2025 Black History Month Celebration

Serra Elayda (‘28) &

Dylan Gonzalez Ramirez (‘28)

“Black History is a celebration of all things, either good or bad. It's a way to remember what used to be, and welcome what will become.”

-Abram Williams (Black Student Union Club Member)

Black History Month is a time of sharing culture, remembering history, and growing a bigger connection with your community. In honor of Black History Month, Lawrence High School's Black Student Union organized an event to hold great representation towards it. The Black History Month Event was a day full of singing, music, awards, and fun. The achievements of many colored people were celebrated and remembered. Several honorable people from our community received awards, and gave speeches addressing their diverse life experiences. 

Lawrence High School's 12th annual Black History celebration is a celebration to recognize the efforts of many different amazing people that help build our community. Their commitment to our community has earned them recognition and we’re honored because of their hard work and dedication. One of our recipients for the Trailblazer Award is Kelly Ganges who is the chief of staff for Mercer County. In his speech, he thanks all who helped him through his challenges and struggles, and he notably states “I’ve got this burning desire in my heart to always uplift the least, the last, and lost.” His dedication to our community proves him worthy of the prestigious Trailblazer award.  The next Trailblazer is Dr. Trineice Robinson- Martin, who contributed and committed to preserving the rich legacy of Black American Music. She shares her experience of her hardships when moving to New Jersey, and explains the importance of family and companionship, as without them she wouldn’t be able to come this far to her success. Our next commendable award winner was Lisa Hall, who is the Visionary Founder of Rise of Hope, which is a youth-led community service organization that works to help many young lives across Central Jersey. She has inspired so many young people to become leaders, and advocates for change, making significant choices in their lives. The last award winner of the night was Detective Marlin Webb. Thanks to his faith and dedication to his family and our community, and his work in law enforcement, he is able to make a difference in our society. His work spreads beyond our community, to places like Nicaragua, Haiti, and Thailand where he has worked on missions to provide food, water, and restorative services. He reminds us about his goals: “The work that I do with young people at schools; it’s about putting things back together.” His work for our and other communities is what makes him truly worthy of this award. Other than the award winners that spoke, we also had other honorable guests such as Ras J. Baraka, mayor of Newark, and Brooke Hunter, a Lawrence Township historian. These individuals demonstrate their commitment to our community. 

Not only should our award winners get appreciation but also the LHS choirs, LIS Pitch Black Choir, LHS Jazz Band, and the Renaissance Jazz Band who brought many beautiful traditional pieces for us to hear. After the Renaissance Jazz Band started the night off with songs, a few selected Gospel Choir members invited the audience to sing along to what is known as the unofficial Black National Anthem “Lift every voice and sing,” to create a memory of unity among us. We have to thank our music directors such as Mrs. Johnson who leads the auditioned choirs of Madrigal and Ensemble, Mr. Drobish who leads the LHS Jazz Band, Dr. Clarke and Davon Parker who both lead the Gospel Choir, and Ms. Ploener who leads LIS Pitch Black. They made it possible for the Lawrence Music Department to share many beautiful songs such as “Tshotsholoza” which is a traditional South African song, “Joy” which was presented by all the LHS choirs that night, and many other memorable pieces. Without the talents of all our students in music, we would not be able to make the fun and loud atmosphere that we had that night. 

The LHS 12th annual Black History Month Event was full of fun, passion, music, and was an overall great success. Our award winners truly made an impact in our community, and will continue doing so. Thank you to the LHS staff, the members of the Black Student Union club, and everyone else who contributed for making this event possible. This event brings out the good, reminds us of our past, and welcomes the future.