History is filled with remarkable African American leaders such as Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and many other exceptional individuals that have changed our world. Founded in 1976 by Carter G. Woodson, Black History month was established in the month of February in order to honor the achievements of African Americans (ASALH). Woodson was majorly self-taught in his younger years but had been regarded as a master of all school subjects by the age of 17. He entered high school at 20, and earned his diploma in less than two years. Later on, Woodson worked as teacher and school principal. He remains a well-known historian today, praised for his notable publications (NAACP). One of the graduate members for Omega Psi Phi, he created dedicated one week of the year as that of one honoring Black excellence in history and literature, later expanded to all aspects of Black excellence (ASALH). Woodson wanted to popularize this week to commemorate African American individuals who made change in history. His efforts would soon turn into Black History Month.
Dr. Cacina Jones, a school counselor at Glenbard South High School, is also the 2024-2025 sponsor for our school’s Black Excellence United (BEU). She got the idea to hold a Black History Month spirit week from Monday, Feb. 10 to Friday, Feb. 14 from one of the school’s equity liaisons. Monday asked students to dress in their Sunday best, Tuesday called for Black Pride T-shirts, Wednesday drew inspiration from 90’s Hip-Hop fashion, Thursday was Soul Train or 70s Day and Friday was Pan African Day, when students wore red, green and black. This year was the first year that this spirit week was embedded into South’s Black History Month celebrations. A fan favorite day was dress 90s Hip-Hop. Mr. Rodriguez, for one, went all out and many other staff members showed great participation.
Aniyah Nelson, a senior at South, is the president of BEU. When asked about the process of creating the spirit week, she said, “We set up a spirit week that was created by our group in one of our monthly meetings, and it was basically a bunch of fun days, like typical spirit days are, but they purposely include Black cultural aspects. All those days were significant to black culture at some point and really shaped and formatted what black culture is today,” Nelson added. Along with the spirit week, BEU hosted an art competition and held a movie night at the beginning of the month.
Dr. Jones was also excited for a field trip to the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center with BEU. When asked about what this month meant for Dr. Jones, she had stated, “It’s a time to highlight the contributions and accomplishments of Black and African American individuals, and to educate. I take it as an opportunity to encourage other people, especially young people to educate themselves about the amazing things that people have contributed to our daily lives. Every year, I always learn something new, and I try to educate myself. It’s an opportunity for highlighting–for educating on the contributions of Black individuals.”
When Nelson was asked about what this month means for her, she responded by saying, “This month is extremely significant for me because I am Black—African American. It’s extremely impactful to celebrate this month every year with my family and people who don’t necessarily know how much it means, so just to broaden their eyes and views every year is extremely impactful to me.”
