produce a Rhodes Scholar. The school's first Rhodes Scholar, Nima Warfield, was named in 1994, the second, Christopher Elders, in 2001.[83] A third, Oluwabusayo "Topé" Folarin, was named in 2004, the fourth, Prince Abudu, was named in 2015, and the fifth, Franck Nijimbere, was named in 2018.[44] Morehouse has been home to 11 Fulbright Scholars. Since 1999, Morehouse has produced five Marshall Scholars, one Schwarzman Scholar, five Luce Scholars, four Watson Fellows and 2010 White House Fellow, Erich Caulfield.[84][85].
Presidents Barack Obama[86] and Jimmy Carter hold honorary doctorates of laws from Morehouse, after giving commencement speeches.[23]"...
****
ARTICLE EXCERPT -Morehouse College Orientations Look Lit
From https://blavity.com/morehouse-college-orientations-look-lit?category1=culture&category2=news
published by Tomas Kassahun, August 14, 2021
"Morehouse College recently held its orientation for the new academic year and once again solidified its welcome ceremony as one of the most distinguished events in the country. In a video posted to social media, hundreds of new Black students, elegantly dressed in their suits, can be seen walking through the halls while being welcomed by upperclassmen who were singing the school's famous anthem.
Some of the men are seen smiling from ear-to-ear while others are nearly brought to tears. The upperclassmen, who were locked arm-in-arm while singing and welcoming their younger peers, formed a line that extends from inside the hallway to the outside of the building. While receiving greetings from their brothers, the new students proceed with a straight line and walk outside in the night."..
****
LYRICS: I GOT A FEELING
(Morehouse College song)
I got a feeling, brothers
That somebody tryin to sneak in our House-Morehouse!
[Repeat multiple times from the beginning. The men stand in two vertical lines facing each other with a space in between (like the Soul Train line). The incoming freshmen walk quickly down in the middle of those two lines. The upperclassmen bob up and down and rhythmically stomp their feet while they sing. The mood is joyful, and not solemn.
The tune that is used for Morehouse College's "I've Got A Feeling" is the same tune as the chorus for the African American Spiritual "Wade In The Water".
****
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM SHOWCASE VIDEO #1
"What a way to welcome those young men❤"
**
2. DeRenn Hollman, 2021
"Are they doing this ceremony every year?? If so, which classes are they for?? Like are they for freshmen, sophomores, juniors, or seniors??"
**
Reply
3. Danny Bellinger, 2021
"This is a tradition at Morehouse that happens every fall for new students. The upperclassmen have embellished parts of the tradition over the years, but this tradition happens every year. You should see the "Parting Ceremony" that typically occurs on Thursday when the parents leave and the young men are in the hands of college."
****
**** SHOWCASE VIDEO #3: I've Got A Feeling Somebody's Trying to Sneak In My House
Jarrell V Jordan, Sept 24, 2019
"What district is this?"
**
Reply
2. Samuel Rosslee, 2022
"@todd burt This is Morehouse College New Student Orientation Week."
Retsama Retsama, 2022
"Sacred things should stay in the House. #1867"
**
Reply
2. Michael Ashley, 2022
"It's deeply more valuable to show young Black boys that they don't have to choose between their Blackness or excelling in school and going to college."
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO #4: I've Got A Feeling
.
Marlon Thompson, Aug 14, 2021
The Morehouse College alums welcoming the new students into
their ranks.
-snip-
Here's a comment from this video's discussion thread"
KAM, 2022
"My only slight regret was not going to Morehouse over PVAMU.
I was still surrounded by black excellence but I love the history of an all
Black Male college."
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
I haven't found any information online about the history of the Morehouse College "I've Got A Feeling" song. For the historical record, I'm interested in knowing
ReplyDelete1. When was this song first sung and is there a known composer?
2. Is this song only sung during Morehouse's new student orientation? If not, are there other set times that "I've Got A Feeling" is formally sung and does the performance of this song differ during those set times?
3. The 2012 video that is given as Showcase Video #2 in this pancocojams post has the summary "the class of 2016 entering Morehouse gates after Parent Parting Ceremony." In that video the "I Got A Feeling" song is sung by some of the people who are in the crowd watching these men. Some of the singers clap their hands and some (also?) snap their fingers while singing that song. Are the people singing this song in that video Morehouse students? Can only Morehouse students (or Morehouse professors/staff?) sing that song?
Am I correct in assuming that this took place before the upperclassmen welcomed the new students into their ranks by singing this song? And is this song still sung during that time (when new students are entering Morehouse gates after the Parent Parting Ceremony?)
4. Are versions of this Morehouse College song sung by any other HBCU? If so, which HBCUs sing this song and what is the earliest dates for their versions?
Here's a link to a YouTube sound file of an Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. song called "I Got A Feeling": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILZCCGqseRk , published by Eddison Arnold, May 21, 2020
ReplyDeleteIs this song an adaptation of the Morehouse "I Got A Feeling" song or vice versa?
That historically Black Greek letter fraternity's song has the same tune and very similar words as the Morehouse song "I've Got A Feeling".
Here are the words to that Omega Psi Phi Fraternity song:
"I've got a feeling
I've got a feeling, brothers
Somebody's trying to sneak in my frat
And And it ain’t gonna be no shi-* like that"
-snip-
This is the way that the word “sh-t” is sung.
-snip-
My guess is that the Morehouse song came first.
For the cultural record, I'd love to add when that Omega Psi Phi Fraternity song was first sung. If you have any information about this, please add it to this comment thread. Also, do any other historically Black Greek letter fraternity or sorority have a similar song?