Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s daughter joins ‘renaissance’ for historically Black colleges

When Zahara Jolie-Pitt starts school at Spelman College in Atlanta in a few weeks, she’ll be taking classes at the same historically Black women’s college that once helped prepare Stacey Abrams, Alice Walker and other distinguished Black women to become leaders in the world of politics, arts, education, business and philanthropy.

The 17-year-old daughter of actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt also will be joining what the New York Times recently called “a renaissance in recent years among the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities.”

Jolie posted a photo of Zahara with her “Spelman sisters” on Instagram Sunday, writing, “Congratulations to all new students starting this year. A very special place and an honor to have a family member as a new Spelman girl.”

Jolie also added a group of hashtags to her post, including, “#SpelmanCollege,” “#SpelmanSisters and “#HBCU.”

Zahara is the third oldest of Jolie and Pitt’s six children and the second after big brother Maddox to head off to college. The former couple adopted Zahara from Ethiopia in 2005. In a 2020 interview with Time 100 Talk, Jolie praised her eldest daughter as “an extraordinary African woman,” USA Today reported. 

“I have learned so much from her,” the actor, director and United Nations special envoy said. “She is my family, but she is an extraordinary African woman and her connection to her country, her continent, is her own and it’s something I only stand back in awe of.”

The New York Times reported that a growing number of Black students are turning their backs on Ivy League opportunities to attend historically Black colleges and universities, or H.B.C.U.s, because they are  known for their “nurturing mission, increased funding and growing visibility.”

These institutions were once the primary means for Black Americans to get a college education, but now  “top-tier H.B.C.U.s … are increasingly becoming the first choice for some of the nation’s most sought-after talent,” the New York Times reported. Spelman is known as a top-ranked H.B.C.U., the Times said.

Zahara Jolie-Pitt belongs to “a generation whose adolescence was shaped not only by the election of the first Black president but also by political and social strife that threatened the lives and liberties of Black Americans,” the New York Times reported, saying Black parents also have begun to embrace the idea of sending their children to historic Black colleges because of “concerns about racial hostility, students’ feelings of isolation in predominantly white schools and shifting views on what constitutes the pinnacle of higher education.”

Angelina and Zahara recently attended an event at Spelman, where new student orientation is scheduled to start Aug. 10 and classes are set to begin Aug. 17. Footage of Jolie also circulated online, which showed the Oscar winning actor joining with the students in dancing to an “Electric Boogie” mix, Newsweek reported.

Zahara has been accepted to Spelman College.

Angelina Jolie and Zee attended Spelhouse back to school send off and family reunion. pic.twitter.com/cbGOC1f6d4

— best of angelina jolie (@bestofajolie) July 31, 2022

Zahara has previously shown that she shares her mother’s passion for social justice, People reported. In December 2021, mother and daughter made a trip to Washington, D.C., to meet with advocates and politicians in support of the Violence Against Women Act.

“Honored to visit Washington, DC, with Zahara, working with advocates and lawmakers to modernize and strengthen the #ViolenceAgainstWomenAct to include protections for children’s health and safety, communities of color, tribes, LGBTQ survivors, rural areas, and all survivors,” Jolie wrote in an Instagram caption at the time.