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Is there anything you liked or would like to suggest for next year?

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Is there anything you liked or would like to suggest for next year?

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Include your questions and concerns here!

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Include your response in the description! Snap a photo of your outfits for Wear It Wednesday and Famous Friday and keep it appropriate and fun!

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Write a note to a person from African-American history that you are thankful for!

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Wear the traditional colors of the African flag, or a shirt/hat that is representative of Black History Month, and snap a pic! Join us for our live lesson on Black Joy with Mrs. Parker!

The lesson will start at 2PM.

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Research a famous African-American civil rights activist and list 5 interesting facts about that person!

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Post your favorite Martin Luther King Jr. quote and explain what it means to you!

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How do I join the OCVS Black Student Union?

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How do I join the OCVS Black Student Union?

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To be added to our further email communications, please use the form link on this post!

This club is open to OCVS students in grades 6th through 12th, and you must have a parent sign the club participation form to participate in our activities.

To stay updated with our next events, please follow our Instagram @ocvsbsu, and join our email list!

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Thank you for your interest in our OCVS Black Student Union Club! We are so happy that you have decided to be a part of this club! As your sponsors, we would like to help you all connect so that you can communicate on club ideas, events, and etc. Please fill out this form so that we can get you all connected!

More coming soon.... Mrs. Parker and Ms. Garsh

alexabrookenuma235@gmail.com

Follow BSU on Instagram @ocvsbsu

Meetings are usually twice a month bi-weekly in person and virtual.

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Thank you for your interest in our OCVS Black Student Union Club! We are so happy that you have decided to be a part of this club! As your sponsors, we would like to help you all connect so that you can communicate on club ideas, events, and etc.

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Click the plus button on the bottom right corner of the screen, and add your subject, description, and photos!

Please make sure to include your name and grade in the subject name when adding your post.

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The Great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." This quote is so meaningful to me. I interpret this quote to mean that we must all learn to love, respect, and help one another- no matter what. At the end of the day, LOVE wins!

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Research a famous African-American Historical Figure, and list 5 facts about this person. (Ideas: Shirley Chisholm, Claudette Coleman, Alexa Canady, Robert Smalls

Thurgood Marshall)

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Research a famous African-American mathematician or scientist. List 5 important facts about this person. (Ideas: Bessie Coleman, Mae Jemison, Frederick McKinley Jones, Gladys West, Shirley Ann Jackson)

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Research a famous African American author or poet. List 5 important facts about this person. (Ideas: Robert Sengstacke Abbott, Gwendolyn Brooks,Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou

Phyllis Wheatley)

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Research a famous African American athlete or entertainer. List 5 important facts about this person. (Ideas: Alice Coachman, Gordon Parks, Ethel Waters, “Sugar” Ray Leonard

Marian Anderson)

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Research famous African American Floridians. List 5 interesting facts about this person. (Ideas: Zora Neale Hurston, Mary McLeod Bethune, Sidney Poitier, Dion Sanders

Augusta Savage)

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Read a book on your SORA app that focuses on Black History Month. After you read the book, write a summary (or a short paragraph) to talk about the important parts of the book. You can also do a snip and sketch of one of your favorite paragraphs of the book and add an illustration to go with your writing. You can also listen to an audio book on SORA or read a magazine focusing on Black History Month.

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To access your SORA App, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your launchpad:

https://launchpad.ocps.net

2. Sign in with your Username and Password.

Username: OCPS Student ID # 4084...

Password: Birthday Reverse Order yyyy/mm/dd

3. Click on the App called SORA OCPS

4. Click on the eBook you want to check out and read.

5. After reading your book, listening to the audio book, or reading the magazine article, post your summary below. (You can also post a snip and sketch as well).

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Ruby Bridges was born on September 8th, 1954 in Tylertown, Mississippi. Bridges grew up during a time when the Jim Crow Laws segregated people in the South. In 1954, the Supreme Court of the USA ruled that segregating schools was unconstitutional during the Brown VS Board of Education trial. Later, in 1960, Bridges was the first African American to enter a desegregated school. Until this present day and time, Ruby Bridges continues to advocate for diversity and acceptance. She was awarded the Presidential Citizen's Medal in 2001 by President Bill Clinton.

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Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals in track in field during the 1936 Olympics.

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Mary McLeod Bethune was born July 10th, 1875 in Mayesville, South Carolina. She was one of 17 children who received an education. She believed that education was important for everyone to attain. Bethune founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute in 1904, which later became Bethune-Cookman College. There is a park in New Smyrna Beach, FL called "Mary McLeod Bethune Beach Park," named in honor of Mary McLeod Bethune.

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Zora Neale Hurston, born on January 7th, 1891, in Alabama, was an American novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist. She was well known for her artistic, musical, and creative influences, and was a fixture of NYC's Harlem Renaissance. Hurston wrote over 50 short stories, essays, plays, poems, and contributed to literacy, music, and black culture in a multitude of ways.

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Simone Biles was born on March 14th, 1917 in Columbus, Ohio. Simone began her competitive gymnastics at the age of 8. Since then, she has won 7 Olympic medals including 4 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze. She stands 4 feet 3 inches tall. Simone wrote an autobiography, "Courage to Soar, A Body in Motion, A Life In Balance," in 2016. This book details her life experiences and her greatness in gymnastics.

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The first Black woman elected to Florida House of Representatives in 1970, and Carrie Meek served as the first Black woman in the Florida Senate starting in 1982

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Misty Danielle Copeland is an American ballet dancer for American Ballet Theatre, one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States. On June 30, 2015, Copeland became the first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer in ABT's 75-year history.

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She is married.

Her bday is September 10

First African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer

World's Best ballerina (to me :)

Likes to have fun

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Langston Hughes is one of my favorite poets! Here are some interesting facts:

1. He wrote most of his poems when he was just a teenager.

2. He was called the Poet of the People.

3. He went to school to be an engineer.

4. He never got married.

5. "Harlem" (Dream Deferred) is one of my favorite poems by Langston Hughes.

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Mae Jemison was born on October 17th, 1956 in Decatur, Alabama. Mae graduated from high school at the age of 16 and enrolled at Stanford University in California. She earned her degrees in Chemical Engineering, African American Studies, and Medicine. She is well known for being the fist African American Astronaut to explore space. In 1992, she spent eight days orbiting the Earth on the Endeavour.

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Gladys Mae West is an American mathematician. She is known for her contributions to mathematical modeling of the shape of the Earth, and her work on the development of satellite geodesy models, that were later incorporated into the Global Positioning System

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Shirley Ann Jackson                      Mrs. Calderon 

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Shirley Ann Jackson                      Mrs. Calderon 

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Shirley Ann Jackson is a very important part of our history! She is a physicist and former head of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), was one of the first two Black American women to receive a doctorate in physics in the U.S. and the first to receive a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. SHe is known for creating things like the touch-tone phone, portable fax machine and call waiting!

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Mae C. Jemison was born on October 17, 1956 in Decatur, Alabama. She always had a deep love for science and space and was disappointed to see there weren’t any women, nor african american astronauts. Mae was an amazing student and graduated high school at 16, afterwards she attended Stanford University, then Cornell Medical School. Mae joined the peace corps in 1983 and served as a medical officer in Africa. She knew English, Russian, Japanese and Swahili. After she saw Sally Ride (first American woman to go to space) on the news, Mae decided she wanted to apply to the astronaut program at NASA. After a while, she finally went on her first mission on September 12, 1992 with six other astronauts on the space shuttle “Endeavour” to make 127 orbits around Earth. Mae Jemison was mostly known because of her amazing achievement of becoming the first African American woman to travel to space.

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Gladys Mae West is an American mathematician. She is known for her contributions to mathematical modeling of the shape of the Earth, and her work on the development of satellite geodesy models, that were later incorporated into the Global Positioning System

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Ella Baker was born on December 13th, 1903 in Norfolk, Virginia. Her mother was a guiding influence in her life who taught her the importance of education, helping people, and being a strong leader. Baker graduated from Shaw University at the top of her class in 1927. She spent much of her life advocating for the civil rights and human rights of African American people. She did a lot of behind-the-scenes work for the Civil Rights Movement with organizations like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In 1940, she joined the staff of the National Association of Advancement for Colored People (NAACP) to bring equality to African Americans in all social settings. Later, in the 1950s, she worked for the New York City chapter of the NAACP, as President, to improve the lives of African American children in New York. Her legacy and work continue to live on today! Thank you Mrs. Baker for your amazing work and leadership!

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THE GREATEST TO EVER PLAY BASKETBALL, MICHAEL JORDAN!!!!!!

Michael Jordan was born in Feburary 17, 1963

Michael Jordan has 6 NBA championships and is considered to be the greatest basketball player of all time.

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The quote I chose is part of the National Parks Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park in Washington DC. It can be found on the South Wall.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." Strength to Love, 1963.

This quote is meaningful to me because it is applicable to so many aspects of our daily lives. To me, this quote means that when we experience or witness something that is "wrong" we cannot respond in the same way. We must seek to be better than the "wrong," which can be done with what is "right."

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Langston Hughes, Pioneer of Jazz Poetry and leader of the Harlem Renaissance. "Mother to Son" one of my favorite poems by him and within our LA1 course!

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Michael Joseph Jackson was born in , on August 29, 1958.[11][12] He was the eighth of ten children in the Jackson family, a working-class African-American family living in a two-bedroom house on Jackson Street. His mother, Katherine Esther Jackson (née Scruse), played clarinet and piano, had aspired to be a country-and-western performer, and worked part-time at Sears. His father, Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson, a former boxer, was a crane operator at US Steel and played guitar with a local rhythm and blues band, the Falcons, to supplement the family's income. Joe's great-grandfather, July "Jack" Gale, was a US Army scout; family lore held that he was also a Native American medicine man. Michael grew up with three sisters and five brothers.

This has led him to being the King of Pop! Even though he has passed, his legacy still lives on!

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Ruby was one of the first African American children to attend a previously white-only elementary school in Louisiana. Many restaurants, schools, businesses and other parts of the community were segregated at that time. So when Ruby, at the age of six, walked into school that day, she did so in the face of much opposition. In fact, her mom and U.S. marshals had to escort her past the shouts and threats from people who did not want her attending. One of the marshals who escorted Ruby into school that day said later, "She showed a lot of courage. She never cried. She didn't whimper. She just marched along like a little soldier, and we're all very very proud of her." Ruby Bridges became another example of the power children have to stand up for what is right and help bring about change that makes our world a better place.

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Amanda Gorman is a famous writer and poet. She was born in 1998 in Los Angeles, California. She started writing stories and poems at a very young age. She attended and graduated from Harvard University. In 2021, she read a self written poem "The Hill We Cimb, " at Joe Biden's inauguration. She is the youngest poet to achieve this amazing goal!

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~ Roberto Clemente ~                           By: Ada Ellegood                                                                

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~ Roberto Clemente ~                           By: Ada Ellegood                                                                

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This week we are learning about Roberto Clemente! Proud of his African-American and Hispanic roots, Roberto was a Puerto Rican professional MVP baseball player and US Marine. He played in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates, broke records and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He loved helping people, spending much of his free time in charity work, up to the day of his passing. Some of my favorite quotes from Roberto Clemente: "I don't believe in color, I believe in people" and "Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don't, then you are wasting your time on Earth."

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One of my favorite quotes from Dr. King. -Chad Houvouras

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James Weldon Johnson(composer of "Lift Every Voice and Sing")  

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James Weldon Johnson(composer of "Lift Every Voice and Sing")  

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Mrs. Rutherford:

I attended the Timucua Arts Amplifies Black Voices concert this past weekend, and Brandon Martin ( Disney and broadway singer - soon to be famous I'm sure!) sing a collection of musical pieces following the history of African Americans. He sang this piece and also shared the history of this Floridian-born songwriter who wrote this famous piece. Enjoy!

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The history of 'Lift Every Voice and Sing'

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National Museum of African American History and Culture

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James Arthur Baldwin (1924 - 1987) was born in Harlem, New York on August 2, 1924 to Emma Berdis Jones, originally from Deal Island, Maryland. He was reared by his mother and stepfather David Baldwin, a Baptist preacher, originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, whom Baldwin referred to as his father and whom he described as extremely strict. He did not know his biological father. As the eldest of nine children, Baldwin took seriously the responsibility of being a big brother and his mother's right hand. He cared for and protected his three younger brothers and five sisters in a household governed by the rigid rules of their father.

Between the ages of fourteen and seventeen, Baldwin became a preacher at the Fireside Pentecostal Assembly, where he developed a celebrated preaching style. His brief experience in the church would have a sustained impact on his rhetorical style and on the themes, symbols, and biblical allusions in his writings. Baldwin's Pentecostal experience is, in fact, essential to understanding his complex views on Christianity, which he espoused in his speeches and publications. His experience in the pulpit also served to inflect his overall stance on religion, and his ultimate rejection of it in the name of humanistic love. In The Fire Next Time, Baldwin proclaims, "If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, it is time we got rid of Him."

During his early teen years, Baldwin attended Frederick Douglass Junior High School, where he met his French teacher and mentor Countee Cullen, who achieved prominence as a poet of the Harlem Renaissance. Baldwin went on to DeWitt Clinton High School, where he edited the school literary magazine Magpie and participated in the literary club, just as Cullen had done when he was a student there. By high school graduation, he had a group of close friends from DeWitt Clinton-Richard Avedon, Emile Capouya, and Sol Stein-with whom he kept in touch and even collaborated on some of his works (e.g., Avedon and Stein).

The 1940s marked several turning points in Baldwin's life. In 1942, he graduated from high school, and a year later he witnessed the Harlem Race Riot of 1943 and experienced the death of his father. After this emotional loss, Baldwin felt more than ever that it was important to play father figure to his eight brothers and sisters. He could not even dream of college and, therefore, worked at menial jobs during the day and at night played guitar in Greenwich Village cafes, where he also wrote for long hours, trying to fulfill his dream of becoming a writer.

In 1944, Baldwin met Richard Wright, who was the famous African American male writer at the time, and whose work spoke to his sensibility. In time, Wright would also become his mentor, for Baldwin appreciated Wright's strong opinions about race in America, and he also greatly valued their intellectual exchanges. Wright helped Baldwin to obtain a fellowship to write his first novel, which enabled him to leave for Paris in 1948, where the older writer had relocated a few years earlier. However, while in France, the two were often at odds about the ways in which they approached race in their writings. Baldwin wrote three essays explicating his critique of Wright's "protest art" in the novel Native Son (1940); their disagreement eventually led to the demise of their friendship, which Baldwin regretted after Wright's death in 1960.

In 1948, at age twenty-four, Baldwin left the United States to live in Paris, France, as he could not tolerate the racial and sexual discrimination he experienced daily. As Kendall Thomas, professor of law and critical race studies at Columbia University, explains, Baldwin left his country because of racism, and Harlem because of homophobia-two aspects of his identity that made him a frequent target of beatings by local youth and the police. When asked about his departure, Baldwin explained in a The Paris Review interview from 1984, "My luck was running out. I was going to go to jail, I was going to kill somebody or be killed." In Paris, Baldwin began to interact with other writers. He reconnected with Richard Wright, and for the first time, he met Maya Angelou, with whom he maintained a close relationship until the end of his life.

Baldwin would spend the next forty years abroad, where he wrote and published most of his works. Between 1948 and 1957 he lived in France and traveled in Europe, and from 1961 to 1970, Baldwin lived for long periods in Istanbul and visited many other places in Turkey. The violence and assassinations of black leaders in the United States during the politically turbulent 1960s took an emotional toll on him. After the assassination of his three friends-Medgar Evers in 1963, Malcolm X in 1965, and Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968-Baldwin suffered an emotional breakdown, became ill, and eventually moved to the South of France to recuperate. In 1971, he settled in a house in the village of St. Paul de Vence, which he would later buy piece by piece, as he received payments for his publications (accounts vary as to the final sale having taken place). In St. Paul, he would create his most enduring household.

During his earlier years abroad, Baldwin returned to the United States frequently and considered himself a "transatlantic commuter." In 1955, he signed a lease for an apartment at 63 West 97th Street in New York, and from the mid-1960s on, he maintained a home nearby at 137 West 71st Street.

When Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968, Baldwin was living in California in a rented house in Los Angeles, where he was writing a screenplay based on Alex Haley's The Autobiography of Malcolm X. He received the tragic news while visiting London with his sister Gloria. Many of Baldwin's extended visits to the United States were to spend time with his large and beloved family and to participate in Civil Rights Movement events. He attended the March on Washington in 1963 and the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965. Baldwin also participated in literary events, such as the 1965 conference titled "The Negro Writer's Vision of America" sponsored by the New School of Social Research in New York. During his presentation, Baldwin addressed the conference theme, saying, "I know a story which America denies. And it denies it for the very good reason that my story, once told, confronts it with the truth about itself. In fact, my story, once told, will liberate America. The possibility of liberation-the necessity of becoming responsible for one's own life-is what most people most profoundly fear."

After a short battle with stomach cancer, Baldwin passed away on November 30, 1987 in his house in St. Paul de Vence. A week later, he was laid to rest at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City and buried at the Ferncliff Cemetery in New York. Family members and friends participated in a large service during which Toni Morrison, Amiri Baraka, and Maya Angelou delivered touching remarks about their friend and brother. Angelou said Baldwin's love "opened the unusual door for me, and I am blessed that James Baldwin was my brother."

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Learn more about the life of James Baldwin as he traveled the world while remaining close to family and establishing enduring friendships.

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Mrs. Decker wearing a shirt that is stating "Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future" for Black History Month.

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Mrs. Decker wearing a shirt that is stating "Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future" for Black History Month.

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Join us for a day on campus, wearing a shirt featuring your favorite famous African-American activist, actor, athlete, or artist!

Find us in the Media Center from 12:00 to 2:00 PM for fun activities, presenting, showcasing, and more.

You must sign up to RSVP to this event. Click the link to sign up. https://forms.gle/TNgdm2R7jgz2REQp6

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Join the OCVS Black Student Union on campus for a day full of fun activities, showcasing, sharing, and snacking! Wear a shirt that features your favorite famous African American activist, actor, athlete, or artist! This RSVP closes on February 21, 2024 at 7pm. Contact Information is available on the last page of this form.

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Mae Carol Jemison was born on October 17, 1956. She got educated at Stanford University (BA, BS) Cornell University (MD).She is an American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut. She became the first African-American woman to go into space when she served as a mission specialist onboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992.

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Here's our BEAUTIFUL Mrs. Gurley wearing her Black History Month T-Shirt and her earrings made by the Massai tribe in Kenya, Africa.

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Loving my Black History Month t-shirt representing the amazing artists, activists, and leaders of Black History!

The shirt reads:

Lead like Martin

Fight like Malcom

Think like Garvey

Write like Maya

Lead like Madam CJ

Speak like Frederick

Educate like W.E.B.

Believe like Thurgood

Challenge like Rosa

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Serena and Venus Williams have left an indelible mark on the world of tennis and beyond. Together, they have dominated the sport for over two decades, amassing numerous Grand Slam titles and Olympic gold medals. Their remarkable success on the court is matched only by their commitment to advancing equality for African Americans. As two of the most prominent black athletes in history, Serena and Venus have used their platform to advocate for social justice and equality. They have shattered barriers, challenged stereotypes, and inspired generations of athletes to dream big and defy the odds. Through their resilience, determination, and unwavering advocacy, the Williams sisters have become symbols of empowerment and trailblazers for change, leaving an enduring legacy that extends far beyond the tennis court.

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Jackie Robinson is one of the best players ever. He helped others with their dream of Baseball. I am grateful.

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Dear Michael Jordan, Thank you for carving and inspiring a path for many of the greats!

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Thanks Marton Luther King jr. we are all ment to be =.

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Dear President Obama,

I am thankful for your service to our country as the first African American president! You are an inspiration to so many people and have paved the way for many other African American people.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Berhane

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-Riah Thank you Martin Luther and others who helped out will our freedom.

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-Riah Thank you Martin Luther and others who helped out will our freedom.

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Can you still come on friday even if you don't have a shirt

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Can you still come on friday even if you don't have a shirt

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Yes, you can! The event is open for all students K-12 at OCVS!!

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Dear Michael Jackson, thank you for using your music to bring people together. And for helping people around the world through your humanitarianism and music.

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Dear Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr,

Thank you for your amazing life work in being an activist and a champion for human rights. Thank you for teaching all of us that in our world we need more love and less hate. Thank you for teaching us the value of appreciating and respecting diversity. Thank you for teaching us how to learn, grow, and build together. Thank you for teaching us all the value of empathy and love. You are such an amazing role model and an inspiration. I wish I could have known you.

Love,

Ms. Garsh

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Hey Journey!

Yes ma'am! You can still come on Friday if you don't have a shirt representing BHM. Just be sure to sign up on the sign up form so that we can count you in for attendance.

Hugs,

Ms. Garsh

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I Love Hugs Lol

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Creola Katherine Johnson was born on August 26, 1918. She was a mathematician and an employee at NASA. Her work at NASA was important to the success of the first spaceflights in the US. Some of her important work included calculating flight trajectories for Project Mercury (1961-1963) and calculating launch windows. In 2015 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. She was the first African-American woman to work for NASA as a scientist.

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The first African American to win an individual medal in Olympic gymnastics

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The OCVS BSU Club! We missed some members today, but you were with us in spirit!