By Quentin Monasterial
Courier Staff Reporter/Columnist
It’s Black History Month, and James Logan’s Black Student Union wants to commemorate all of history’s colorful moments.
So, today, the 25th of February, they will be hosting an event at the Spot from 6pm to 8pm. There, a series of performances ranging anywhere from speeches to dances will be taking place. In fact, the Forensics team will be contributing to this celebration with some of their own performances.
Mukasha, one of BSU’s members, says that will be “[talking] about black leaders” during the celebration. Talking about our history and learning from it will keep us from making the same mistakes we’ve made in the past; it will also teach us to how to go about things in a better way. This claim becomes evident in modern society, where racism is still prevalent, where, at the same time, we aren’t conscious of our history.
Hence, the importance of Black History Month. It forces us to acknowledge our history. And there are few parts of history deserving of more attention than the atrocities committed against African Americans in the past (the only other parts deserving of just as much attention are the equally atrocious crimes committed against other people of color).
Mukasha continues, “We are here and we are here to stay,” indicating BSU’s stance on modern injustices that the Black community is currently facing. BSU’s efforts, however, aren’t limited to the commemoration of black leaders in the past. They had planned a “drop out” (James Logan wouldn’t be indifferent to these efforts either, because the school has participated in a “walk out” before), which would draw attention to the fact that Michael Brown’s body was left, dead, on the ground for ridiculously long amount of time. She said the school won’t allow it, however, so instead, they are doing something else, this Black History Month Celebration.
If you want more information about the event, there should be flyers around school if you haven’t already seen. BSU has an Instagram if you want to more information about the club itself: @jlhs__bsu.
Mukasha concludes, “we are determined to make a difference, whether it takes months–no matter what, we are still here.” Attending this celebration would be a great way to support their efforts and the efforts of the leaders they will be celebrating: to make the world a more equal, just and humane place.
