Cicley Gay has an interesting involvement in HBCU life. The chair of the board of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. She's found several ways to engage with HBCU athletics: by starting BLM Sports and through her son, who currently plays football at Jackson State University. She spoke about her HBCU work and new HBCU family ties in an interview on HBCU Pulse Radio with Destinee Kerr.

Gay says her son received offers from HBCUs and other non-HBCU programs, but he chose Jackson State for something bigger than money. Gay says her son received several offers from HBCUs and other non-HBCU programs, but he chose Jackson State for something bigger than money.

“It was the community,” Gay said. “There were people who reached out to him, loved on him, told him he was a part of a family. And that's what made the difference. There now are athletes who are getting paid lots of amounts of money for NIL. And that was actually secondary for him. It was about the love that he felt at the HBCU.”

Gay showed a similar level of intent to give back, including investing $200,000 in HBCU athletics through BLM Sports. Gay said the money is her own.

“That's my own money,” Gay said. “I've been working with nonprofits all over the world for over 10 years. I saved my money to launch this initiative and started giving it away to build infrastructure and help young people in schools and to help build NIL, name, image and likeness programs for HBCUs.”

She said her motivation starts at home. Before she held her current roles, she was a parent watching from the stands.

“Before I was the chairwoman of Black Lives Matter and the founder of BLM Sports, I was a mother in the stands,” Gay said. “I've raised three Black sons. I've spent years watching them pursue their dreams while also navigating these systems that don't always value them beyond what they can produce on the field.”

That experience, she said, shaped where she directs the movement's attention.

“I'm always looking at Black Lives Matter at areas where there are disparities between the people who are doing the work and people who are owning and in power. And athletics rose clearly to the top for me,” Gay said. “I don't just see jerseys or statistics. I see somebody's child. I see talent and sacrifice and possibility, and a future where our young people, particularly athletes, need investment. And so that's why this is really personal for me. That's why I launched BLM Sports.”

When asked how HBCUs should define NIL. Gay began with why the institutions matter to the movement.

“We can't keep saying Black Lives Matter and ignore the places where Black lives are being shaped every single day,” Gay said. “HBCU campuses, I think we know the statistics of the number of Black doctors and lawyers and judges, the teachers that come out of HBCUs. There's nothing like it.”

She pointed to one of her sons' first days at Morehouse as an example of what that environment offers.

“I remember my son, when he first started at Morehouse, he came home, he's like, ‘Mom, they call me brother. The teachers call me brother.' And for him, he had never been in a space like that before.”

On NIL, Gay said the opportunity created by recent legislation should reach beyond the athletes themselves.

“Black athletes shape enormous value in college sports,” Gay said. “And so now, because of legislation, we have the opportunity to make sure more of that value reaches the young people and the communities. NIL's about economic opportunity, but it's also about education.”

Gay said her own experience as a parent in recruiting conversations shows what the focus has been.

“They call it name, image, likeness, but really, and I've been through this with my own son, when you sit with those coaches, they're talking about a check. This is how much you're gonna get here. This is how much you're gonna get here. Name, image, likeness, if you really define it, is about your brand. And so instead of talking to the athletes about how much money they should get, they should be talking to them about owning their URL. Do you own your www.cicleygay.com? I just had to pay $5,000 to get somebody to give that to me, by the way, because I didn't own my own brand.”

She said that is the kind of education she wants HBCU athletes to get, and she was clear about how NIL looks at HBCUs compared with larger programs.

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“I want student athletes to understand contracts and financial literacy and ownership to build something that lasts beyond their playing careers,” Gay said. “A lot of these PWIs, those athletes make millions. At HBCUs, I don't know of any athletes that's making a million. But if you are making $30,000 as an 18-year-old and you made nothing before, then you absolutely have an opportunity to own and build and invest and create generational wealth and legacy for the long term.”

She summed up BLM Sports' mission in three words.

“That's what BLM Sports is about. It's care, capital and competition,” Gay said. “And it's not just about the check, it's about owning your brand and creating generational wealth.”

Gay also spoke about how HBCUs can partner with BLM Sports.

“If you're somebody who's an expert in NIL, we are looking for you,” Gay said. “If there's somebody who wants to be a campus ambassador and spread the word, if you wanna figure out how to fundraise.”

She also shared advice she received years ago from then-Senator Kamala Harris, after Harris visited a program Gay was part of and Gay asked how she decides which problem to solve.

“She said, ‘Start where you are,'” Gay said. “And so I think that's what our partnerships are. If you have a gift or a talent or a passion, and you see a hole in this movement or in this organization, don't be afraid to step up and offer that gift.”