After the US TikTok ban was lifted, Cierra Hinton noticed her algorithm was different. She began seeing Black professors sharing their coursework as if they were in a classroom. The catalytic agent, Dr. Leah Barlow—a professor at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T)—kicked off a movement with her intro to African American studies series, opening the flood gates for other educators to follow suit. Soon, users dubbed the movement #TikTokUniversity, which has been 300M+ times on TikTok.
A sixth grade math teacher herself, Hinton was inspired to create a reaction video to Barlow’s post, commending her and the other professors on helping people learn no matter where they are.
“I commented under one of the videos saying ‘I love it here!’ because I really do,” Hinton shares with ESSENCE. “And when I was seeing all of these Black professors flooding my timeline, it felt like being at an HBCU.”
People began to respond to Hinton’s reaction video, many of whom agreed with the notion that the space was beginning to feel like a semester at a historically Black college.
“We just started building the lore around what is now HillmanTok,” she explains. She said the name was inspired by the fictional but incredibly influential university the 1980s/1990s sitcom ‘A Different World’ was set in. In less than two weeks, HillmanTok has commanded a huge following. To date, the tag HillmanTock boasts 100M+ mentions. Professors and subject matter experts, including renowned hip hop journalist Toure Neblett, have now started to share their own “college course” under the HillmanTok University moniker.
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Hinton is not taking the support lightly. In just a few days she’s created a dedicated TikTok page for HillmanTok University and bought the domain rights for the official website. She even created a school emblem and has chosen a mascot for the school.
“The colors are inspired by Hillman’s yellow and maroon colorway,” she explains. “And we have a panther as our mascot because I love T’Challa.” She also acknowledges the parallels between the grassroots movement being built amongst Black users of TikTok, and the Black students a part of the Black Panther organization.
Hinton says more than 400 courses are being offered, and interested students can sign up now.
When asked about any plans for monetization in exchange for all her hard work, she rebuffed the idea.
“I’m not really thinking about that right now,” she says. “This has been enough—the support and acknowledgement.”
Homeless just a year ago due to displacement, Hinton isn’t one to place too much value on money.
“I’m just thankful to be stable and to truly be seeing so many dreams come true, not only for myself, but for others as well,” she says. “People told me that they always wanted to go back to college, but they couldn’t because of financial aid. They thought that they were too old. Family got in the way. Now they’re getting the opportunity to go get an education.”