On Friday, March 6, 2026, the POWER club led a convocation celebrating Black History Month. During this convocation many students showed their talents, ranging from vocals, instrumentals, dances, and even the art of presentation through public speaking. POWER put a lot of time and effort to make this convocation a special celebration of culture, education, and fun.
The first event of the evening was a musical rendition of “Lift Every Voice”, sung by Khloe Clay(’26) with POWER Vice President Yasmeen Luzod (’26) on the guitar. This song is originally written by James Weldon Johnson and is known as the Black National Anthem; it often represents hope, resilience, and faith.
After the song, students Camille King (’27), Tia Smith (’27), and Duaa Kahn (’28) challenged the audience to some STEM trivia, to reveal to everyone how African Americans have been represented in STEM. The purpose of these questions were to show how African Americans have been underrepresented through the ages and that we need to inform people of this injustice. Along with trivia, a science experiment was presented, to show one of the many achievements made by an African American scientist.
Next, High School Administrative Assistant and POWER co-moderator, Angelita Dupree, presented a story about her father, Clarence Fort, who was a major civil rights activist and president of NAACP Youth Council. He led students from Blake and Middleton High School to protest against white only lunch tables. She also addressed the progress made by Tampa mayor Julian B. Lane, who made a difference by being one of the first southern cities to support racial integration.
After Dupree’s story Valeria Taguja-Catano (’28) shared the anniversaries of history’s most significant African American works. She addressed “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. Another important anniversary is “Freedom Journal”, the first black-owned newspaper in the United States.
To cap off the political and literature students POWER President Ava Radovic (’26) and Duaa Kahn (’28) led historical events trivia to further educate people about some important historical events such as when the Fair Housing Act was enacted.
Next came recitations from Jayé Coleman (’27) and Eden Smith (’28). Coleman presented her original poem called “Black is Bold”, representing the intrinsic depth of African American culture. Along with Coleman, Smith delivered a well read version of the rest of “Lift Every Voice and Sing”.
After the information about politics and literature, an educational video about desegregation in schools was shown to remind people how far we have come in society. After the video, a short skit about segregation was performed by students, Duaa Kahn (’28), Lauren Serafica (’28), Lauren Rordam (’27), Faith-Mei Lee (’26), Kyla Parker (’29), Zoe Givens (’26), and Imani Bell (26’). This skit emphasized the unfair nature in schools and how people have stepped up to fix this injustice. It also shows how lucky we are to be able to go to school and how we should appreciate it, as there was once a time where schooling was not available to everyone.
To introduce the last section of the convocation, performing arts, Lauren Rordam (’27) and Lauren Serafica (’28) started with a guess that movie game to remind people of the important roles African Americans have had in movie culture.
To follow, a dance group lead by sophomore, Tamonia Holley, presented a clean step dance to a mashup. The group consisted of special guests – elementary school students from Academy Prep. After, Imani Bell (’26) performed a hip hop piece to the song “Poison” by Bel Biv Devoe.
To wrap up the event, Purple Paradise performed “River” by Leon Bridges and closed with the iconic overarching song of the day, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, originally sung by Marvin Gaye. As the final closing, Academy’s faculty and POWER club danced their way down the aisle to cap off this fun filled convocation.
