Black history blossoms at Langston Hughes School

EAST ORANGE, NJ — Black History Month is a time of celebration and reflection on a culture rich in almost any area you can name. It’s a time to highlight the many contributions of well-known blacks and how those contributions have changed and enhanced the nation and the world.

Plans to celebrate Black History Month at The Langston Hughes School of Publishing and Fine Arts are extensive, exciting and will provide teachable moments for all who enter its doors. Several activities are scheduled for February, the kick off being a week-long remembrance of the poet, novelist, playwright and social activist for which the school is named. To honor James Mercer Langston Hughes, who would have been 115 years old this year, the school will air daily morning public address messages detailing biographical facts and some of the best-known poetry of Hughes, starting Monday, Jan. 30, and ending the week with an assembly focusing on Hughes’ literary and social contributions.

“Langston Hughes is one of my favorite authors and writers,” said school Principal Vincent Stallings, “one who has made a tremendous impact on American literature. As this school is named for him, it is important and only fitting that we recognize his contributions

to poetry, to literacy, and that we celebrate his worldwide impact.” Now in his first year as principal of Langston Hughes School, Stallings was previously principal of Sojourner Truth Middle School and assistant principal at Patrick F. Healy Middle School, as well as a former professor at Montclair State University.

The wide-ranging list of activities taking place during the month include a black history door contest, in which all offices and classrooms will participate, specific days to dress in African apparel, as a black public figure, and a day to “Dress for Success” and an evening exhibition of fine and performing arts. The school will also host a traveling exhibit featuring famous black people from the city developed by the East Orange Historical Society.

Also scheduled is “Go Red Day” to promote heart health in the community and a morning workshop titled “Parent Engagement & the Impact on Student Achievement,” featuring Principal Baruti Kafele, a former East Orange school principal whose inspiring messages of school and classroom excellence has made him one of the top education speakers in America. The school will also present a screening and panel discussion of the film “13th,” director Ava DuVernay’s acclaimed 2016 documentary. Centered on race in the U.S. criminal justice system, the film is titled after the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which outlawed slavery. DuVernay’s documentary argues that slavery is being effectively perpetuated through mass incarceration.

“We have developed a variety of programs designed to educate and inspire our staff and students and encourage them to learn more about their culture and history,” Stallings said. “We know, when students have an understanding of the power of their history and culture, it can propel them academically.”

Activities for Black History Month will wind down with staff, parents and students participating in an International Cook-off and a mock protest rally for equal rights that honors those who fought for fair treatment.

Commenting on the recent well-received programs for the year-end holidays and to celebrate the birth of Martin Luther King Jr., Maisha Fisher, now a third-grade teacher, who was a student when Langston Hughes was called Elmwood Avenue School, said she was excited about the upcoming programs and her class will participate in a choreographed production for the black history program scheduled for later this month. “These are things that have never been done here before,” she said. “This will provide knowledge of self for these students, so they may have confidence and feel that they, too, can be a success.”

Zakiyah Jack, a fourth-grader at Langston Hughes School, was recently selected as the runner-up in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s “Stories of our Past are Key to the Future” poetry contest. Her poem about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was deemed an inspiration expression of his legacy. She plans to create another poem to include in one of the upcoming programs. “I’d like to write about people who had to go through segregation, like Langston Hughes or Rosa Parks. They are examples of people who fought to be heard and will be remembered.”