By: Maria Lamagna <[email protected]>

With its variety of holidays, February can be a month for reflection. From love and romance to commemoration of great presidents to the Earth’s orbit to groundhogs and their aptitude for predicting the weather, February makes people think. But for some students like sophomore Ann Nwosu, not only those days are important. The entire month of February is designated for celebrating her race and recognizing its struggles over time. It is Black History Month, and for Nwosu, it’s important.

“I think it’s really important to celebrate (Black History Month) because it’s celebrating African-American achievement,” Nwosu said. “It’s recognizing stuff that’s happened in the past and reflection for what doesn’t need to happen (in the future).”

However, according to the February 2005 article “Some blacks are weary of month in limelight” from the Associated Press, some black leaders disagree with the connotation Black History Month has taken on. They feel that limiting the celebration to one month marginalizes the importance of African-American history. As Princeton historian Nell Irvin Painter stated in the article, Black History Month is similar to Kwanzaa in that “it became a corporate holiday, a way for corporations and museums and the U.S. Postal Service to declare they’re multi-cultural bona fide.”

Assistant Principal John Newton shared his thoughts on the sentiment behind Black History Month. As an African-American leader in this community, Newton said he believes the month is a step toward constantly remembering the achievements of black Americans. “I think (recognizing black achievement) is always an ongoing process,” he said, “and there’s just more emphasis during this month. Every day there’s something I can see that gives a lasting impression of the contributions African-Americans make.”

Newton said that in his own family, he tries to call attention to achievements of African-Americans daily. He said that he sometimes looks to the newspaper or the radio to show his family different examples.

Newton and his wife took this principle even a step further in naming their children. Newton’s children are each named after African-Americans who made important contributions to society. For example, his son, junior Morgan Newton, was named after inventor Garrett Morgan. “Just as I did that to keep them aware of their surroundings,” Newton said, “I’m sure other (African-Americans) have done the same thing.”

Nwosu shared Newton’s sentiments on the importance of the month. Nwosu said that claiming Black History Month marginalizes black history is “silly. (Black history) is celebrated all year round, but not in an obvious way,” she said. “You do celebrate it all year round and learn about it all year round.”

Lifelines and Diversity Focus Group are planning this year’s Black History Month activities and events. According to senior Michael Petersen, who is in charge of planning the events, many groups here are making an effort to commemorate the month. There will be a trivia, video and sound clip contest for SRTs on the announcements. There are famous quotes about diversity and unity posted in the hallways. The groups picked themed music to play during passing periods on Fridays, and they are planning to show a movie and possibly TV shows about diversity during SRT. In addition to these activities that Lifelines and Diversity Focus Group planned, a Studio Arts class is creating a montage of famous and influential black Americans.

This month, Newton, Nwosu and the entire school will celebrate black history through these events. According to Newton, the significance of the commemoration may never be fully realized. “We take a lot of things for granted,” he said, “but it’s important for other cultures to know contributions African-Americans have made. Also, it’s important for young African-Americans to know.”