Virginia Ford
Full house at the potluck!
The Annual Black History Month Potluck for the Juniors of AMS happened on February 11th, 2025. In this potluck the Juniors and some staff came together to celebrate the Black History Month Potluck. In this potluck students like Rokia, Lesly, Soleil, Razak, Princess, Cloey, Santi, Jatta, Bangaly, Hajabintou, and Houlematou all came together to cook for the delicious food that was given in this Potluck. Staff members like Ms. Cameron, Ms. Dawn and Ms. Hinds helped and supervised the cook-fest for the potluck. The Potluck was overall such a great event that brought together the Juniors and staff of AMS. Everybody in the potluck celebrated BHM together.
The event was filled with vibrant energy as students and staff shared a variety of dishes, each representing different cultural backgrounds. From soulful classics to unique homemade recipes, the potluck highlighted the rich diversity within the AMS community. Beyond the food, the gathering fostered meaningful conversations, laughter, and a deeper appreciation for Black history and culture. It was a memorable afternoon where students like Rokia, Razak and Soleil, and many other juniors contributed not just with dishes, but with stories, music, and positive energy that made the event truly special.
BACKGROUND:
The potluck originally originated as an idea to decorate the library for Black History Month last year, but Ms.Leshinsky wanted to do more than that. She wanted to really celebrate it and have everybody learn something from it. So she went to Mr. Davis and asked him what else to do. Davis said, “well, I teach an honors US history class. I think actually this is a question that would be best to ask them. I think they are going to be able to come up with much more creative, powerful and impactful ideas than I could give you at the moment.”. The Juniors of last year’s U.S History Honors class came up with the great idea of a Black History Month Potluck. Which became the first ever Black History Month Potluck in AMS. The potluck was such a hit and success that “Chung said this is a new tradition, so we couldn’t not do the potluck this year,” said Leshinsky.
PREPARATIONS:
The potluck preparations consisted of cooking, and decorating the library on Tuesday February 11th. A key leader in this potluck was Princess. “At first it was absolute chaos, but then we were able to get together to adjust to each other’s timings and work ethics.”. Princess was a cook for the potluck as well and she made collard beans, green beans, and spicy jerk pigeon peas. Another key leader was Bintou, who did a huge part of the marketing, getting staff and students involved, and made the Hidden Black Voices display together with Razak and Maryam .“It was definitely challenging and stressful. The last minute updates of people who wouldn’t arrive definitely had me worrying that people wouldn’t have enough food options. Overall I felt satisfaction knowing staff, my classmates & friends showed up for me and even people I didn’t know as well. But I would do it all over again,” Bintou said.
REFLECTIONS:
While the potluck was a huge success, everyone involved has ideas for making it even better. Leshinsky said, “Maybe one other thing we might try to do next year is figure out a way that even more students could be involved. Could we take it beyond the junior class? It’s just hard to find enough space, but definitely it would be nice.” The potluck was majority student-led and to Leshinsky it has to be that way. But this reflection could be good because opening up the potluck to more than just the Juniors could be another way to be more prepared for the potluck. History teacher Davis said what’s important is “not losing sight of the fact that this is Black History month, that there’s an educational component. And while it’s super important for us to break bread and to celebrate all of the achievements and the accomplishments and struggle in the history that is Black History in America, I think it’s important we don’t lose the educational component and that our students, our staff members as well, just our larger school community, walks away with more information and feels more empowered to find those connections between the history that they learn and the world they live in today.” When asked what he liked about the potluck, AMS Junior Razak said, “I liked the tres leches and the oxtail, even though we only had a little.”