The Mississippi Valley State College “Imply Inexperienced Marching Machine” has been invited to carry out on the sixtieth Presidential Inauguration Parade in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 2025. The occasion will comply with Donald Trump’s swearing-in because the forty seventh President of the US.
The establishment has acknowledged the full funds for this historic journey is $350,000, which incorporates journey, lodging, meals, and tools transportation. The band is actively elevating funds to cowl these bills.
“This isn’t only a second of satisfaction for our college however for the complete state of Mississippi,” stated Dr. Jerryl Briggs, President of Mississippi Valley State in an announcement launched by the establishment. “It is a chance to showcase our legacy, have fun our tradition, and make investments sooner or later leaders of our group.”
The “Imply Inexperienced Marching Machine” has a historical past of acting at occasions akin to this. They made historical past in 1965 by turning into the primary HBCU band to march within the Event of Roses Parade, returning once more in 1968. That very same 12 months, they carried out in President Richard Nixon’s inaugural parade.
Mississippi Valley State now joins Talladega Faculty because the second HBCU band to carry out at Trump’s presidential inauguration. Talladega Faculty’s “Nice Twister Marching Band” carried out at Trump’s first inauguration in 2017. Talladega raised $667,000 from a fundraiser for his or her journey, surpassing their preliminary $75,000 aim by a major margin.
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Talladega’s participation within the inauguration sparked widespread criticism throughout the HBCU group—a backlash Mississippi Valley State can be prone to encounter for making the same resolution.
Dr. William Harvey, the previous longtime president of Hampton College, penned a CNN op-ed in 2017, the place he defended his alma mater’s resolution to take part within the inaugural parade.
“The marching band of my alma mater, Talladega Faculty, the oldest traditionally black school in Alabama, accepted an invite to take part in Donald Trump’s inaugural parade. Many individuals, together with some Talladega alumni, are upset. They shouldn’t be. It’s an honor to take part within the inauguration of any president of the US. Talladega and its band will probably be celebrating the peaceable transition of energy, an indicator of America’s democracy.
He continued, “America is a proud and various democracy. There’ll at all times be variations of opinion as to who ought to lead our nation and the way they need to lead it. Nevertheless, these variations shouldn’t stop us from taking part in our nation’s democratic processes, nor ought to they preclude the Talladega band college students from performing on the inauguration of President Trump.”