The Black History Month production was held in the auditorium of Churchland High School on March 6 to send a message to all students about past African-American activists.
The Black History play was about the heritage of African-Americans and their struggles in society. The two main characters were Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. In their scene, Malcolm thought they were at war and should fight back, but Martin believed they should work together and stop the killing and violence. Malcolm said love is not working for them and he doesn’t want to fight, but they only have two options--to die or fight.
All 30 students interviewed after the performance said the chorus was the best part of the production. Many said they received the message and enjoyed the show. Most teachers interviewed said the whole play was an achievement.
Senior Zephania Chandler said, “I felt like it was a wonderful play and everyone did a great job with the acting, staying focused, and the singing.’’
Behind the scenes, some acts were taken out. If you attended the first production, there was a police brutality scene, where four young ladies were walking home from school, got stopped by police officers, and were pushed on the ground. In the second production, the audience was not able to see that scene because it was cut.
D’nardo Harrison, who was in the police brutality scene, said, “It was very unorganized, and I was upset because the police brutality scene was basically taken out. It wasn’t supposed to be that simple.”
The whole point of the production was to raise awareness for Black History and the struggle activists had to go through to get us to where we are today.
Photo: Elijah Macklin