Black History Month is a glimmer of hope for students during the month of February at Stone Ridge. The halls are typically slow and melancholy during the month of February, but what often goes unnoticed are the tireless efforts of the people who make Black History Month possible. Students and faculty advisors spend months planning, researching, and preparing appropriate lessons, announcements, and honest facts relevant to the history of African-Americans and how their history relates to current events.
When asked why she thinks the Black Student Alliance is important in the Stone Ridge community, Tomiwa Sobande, ‘17, a representative for the group focused on issues and challenges facing the black community, says it “is important because it gives black students a chance to express themselves in a safe space, where[as] they may feel shut out or censored in the larger community.” BSA is known as a safe space for students on campus to freely express concerns and experiences with no judgement. As far as visibility goes, Sobande adds, “I think it’s visible in the community, but we could probably work on making it visible to people who don’t go to BSA.”
With Black History Month approaching, the group has been given an opportunity to bring itself to the forefront. It works hard weekly to plan meetings, send emails to the group, and effectively provide a good experience for everyone involved in this important part of the community.
Participating in BSA is only part of the diversity work available to students; Zoe Sheppard, ‘16, not only had the opportunity to attend SDLC, the Student Diversity Leadership Conference, through the school, but also helped organize the assembly commemorating and honoring Martin Luther King Jr. “The conversations at SDLC were profound and inspired me a lot,” Sheppard notes. “They really impacted me. The girls and I who went to SDLC wanted to spread the feeling we got, so that contributed to the assembly. We wanted to do something on a smaller scale that would impact the Stone Ridge community in a similar way. I felt very blessed and honored to have that experience, and it’s not fair that only four [students] got the opportunity to go, so we wanted to bring some of that back to our community.” On the Martin Luther King assembly, specifically, Sheppard was hopeful that it “changed people’s views on diversity work in general, and how it’s prevalent at our school. Some people can look at our school and think diversity work doesn’t need to happen, but [it’s] the opposite. Diversity work should happen because we are a predominately white school.”
Black History Month is a beautiful celebration of diversity. It allows issues that may often slip students’ minds to be at prioritized at the forefront. Most recently, a display in the library of books relating to Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement has been brought to students’ attention as a way to educate themselves. Every student can learn how to be more sensitive and possibly see the world from a different perspective. It is an opportunity for every student to reflect: what have I done to promote diversity, what can I work on, and how can I make positive change in our community?