BSU highlights Black history during February

The Black Student Union is working hard during Black History Month. They have videos planned out to watch in students’ 3rd-hour classes on Fridays at the start of class. Another one of the sponsored activities the BSU has engaged in is the door-decorating contest for the entire month of February.

Senior Midnight Thornton is part of the leadership committee for the Black Student Union. She said for the door decorations, “Teachers pick quotes or a person that is related to that subject. At the end of the week, we have everyone vote and we choose the winner. This helps educate people and celebrate. There are a lot of things that black figures have done but we don’t hear about them. So it just gives them the recognition they deserve because there’s a lot of things we wouldn’t have today without black figures. Watch a documentary, sit down and have an uncomfortable conversation and just be open to learning. The goal of this project is celebrating, educating, and acknowledging. Some good sources to look at can be documentaries. There’s always reading a non-fiction or fiction book by a black author to get their perspective on life.” 

As adviser to the Black Student Union, Abby Hendrickson also called attention to the “Time” line in the hallway near the library. “The timeline highlights important people in history. Often we hear about Black History Month and Black oppression, but it’s nice to use Black History Month to celebrate Black accomplishments.”

She said during Black history month anyone can also “read and look at the information that’s on the doors. Visit locally black-owned businesses and watch the documentaries that are on Netflix so that we can learn.”

For the BSU, Hendrickson said, “The goal of this project is to just spread awareness of black history. To try and fill the gaps where pieces of history might not be learned in your traditional history classes. Also, that history is lacking in black achievements. Netflix is a great place to look that. Googling black history month has some great sources. History Channel, PBS and PBS Learn.”

As February starts coming to a close, the BSU continues to plan out the rest of Black History Month with the finals on door decorating and judging who the winner is. Teachers are still encouraged to show the video sent to them during third hour Friday classes. The winner of the door decorating contest will be announced sometime next week.