Ebony Club has been preparing since January and are excited to show what is planned!
By Sebastian Lausell
Before we get to the planned events, let’s start with the history of Black History Month and how it began. Black History Month was first recognized in 1986 when congress passed Public Law 99-244 which designated the month of February starting on February 1st as National Black (Afro-American) History Month or known as Black History Month. Black History Month was created to have a public and private salute to Black History annually. Black History Month has been a time for celebration for the people among the Black Diaspora, and our TCHS Ebony Club is ready to celebrate with the whole school.
Since January, Ebony Club has been planning and preparing for Black History Month. They started by dividing themselves into groups to plan certain aspects of the events. These groups are education, advertisement, entertainment, and engagement groups. Each group is a vital component of making Black History Month a fun month for everyone at TCHS. The first group advertisement is in charge of making posters and signs, promoting BHM on social media, and working on club t-shirts. The second group, entertainment, is in charge of organizing games in the school courtyard and our spirit week. The third group engagement is in charge of trivia and will also be doing interviews for the club’s TikTok page which is @TCHSEbonyClub. It will also be posted on the club’s Instagram page which is @TCHSEbonyClub. They will also be in charge of promoting the Step-Team performance. The last group is the education group, which will focus on educating the student body about black issues, systemic injustice that black people face, black triumphs, black history (of course), and black moments. Acknowledging the systemic oppression and racism that black people face is all a part of changing the system to make this world a better place for every black man, woman, and child. But, this month isn’t just about acknowledging the hardships Black people have gone through, it is also about celebrating Black culture and taking time to appreciate the Black community.
To continue, Ebony Club will also host a Black History Month Spirit Week which starts on February 13th – 17th will have 5 days set. Monday will be Sunday Best (formal wear day), Tuesday will be HBCU/College day, Wednesday will be Senior Citizen day, Thursday will be Throwback/Soul train day, and Friday will be our Day of unity day. For those who do not understand what is meant by “Day of Unity day,” club president, Amore Lewis explains, “On the last day of our spirit week, we will be centering Black people all around the world which we called our day of unity day. The colors you will be wearing are colors represented in most African countries’ flags. On that day they will be asking trivia questions about those countries.”
Our Ebony Club has very high hopes for the turnout of this month and these events but one thing they want to make sure of is that students are respectful. Junior Sofia Joseph (executive officer) said, “I think around this time, please be respectful because as we’ve had prior incidents of students being disrespectful during Ebony Club events, and take the time to learn and appreciate black culture even if you’re not black, you can learn to appreciate your black friends’ culture and background.” Even though they want everyone to have fun and enjoy themselves during these events it is important to be respectful to the organizers, Ebony Club, and other students during the events as what you might say may offend other students. Overall, what they’re striving for is for the student body to come together as a collective to celebrate Black History Month and they aim to make connections with the student body and hope that students can make connections with one another. They also aim to make the Black student body at TCHS who may not feel acknowledged, feel acknowledged and know that their heritage, their history, is important to others, and is important to us. They want to make sure the Black student body knows they are appreciated and loved during this time as they are the future, they are Black history in the making.
Overall, the preparation for Black History Month has been strenuous as they’ve been staying after school every Wednesday to work and beyond that, they’ve been working to make sure things are perfect for these events. But one thing that has occurred over this time is that the students in Ebony Club have really grown closer not just as a club but as a family, and the time that they’ve spent with each other has created memories that they will treasure for a lifetime, infinite memories that transcend notions of time to show the love and care they have for the club and each other. Now, Ebony Club isn’t just a club, it’s a community that’s constantly growing, supporting each other, laughing with each other, and celebrating black culture, together.
