Students exhibit talents during Black History Month celebration
The theme is `It's the Black Excellence for me'
More than 300 people filled the auditorium at Jordan High School last week as the Long Beach Unified School District held its first districtwide Black History Month Celebration, which featured student and special guest performances.
The celebration aimed to support Black students and families in the district, as well as share Black joy, excellence and history with the community, organizers said.
It was put together by the Black Student Achievement Initiative at LBUSD — a program that analyzes and uses data to identify areas of need, and set plans and actions to create more support for Black students to excel academically, socially and emotionally.
“It's a time to celebrate,” said Elyssa Taylor-Stewart, an administrator at the district's Office of Equity, Engagement and Partnership and a leader for the BSAI committee. “We're celebrating Black joy, Black excellence and an opportunity for our children to show their gifts and talents.”
The theme of the celebration was “It's the Black Excellence for me.”
Students, teachers, staff, parents and community members were in the audience as 20 LBUSD students from every grade level, kindergarten through high school, demonstrated their talents by dancing, singing, playing instruments, reciting poetry, and more.
Performances that left many impressed on Thursday night included Imani Goins, a kindergarten student from Bixby Elementary who recited “Hey Black Child” by Maya Angelou on her own and Nobel Jones, a fifth grader from Burbank Elementary, who performed a portrayal of Frederick Douglass in full costume and beard.
The special guests who performed alongside the LBUSD students during the celebration included the Divas and Drummers of Compton, a dance and drumline program for local youth development program for ages 4 to
19. Many participants are Long Beach students, Taylor-Stewart said.
Other guests included Mayor Rex Richardson; Kheris Rogers, a social media influencer and author who promotes young black girls to love and be comfortable in their own skin; Maya Sh'Von, a world-renowned and accomplished vocal musician; Spoken word artist Philosophy, who is an LBUSD alum and recently performed at the inauguration of Mayor Rex Richardson. And Tatiana Tate, a Long Beach-based trumpeter, artist, and composer. Tate is an LBUSD alum as well.
Parents and community members said they enjoyed the celebration.
“I enjoyed seeing the talented students express their pride and their talents, from reciting Frederick Douglas, and Maya Angelo, the African dance expression, the songs, and, of course, hearing the pride when they sang the Black National Anthem,” said Cheryl Browning, a community member who attended the event, in a statement. “It was truly a living Black history lesson for future generations.”
Browning said that she hopes that LBUSD continues to host the celebration in the future.
“The children, adolescents, and adults memorialized our history, our culture, our struggle and it was a work of community excellence,” said Monica Cole-Jackson, an LBUSD parent, after the event. “I am proud to have witnessed this showcase of talent and pride for the African American experience.”
Taylor-Stewart said she was impressed with the turnout and looking forward to seeing how events like the Black History Month Celebration can support Black students and their families.
“We're working hard to support black students and parents in Long Beach Unified,” Taylor-Stewart said. “Kids are not just students, they grow in many ways. One of the ways that they grow is socially and emotionally, they grow in their gifts and talents, and so sometimes those kinds of things help encourage them to continue to work hard in school as well.”