RMSC hosts weekly events to celebrate Black History Month through art

ROCHESTER, N.Y. As we continue to celebrate Black History Month, the Rochester Museum & Science Center has been hosting events and activities every weekend this month.

RMSC performers said that being able to depict Black culture through song, dance and poetry is much more meaningful than just reading a book. They say Black History Month is a time to reflect and appreciate the fight and the struggle Black people overcame.

“On this journey, I like to call this Douglass oration,” said a Frederick Douglass reenactment speaker. “I think that twixt the Negros at the South and the woman at the North all talking about rights. The white man will be in the fix pretty soon.”

Whether it’s reenactments of Frederick Douglass or the sentiments of Sojourner Truth, Black history is alive in the words spoken here.

“It’s important because we can’t forget our history,” said speaker Carlos Merriweather. “Our history is what made us, it’s what developed us, it’s what brings that energy and that fight out.”

Words of wisdom that draw from the struggles of the past.

“It’s important because a lot of people, even in my own community, may not know of some of these untold stories,” said JW Management & Quality Consultants CEO Jacqueline Sprague. “They’re not naturally taught within the school district and since they’re not naturally taught in the school district, we have to take the steps to educate the community ourselves.”

And that’s why events like these are so important: the power of the past, shedding light on the reality of the present.

“And the message is coming together,” said Merriweather. “We need to let the bitterness go, we need to let the hatred go, we need to let the evilness go, we need to come to unite.”

“You know the best way to convey a story and a message is through the arts and performance is a part of that,” said Sojourner Truth reenactment performer Josephine Noel. “Performance just touches people in a different way and so I do think that actually hearing the words said to you as opposed to [reading] on a piece of paper, it adds a different personable element to it.”

RMSC will host their final event this weekend, which will be Black excellence in STEM.