Presentation aims to engage
Spoken word, current music used to raise cultural awareness
Seniors Salma Mohamed, Sharon Moranga and sophomore Doreen Moranga met with Chris Weaver Feb. 4 in the Learning Lab to plan the events for the Black History Month presentation. The show will take place during second and fourth hours Feb. 29 in the Auditorium and feature performances from students.
February 17, 2016
With the annual Black History Month presentation in its beginning stages, according to senior Sharon Moranga, the focus of this year’s presentation is aimed more at students.
“We’re going to make a video asking different students about race and cultural issues to get their opinion on the subject,” Moranga said. “The video and other presentations will incorporate current events and connect students to them with popular songs.”
The presentation will be the third Moranga has helped plan and organize.
Moranga said students and student advocate Chris Weaver, put together the entire presentation.
Weaver said he and the students involved plan on putting the pieces of the presentation together as early as this coming week.
The video includes spoken word, a couple of videos and music in the presentation.
The performers are not chosen yet, but are chosen by students involved in the planning of the presentation, according to Weaver.
“It’s going to have the same kind of setup (as last year) but the content will be different,” Weaver said. “Last year we really dug into police brutality, and this year we’re going to look at more how do we unify to overcome those issues.”
According to Weaver, last year’s presentation included issues still relevant today. This year, the focus for the presentation turns to how students can unify to solve these problems that exist throughout the nation.
“The point we’re trying to make is how do we get together, how do we make things happen, how do we use music to make that happen,” Weaver said.
Moranga said she thinks the main purpose of the presentation relates to celebrating Black History Month by raising cultural awareness.
“We want students to understand that regardless of our different races, we’re all the same,” Moranga said.
Weaver said he hopes students hear what their peers’ perspectives are on race, racism and whiteness.
Because these issues play out in many students’ daily lives, Weaver said understanding their impact is key.
“Ultimately, I want people to walk away saying, ‘we need to be together,’” Weaver said. “Hopefully, people will be able to see the point in that we are the human race and need to be together as people.”
The presentation will take place second and fourth hours Feb. 29 in the Auditorium.
