Meet the young men behind the Black Excellence Movement at VCU, twins Terrence and Terry Everett, Jonathan Brooks and Schyler Landrum. These four young men have taken the Internet by storm by promoting black excellence and achievement specifically targeting those interested in STEM majors.
The four freshmen started the movement with a video that would soon go viral after being posted on Twitter one night. The video of Terry, Terrence and Jonathan that was filmed by Schyler, is the three of them rapping about their majors and what career fields they hope to pursue once they graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University.
What are some organizations that all of you are a part of together on VCU’s campus?
All: “Some things we are all involved in on campus are FACT @ VCU, Student Ambassadors of VCU, Community Council, Residents Hall Association and Students Today Ambassadors Tomorrow.”
Who were your major influences in making the video?
Terry: “Everyone in a STEM major was an influence because most people believe that being a STEM major is very demanding and cannot be fun and so just showing that it can be fun was what influenced the video for myself.”
What were you all doing before the video?
Terrence: “We were just coming back from Jonah’s at VCU and I told Terry let’s make a video ’cause we were bored an had nothing to do. Then Terry was like let’s do it to the beat on what is known as the “geeked up challenge.” We wanted to put a positive spin to it because most of the other videos are very negative.”
So, are you single?
Terrence: “YES.”
Jonathan: “Yes, I am look me up Jonathan Brooks.”
Terry: “Yes I am, but I’m not looking for any type of relationship right now simply because I want to focus on school and growing into my own self”
Schyler: “I’m chillin.” (so yes he’s single too)
How does it feel to be looked at as a role model?
Terrence: “It’s a blessing and also a lot of pressure. I didn’t imagine that people would be inboxing me and DM me on twitter and stuff like that saying that they look up to me and then telling me their problems and explaining to me how we inspire them. It’s crazy what 30 seconds can do for one persons life.”
Terry: “Like Terrence said there are a lot of pressures, but then again I wouldn’t really want to be recognized for anything else. To know that I can instill a type of motivation in somebody that people who have come before me have instilled into me is definitely a good feeling. As far as people of color being inspired and just knowing that we can keep our culture and still keep our goals and visions prevalent it feels good to know that what we are rapping about is motivating to others. We’re not even rappers so it really is a rewarding feeling to be a role model.”
Jonathan: “They’ve pretty much covered it, but it’s definitely a good feeling to know that you’re making a change in someone’s life doing something different and aspiring to be better.”
Do you guys (Terrence, Terry & Jonathan) get a lot of “shade” or backlash from the black community because you guys are making videos and trying to promote positivity for other people of color?
Terrence: “OH MY GOSH Girl! Here’s the thing we get a good amount of shade or backlash. The thing is though I wasn’t expecting it. Like I expected it from the white people (no offense), but to hear it from my own people or my own community it kind of hurts honestly. I was talking to Jonathan the other day and he said something like if we’re all working toward the same goal then why does it matter who is doing it? Sometimes they take advantage of image and they’ll comment on Twitter saying yeah you can do this, but what are you actually doing for the community?”
Do you Schyler get a lot of “shade” or backlash from the white community for associating yourself with the black excellence movement?
Schyler: “It’s kind of funny, because now that everyone knows that I’m the white guy filming the videos a lot of people will ask me, ‘Well why do you hang out with all these black guys?’ Like it doesn’t matter who I hang out with or what color of their skin they are. By being a part of this I’ve grown to understand more about what the movement actually is even though I’m not physically an attribute to the Black Excellence Movement. When I try to explain that to other white people they don’t listen because at first, I, myself didn’t know what the Black Excellence Movement stood for until the twins and these two security guards explained to me and showed me videos of how and why the black community is treated differently. I never, as a white man, had ever seen or experienced it until they brought it to my attention. I’m here mainly for the ride and to be the support and film any video when they need me.”
What is Black Excellence to you?
Terrence: “I think Black Excellence to me is bringing the attention and appreciation back to our culture because we’ve become so deviated from it. It’s important for African American people to appreciate themselves and it’s important that we also encourage other minorities to do the same.”
Terry: “To me it’s more of a mentality or mindset. We often see Caucasian or Anglo-Saxon individuals at a much higher level than ourselves and we really want to bring more acknowledgements to African Americans or Melanin achievements. However now Black Excellence has taken a turn for the worse. It’s kind of the reason why we included Schyler into our interviews because we don’t want it to be showed over someone else, we just want it acknowledged. That’s part of why we get so much shade from the black community because they don’t want us to have a white counterpart included.”
Jonathan: “It’s changing the negative perception that others have of us and uplifting our own people. Because that doesn’t happen often.”
Schyler: “It’s opening our eyes and seeing what’s out there without discriminating. Understand that we are not in the past and that we should progress and get to know and understand everyone’s culture by being open minded.”
Check out their video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJGifLjjsaY