The Morehouse College Students Walking In Martin Luther King Jr.'s Footsteps

By Shammara Lawrence


Before leading the Selma to Montgomery marches or delivering his notable “I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. Was walking the halls of the prestigious Morehouse at the mere age of 15.


Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Morehouse is the only historically Black college for males in the United States. As such, the university has a prosperous legacy of educating and inspiring generations of thought leaders who have gone to change the world in countless ways, including Dr. King, who graduated in 1948 with his bachelor’s degree in sociology (and before him, his father and grandfather). Other notable graduates include filmmaker Spike Lee, Senator Raphael Warnock, and actor Samuel L. Jackson.


A formative time in his life, his Morehouse years equipped King with the knowledge and character to go on to be a renowned civil and human rights leader, radical thinker, and one of the big orators and political strategists American history. Case in point, the sociology department chair at the time, Dr. Walter P. Chivers, introduced the young King to the pressing distribute problem of segregation in America.


In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, MTV News discussed to four esteemed Morehouse students who are achieving good intellectual heights, while also doing impactful work on campus and within their community. As soon as @they could vary in their academic interests and career aspirations, they all share a typical appreciation for Morehouse, its tight-knit community, and the university’s history of educating and nurturing changemakers like King.


George Pratt is a junior (‘23) at Morehouse who majors in history and religion. An accomplished scholar, Pratt is a piece of a number of student groups on campus, including the Student Government Association. He’s the historian-in-residence for the Department of Student Life and executive director of HouseCorps. Furthermore, Pratt is a Thurman Honors Scholar and UNCF Mellon Mays Fellow. He is pursuing a career in academia.


On choosing to attend Morehouse: 


“I come from a family member in which it is tradition to attend a HBCU for a undergraduate experience. So, from a young age, I routinely knew I was visiting a HBCU and I identified Morehouse because the HBCU of my choice. Morehouse was my dream school for as long as I could remember, simply because I could identify Black leaders that attended the school. As I grew older, I realized that Morehouse was that space that could offer the needed incubation for me an intellectual and also a thought leader.”


On spearheading a student initiative called HouseCorps:


“I would mention my biggest accomplishment at Morehouse was being able to have the possibility to make my own student initiative called HouseCorps. We are really interested in preserving the social and cultural history of Morehouse through oral history and the digital humanities. We have a model of telling the stories that are rarely told, also it is through a social justice lens and an anti-racist framework that we craft programming through multimedia assignments. One of the assignments that we're doing right now, which is called 'Project Visibility,' centers Morehouse students who identify as trans, nonbinary, genderqueer, [and anyone] who identifies outdoors of the heteronormative expressions of a man.”


On how Martin Luther’s King Jr.’S legacy has inspired him: 


“He was a well-rounded scholar-practitioner. In his book, Where Do We Go From Here, he talks about building the beloved community. King really tried to actualize what Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter, the dean of Morehouse, called the perfect cosmic community in which each person is affirmed and valued. In the ways that I lead and construct communities, it's that radical love and also a sense of justice because that's at the root of Dr. King's activism, his scholarship, and his preaching. That encapsulates the idea of social justice being a spiritual discipline. That is a way in which I attempt to model Dr. King.”


Justin Upshaw is a junior at Morehouse (‘23) studying Cinema-Television and Emerging Media Research. He is president of the Morehouse Filmmakers Association and producer of Morehouse College's The Maroon Tiger art and entertainment division. A lover of action and horror films and thrillers, he gravitates toward those genres any time creating stories of his own.


On how the Morehouse community inspires him: 


“The Morehouse community has inspired me to go for what I want, honestly. A lot of the older brothers that I've met, they've pushed me to greater heights. They've also helped me to understand the aesthetics of cinema. I don't really think I completely got that before I came to Morehouse, however meeting a lot of my brothers who love cinema helped me to love film more and be more focused than ever.”


On the advantages of attending a HBCU like Morehouse: 


“One thing that I've seen in HBCUs is the support that I've derived from teachers and why close I've Been able to get with plenty of those. I think that's been one of the advantages of visiting a HBCU. Plus, the class sizes are smaller. The other thing is learning more about Blackness in itself and getting a deeper understanding of what it is. I came from a town called Sterling in Northern Virginia where the Black population wasn't that large, so meeting all different kinds of Black people in a short quantity of time has been really eye-opening.”


On how Martin Luther’s King Jr.’S legacy has inspired him:


“He’s inspired me to be fantastic in whichever I pick to do. I know that, personally, I really hope to be thought a good director by the end of my time. However even if I pick to go and do something else, I still wish to be thought wonderful in that aspect. And I think just being good in general is about having stellar control over your craft, nevertheless also helping people along the way.”


A senior at Morehouse (‘22), Chase Stokes is set to graduate in May. Growing up, Stokes was a theater kid who loved to act and perform. He loves movies and storytelling, which led him to major in Cinema-Television and Emerging Media Research. He views film and TV as apt ways to sustain history.


On being a Bonner Scholar and getting involved in his community: 


“The Corella and Bertram F. Bonner scholarship program focuses on community service. Each scholar is given a service site, and we commit to 420 community service hours per year, and our issue-based focuses include things like education, food insecurity, and housing. My freshman year, I served as a teacher's aide at a school called Slam Academy in Atlanta. That really widened my eyes to the issues that are in education. I mean, I came from public school as well, yet I think any time you're in it, or any time you are a child, you're not really privy to the issues that are going on, so while you get into education, there's a higher class of understanding. I wouldn't really call myself an activist however just as a servant leader, and being a honor scholar really gave me a different lens plus an excellent possibility to really impact the community.”


On his career plans post-graduation: 


“I would love to work within film and television production. My aim is to make my own organization for film production management because Atlanta is such a hub and I know the city. I want people to come out here and, if they require somebody to manage their production, to think of me like, ‘We know this person is going to stage name our business.’”


On how Martin Luther’s King Jr.’S legacy has inspired him: 


“I think the legacy of Dr. King is something that's so crucial. I think it's something that draws people to Morehouse as a residence. For me, coming to Morehouse and just getting a higher end understanding of his legacy reminded me that he did not pass that far ago. Like Whenever I do the math, I realized Dr. King died any time my grandmother was, like, 1, which wasn't that long ago. So, it pushes me to be more of a servant leader. It pushes me to be altruistic and think about what I can do for others, with the privilege that I have. In everything I do, I think, ‘How is this going to impact those around me?’”


A junior at Morehouse (‘23), Henry McCants majors in Cinema-Television and Emerging Media Statistics. He is a Oprah Winfrey Endowed Scholar and Bonner Scholar. By way of the Bonner Scholars program, McCants has taken part in multiple community service events. A videographer with a deep love of storytelling, he hopes to someday work on the production or story development side of film and TV.


On what sets HBCUs like Morehouse apart from other universities: 


“Definitely their give attention to cultivating Black students. I think HBCUs take the time to work with their students and design a space ample resources along with a multitude of possibilities, so whenever they leave the school, they can go on to do good things.”


On his community service work:  


“Right right now, I'm a videographer, so I create the video content for not just the Bonner program, although any of the other programs or events that fall under the Bonner Office of Community Service, and also because the athletics department. The Bonner Office does a multitude of events during the semester. We did a Haiti relief drive early last semester. We also have a day of service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We get with each other and do a community service event, which is usually wonderful. Moreover to that, I’m a Oprah Winfrey scholar and I have worked with students at Booker T. Washington High School and Brown Middle School to help tutor and mentor the students there.”


On how Martin Luther’s King Jr.’S legacy has inspired him: 


“​​Dr. King's moral philosophy, devotion to critical causes, and helping other folks are things that inspire me daily. Just doing something greater than yourself, which is what he stood for. That’s something I attempt to incorporate into my life.”