Cxmmunity is still on a mission to make esports accessible in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

The black-owned nonprofit, led by Christopher Peay and Ryan Johnson, has announced its second annual HBCU Esports League Verizon Celebrity Pro-Am. Students will compete in Uno and Fortnite alongside the likes of T-Pain, Brett Gray, Mike Evans, Erin Ashley Simon, Allisha Gray, Bas, Tarik Cohen, FaZe Swagg, Sonny Digital, and more.

“We want to continue to elevate and raise awareness for HBCU esports programs while showing these schools and students that there are some really cool people in sports, entertainment and music supporting the gaming space. “, Johnson told AfroTech exclusively.

In addition to playing alongside celebrity favorites, students can also expect a $10,000 prize pool with $2,000 for the Uno segment going to the school’s esports programs and $8,000 for the Fortnite tournament to support scholarships. Johnson hopes the event will remind minority players that there is a place for them in the industry.

“We are building a bigger table. Historically, the black community has not viewed games or video games as a space where you can actually grow and thrive. We started this when we learned that 83% of African American teens play video games weekly, but only 2% of video game developers are African American. That being said, our message is that there are places in this industry for us. We help drive a lot of culture when it comes to gaming,” Johnson said.

He continued, “When you look at the industry, you don’t see people like us. HBCU Esports will show that gaming is not just a tool for distraction, but is used in many other ways as a tool for empowerment and education. We want our audience to take away from that “Wow, I didn’t know I could work in the game”. I didn’t know I could be a coder” or “I didn’t know I could be a graphic designer”.