When Hakim Braud was a student at San Jose State University in the early 1970s, he and other African-American undergraduates constantly tried to recruit more black students to the call of higher education.

On Saturday, Braud was back on campus, happily surrounded by thousands of black folks gathered in a swell of excitement for reasons that ranged from cultural and educational to recreational and athletic.

``This crowd is like a good gumbo,'' beamed Braud, standing in the music-laden midst of the Multicultural Festival that was part of a weekend of gala events surrounding the Literacy Classic football game. ``I've never seen so many beautiful and smart black people at San Jose State in my life.''

The festival and a college fair featuring booths from historically black colleges and universities were held Saturday morning next to Spartan Stadium, site of the afternoon contest that saw San Jose State defeat Grambling State University, 29-0.

But more important than the game was the cause of the gathering to fund literacy programs and to tout the viability of the nation's 103 historically black colleges. The event also created a rare Bay Area opportunity for numerous black college alums to interact on a sunny, late-summer day.

``All these beautiful black people, old and young, coming together in the name of literacy and learning just takes my breath away,'' Braud continued, while twirling and gawking at the buzzing crowd wearing T-shirts bearing the names of colleges and long-cherished black fraternities and sororities. ``Look around and you can see so many people pushing our young people to high aspirations, to become the leaders of the future. We are not all gangbangers, winos and drug addicts. We are a proud people with a proud heritage, a shining example of what it means to be American.''

Bringing Grambling and its famous Tiger Marching Band to San Jose was proposed last year by Fitz Hill, San Jose State's third-year football coach. Joining forces with a coalition of historically black colleges and universities, the Literacy Classic idea exploded into a full weekend of speeches, dinners, demonstrations, fairs, fun and the game.

On Saturday, the usual tailgating party before the football game featured friendly competition. Spartan fans came bearing bratwursts and brew, as usual, but they also made room for Grambling fans toting domino game tables and huge barbecue grills.

``You have to support a game like this,'' said Walter Jackson, a deputy district attorney from Alameda County, whose parents and siblings attended predominantly black Southern University, in Louisiana like Grambling. ``We have graduates driving in from Los Angeles, Oakland, even Baton Rouge. Anytime we get a chance to see a great black school west of the Mississippi, you know we're going to do whatever we can to come out, see folks and have some fun.''

Sonia Alcazar, a San Jose native, just graduated from Tuskegee University in Alabama with a degree in psychology and social work. For her, a huge local gathering of people involved with and interested in black educational institutions was a treat.

``I went on the annual tour of black colleges, and as soon as I saw Tuskegee I knew that was the place for me,'' said Alcazar, a 1999 graduate of Homestead High School.

Each year a San Jose education activist, Carl Ray, organizes a trip that takes California students on a tour of the colleges on the East Coast and in the Deep South. That 16-year-old program has been so successful that at Tuskegee alone, 700 of the 3,500 students are Californians.

``Young people in California need to be exposed to those schools so they know they have wider options available to them,'' Alcazar said. ``And those schools help you develop lasting friendships and amazing black networking possibilities that reach every corner of the country.''

The festival booths offered everything from African-American literature to ethnic collectible dolls. The soul food available -- catfish, fried chicken, peach cobbler, barbecue ribs -- inspired lines that snaked out 40 yards or more.

Meanwhile, the educational area was packed with people meeting and greeting potential students and former alums of schools whot educated generations of blacks when other institutions were closed to them. That's why today those schools -- many former colleges have become fully accredited universities -- still hold cherished rank among blacks.

``If 100 black kids go to your typical college or university, approximately 20 to 25 of them will graduate,'' said Pat Deamer, a graduate of Southern University who works with the coalition of black schools. She says 60 to 65 of those same 100 students will graduate if they attend black schools.

``We want black kids to go anywhere they possibly can to get a good education,'' said Deamer, ``but we also want them to know they have options away from California at places that know who they are, understand where they've been, will nurture them, not just educationally but completely.''