Sitting in Mrs. Jennifer Dettlo’s classroom as a freshman, Ini Edet, current senior, watched her sister Uyai Edet and her fellow Black Culture Club founders as they ran some of the first meetings ever. Surrounded by only a couple other students, it felt comforting but empty—a majority of the members were seniors, leaving the fate of the club unknown.
With the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, discussions brewed within each meeting, leaving her surprised that the club hadn’t been created sooner. Four years later, Ini has watched the club progress into the community it has created today—interactive meetings, an abundance of active members and a strong future of leadership.
“When it first began, I kind of felt like black issues were pretty mundane and unimportant at MHS, but now it seems that Black Culture Club is able to integrate very nicely with all of the other clubs, with the school itself and with administration,” Ini said. “It’s so important having all these different culture clubs, it really shows that we do make up a part of the population—even if it may not seem like it—and we are able to be represented.”
To promote Black History Month, BCC planned unity days every Friday this month to demonstrate unity in the school. Each color that people wore corresponded to one of the four on the Pan-African flag: black, yellow, red and green.
“Through all these spirit days, even if people don’t participate—sometimes by accident and sometimes on purpose—they at least acknowledge that we are making an impact and we’re here to put our voice out there,” Ini said.
On the last day of January, BCC members stayed after school to decorate teachers’ doors with influential black figures for the month, trying to get at least one door in each subject hallway. Kam Hubbard, senior and club president, explained that the door decorating is not only to bring people together, but to shine a light on black influence in our world today.
“It’s not just about black history, what has happened in the past, but it’s how we’ve moved on from that,” Kam said. “It’s how we’ve developed as a race. We don’t have to constantly live in the past, we have to create new beginnings, a better way of living, a better way of being comfortable in your own skin. I hope people recognize that it’s not just about history, but it’s about today too and what we plan to do moving forward.”
BCC also collaborated with Culture Cuisine Club both Feb. 8 and 22 for meetings educating about Jamaican culture and then trying Jamaican food, ordering from Tropic Island. Junior Ava Adam, co-vice president of both BCC and CCC, hopes to potentially see more collaboration between clubs which both strive to educate students and encourage open-mindedness.
“I feel like having clubs work toward the same effort creates a better school environment,” Ava said. “Half of MHS students have a minority background, so I think it’d be great to see more culture clubs collaborate.”
Feb. 28 in club sponsor Mrs. Kristin Laflech’s room, BCC will have a party with pizza and music to recap the month. Looking forward to the rest of the year, they hope to plan a day to visit the middle school to recruit next year’s freshmen.
“I think it’s really important so people can feel represented because when Black Culture Club was founded, there was obviously a much lower black demographic,” Nneka Oniah, senior and co-vice president, said. “It was really made as a safe space for not only black people, but for people to come together, feel safe and at home, highlight black voices, inventions, black history—everything black—and just appreciate it.”
Recalling a meeting earlier this year where members had an opportunity to research influential black figures, Brandon Walker, sophomore, has seen first-hand how BCC has educated the members about black culture. During the research, he and his friend learned about an enslaved musician named Blind Tom Wiggins who was a musical prodigy in the late 1800s.
“Targeted missions to learn more through Black History Month or spirit days provide students the opportunity to learn about inspirational figures and stories,” Brandon said. “There is still large amounts of misinformation, misconceptions and ignorance in Munster. However, I have noticed an uptick in discussion of other cultures, as well as spaces for different cultures to convene.”
When reflecting on the progression of BCC and her own high school experience since 2020, Kam believes that the stigma and feelings of discrimination have lessened, and credits the club as the reason why. In addition to the startup of various other culture-based clubs at MHS, she feels they have formed a place for people to be safe and comfortable. Personally, she said she feels she has freed her own mind of any stigmas and worries about others’ opinions in order to unapologetically be herself and reach her own potential.
“People don’t like to bother people who are comfortable and genuinely embrace their authenticity,” Kam said. “It’s not just ignorance anymore, it’s blatantly there. You can say anything you want to me, you can have your opinions, but at the end of the day, I know who I am and I know what I stand for.”
