February is often a month associated with groundhogs, love, and presidents for people in America. However, February is also Black History month. Central has had a long tradition of celebrating this aspect. Mrs. Deborah Wright-Powell, who works in the Special Education Department, organizes events and presentations throughout the month to highlight African American history and achievements.

One event is the Black history DJ, who spent Wednesday, Feb. 11 playing his selected music during the lunch periods.

“I just know what music I like, and I’m in high school too,” said Chris McSmith, a teen DJ from South Holland. “I took a risk in my music selection and just played what I liked. I have artists all the way back from Bobby Womack to newer artists like Chris Brown.”

Listen to Bobby Womack above.

Music has always been associated with culture; when the two are put together, it creates a powerful and lasting effect. Mrs. Wright-Powell sees the importance of the event because music is “the universal language” and everyone can relate to it.

“Black history is really important to me because it’s a part of history that a lot of people slip up on, and lots of people don’t really know their own culture,” McSmith said.