Dozens of students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) participated in a two-week creative arts program funded by Apple’s Racial Equality and Justice Initiative, the iPhone giant said Thursday.
Apple’s Propel Center and Apple Music’s Nashville office worked with two universities on the program. It aims to help students pursue creative and executive careers in the arts, particularly music.
50 HBCU students take part in Apple’s ‘What’s Your Superpower?’ creative arts program
Apple’s Propel Center, founded in 2021, organized the June program. In it, 50 students from 19 HBCUs took part in a 10-day experience entitled “What’s Your Superpower?” The course tries to empower students to embrace their authentic selves in their future careers, Apple said.
Hosted at Tennessee State University in Nashville and Clark Atlanta University, participants received mentoring from HBCU faculty and industry professionals in creative and executive roles. Students also worked with experts at the Apple Music Nashville office. The Propel Center, established through a $25 million Apple Racial Equality and Justice Initiative investment, designed the curriculum. It’s meant to create new pathways for HBCU students in highly competitive career fields like music performance, production and management.
“Subject-matter experts are everything along this journey,” says Dr. Lisa Herring, the Propel Center’s president. “There’s nothing more powerful than for a student to be able to interface with someone who is the expert as they seek to become one. Apple’s belief in being able to not only be a partner, but to be at the table, move from the table, and then be in the field, and then be side by side with our students and instructors — that’s commitment down to the details.”
Propel Center: Creative arts and much more
Photo: Apple
The Propel Center offers educational programming to HBCUs in various disciplines, including technology-focused areas like AI, AR, and app development, as well as creative arts, entertainment, design, agriculture and social justice.
“When we launched our Racial Equity and Justice Initiative four years ago, we did so with a clear mission to advance equity and create greater access to opportunity for under-resourced communities,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives.
“These are persistent and systemic challenges, and we are committed to working with partners, including Propel Center, to close the existing gaps and achieve meaningful change,” she added. “Our collaboration with Propel is designed to provide talented students with the technology, resources and expertise they need to become industry leaders, whether they pursue roles in arts and entertainment, technology or beyond.”
Apple Music’s Nashville tie-in
Photo: Apple
In Nashville, students met with Apple Music’s global head of Hip Hop and R&B, Ebro Darden, at the National Museum of African American Music. They also worked with experts at Apple Music and Universal Music Group’s East Iris Studios.
Participants collaborated on projects themed “Propelling Preservation,” showcasing Black creatives’ contributions to social movements and exploring ways to sustain HBCU culture. Teams were assigned genres and tasked with recording singles, creating marketing plans, and shooting visual campaigns using iPhones.
Some students worked with industry professionals, including artist and producer Fresh Ayr, and received production assistance from UMG East Iris Studios using Logic Pro.
Sylvester Polk, a music engineer mentor and teacher at Bethune-Cookman University in Florida, praised the accelerator for providing students with a comprehensive understanding of the industry, regardless of their prior experience.
“A lot of the students are coming from various schools and various backgrounds,” he said. “Some of them have been exposed to a lot already, some of them don’t have any idea. There’s so many fields and so many skills that are required in various areas that it can be open to lots of people. The accelerator has been great for providing the students with a holistic understanding of what the industry is and how it works, and Propel has been able to provide an extension to the classroom.”
Source: Apple
