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About 500 people attended the 34th-annual Black History Celebration on Saturday at Zion-Benton Township High School’s Performing Arts Center.
David B. Osborne Sr. of Zion, the event coordinator and director of the Hermon Park Center for the Zion Park District, said the celebration of diversity locally is, “getting better.”
“I work with the kids because I run youth basketball, Little League Baseball, and I do this program and some other programs,” he said. “So I’m in the community, going here and there, so I’ve seen some slow changes. I see things slowly getting better.”
The Zion Park District and Zion-Benton Township High School presented the Lake County program Saturday.
Diallo Brown, assistant principal at Zion-Benton Township High School, said, “We don’t want to necessarily just reserve February for this important history. We want to have nuggets dropped every single day so that the remembrance is easier to handle. It’s easier to digest.
Zackary Livingston, the high school’s principal, welcomed the audience with a reminder that, “Black history is important. If we don’t take some time out of our day to come and support, talk and educate each other, our generation will grow up and forget about how important Black history is.”
The program included poetry and performance art. Opening the itinerary was The Elite Striders Drill Team and Drum Corps of Waukegan, an award-winning program recognizing its 10th year with a current list of 50 members.
“It’s a big accomplishment, said Sameia Charity Hicks, founder of the unit. “A lot of the small businesses and things don’t last after a couple of years, but these kids keep me going.”
The program itinerary also featured the community singing of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
“It’s our anthem, and I think it’s a very powerful message,” said pianist and the principal’s wife Marisa Livingston.
Christian Gibbs, 17, a junior at the high school, was a soloist during the choir’s performance.
“It’s really nice to be able to spread the joy of the songs and spread the message,” he said.
Standing and swaying to the music was audience member Maya Moseberry of Vernon Hills.
“The music here is extremely important to me,” she said. “I’m a Christian, I’m a follower of God and I love the messages that are in it.
“It’s uplifting,” Moseberry continued. “It’s like a vibration. It literally resonates from your feet to the top of your head.”
Iona Woods of Grayslake also sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing” as an audience member and attended the event to, “just enjoy the school, enjoy the people. I love being out like this.”
Woods noted that diversity is becoming more celebrated in society.
“I think the good people have to help the bad, the good have to pray and help bad people,” she said.
Educating youths about Black history is, “very important,” Woods said, in order for, “young people to learn and know.”
Zion Mayor Billy McKinney was also in the audience and said remembering Black history is, “crucial.”
“There have been a lot of Black people that have helped with the foundation of the country, built this country on their back,” he said. “I think for our young kids who haven’t been a part of the Civil Rights era as I was, they need to learn this history so that they don’t forget the sacrifices of many that helped them to be able to have the opportunities that they have now.
“As they say,” McKinney added, “if you don’t know where you came from, you won’t know where you’re going.”
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