Wagener-Salley High School celebrated Black History Month with song and dance and the written word Thursday, and students responded with cheers and applause.
The students also learned about the Great Migration, which took African-American families to urban areas across the country in the 20th century.
Highlighting the importance of music in African-American life and culture, the WSHS Adult Choir inspired the audience with a “Medley of Hymns,” including the familiar songs “O, How I Love Jesus” and “Jesus Loves Me.”
“When things looked bleak, we always had our music,” one of the choir members told the students. “We hope that these songs can inspire you and let you know that you can always sing a little song to get you through.”
The choir ended the program with “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson and often referred to as the Black National Anthem.
The WSHS M.O.B. Club kept spirits high with a praise dance to “I Need Just a Little More Jesus,” which had audience members clapping and some on their feet.
Keynote speaker Dr. Walter B. Curry Jr., an author, educator and adjunct professor at Claflin University in Orangeburg, discussed “Black Migrations,” the 2019 Black History theme.
Curry ended by telling the students to never forget “to give back to your school, to your community and to your family” and asked them to look to the person on the right and repeat: “It doesn't matter if you live in Wagener, Salley, Perry, Kitchens Mill, I am a War Eagle. I expect to win.”
Read the full Aiken Standard article HERE.