HBCU step teams take center stage for Homecoming week
Fraternities and sororities will be showing out and celebrating the stepping tradition
Historically Black Colleges and Universities are putting on this week for huge Homecoming celebrations happening on campuses across Atlanta.
A big part of those festivities will be step and stroll performances by the sororities and fraternities on campus.
The claps and the stomps are just a preview of some of the best routines.
'It brings us together'
On the steps of Clark Atlanta University, students get the rhythm of campus life. At CAU, they're stepping into their own routine.
"We're doing these moves, we are going so hard, but you have to listen to it. You have to enjoy it, it's like a classical song, you want to hear again and again, it's great," said Jonathan Walker, a junior at CAU.
That greatness is on full display from the divine nine fraternities and sororities.
"People don't understand that the beats, the claps, the stomps, it is just music without instruments," he said.
Each chapter finds its own stride.
"I like how it brings us together, the unity, the complexity. It's finally complicated, but when you finally get it, it's so rewarding, so exciting," said Tashawn Morris, a CAU senior.
The History of Stepping
Stepping was introduced to HBCU campuses in the early 1900s and the repetition of the movements grows stronger each year.
The steps and strolls are unique to each organization, but the message is the same.
"Stepping is not only accepted... it's encouraged. It is derived from African dance. And it's important for us to express ourselves in our artistic form," Walker said.
"From the 1900s down, it's important to see the shift and still incorporating those same steps back then to now," Student Government President Lamin Secka said.
Standing on the shoulders of their ancestors, they have history at their feet.
"As a Black woman, oftentimes we can't be unapologetically loud or boastful or cocky. So I feel like step is that route, we get to be as loud, or boisterous, or dramatic as we can be," Morris said.
Stepping into the future
The art of the dance shows the strength of the students.
"These are some of the brightest minds in the world, the most creative minds in the world. Some of the most genuine people in the world. I just want to showcase that people here at HBCUs matter," Walker said.
At HBCUs, they're honoring their past by stepping into their future.