Niles West Honors Black History Month

Black History Month started on Feb. 1. Last year, Niles West planned to have an assembly for Black History Month, (BHM), but was canceled due to COVID. This year, it’s back. The official date is Tuesday, Feb. 28th, so be ready! The Black Student Union (BSU) has created a calendar showcasing black joy, creativity, history and power. Below is a preview of the upcoming events and celebrations:

This month is a time to celebrate African Americans’ accomplishments. This year, Niles West is giving it its all by creating meaningful events to show its appreciation.

• 2/3-BSU Fundraising during lunch
• Through the week of 6-10, there will be a BSU Spirit Week

Steve Parnther, the Assistant Principal of Operations, shares his meaning of this year’s theme for Black history Month on an Instagram post.

“Our theme, Renaissance of Black Joy, speaks to the transformative historical periods in our history. Black joy means celebrating all the love uniqueness and perseverance that comes with being black. This month, we will celebrate those who come before use while emphasizing the light our Black students and staff bring to our communities. I encourage us all to share Black History, not only in February, but in our curriculum and conversations every month.”

Sarah Strubeing talks about the activities and events during the month.

‘There will be a fundraiser for Black Student Union on Friday the 3rd, more details for that to come. Next week we have our Black Student Union Spirit Week, Which there will also be more details about that as well. We are [hosting] a breakfast for our Black students and staff on Feb. 10, we are going to have a black chef come in and cook for that. The chef will also be working with our students in the culinary lab. We are going to be doing a movie night on Feb. 13, then an art activity on Feb. 15. We are going to culminate the month with the Black History Month Assembly. Our Black Student Union students here at West will be going to visit Niles Norths Assembly on Feb. 23, and then will be coming here and the whole school will be seeing our Assembly on Feb. 28.”

• 2/10-Black Joy Breakfast(7:40-8:52am)
• 2/13-Black History Art Activity
• 2/15-Movie Night in the Commons
• 2/16-Black Power Panel

Cherie Animashaun, The President of BSU, explains the Black Power Panels.

“I came up with the Black Power Panel, and that’s going to be on Feb. 16 during the day for students. We have an ABC News reporter coming in as one of our speakers. We have some entrepreneurs and engineers coming in also. Our whole point is to show the black students at West the infinite possibilities of career choices of which they can pursue. It’s going to be super fun. We are going to have food and they are going to be able to ask these successful CEOs questions and engineers about their career choice. Mr. Jones is going to speak for something, so watch out for him!”

Animashaun gives a more in-depth view of the Black History Month Assembly.

“The theme of our assembly and our performance is the Renaissance. We are going to be tying in the Harlem Renaissance and historical areas that haven’t been tough as much in school. We are going to tie it in with the present day. We have the Renaissance of all by Beyonce, so it’s a really big tie between the past and the present. We are going to have a fashion show, we’re going to have some singers and some dancers as well. Our really big focus though is to teach Niles West about our culture and history that isn’t usually taught in our curriculum.”