Presentation creates discussion
Black History Show leaves an impact
March 4, 2016
Sophomore Avia Kaner-Roth said she and her friends left the auditorium after seeing the Black History presentation thinking about everything she didn’t understand about people of color.
“We talked about (the presentation) and we talked about how we haven’t really known any of this stuff before and how it was interesting that we only heard about it then,” Kaner-Roth said.
Black History Month presentation coordinator Chris Weaver said he heard positive feedback from students who attended. He said he felt the show was very educational.
“I am happy with the response of the people who came,” Weaver said. “I think there was some new learning for people, there was a lot of stuff that people didn’t know, probably some perspectives that had never been heard before.”
Weaver said he hopes to hear students and staff discussing what was in the presentation beyond the walls of the auditorium.
“I think hopefully it will help spark some conversation, and I’ve been hearing teachers talking about it, students talking about it and that they’re planning stuff in their classes,” Weaver said.
Sophomore Black History Month presentation participant Doreen Moranga said the show was important to everyone because race issues still occur at school today.
“In world history, we don’t learn about Black History Month, we don’t learn about the blacks and how they were treated,” Moranga said. “We just learn about the whites and how they came to be, so if we’re going to learn about one race we should learn about all because they all make a difference.”
Kaner-Roth said she thinks many problems involving race still exist at Park.
“We had a discussion in one of my classes and some of the black students said that they were treated differently by their teachers,” Kaner-Roth said. “Like the teachers just expected less from them and were just treated poorly.”
Moranga said she hopes people take what they learned in the Black History presentation and use it to bring awareness to racism.
“The whole (presentation) in general just had a lot of good information that (students) could take into their lives and use,” Moranga said. “If they want a better world for everyone who is on Earth, they might as well use some information to change their way of life to make things better for others.”
Weaver said students should remember to open up to other perspectives they are not used to.
“Be open to hearing multiple perspectives, be open to hearing new things, because you’re not the only one here, you’re not the only person here, or not everybody is you,” Weaver said. “‘Not everybody experiences things the same way you do.”
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