Garrett College - "Still I rise..."

BLACK HISTORY CAME TO LIFE recently at Garrett College, where students and staff presented "Still I Rise...," a Black History Month program of monologues of important figures from our nation's past and present. Among those profiled were Rosa Parks, Corretta Scott King and Martin Luther King Jr., Amy Jacques Garvey, Wanagari Maathai, Cynthia Cooper, Wilt Chamberlain, Tyra Banks, Alice Walker, Maya Angelou, and Carter G. Woodson.

Shown delivering their monologues, clockwise from the upper left, are La Toya Simmons as Harriet Tubman, Bongani Dlamini (a native of South Africa) as Nelson Mandela, Shante Brickhouse as Sojourner Truth, and Gabriel Legget as Malcolm X. Other presenters were Westia Russel, Josef Kariuki, Tia Blandford, Kierra Wilkins, Courtney Robinson, Britney Jackson, Robin Wynder, and Nytearia Burrell, Adam Phillips, and college staffer Garland Kearney.

"The Black history monologues were very educational," observed GC international student Mykolas Gudelis. "Coming from a European country, I didn't know much about black history. I knew only a few names, but . . . that afternoon the people behind the names spoke to me. It was a unique opportunity to look at American black history and people who worked so hard to make it happen."

The program was coordinated by GC psychology professor Terri Kasecamp, with assistance from numerous volunteers including theater professor Ben Sincell and his crew, graphic designer Denise Friend, and printers Carl Heselbach and Vaughn Vitez.

"I was very moved by the heart and soul that went into the preparation and presentation of the monologues," Kasecamp commented. "By studying Black History, each of us, regardless of our ethnic heritage, can be inspired by the heroic courage, strength, moral conviction and perseverance exemplified by the individuals presented in the program."