For the month of February, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee will be hosting events during AcLab to celebrate Black History Month. 

Shelly Justin, language arts teacher, is the sponsor for the DEI committee and said that for the second year of inviting Black History Month speakers, the committee wanted to make this year more performance-based. 

Today, Feb. 15, Justin said she is hosting a Film Festival showing the movie “The Wiz,” and the Library will feature artist Eric Wilson for a Q&A session.

Wilson has one of the only Black-owned galleries in north St. Louis County and, unlike other artists, has no prior experience in the art industry. For the last eight years, he’s served as a contractor and a mentor for men and has also served a decade in prison for federal drug charges, he said. 

“Art is my form of expression. It’s a part of me and my outlet,” Wilson said. “My art is a testimony of my life.”

On Feb. 23, a step-dancing team, “Gentlemen of Vision,” will be performing in the theater, and Feb. 27, R&B singer, Nikko Smith, will perform in the theater. 

These events are only a few examples of celebrations of different cultures that DEI intends to have as students reach out, Justin said. 

“We want this to be where every month we are celebrating diversity and culture and making everyone in this building feel special somehow,” Justin said.

Claireece Cross, senior, is the president of the DEI committee and helped to invite speakers for Black History Month.

Cross said performances and interactive events are the best way to get students involved and excited to learn about the culture. 

“We [DEI Committee] started talking about different things and we both came up with the conclusion to have performances, to get kids interested,” Cross said. 

“These performances definitely impact our school,” Cross said. “Just having that cultural aspect is important because some kids don’t get to see that type of thing. It’s good to reach out and branch out to see different things.”

Cross said she hopes more people get involved in STUCO or DEI. 

“It’s important for our clubs to get the message out there,” Cross said.

Raymond Holmes, librarian, said the Library is hosting artists and authors during AcLab for Black History Month to expose readers to the experiences of Black Americans. 

“We like to celebrate the fact that there are many unique stories out there to tell and that personal experiences are going to shape your story,” Holmes said. “I think it’s going to be a really cool experience for students to see.”

Holmes said they invited self-published author Jaer Armstead-Jones after hearing of his promo reading at the public library. 

“It’s a great opportunity to bring a local author who’s written a book about issues that people in St. Louis are dealing with,” Holmes said. “It would also be a really great opportunity to bring him in to talk about his experience as a self-published author.”  

For the month of February, Holmes said the book club also has been focusing on a book that relates to the Black American experience with the mystery novel “Grown,” which concentrates on a Black teenage girl trying to get into the music industry.