WEST ORANGE, NJ — The guest speaker for the West Orange High School Student Council’s annual Black History Month Dinner urged the young black people in attendance to never forget where they came from, stressing that “if you love a brother, help a brother.”
Reggie Miller, a motivational speaker and youth mentor, told those in attendance on Feb. 3 that for every successful black person there are many more struggling in society. They can become successes too, Miller said, but only if they get the support they need.
“Those people doing well — got the house, got the nice job, you’re comfortable — have to reach down,” Miller said. “You have to reach down and pull those who need that extra hand. That’s what mentoring is.”
Miller has mentored thousands of young men as the director of the Male Student Support Program, an initiative designed to help minority students in the Orange public school system. In his position, he urges the boys he works with to go to college, something he told the dinner attendees all minorities should do in order to gain the tools for success. He also offers guidance in their lives, speaking to students about everything from sex to drugs to anger.
It is not easy being a mentor though, as Miller said some of his charges become involved with gangs and die young. Still, he told the West Orange Chronicle before the event that he feels blessed to make a difference in their lives. He said young black men benefit from seeing people like themselves doing good things in the world.
“When they see themselves like here in West Orange with a black male principal, I think psychologically that helps the black male student to say ‘OK, he achieved. I can understand him. I can trust him,’” Miller said. “A lot of times they feel ‘Nobody understands who I am, where I’m from.’ I walk the walk with them.”
The youth mentor said he also loves advising West Orange students because the township offers so many opportunities of which they can take advantage. To pursue them, he said, he always stresses they should do what Matt Damon has said he needed to do while filming “The Bourne Identity” — find a “purposeful walk.” He said that means walking without fear, without a mask and with urgency. Basically, he said it is all about being focused on one’s goals.
WOHS Principal Hayden Moore told the Chronicle he thinks that is good advice for all his students. Moore said he also appreciated Miller’s message of mentorship, knowing how his father and teachers helped him become the man he is today. And there is plenty of opportunity for students to be mentored at WOHS, he said, pointing out that the school has a program in which freshmen can receive guidance from upper classmen. Of course, he said, students can always seek help from counselors and teachers as well.
Moore said he is also happy to once again celebrate Black History Month. With a school as diverse as WOHS, he said it is vital that students know the trailblazers and events that led to the world of today. By having people of all races sit down for dinner, he said the event does its part to further understanding as well.
“We tear down barriers of racism, we tear down walls of unfairness,” Moore said. “We really get to know each other for our character rather than what we look like.”
The event’s performances captured the spirit of Black History Month. Several poets spoke to the discrimination black people faced in the past and today, including one who detailed his exposure to racism upon migrating to the United States from Africa as a boy. The WOHS boys’ step team also gave a rousing performance acting out the history of black oppression, from the time of slavery through today.
Step team member Myles Douglin said he appreciated the chance to demonstrate stepping, an aspect of black culture many people might not have seen before. He was also glad to teach the audience about black history through his performance, explaining that art is a powerful means of communicating a message on an emotional level. And black history is certainly worth learning about, he said.
“Black history is such a large segment of history,” Douglin told the Chronicle after the event. “It needs to be acknowledged at one point or another because of how crucial it was within American history.”
WOHS senior Justin C. Davis arranged for a number of singers to perform as well, including his own band Young Suburban Souls. Davis told the Chronicle he was aiming to curate a show that people would remember, a benchmark to which all future Black History Month Dinners would be compared. And performer after performer proceeded to bring down the house with empowering songs.
The entire evening was impressive to Wankeith Akin, who had traveled from Roseland to be part of the festivities. Akin said it is important that young black people learn about the struggles of those who came before them because black history was not always glorious. That way, he said, they will be sure to take advantage of all the opportunities they have today that were not afforded to their ancestors — especially education.
“Education is colorless,” Akin told the Chronicle at the dinner.
Sophia Raines and Janiya Peters, WOHS students, indeed did learn a lot from attending the dinner — especially about the necessity of supporting the black community. Raines said black people can accomplish anything as long as they do it together. Peters agreed, pointing out that just one successful black person can make a difference in helping the less fortunate.
“We can’t progress without helping each other,” Peters told the Chronicle during the dinner.
But the Black History Month Dinner did more than just educate its attendees. Student Council co-adviser Jodi Costanza, who organized the event along with co-advisor Krista Romanyshyn, said proceeds from ticket sales will go toward a scholarship awarded to a student heavily involved with school events. Those monies will be helpful in paying for books at least, Costanza said.
Above all though, Costanza said the event was a chance to celebrate West Orange’s rich cultural diversity. That is why the Black History Month Dinner will continue to be held every year, she said.
Photos by Sean Quinn
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