DeKalb High School celebrates Black History Month with Jeopardy!, jazz and more

DeKALB – Julian McElroy said he believes humans made up the concept of “race” to put others into boxes, as two people are not the same just because they have a similar skin color.

“The reality is, I’m just a person. That’s it,” he said. “You can call me black if you want, but at the end of the day I’m just a man, no different than any other man, except I’m much more cool.”

McElroy, a teaching assistant in the DeKalb School District, spoke to students at DeKalb High School on Friday as part of its “Suitcases – Living Among Us” event.

Students tested their knowledge of black history, heard staff members “open their suitcases” about their experiences with race and appreciated a jazz concert in celebration of Black History Month.

Some participated in a black history-themed game of Jeopardy!, where classes competed to answer questions about historical black figures and facts. Others heard their classmates perform jazz ensembles and sing a cappella in honor of Black History Month, while the rest packed the cafeteria for a living-history presentation.

Maurice McDavid, dean of students at DeKalb High School, introduced staff members for the “Suitcases – Living Among Us” assembly.

“Today as we celebrate Black History Month, we want to attempt to let you know a little bit about some of what’s in the suitcase, the common things that are often found in the suitcase of African-Americans,” he said.

McElroy recalled growing up on the West Side of Chicago and taking public transportation for an hour and a half to get to his high school on the North Side.

“That was my first time outside of teachers dealing with people that didn’t look like me,” he said. “That transition was a little bit difficult.”

He said he realized while traveling through different Chicago neighborhoods that people are divided by race, but he eventually learned that he should not feel defensive or threatened because someone is from a different background.

“As time progressed, I gave people a chance, and I learned a lot about myself and other people,” McElroy said.

McDavid said the idea of the “suitcases” presentation came about as a way to create a healthy, open dialogue about race, gender and other aspects of people’s identities. That was the goal of last year’s assembly, too, he said – but the message didn’t come across the same way. Instead, hundreds of students stayed home the day after last year’s assembly as tempers flared on social media.

“What [students in last year’s assembly] were attempting to do was open up that suitcase and say, ‘Here are some things that I’ve experienced, and I’m going to share them with you,’ ” McDavid said. “And I think that in doing so, some people felt like it was an attack.”

DeKalb High School freshman Jaylen Nelson was in the audience for the Jeopardy! game and said it made him realize that schools should teach black history more throughout the year.

“I’m not saying the school curriculum is bad or anything, but I just think they should incorporate more, so we know more about this,” he said. “Some kids were in the crowd looking it up on Google trying to find the answer, like, we should already know this.”

He also said he was surprised that some white students answered more questions than black students.

“I think it woke some of us up, because right now I’m about to go home and look up some of that stuff,” Nelson said.

Freshman Jaden VanHooreweghe said that although the school originally planned for a wax museum event, he thought the musical performances were “wonderful” and well attended.

“The [jazz] team was well coordinated, and they put a lot of effort into what they did,” he said. “Especially the a cappella; that was my favorite part. They seemed to have sung their hearts out.”

Senior Fredrick Whitaker said he enjoyed the jazz and singing performances as well.

“Black history has a lot to do with jazz, so I really think they brought that essence of it out,” Whitaker said.

The school will host the events again Monday, so students have the chance to attend two of the three presentations.