Black History Month is celebrated in February, with its purpose being to honor the history and accomplishments of Black people that are often forgotten. Throughout the month of February, Maggie Walker is organizing special celebrations in order to increase awareness throughout the school and give every student the opportunity to learn more about Black history.

Dr. Lisa Williams, the Assistant Director of MLWGS, is working with Ms. Nakita Lee, Ms. Robinette Cross, and Ms. Joy Cobb to organize various activities for the student body. Williams has shared some of the activities that will be organized and how excited she is for the special events. In particular, she marks the importance of hosting forums of discussion that highlight this history.

“When we uncover history, we discover ourselves. It is true that times and the particular challenges of those times may have been different, but the indomitable human spirit and the will to overcome challenges connect us,” said Williams, who is determined to offer various activities and opportunities to every student so that they feel welcome at Maggie Walker. “I believe that African American stories are not mine—they are ours.”

The first event of Maggie Walker’s Black History Month Celebrations took place on February 9 and was held in the forum during lunch. There, attendees learned about the Armstrong-Walker Classic, an annual football game that was held every Thanksgiving weekend from 1938 to 1979. The forum featured Mr. Dennis Harvey, himself a 1966 alum from Armstrong High School. Maggie Walker High School and Armstrong High School were the only two all- Black schools in Richmond city for a number of decades, and every year the stadium was packed, sometimes with up to 30,000 spectators. The Armstrong Wildcats and Maggie Walker Dragons maintained a friendly rivalry and have largely contributed to the rich culture still present in the greater Richmond area to this day.

The second event of the month was the three-part film study. First, students had the opportunity to learn about historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) through a lecture conducted by Maggie Walker’s Thomas Jefferson History Honor Society. Then, after school on February 17 in the Black Box, students watched the movie Drumline, which is about a historically Black college with a special focus on its marching band. The showing was followed by a discussion exploring the themes of the movie on February 22 during lunch.

Students of MLWGS have participated in various activities organized throughout Black History Month and have offered their own insights in planning the events. Jaliyah Hairston (‘24) is a member of Peer Mentors, a program that caters to historically underrepresented student groups in the academic world. She also created the Black History Month Spirit Week, which took place between the 13th and the 17th. After attending the activities that were organized throughout the month, Hairston says that Black people still do not have enough representation in the school, and there is always room to improve in highlighting Black stories and voices given how vital they were to build our school’s history.

Another student, La’Mia Butler (‘23) shared her views about the celebrations as well. She is a student in Ms. Cross’s 20th Century Civil Rights Movement class, attended the forum speeches, and watched the movies that were shown throughout the month. Looking forward, she said, “The last and most wonderful thing in my opinion is the class trip we are about to embark on. Both the Civil Rights class and Black [Literature] Black Lives seminar are taking a trip to Montgomery, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia at the end of February. This trip entails a tour of many museums and famous locations. Some of them feature the home of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.”

Both the students and faculty are excited for more events, gatherings, and seminars during Black History Month. These activities continue to help enhance their knowledge about the stories of Black people and their importance to the study of holistic history.