Black professionals offer perspective on history, success
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on February 23, 2018 5:50 AM
Full Size
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Jennifer Polk, career center manager for NC Works, talks to Eastern Wayne High School students Teosha Faison, Keziah Boyette and Will Smith during a Black History Panel in the media center of the school Thursday. Students were given time to meet with several leaders in the community about what they do and their background.
For the students at Eastern Wayne High School, Black History Month is as much about the present as it is about the past.
The school hosted a Black History Month panel discussion in its media center Thursday, bringing together African-American professionals from across Wayne County to speak to students about their perspectives on black history and success. Organized by the student-run Positive Cultural Change committee and EHW teacher Mark Colebrook, the panel was one of several Black History Month event held at EWH throughout the week.
Colebrook said that getting together black people who have succeeded is a good way to inspire young black people.
"I think that young people don't always understand that black history should also be black present," he said. "We want to make sure that this is unified no matter your race, and that we can both educate people about black culture and celebrate our culture."
The speakers were organized a bit differently than a traditional panel discussion. Rather than have them all sit at one table and answer questions from the audience, each speaker sat at their own table in the media center, where groups of students could sit down with them individually to have conversations. Among those in attendance were John Barnes, CEO of Rebuilding Broken Places, Carol Artis, Wayne County Public Schools executive director of Curriculum and Instruction and Federal Programs, and Thomas Walker, president of Wayne Community College. Also in attendance were Anthony Goodson, CEO of Goldsboro Housing Authority, Raymond Smith Jr., vice-chairman of the Wayne County Board of Education, Jennifer Polk, manager of NCWORKS Wayne County, Jennifer Kuykendall, director of the Wayne County Museum, L. Smith-Perkins, manager of Renovating Lives, Inc., and military veterans Brenda Warren and Eddie Edwards.
Growing up, Colebrook knew the leaders in his community because they lived nearby. However, with the dawn of social media and increased mobility for people, it is not always the case now that young people know those making the decisions that impact them.
Colebrook said that putting students face-to-face with these professionals presented them with a unique opportunity.
"How many times as a student do you get the opportunity to meet the president of Wayne Community College?" he said. "You see his photo on stuff, but to actually get to meet him and ask him questions is great."
Austen Lewis is the student leader of the PCC. He described the group's mission as celebrating different ethnicities and cultures, and said that it will work to recognize the histories of other racial groups, not just black people.
"We work toward not just African-American history, but also Hispanic history, there's an Asian history month that not many people know about so we're going to do something for that," he said. "There's also a group here called Girl Up, and next month is National Women's Month, so we're working with them on that."
Lewis said that, as an African-American student himself, the panel discussion was one of the most important events out of the several planned for the week.
"The black community is now always portrayed well in the media, unless we've committed a crime," he said. "To see black professionals who have made it and be able to talk to them about their experiences is such an inspirational message."