Black History Month Observed with Assembly at CHS

The Multicultural Scholarship Club held its Black History Month Assembly in the Hatton Gym on February 17th.

Adrienne D'Souza, President of the Ross County NAACP, was in attendance and said that Black History Month is an opportunity to honor the achievements that African-Americans have made despite the racism and oppression they've faced.

"Sharing our history not only creates a bridge toward empathy and understanding of what Black Americans have gone through but also fills in the gaps of what's not in the history books and being taught in school," D'Souza said.

Keynote speaker Obadiah Drake Harris gave the message of giving your all and working through challenges.

"I have a master's degree, but in that master's degree, I have several classes that I've taken twice, " Harris said. "It's okay to struggle.... It's okay; it's teaching you about life; it says things aren't going to be easy, but you're going to continue to push through. That's life."

Harris said his hope for the audience was that they found their hope and reason: "Think about what you are currently doing now and give that all you got -- whether that's a sport, orchestra, band -- give it all you've got."

CHS student and member of the Multicultural Scholarship Club Caedence Turner said that she has learned a lot about what it means to be a Black American.

"It's taught me that life isn't fair, life isn't easy, but, ultimately, life is a game -- a game where us Black people are automatically dealt a poor hand in life. We can still win the game, but we have to play our cards right to do so," Turner said. "Pumping through obstacles, challenges, and hurdles to experience somewhat of the same life of our equals has not made us only resilient towards every day problems but grateful for what life can bring us."

See the complete assembly by clicking on the video below:

Contributions from T.J. Johnson, Roger Delmoe, Emma Brown, Breanna Southwick, and Gaten Miller.