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Start with the celebration, stay for the blueprint. We dig into what it actually takes to carry Black and Brown students from middle school affirmation to HBCU graduation—calling out performative mentorship, naming the prison pipeline, and replacing vague “support” with concrete logistics that feed, fund, and finish. Our guest, Tanisha, reveals BELL Academy—Beyond Excellence Ladies Leadership Academy—a nonprofit microschool where girls gain safety, voice, and hard skills: STEAM and robotics, hydroponics to nourish their communities, and entrepreneurship so every student forms an LLC by eighth grade. It’s identity and agency braided with real-world capacity.

We talk money without flinching. If you don’t trust institutional spend, deliver your support in-kind: printers, paper, art supplies, menstrual products, laundry detergent, even bedding. Care packages matter more than applause, and recurring help beats one-time scholarships. Churches, alumni, and neighbors can step in with rides home, on-campus relationships, and monthly boxes that bridge hunger and dignity. We also unpack FAFSA changes—fewer questions, higher stakes for errors—and why workshops are essential to keep students from getting kicked out of the process over a single misstep.

This conversation is powered by collaboration over ego. A closed door on a building becomes an open campus through community ties; women leaders share platforms, not credit. We spotlight children’s books that put representation on the page, a forthcoming Kwanzaa story, and a simple donor path that keeps tuition low for working moms. If you’ve ever asked “How do I help?” here’s the map: buy directly from BELL Academy’s Amazon registry, attend scholarship events with receipts, assemble a care package for a student, and mentor with consistency, not captions. Subscribe, share this episode with a friend who cares about HBCUs and girls’ education, and leave a review telling us one action you’ll take this week. Your follow-through can be the difference between an acceptance letter and a graduation day.

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