We've told you about Jeremiah Armstead, a basketball player, and the mad dash to get him out of homelessness. Now, meet the man who made college happen.
In a story we've been following since this summer we highlight one more piece of the puzzle. We've told you about basketball playerArmstead, who'd been unhoused, is now at Fisk University in
, Class of 2026. He'd wanted to go to an HBCU, also known as Historically Black College and Universities.A Fisk alum, Stephen Bernstein, got him in. We met up with Bernstein and Armstead this summer in Watts. Turns out Bernstein has his own unique story. He's a white man who was welcomed at this HBCU when he went to college. The Californian says he went to visit a friend on the Fisk baseball team and got invited to join the team too. He notes from 1988 to 1992 he was "the only caucasian on campus."
Bernstein returned to Los Angeles and founded We Educate Brilliant Minds to get inner-city kids into HBCUs. Armstead almost went unseen. The recent high school grad from Long Beach Poly was staying with his mom, sister and brother at a domestic violence shelter founded by the nonprofit, the