The Talladega College Marching Band performed at President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January of 2017. It’s also one of Alabama’s historically black colleges.
“We don’t, you know, approve of Trump and his ways, but we’re just going to have the experience,” drum section leader Manassas Sanks told VICE News correspondent Antonia Hylton in Talladega, Alabama. “We have a small band room, we have a lot of messed up instruments, but we make do with what we have. The band is like a huge family.”
Students in the marching band of a historically black college in Alabama welcomed the announcement by the school’s president that they would participate in inauguration festivities for President-elect Donald Trump.
The decision follows several days of controversy after the Talladega College Marching Tornadoes initially accepted an invitation to perform on January 20, with critics saying the move amounts to support for Trump. He made comments during the presidential campaign that were widely viewed as disparaging to people of color and immigrants.
