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Black history plays out at Williamson Elementary School
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
President Barack Obama, Thurgood Marshall, Queen Latifah, Mahalia Jackson, Marcus Garvey and Colin Powell visited Williamson Elementary School — portrayed by students as part of the school’s first Living History Museum.
Fifth- and sixth-graders researched prominent African-Americans from throughout history and presented their findings to kindergartners through fourth-graders who filed through the cafeteria.
“In a couple of years, you’ll get to do that,” Principal Renee Foerster told the younger children.
“Awesome,” one child said.
“Cool,” added another.
Foerster said the presenters had three styles of dress to choose from for the event: like the figure they researched, in their school uniform or dressed up.
Fifth-grader Cy’renity Bowman, 10, wore a black suit, mirroring the style of Obama.
“He’s the president,” she said. “I wanted to learn more about him.”
Cy’renity learned that Obama earned good grades in school and played basketball and that he grew up poor but turned that around.
Keyona Damous, 11, also a fifth-grader, wore a long, black robe as Thurgood Marshall.
“Because I like him,” she said of her choice. “He was the first African-American to sit on the Supreme Court.”
Other students selected celebrities.
Asia Baker, 11, a fifth-grader, picked singer and talk show host Queen Latifah. Asia wore a hat and tie with an African pattern for her portrayal.
“She inspired me to do her because I think she’s a great singer and she’s a voice in one of my favorite movies, ‘Ice Age.’”
The singer voiced Ellie the mammoth in the movies.
Precious Moon, 11, chose another crooner for her project.
“Mahalia Jackson — she’s a singer,” she said.
The fifth-grader learned about Jackson through the school’s black history studies.
“I think she’s a great singer,” Precious said.
Chelyon Robinson, 11, a fifth-grader, chose Rosa Parks.
“She was famous for civil rights,” he said. “She refused to give up her seat.”
John Lockett, 11, a sixth-grader, selected Colin Powell for his research.
“Not a lot of people know much about him,” he said. “Other people picked people that everyone knows, but not everyone knows about Colin Powell and they’d like to learn.”
Powell, a retired four-star Army general, served as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, secretary of state and national security adviser.
John dug more into Powell’s younger days.
“He was in the Vietnam War, and he joined the ROTC,” he said.
Fifth-graders Jadan Townsend and Amaun Whipple, both 11, picked Marcus Garvey and A. Philip Randolph, respectively.
“I learned a lot about him,” Jadan said of Garvey. “He fought for Africa.”
Randolph stood up for civil rights, Amaun said.
“He was famous for the March on Washington” with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he said.