LeMoyne Community Center celebrates Black History Month
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
LeMoyne Community Center students “marched” with signs of what careers they want to pursue during the Black History Month celebration held at the center on Wednesday.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Students at the LeMoyne Community Center participated in the annual Black History Month celebration Wednesday. The event celebrated the accomplishments of African-Americans and provided students with an opportunity to acknowledge those accomplishments through song, dance and art.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Guests at the LeMoyne Community Center’s Black History Month celebration were guided through an art display that featured artwork from center students.
The LeMoyne Community Center celebrated Black History Month Wednesday with a showcase featuring dance, song, art, soul food and history.
The center was packed with nearly 90 students, along with parents and community members who were led by tour guides through a student art display that also included photos of African-Americans who made significant contributions to society, and a section on lesser-known leaders who played key roles in American history and culture.
“The countless contributions of African-American men and women to the advancement of civilization vary widely and are numerous,” said Linda Harris, director of education at the LeMoyne center. “Unfortunately, they have long been minimized, overlooked and suppressed by many people. But Black History Month helps us preserve and celebrate this rich, diverse legacy that is saturated in those contributions.”
The audience clapped and cheered as the center’s African drum line and dancers, dressed in brightly colored African tops and head wraps, performed.
Steven Thomas, coordinator of the LeMoyne Center’s food program, sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” known as the Black National Anthem, and dancers from Synergy Performing Arts performed.
Another segment of the program included students “marching” through the center holding up colored construction paper on which they wrote what they wanted to be when they grow up – police officer, nurse, gamer, football player.
The children also sang a song, “I Know I Can,” about working hard to accomplish their goals.
LeMoyne Center director Joyce Ellis also presented academic awards and told the audience the importance of education.
“We need to be giving our youth as much knowledge as we can,” said Ellis. “I tell them all the time: They cannot take away your education. It’s imperative we keep teaching our youth. We have to lessen that gap, which happens to be wide.”
Ellis said another part of the program, where students told the audience about African-Americans and their contributions to civil rights advancement, education, music, science, art and sports, was valuable because it provided an opportunity for them to learn about the obstacles other people of color overcame, and to know that they can overcome challenges, too.
Among them: Edmonia Lewis, an American sculptor, Daisy Bates, a civil rights activist and journalist, and Bessie Colman, the first African-American female pilot.
“In many cases, these kids’ circumstances are bleak, and we have to get them to look past that, and we can do that by having them look at people who overcame their circumstances,” she said.
The ethnic cuisine, prepared by Chef John Williams Jr., included a variety of chicken wings, pan-fried catfish, collard greens, red beans and rice, cornbread, and desserts.
Taneesha Smith, whose child is a student at the LeMoyne Center, said she was impressed with the celebration.
“I think it’s important to provide this for brown kids, and for them to learn about their culture,” said Smith.
Ellis organized the first Black History Month celebration several years ago “because there wasn’t anything going on, so we decided to start the tradition.”
Harris said Black History Month “is an opportunity to explain how we came to be who we are, where we are today, and where we are going tomorrow.”