Black History Month at Brentwood

8 March 2013Tokoni A, Hope '13

“Africa, to me…is more than a glamorous fact. It is a historical truth. No man can know where he is going unless he knows exactly where he has been and exactly how he arrived at his present place.” – Dr. Maya Angelou

At Brentwood, there is a small, but diverse, group of students of African heritage. We come from different places, be it California, Northern BC, Fiji, Bermuda or Saudi Arabia, we all have something in common: our roots and history are deeply imbedded in Africa. For the month of February, we decided to explore and share these roots with our fellow students in honor of Black History Month.

Black history was first celebrated in America in 1926, when Dr. Carter G. Woodson created “Negro History Week.” At that time, black history was scarcely documented. Noticing that history books mentioned little of the history of blacks in America, Woodson, a child of former slaves, was determined to document the history of blacks in America.

On Sunday the 24th of February, we hosted a showing of the movie The Great Debaters to share a little bit of this history – and freshly baked treats! – with our classmates. Along with the movie, we also put up an anonymous question site where classmates could ask questions about black history and have them answered by those of us with African heritage.

By far, the biggest activity we organized this month was the Black History Month Dinner, which was held on March 1st in Crooks Hall. Our group met with the enthusiastic kitchen staff to prepare a delicious menu that represented the different parts of Africa that we come from: fried rice, baked peri peri chicken and sweet potato fries. We also served traditional African snacks, like chin chin and banana chips.

“The dinner was delicious, and the atmosphere was great. I was surprised to learn how diverse the subcultures of Africa are,” said Ciara M, Hope ’13. "It was an extraordinary experience to learn about Nigerian culture and not just African-American because that was all I was exposed to growing up with in Bermuda" said Asha U, Hope ’13.

As the date of the dinner approached, we also got to know each other better. Over multiple meetings and discussions, we learned about the countries our parents come from, the different quirks of our cultures, and where to find Fiji on a map! It was a blessing to become acquainted with this unique, passionate group of students.

It was especially rewarding to work with and befriend Bilal S, Rogers ’15, who first came up with the idea for bringing Black History Month to Brentwood. Bilal, like four other students at this school (including me) is a child of West African parents.

“It was an exciting experience that brought me closer with you guys, and I’m glad we did it. It was kind of surreal knowing that we were planning the first event like this at Brentwood, and not having much of a foundation of where to start from was challenging” he told our small group, when I asked him what he thought about what we had started.

Bilal was right, it was a challenge; however, with unwavering support from our Head of School, Mr. Patel, and our executive chef, Mr. Napier, and the rest of the kitchen staff, we were able to pull it off.

Here is a huge thank you to the kitchen staff for all the enthusiasm and support you showed in helping us evolve this dinner from a dream to a reality, to Mr. Patel for believing in us, and our House Parents (especially my own house parent, Ms. Hedquist!) for supporting us in this vision. We are immensely grateful. And thank you, of course, to our peers for allowing us to share this with you and being active participants. We hope that this has inspired other students to also share their own history and culture!

Thank you as well, to Bilal S for bringing our group together and leading us in planning Black History Month at Brentwood. We’re proud of you!

Tokoni A, Hope ’13