Every February, the US celebrates the contributions and losses of African Americans through the annual observance of Black History Month. The month not only commemorates black excellence across the country but also brings light to the inequality and discrimination African Americans have been subjected to.
Black History Month originally started as “Negro History Week” in February 1926 and McIntosh’s Black Student Union will be using the opportunity to showcase and admire the accomplishments of Black Americans each week.

BSU was founded in 2020, the year of civil unrest for people of color in America. Jayla Holloway and Oluchi Ugbajah, club president and vice-president, have come up with numerous activities to achieve throughout the month.

The Association for the Study of African American Life and History created Black History Month and picks every year’s Black history theme, which for 2023 is “Black Resistance.” McIntosh’s BSU has plans to celebrate the month through several school-related activities.

“Our main goal is to create a safe space at school for not only Black people but everyone to talk about the struggles and joys that come with being a person of color,” Holloway, senior, said.

BSU also celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day with togetherness through an outing to a local fun center.

“For MLK day, we went skating, which has become an outlet for Black people through tough times and before January ends, we’ll be recreating historical or iconic black pictures to put them up on the bulletin board or around the library,” Ugbajah, junior, said.

Ugbajah also spoke on how everyone can observe the month at MHS and show support for the BSU.

“BSU is open to everyone so if someone’s looking to join, Black History Month would be a great month to start showing more support and learning more about privilege and African American struggles,” Ugbajah said.

“Every Friday in February, we will dress in the colors black, white, red, and green and everything will be available to see on our Instagram @mcintoshbsu. We’ll be doing a potluck at the end of the month where people can bring different foods from their culture,” Holloway said.

There are many ways to be aware and show allyship in order to support African Americans.

“If you’re looking to be present during Black History Month, you could go online and watch videos or actually speak to a Black person about their experiences would be a good way to inform yourself,” Mia Lind, junior, said.

Black History Month is an opportunity for African Americans and allies to display the progress been made and the work that still needs to be done within the African diaspora.

“With the more activities that Black Student Union does leading up to and during Black History Month, BSU will hopefully gain more traction and attention because they’re working really hard and they deserve it,” Brennan Yates, freshman, said.