Monday Niters Talk About Chiefs’ Draft, HBCUs, The Castle

Earlier this month, Shanelle Smith was assigned to become the next Principal of Lincoln College Prep, here in Kansas City. And she’s also been the ombudswoman for igniting the interest in and citing the advantages of attending HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). That’s the reason she was present at the Monday Niters’ weekly Zoom meeting, this past Monday night. In fact, she was invited specifically to celebrate and acknowledge the Chiefs’ drafting of the first HBCU player, in an awful long time. Little did she know then, that she was entering a den of Kansas City’s little-known history, fronted by a love for an NFL franchise, affectionately known as the Kansas City Chiefs.

Well, we’ll get back to Shanelle a little later. Before Shanelle signed on to our weekly Zoom meeting, the Monday Niters had already begun to reminisce and identify various ex-Chiefs’ players that had come from HBCUs, way back fifty or so years ago, back in the sixties. That Super Bowl team was full of former HBCU alumni. Names like Buck Buchanan (Grambling); Jim Kearney (Prairie View); Taylor (Prairie View);

Emmitt Thomas (Bishop College); Willie Lanier (Morgan State); Ernie Ladd (Grambling); and Jim Marsalis (Tennessee State) were just a few HBCU players that were mentioned by the Monday Niters. Clearly, the current Chiefs’ organizations seem unwilling to highlight these overlooked years for whatever reason. But, Kansas City octogenarians like the Monday Niters, the entire black community actually adopted the entire Chiefs’ organization, and especially those players who hailed from the HBCUs, the organization Shanelle came to talk about. Our churches, our restaurants, and a bevy of community agencies welcomed these players into our lives. However, the Chiefs, as an organization, seem to overlook this part of their history.

And just before that conversation got fully underway, the Monday Niters hugged and kissed themselves… for being alumni of HBCUs, themselves. Shanelle probably didn’t know that the Monday Niters were first in line to buy season tickets, to all the games played at the old Municipal

Stadium. That’s because that was a way of welcoming fellow HBCU alumni to their city. For instance, Dr Charles Allen graduated from Lincoln University. So did Ollie Hubbard and the late Walt Livingston. Carl Clark reminded us that the late Ike Gardner was an alumni of Howard University. And somebody alertly remembered that former Kansas City Mayor Bubba Cleaver graduated from Prairie View. And of course, Coach Jerry Price inserted himself as a Hall of Fame athlete and graduate of Langston and so was former Monday Niter, Harry Sypert.

Meanwhile, the ever-effervescent Shanelle Smith began to tell the group about her work with this evolving organization, devoted entirely to the recruitment and the advancement of HBCUs, world-wide. As chair of the board, Shanelle reported that this organization is in touch with about 200-400 prospective HBCU recruits yearly, since the organization began back in 2014. From the moment she linked into our Zoom meeting, I knew that this lively discussion about HBCUs would dominate the entire hour. She went on to share that this particular HBCU organization has already developed a 5-year plan; and has robustly embraced social media Further, they are able to sell HBCU merchandise … all to help this noteworthy organization attract this generation of high school students to HBCUs. Not surprisingly, we all kinda forgot that we had invited Shanelle, to see what her organization was doing, to welcome newly-drafted Chiefs’ player, Joshua Williams of Fayetteville State University, an HBCU. The conversation just went another way. Hmmm.

Quite honestly, I’m not sure exactly how and why the HBCU conversation got diverted to talking solely about Lincoln College Preparatory High School, where Shanelle will begin her work in July. Anyhow, these history-minded Monday Niters grabbed onto this conversation, and instantly, we had switched entirely, away from HBCUs. The ever-alert Dr. Allen said he graduated from there, in 1958. So did fellow Monday Niter Ollie Hubbard and Carl Clark (1952). And Coach Jerry Price inserted himself into the mix, by saying that he was a head coach there at Lincoln College Prep, for 18 years. Meanwhile, even Ed West joined in by stating that his first job out of Pittsburg State College was at the “castle on the hill”. Being from a small town myself, I had never witnessed such pride, among my fellow Monday Niters. Blackness, propelled by a matchless HBCU education. Wow, I was so proud to know these guys. And so was Shanelle, as she added that both she and her parents were graduates of Lincoln College Prep. By this time, I was beaming that we had invited Shanelle…because she embodied why it was important, to write down our black history….for a lot can soon be forgotten or replaced. Hmmm. But what about Joshua Williams, the Chiefs 2022, fourth-round draft selection? Oh, did we forget that was our original reason for inviting Shanelle? Well?

If there had been enough time, I would have shared that the newly-drafted Joshua Williams would probably make the Chiefs’ team, just like other HBCU players, like Marsalis and Thomas and Kearney. That’s because this Williams guy is packing some fast legs, running the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds. And he can knock down passes, tackle well and hang with the best NFL receivers. At the beginning he will start off as a special teams player. Anyway, I couldn’t even tell the guys where Fayetteville State University is. Fortunately, I just couldn’t get a word in about the Chiefs’ fourthround selection, mainly because the conversation quickly turned to those Monday Niters, whose parents who had graduated from Lincoln College Prep. Both Dr. Allen and Carl Clark shared that both their fathers had graduated from there, way back in the 1930s. And, as the Zoom call ended, I knew we would be visiting this conversation again and again. After all, that’s my job with the Monday Niters…. to write down our history….because it’s the right thing to do…. Plus, it’s fun to watch. Like the first Chiefs’ HBCU players.