FFRF, with the financial backing of the individual donors, has collaborated with the Secular Student Alliance to select, announce and distribute these student awards. (As per SSA policy to help protect the students’ identities, only the students’ first names are used.)
A junior communications major at Morehouse College, Daniel wants to become a sports broadcaster. When Daniel was 9, his grandfather shed light on the idea that there was no higher power after Daniel’s mother was unable to answer some of his questions about Christianity. Growing up, he did not tell others that he was a nonbeliever.
Daniel says being a Black atheist is almost unheard of in his community. Today, Daniel often mentors young Black men who question religion and encourages them to be freethinkers. This semester, Daniel plans to find more Black men who have a similar mindset and create a Black secular club. Starting a nonreligious student club at a Historically Black College or University is difficult. He says it would allow more Black men and women to view life from a different spectrum and not be bound by the shackles of religion.
FFRF thanks the estate of Cliff Richards for this scholarship for HBCU students.
