Paris Colunga
Staff Writer
Despite Cal High’s diversity, it appears the school is planning to do very little to celebrate Black History Month this February.
Black History Month is set aside to celebrate all the inspiring African-Americans in the U.S. Last year, Cal acknowledged Black History Month with a school event.
“They had a few speakers (that were) a part of the Tuskegee airmen and it was really interesting,” said senior Kevin Ezebuiro.
But this year, Principal Mark Corti said there is nothing planned to celebrate the occasion.
“I usually wait for students to give me some ideas about things we could do,” said Corti.
Although the school’s academic curriculum is not changed during Black History Month, there are some teachers who recognize it by incorporating some aspect of African-American history into their teachings.
“I don’t know if any other teachers change their curriculum, but I definitely do,” said history teacher Scott Hodges. “I make time for some songs and video clips.”
Hodges said he was going to put aside some time to show his classes videos on the 1968 Mexico City Black Power Protest. That was when two African-American Olympians used a medal ceremony to protest the lack of real civil rights in America.
He will also be showing them a song about Martin Luther King Jr. and short clips from his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. Hodges will also teach about some of the most important African-Americans figures and some significant black history dates.
But it seems the majority of teachers plan to wait for the school to take the initiative to plan an event for this special month.
“No, I don’t plan to change (the curriculum) at all,” said English teacher Ted Levey, noting the topic of black history is already addressed through books such as “Black Boy” by Richard Wright.
Although many students admitted that they are not experts on black history, they expressed their feelings about Black History Month.
“It makes me happy to be African-American, especially during Black History Month,” said sophomore Khadija Washington. “However, I feel it should be more appreciated and we should learn about it more in school.”
