Dr. Amina Wallace adjusted her glasses and stared at the blinking cursor on her grant proposal. The deadline was three days away, and she still couldn’t find the right angle. Not for the science– she had that down. The issue was the politics.
Jamal frowned. “Feels like we’re playing a rigged game.”
She nodded. “It is. But we play anyway. And we get smarter about the rules.”
Langston Hill University, a historically Black college tucked in Georgia’s red clay belt, wasn’t on the usual radar of major research funders. The National Science Foundation, NIH, Department of Energy– big names with big money– favored Ivy League resumes and R1 institutions with endowments that dwarfed the budget of any HBCU’s annual operating budget. But Amina wasn’t just a biologist. She was a strategist. And in academia, research sometimes felt like war.
She closed the document and glanced at her wall: photos of Black scientists, pioneers, rebels, and mentors. Her office was modest, but the legacy it held was massive. Her work in environmental toxicology focused on how pollutants disproportionately affected Black communities in the South. Her research wasn’t abstract. It was about her neighbors. And that made it political—something her reviewers never said outright, but always implied in their critiques.
“Interesting focus,” one review had said. “But how does this scale to a national context?”
Translation: Why should we care about Black folks in Georgia?
This was the real fight. At predominantly white institutions (PWIs), research was judged on innovation. At HBCUs, it was judged on relevance and worthiness—an unspoken challenge to prove that Black lives were not only interesting subjects of study, but also deserving of federal investment.
A knock on her door broke her focus.
“Hey Dr. Wallace,” said Jamal, her grad student. “You got a minute?”
She nodded, motioning him in.
“I was reading that NSF award list again. Twenty awards in our field. Not one to an HBCU.”
She wasn’t surprised. “That’s the usual.”
“Even when the proposals are solid?”
Amina paused. “Especially when the proposals are solid. They expect us to be excellent without access. Meanwhile, other institutions get funding to build excellence.”
Jamal frowned. “Feels like we’re playing a rigged game.”
She nodded. “It is. But we play anyway. And we get smarter about the rules.”
In time of ancient gods, warlords and kings, a land in turmoil cried out for a hero. She was Xena, a mighty princess forged in the heat of battle. The power. The passion. The danger. Her courage will change the world.
Being evil has a price. I hear a lot of little secrets. Tell me yours, and I’ll keep it. You oughta know my name by now, better think twice. Being evil has a price. I’ve got a nasty reputation. Not a bit of hesitation, you better think twice. ‘Cause being evil has a price.
The time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights. It’s time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight! It’s time to put on makeup, it’s time to dress up right. It’s time to raise the curtain on the Muppet Show tonight. Why do we always come here? I guess we’ll never know. It’s like a kind of torture to have to watch the show! And now let’s get things started – why don’t you get things started? It’s time to get things started on the most sensational inspirational celebrational Muppetational… This is what we call the Muppet Show!
Chosen from among all others by the Immortal Elders – Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, Mercury – Billy Batson and his mentor travel the highways and byways of the land on a never-ending mission: to right wrongs, to develop understanding, and to seek justice for all! In time of dire need, young Billy has been granted the power by the Immortals to summon awesome forces at the utterance of a single word – SHAZAM – a word which transforms him in a flash into the mightiest of mortal beings, Captain Marvel!
