clark atlanta university Archives - Rolling Out

Melissa L. Williams has quickly shaken up Hollywood as a breakout star in Tyler Perry’s “Ruthless,” a spin-off to his hit show “The Oval.” While growing up, the Oklahoma City native always had a passion for performance art, from commanding audiences at family gatherings as a young girl to becoming a theater student at Clark…

Jennifer Drake is an Oakland, California-bred music mogul whose success is a testament to her diligence and focus. After graduating from Clark Atlanta University, her passion and skill for discovering artists grew, leading her to sign talent like Grammy-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar and mega-producer Mike WiLL Made-It. In 2016, she moved to Sony/ATV Music Publishing…

Tara Rawls Jenkins, Ed.D., is the very definition of a sister with superpowers. A graduate of Clark Atlanta University, she earned her bachelor’s in mass media arts, and then a master’s in biblical studies at Moody Bible Institute. Jenkins continued her educational and spiritual quest when she secured a Doctor of Education in leadership at…

Justin Hires is a multitalented performer, actor, producer and stand-up comedian. Born in St. Petersburg, Florida, he was always known for making others laugh. Hires received his bachelor’s degree in mass media arts from Clark Atlanta University before moving to Hollywood to begin performing stand-up comedy. After moving, Hires became an internet sensation amassing more…

Andre Hill is a second-generation McDonald’s owner-operator in Columbus, Ohio, who is working to move the culture and provide opportunities to people in the communities he serves. A native of Metro Detroit, Hill has a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and an MBA from Clark Atlanta University. After college, he was inspired to follow…

La’ Toya Princess Jackson, aka ElectrKPrincess, is a writer and producer of ballets, songs, and plays. She is a ballerina in training at Ballethnic Dance Company. As the founder of LaPrincess Entertainment Group, LLC she aspired to create original works that provide a positive representation of African Americans in arts and entertainment. Jackson obtained her…

Marshall “DJ Mars” Thomas is one of the most respected deejays in the game. Hailing from Springfield, Massachusetts, Mars made a name for himself as a deejay when he moved to Atlanta to attend Clark Atlanta University. Over the years, he has worked with some of the hottest artists, from OutKast to Usher and many…

Jordyn Jones, the woman accused of helping her boyfriend kill her roommate and classmate Alexis Crawford near Clark Atlanta University, has been denied bond by the judge in Atlanta. Jones is accused of malice murder in the death of Crawford, 21, who was suffocated in late October, according to the 11 Alive news station. Jones’…

Dorothy Butler Gilliam was the first Black female reporter at The Washington Post. The Memphis, Tennessee, native arrived at The Post in 1961 after graduating with a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and worked as a reporter, an editor and a columnist there until she retired in 2003. During her illustrious career, Gilliam…

The 21-year-old Clark Atlanta University student who went missing for a week has been found dead, the media reports. Alexis Crawford’s body was found in a park in DeKalb County in suburban Atlanta after police were led there by one of the two suspects, Atlanta Police chief Erika Shields said. The two main suspects are…

Torrance T. Stephens is an infectious disease scientist by training who is now running for mayor in Palmetto, Georgia. The Memphis native is a graduate of Morehouse College, where he studied psychology, biology and chemistry. Stephens received a master’s degree in educational psychology and measurement from Atlanta University and a Ph.D. in counseling from Clark…

DaBaby lit up the stage with his performance during Clark Atlanta University’s Homecoming 2019 concert. On Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019, students started lining up around 5:30 p.m. behind the gate at the entrance to the historically Black university’s 5,000-seat Panther Stadium — two-and-a-half hours before the outdoor concert was scheduled to begin at 8 —…

Nick Cannon might need to bring his “Wild ‘N Out” auditions to Clark Atlanta University, where students remixed his wildly popular TV show by bringing 20 competing campus comedians to the stage. On Tuesday, Oct. 15, during Day Three of the 2019 homecoming celebration, the HBCU students split up into two teams — the black…

Not all heroes wear capes. Sometimes they’re college students who have tattoos, wear Air Force 1s and jump in to help others in a time of need. On Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019, the night before the first day of fall classes, about 400 students who attend schools in the Atlanta University Center were having a…

Students from Clark Atlanta University, Spelman, and Morehouse were celebrating the new school year when violence erupted. On the night of Aug. 20, hundreds of students gathered on James P. Brawley Drive in Atlanta, Georgia for a back-to-school block party. According to WXIA, police said that someone began shooting an automatic weapon around 10:38 p.m.…

Entrepreneur Pinky Cole, a second-generation Jamaican-American, is the owner of Slutty Vegan. An alumnus of Clark Atlanta University, Cole has established herself not only as a successful businesswoman but also as a philanthropist committed to investing and building stronger communities in Atlanta. As a Black woman, what do you consider your superpower to be? As…

Atlanta nightlife trailblazer Mark “Biddy” Barnes has helped put on some of the best events in the South. He spoke to rolling out about what makes Atlanta the Black mecca. What brought you to the city of Atlanta? I came to Atlanta in the early ’90s to attend Clark Atlanta University — where I learned…

Atlanta is a bastion of Black intellectual capital cultivated in music, business and centers of higher education, including Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. hailed from Atlanta and attended Morehouse, where he studied under African American intellectuals like Benjamin E. Mays and forged a relationship with a spiritual…