The Black Student Union worked all year to bring awareness to the social issues and problems that the Black community faces in a school setting. During the month of February, the club hosted a multitude of events for Black History Month.
They kicked off the month by reading quotes from famous Black figures every day on the announcements. During the week of Feb 12, 2024, the group hosted a spirit week celebrating Melanin Monday, HBCU Day, Famous Black Figure Day, Throwback Thursday, and Fresh Fit Friday. Through this spirit week, they hoped to not only bring the black community together but also the whole school. Each week, the group created fun facts about famous Black figures that people may not know about.
Makayla Stinson adds,” I feel like BSU has educated people during black history month by letting others see how we embrace our history. I think our spirit week we had for Black History Month gave others an opportunity to see how we dressed in the 2000’s. Another thing that helped educate others was the slide show of all the different black people in different fields of work. So I think BSU has done a great job on showing others more about black history.”
Now that Black History Month is over, BSU members are not done working to educate the Woodhaven community. At the moment, they are working on trying to expand the group so more students have a safe space to talk about issues they may be facing.
Michael Jordan says, “The environment in BSU allows students to feel comfortable talking about their issues and opinions to each other and staff because we know that there will be someone to back us up.”
Sharing experiences with others helps make members feel as if they are not alone in what they go through and sharing experiences educates others on what to look out for. Bringing attention to the little things is really what BSU is about.
Anyah Johnson shares, “A lot of microaggressions that might have not even been on purpose have been brought to my attention at BSU meetings.”
Myonna Ekanem adds, “I learned to speak up if you see or hear something that is wrong whether it’s words or actions.”
