Hi everyone! This past week kicked off Black History Month. Due to this, I thought, what better way to kick it off than to talk about my experience helping create my high school’s Black History Month production.
- What a Black History Month Production Is?
At my old high school, a group of students takes on the responsibility of creating a showcase to demonstrate and celebrate the Black culture and its excellence. This is an annual event that is looked forward to and presented to the students and surrounding community.
- How I Became a Part of It
Most of my friends were in charge of creating the production during our senior year, so when we hung out, I would listen and engage. I would also suggest ideas while they were brainstorming. At first, I thought it was just a job for the student body because 90 percent of my friend group had an elected position. However, I soon learned that this was not the cause. It got to a point where they loved my ideas and began adding me to calls and group chats created for the production. They then officially asked me to join them in taking on this project.
- Content of the Production
In our production, we had a variety of different talents showcased. Very early on, we realized that we didn’t want our production to be set up like every other one in the past had been. We wanted to build an unforgettable experience while telling a story. This is why we decided to have sort of a short play that intertwined the different performances we had throughout its dialogue. We chose characters that represented the stereotypical persona of different types of Black people. This was done to showcase that these stereotypical characters were much more than what they may be seen as. It was also for those to find bits and pieces of themselves in these characters while coming to this same realization.
For the opening of our production, we wanted to incorporate our performing arts program, so we had our school choir sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” We then gave a short introduction before getting into the flow of things. The way we set up the play was to discuss and center around 7 different aspects of Black culture: relationships, spirituality/religion, music, hair, fashion, athletics, and college life (HBCU culture). For each section we divided the talent to have at least 2 performances reflecting the theme at hand. This included various musical performances, dances, poems, and our own compilation videos on the meaning and symbolism of Black excellence, as well as my favorite, our fashion show. The fashion show was something new that hadn’t been done before. When coming up with areas of Black culture that we wanted to highlight, we agreed that fashion was a big part of our culture and has set the bar for many others. This is how we ultimately agreed it would be cool to host a fashion show, where we picked different styles (hip-hop, bohemian, etc.) and eras significant to our culture. It was a big hit and probably the highlight of the production. We ended by having a trio close out with singing a gospel song and then we all gathered for a final bow (don’t ask why, but it just reminds me of the ending of Honey).
- Challenges in Process of Creating the Show
During this process, we encountered some bumps in the road. We had to manage everyone’s schedules, conflicts and frustrations amongst talent and crew, and compromise in some areas of our vision to meet the resources we had. The process had its stressors, but overall, it was worth it.
- What I Learned and How Proud/Happy I am to Have Done It
Overall, this experience was very life-changing for me. It taught me the level of precision and dedication it takes to help produce something like this, while also allowing me to unlock a new level of creativity. I was able to see my peers and those who share in my race’s history come together and shine by showcasing their talents and excellence. Though there were stressful moments, I had so much joy and fun producing this project, especially alongside my friends. I wouldn’t have had it any other way and I would absolutely do it again!