By Ally Jones
This February has provided for a controversial Black History Month, which is ordinarily a time to reflect on African American history.
It started with the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of five Memphis police officers now charged with murder. It ended with a sharp debate over an AP class on African American studies.
Both events have sparked discussion, amongst black students at La Cueva and around the city.
This January, the Florida Department of Education blocked AP African American Studies from being a part of their offered curriculum. “What’s the reason of blocking it? Are there any benefits to blocking it? No,” Jaeda Saucedo, president of La Cueva High School’s Black Student Union, said. If New Mexico were in the same situation, La Cueva’s BSU all agreed, it would be “so enraging,” Saucedo said.
Black issues are often ignored or underplayed, and AP African American Studies was a chance for them to be discussed and focused on, said Naliyah Bullard, a La Cueva freshman. Black scholars and students can both agree that the issues and prominent moments in their history are not talked about enough.
“There’s a lot of ignorance when it comes to learning about this subject, and a lot of people don’t understand how much it really does impact us,” Bullard said.
Dr. Finnie Coleman, a University of New Mexico professor, encourages young black teenagers to research black history and culture and the meaning behind Black History Month. “To learn it from somebody else means somebody has to know it better than you,” he said before a showing this month of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” by UNM’s Black Student Union. “You don’t want somebody else to know it better than you,” Coleman said.
Black History Month provides the opportunity for teens to learn about black history and pop culture. Dr. Coleman talked about the importance of representation even in things as simple as comic books, and since La Cueva’s African American population only being 2 percent of the student body, representation is more important than ever.