Morehouse College, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's alma mater, recently announced a collaboration with MTV Entertainment Group to document the life and legacy of Dr. King.

According to HBCUBuzz, the short film "Here we are" was written and produced by the Morehouse College Cinema, Television, & Emerging Media Studies (CTEMS) program and Morehouse's Class of 2022 seniors. The film highlights the class of 1948 alum's impact on the civil rights movement and supported Black liberation.

In a statement by the Atlanta-based HBCU, Stephane Dunn, CTEMS Academic program director, explains that the students pitched the idea of telling the story of Dr. King during class.

"The specific approach was developed through an animated class pitching session and the students brainstorming outside of class meetings, then formally presenting the favored idea," Dunn said. "Two story approaches emerged for which story decks were prepared, and both were shot in late November, about two weeks after the King holiday project partnership idea was born. There were hiccups in pulling off the filming—as there often are when it comes to the filmmaking process—but the one that will air came together in the very limited time that we had."


MTV Entertainment Group has funded and provided resources to support the Morehouse seniors through this project. 

Chief Marketing Officer of MTV Entertainment Group, Jason White, told HBCUBuzz that collaborating with the students of Morehouse is the best way to honor the legacy and advocacy of Dr. King.

"MTV Entertainment Group is committed to using our platforms to lift up voices that need to be heard, so we felt there was no better way to honor Dr. King than to give this opportunity to the living embodiment of his legacy, the students at Morehouse College," White said. "This is also an extremely talented group of up-and-coming filmmakers, and they've created a powerful piece that we're proud to air across all our channels."

Viewers can enjoy the film honoring Dr. King's legacy through February on nine television channels: MTV, VH1, Country Music Television (CMT), Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Logo, TV Land, Pop TV, and Smithsonian.

Dr. King Jr. began studying at the age of 15 at Morehouse College in 1944, following his father's footsteps, Martin Luther King Sr., and his grandfather made him the third family member to attend the school. As a student at Morehouse, he was also active on the debate team, the student council, the minister's union, and the YMCA basketball team. While still in his teens, Dr. King graduated from the HBCU with a degree in sociology in 1948. 

In 1951, Dr. King attended Boston University and studied systematic theology. He received his doctorate in 1955. He continued to fight for equal rights for African Americans in America until he was assassinated in 1968.