Black History Month Hits West Potomac
The rock was painted to mark the beginning of Black History Month by BSU.
Black History Month. Black History Month is the annual celebration of the achievements of African Americans and their role in American society. Black History Month has been celebrated in the month of February since 1976 here in the U.S. according to the African American History Month website.
West Potomac High School has strong ties to black history. The Quander family is one of the oldest and best documented African American families in the United States according to WUSA9. They reported the Quander’s family tree can be traced back to Nancy Carter Quander, a slave on President George Washington’s Mount Vernon plantation. After the slaves at Mt. Vernon had been freed, Nancy Carter married Charles Quander and had three children in the area by 1810. Over the years, the Quander family bought 88 acres of land which became the Quander Dairy Farm. This land is where Quander Road School and West Po stand today.
The Black Student Union (BSU) makes plans every year to celebrate Black History Month here at West Po. According to Shari Terry, a teacher at West Po and head of the BSU, “I think it is important to celebrate Black History Month because African American History- Black History- incorporates all histories, so I think in the world we live in today, I think it’s best that we learn about everybody, learn about African Americans, learn about Hispanics, learn about Asians. I think it will make us better as a world if we know about everyone’s history.”
According to Terry, in previous years has been pretty small, “Normally we have, the BSU members, and then we’ll have some people from the West Potomac community, but it’s not as many as there would be like, during homecoming or something like that” Terry said.
This year however the BSU are making plans for events that stretch over the whole month. “I just want more people to actually participate, and I think what’s going to help out with that is that BSU actually has a Twitter page and I mean there’s a lot more dialogues. That makes me feel good and know that more people are embracing it.” The following is the list of events the BSU has planned to celebrate Black History Month”:
2/11 and 2/14: Watch Documentary America to Me in Trailer #12 from 3:10 to 4:30
2/15: Fun Fact Lunch Trivia during lunch
2/21: Discussion of America to Me
2/22: Fun Fact Lunch Trivia during lunch
The BSU is hosting a spirit week from Monday the 25th to Thursday the 28th
Monday: Wear clothes that represent your heritage
Tuesday: Wear the color red, red is the color that connects everybody.
Wednesday: Wear green to represent the natural wealth of Africa
Thursday: Wear a T-Shirt representing a historically black college and university (HBCU) or a T-Shirt of a prominent African American figure. There will also be a Black History and Civil Rights Movement Discussion in Trailer #12 from 3:10 to 4:30 after school.
In her Senior year at West Po, Mollie Shiflett wants to keep it real. She is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the West Po Wire and has been since sophomore year....
