HBCU Spelman College recently announced that journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones will take part in their 2023 Commencement Ceremony.
Scheduled for May 21 at the Georgia International Convention Center, the ceremony will have Hannah-Jones serve as the keynote speaker for the graduating class of 486 students. Along with the address, Hannah-Jones will also receive a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.
Throughout her career, Hannah-Jones has investigated injustice and racial inequality as a staff writer for The New York Times. In recent years, she began “The 1619 Project,” an initiative that’s ongoing by The New York Times Magazine and was developed into a Hulu series. Hannah-Jones also is the Knight Chair of Race and Journalism at Howard University; at the HBCU, she helped found the Center for Journalism & Democracy.
Hannah-Jones also helped create the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting in order to increase the number of BIPOC investigative reporters and editors.
For her work, she’s won the Pulitzer Prize, the Knight Award for Public Service, the MacArthur “Genius” Grant and the National Magazine Award, amongst others.
The Atlanta HBCU announced the new speaker on Wednesday through Twitter with a press release attached to the post. “We are pleased to announce Pulitzer Prize-winning creator Nikole Hannah-Jones as [the] keynote speaker for Spelman College’s 136th Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 21, 2023. Award-winning actress Tracee Ellis Ross will receive an honorary degree,” wrote Spelman College on their social media page.
“I am so honored and excited to be the Spelman College 136th commencement speaker this year on May 23,” responded the journalist in a post on Instagram.
Alongside Hannah-Jones, Ross will also take part in the ceremony. The actress is set to receive a Doctor of Fine Arts for her career in acting. After graduating from Brown University with a theater degree, she became known for her roles in shows such as “Girlfriends” and “Reed Between the Lines.”
For her role as Dr. Rainbow Johnson in “Black-ish,” Ross achieved mainstream success. Along with the NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series,” her portrayal of the character in the role won her the Golden Globe Award for “Best Actress- Television Series Musical or Comedy.”
Ross was also nominated for a BET Award for “Best Actress” and a Primetime Emmy Award for “Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series” for her work on “Black-ish.”
Outside of her roles as an actress, Ross has founded her own hair care brand, PATTERN Beauty, and produced “I Am America,” a ten-episode podcast dedicated to exploring different communities in the U.S.
