In honor of Black History Month, members of Townsend Harris’ Black Excellence Club (BEC) selected February’s bell music to honor Black musicians across various time periods and genres.  

BEC members worked alongside the administration and their advisor, School Social Worker Alison Harris-Chauvet, to select songs.

BEC president senior Abraham Fashakin said, “The process of selecting songs at its core came through the board going through the Black artists that we were influenced by and know about and trying to see if we can reasonably put any of those songs there.”

The music’s diversity across genres and time periods was also considered alongside.  “We had to make sure that the music was across the diaspora and that the music was from across time,” said Ms. Harris. “Black excellence is decades of music that should be represented,” she added.

The range of music has allowed students to learn about the diversity and influence of Black music. “Black music is not one thing,” said Ms. Harris. “We have genres, we have neo-soul, rock and roll, R&B, hip hop, reggae, Calypso, Soca- a plethora of music that represents the entirety of the black community.”

BEC allowed both board members and club members to submit song suggestions for the playlist. Junior and BEC member Danielle Mitchell said, “I took part in choosing the music. I made sure we tried to include many different genres. I also added in suggestions of songs that I enjoy.”

This is not the first time music has been used to honor Black History Month at THHS. Three years ago, the tradition was the same, but after some raised concerns over lyric appropriateness in some of the songs selected to be broadcast over the loudspeakers, the tradition was paused in favor of music without lyrics. This year’s team worked to bring it back with lyrics, creating a list that both met their goals of celebrating Black artists and ensuring lyrics did not raise similar concerns as they did three years ago. 

Students that spoke to The Classic spoke on how last month’s music represented the school’s diversity. 

Sophomore Sarah Han said, “I noticed the change, and I think that the change of music represents students better than the original playlist because it creates a stronger sense of inclusion.” 

“Playing music from different cultures just reminds us of how diverse our school is,” said junior Humayra Bhuiyan. 

Junior and BEC member Janae-Saige Moore said that this month’s music “adds more of a positive and upbeat vibe during the school day.”

“I’ve had students tell me that they really like the music,” said Ms. Harris. “A student who never heard of ‘Fresh Prince of Belair’ is jamming to it now. That’s the real goal.”