Candace Winfrey is a U.S History teacher at Warren Central High School
Question #1: What does Black History Month mean to you as a teacher?
Quote1: “As a teacher Black History Month is a time to intentionally highlight the achievements and more importantly the sacrifices that have been made by black people that have come before us, so that we can walk the way that we do today.”
Question #2: Why do you believe it is important that we celebrate these historical black figures?
Quote2: “ I think it’s very important because even now in 2025 there is a collective effort to erase this history, our sitting president has recently signed executive orders trying to ban education on black history and some states have already taken those steps,” she said “Black history is American history, you can’t understand the country without understanding the black people so it is important that we keep that alive.”
Question #3: Who is your favorite black historical figure and why?
Quote3: “ My favorite black historical figure would be Fred Hampton, he was the president of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther party and at 21 he was assassinated by the FBI for being a threat to the system,” she said “He was able to get black, white, and Latino people to unite against capitalism and white supremacy and he just shows the power of leadership and the power of community ownership”
Chanasia Brown, is a senior at Warren Central
Question #1: What does Black History month mean to you?
Quote #1: “To me Black History month is a month to be proud of your culture, of your roots to know where you’re from and you know the history behind it.”
Question#2: Why do you believe it is important that we celebrate these historical black figures?
Quote #2: “Yes, I definitely think it’s very important we celebrate these historical black figures, especially those of our black culture. The majority of them are of course our civil rights activists, they are people that have essentially pushed us to have the right to the freedom that we have today and with our current politics it is important we celebrate those rights because they are slowly dwindling away.”
Question#3: Do you believe that Black History month brings out the best in people? And spread equality?
Quote#3: “I do believe that it spreads equality, I think it was one of those things where it was like just another step essentially to us being able to be who we are and who we have been but as far as to bringing out the best in people I believe it does essentially serve as a catalyst for people to end up wanting to be those activists. But I don’t think it’s necessarily one of those things where it’s Black History month and just better, I think it’s one of those things that helps us tap into our inner person.”