Hezekiah Walker looks to bring gospel music center to HBCU

3 years ago 329

LOS ANGELES – Hezekiah Walker became a pupil astatine Virginia Union University 2 years ago, but the Grammy-winning gospel vocalist took his collegiate acquisition to the adjacent level by opening a gospel euphony halfway connected the campus.

He volition pb the Hezekiah Walker Center of Gospel Music astatine Virginia Union University, successful Richmond, Virginia. It’s being dubbed arsenic the archetypal world halfway focused connected gospel euphony astatine an historically Black assemblage oregon assemblage wherever students tin larn the taste and concern aspects of the genre and industry.

Walker said the halfway — which opens successful Spring 2022 — would supply a tremendous outlet to “house our music.”

“I thought it was a large accidental to invitation radical to travel to Virginia Union for gospel euphony and they tin larn astir our heritage,” said Walker, a two-time Grammy winner. He wants to marque Virginia Union a premier destination for gospel euphony successful hopes of breathing enthusiasm into a younger procreation astir the genre’s culture.

With assistance from the school's administration, Walker volition curate the center’s program geared toward aspiring songwriters, instrumentalists, vocalists, producers, managers and publicists wrong the gospel realm. He said the schoolhouse volition thatch students chiefly astir gospel euphony dissimilar immoderate different college.

Courses volition beryllium disposable to each Virginia Union students. Certification courses related to enactment successful the manufacture volition besides beryllium disposable to the wide public.

“When we nonstop our kids to their schools, they benignant of larn their music,” said the singer, who pastors a religion successful New York. “They larn their mode of doing gospel. When those kids travel backmost to our churches and travel backmost to our culture, they spell ‘We don’t privation that.’ We’re losing our kids by the day.”

Two years ago, Walker decided to instrumentality backmost to school. He spent immoderate clip researching universities who are known for their theological seminary schools and recovered that Virginia Union, a backstage Black university, had 1 of the champion successful the country.

After registering, Walker was accepted into Virginia Union’s Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology, wherever he’s presently a second-year student. But erstwhile the renowned gospel vocalist initially stepped connected campus, helium was mostly incognito sporting his chapeau backward with sunglasses.

But Walker’s infinitesimal of obscurity lasted for a mates months until helium met with Virginia Union president Hakim J. Lucas. The gospel vocalist said Lucas was unaware helium was a pupil until a module subordinate informed him.

Initially, the speech was astir Walker performing successful a concert. But the 2 came up with the expansive thought to make a gospel euphony schoolhouse and person 1 of the buildings connected field into the center, which volition don Walker’s afloat name.

“Gospel is simply a portion of the bequest and communicative of the travel of Black spirituality, Black societal justness and Black religion,” Lucas said. “If we’re going to beryllium superior arsenic an institution, committing ourselves to the empowerment of Black people, you person to make a mode to survey each of these institutions.”

Lucas said the assemblage felt compelled to clasp gospel due to the fact that “we understood the world roots of the music.”

“You person different universities teaching radical that gospel euphony is not Christian euphony and that it edifies thing else,” Lucas said. “We’re present to basal up and accidental ‘No, gospel euphony is not lone a portion of the Black experience, it’s captious for the Black and African American spiritual experience.’ But it’s besides a portion of our continued conflict for societal justice.”

Walker is known for gospel songs specified arsenic “Souled Out,'' ”Every Praise" and the Grammy-nominated "Better.''

He believes his halfway tin assistance up-and-comers who are consenting to instrumentality pridefulness successful uplifting the genre, which helium thinks is disconnected from different areas of the euphony industry. He said exploring the past and milestones of the genre — similar the archetypal clip a gospel creator won a Grammy oregon received a large royalty cheque — are important to assistance students admit those who paved the mode for them.

“We request to thatch our radical truthful they tin recognize it,” helium said. “Then they tin admit wherever we are contiguous and wherever we’re going arsenic we look backmost to wherever we travel from.”

While Walker preps for the gospel center's opening and continues arsenic a student, he's besides moving connected a caller album, which helium expects to merchandise successful October. He worked with Teddy Riley to make a opus with a New Jack Swing vibe meshed with inspirational messages.

“I'm acceptable to curate to different radical of people,” helium said. “I'm acceptable to sing to different group. I deliberation the religion has been saturated with each antithetic kinds of artists, which I'm grateful for. I'm a portion of it. But I'm acceptable for a caller radical of radical that I bring immoderate inspiration.”

Read Entire Article