Celebrating Black History Month - Volume 38, Issue 5 - February 21, 2020

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The student voice of Hopkins High School - Volume 38, Issue 5 - Febuary 21, 2020

February is Black History Month, and two clubs have organized a whole month of speakers with inspiring stories to cultivate and celebrate Black culture in the United States.

In-depth on pages 8 & 9 The Royal Page reached out to a student to help represent Black History Month. Michael Mackey, an AP Art student at HHS, designed the cover art for this issue.

Special coverage of Spirit Week, Winter Pepfest & Heart-o-Grams

“For this piece, I chose to color the the crown to symbolize the kings and queens afro in BHM colors which is red, yel- in our community. The necklace is to symlow and green. I drew on the comb in bolize where we, as community are from.”

-Michael Mackey the hair to symbolize black power and

CELEBRATING Pages 6 & 7

News

2& 3

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Feature

Opinion

Sports

Variety

4& 5 10& 11 12& 13 14& 15

March primaries, caucuses

Education beyond Seniors prepare to Putting the ‘fun’ in sports funding roommate date the classroom

Miller’s career comes full circle

With the 2020 election around the corner, both major parties are looking to solidify their nominations over the coming months with primaries and caucuses. Minnesota primaries are just a couple weeks away and HHS students are planning on making their vote count on March 3.

Most study abroad opportunities are available in college, but for a couple of lucky HHS students that option came early. Between traveling to Israel and an environmental school in Wisconsin, two students experience culture and nature-based learning firsthand.

After the death of Mac Miller in Sept 2018, Miller’s family and producer released a later album that accompanies Miller’s album, Swimming. A late tribute and review shapes the future of his legacy, with the new ablum, Circles.

As seniors are being accepted into colleges, a lot of stress comes with finding a roommate. Along with seeking a roommate is the fear of the possible future roommate talking to someone else besides you.

Where does our money go for sports? This story examines the amount of funding that is funneled into different sports. In result, student athletes have mixed feelings. Exclusive interview with Dan Johnson, athletic director.

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

the royal page

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The Invictus club and Faith Agboola, senior, pose with Alan Page after the Q & A, led on Feb. 5. Page is one of the many speakers who visited HHS during Black History Month.

“You can’t seperate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless they have their freedom.”

- Malcolm X, 1965

Ktyal Price, senior, speaks in front of the Winter Pepfest crowd. Price, an advocate for Black Student Union (BSU) spoke on behalf of the club and addressed Black History Month with spoken word in front of her classmates.

the royal page

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH Story by Riley Jouppi & Mary Murphy Feature Editor & Opinion Editor

February is Black History Month, and two clubs have organized a whole month of speakers with inspiring stories to cultivate and celebrate Black culture in the United States.

Photos by Isaac Richert & Mary Murphy Multimedia Editor & Opinion Editor Design by Lucia Brimmer & Olivia Cohen Design Editor & Editor-in-Chief

“N

obody would’ve guessed that when I was fifteen, I would’ve become an author, supreme court justice and football hero,” said Alan Page, former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice and Pro Football Hall of Famer. “You young people have the potential, ability and skills to accomplish whatever your hopes and dreams are.”

In light of February being Black History Month, two clubs have planned to bring in famous speakers to coincide with the historic month. The two clubs being Invictus, which has been going on for five years and a new club called Black Student Union, which formed this year.

Black History Month was first observed on Feb. 12, 1926, as Black History Week. It was established by Carter G. Woodson, a African American scholar who studied African-American history at University of Chicago and Harvard, and then the celebration spread to other college campuses across the country. In 1976, 50 years after the inaugural Black History Week, the week of celebration was expanded to cover the entire month of February.

“Growing up in 1950s America and having Brown v. Board of Education, segregation was everywhere.” said Page.

“The most realistic job thought of for someone like me was working in a steel mill and although it is honest work, I was influenced into wanting more.”

Invictus is an all male, black student club run by Al Nuness, hall para. Invictus’ name originates from a poem that shares the name written by William Ernest Henley. The poem pushes the message that you are in control of your life

“

and where you go, which is Nuness’ main message for this group of boys.

“What we wanted to emphasize is that success depends on you,” said Nuness.

“If your father went to prison that doesn’t mean you have to go to prison. If your mother was a drug addict, that doesn’t mean you have to be a drug addict.”

Nuness has formed a connection with every one of these students and has created a group that cultivates respect.

“I see it as a brotherhood. A group of people who I can go to get support from, and show people that we are capable of doing things that they think we’re incapable of,” said DJ Smith, senior.

Smith didn’t even know this club existed until Nuness recruited him. He was nervous but relaxed when he walked in.

“When Al recruited me and I went I saw a bunch of different people from all different grades, and it just seemed like this had been going on for a while and seemed established just unknown,” said Smith.

Nuness created this group because he was disappointed in how these male students were acting and wanted to give them a place to talk about it in a healthy manner.

“Al said, he had seen too many of us acting like fools in school and not doing the right thing, like skipping class or cussing at teachers,” said Smith. “He wanted to give us a space to talk about stuff that was bothering us and all be on the same page and then go in the next day with a new outlook.”

Invictus has been planning on having speakers for Black History Month and with the help of a new group, called Black Student Union (BSU), they were able to make that happen.

“We never saw a group or club that

was full-on about black culture. The black students here need to understand that they’re powerful and learn that there is power when you come together,” said Faith Agboola, senior.

BSU is a club that was founded this school year by Agboola and Mozelle Punni, senior, to empower the black population here at HHS. “We all have something we are going through, but to have a community that looks like you and can celebrate the way you look, that’s what we wanted to start,” said Punni.

The goal of BSU is to educate people and the HHS community on black history and culture, to build community, and connect students to black leaders and empower these students. The club meets every Tuesday during WIN, with about 30 students showing up every week.

You enter the room with music blasting and enter into a inviting space, they’re cheering and dancing. You then sit in a circle and begin to do introductions, by saying your name and then a fun other question, like what’s your favorite color? Favorite type of music? Etc. They make an emphasis to truly listen to each person’s name, as they believe that their names hold power and that should be celebrated. After introductions, it’s time to move around. They play games, have words of the week and try and make sure everyone interacts with everyone.

“We want to make sure that when anyone enters this club, they feel welcome and have a place in a fantastic community that will support them,” said Agboola.

All they want is to celebrate being a person of color and a safe space to relax and be open with others.

“Black students haven’t been portrayed as excelling, we are usually alone in any ad-

vanced class, such as an AP class. But that needs to change, and with this club, it’s only the beginning, soon this will be easier and more attainable for the youth,” said Agboola.

Invictus and BSU both agree that they haven’t seen enough celebration and recognition of Black History Month, especially at HHS, which helped prompt a lot of this action.

“Teachers may have mentioned it at the start of the month or show you some little video, but once you get to the high school, almost no one talks about it except for the students that remember,” said Punni.

To help combat this, Invictus and BSU has brought in many speakers and there are more to come. Page was the first speaker to speak this month, who came in on Feb. 5 to do a Q&A with Agboola and RJ Chakolis, junior.

“I have known Page and looked up to him, and so to finally meet him was so cool. I learned so many things from and about him in that short time,” Chakolis said.

Page was asked many questions ranging from his personal life to his accomplishments but one thing remained consistent and aligns with all of these previous mentioned clubs, the idea of eradicating discrimination once and for all.

“We should figure out how to end discrimination, we’ve been waiting for a long time and we will continue to wait.” said Page. “In the mean time, let’s end discrimination, slavery and superiority.”

While Black History Month may end eventually, the fight to end discrimination is year round.

For me, as an African, I wasn’t born here.

It’s important to understand and learn about the history and country I live in.

It doesn’t hold as much significance as other African Americans. I respect and appreciate black history month but more focused on black culture.”

Black History Month means a lot to me cause I think it’s a month that focuses on educating more about our culture, but for me, I don’t just celebrate this month, I celebrate every month. I do appreciate it though cause it gives people more knowledge.”

Armel Mwanatambwe, junior

Kayhla Adams, senior