“Music embodies the words we can’t express. It comforts us during our deepest tragedies and fuels us during our greatest triumphs. More importantly, it unites us. Black History Month is not just for African Americans. The music you will hear today is woven into all of our lives” shared Simone Roberts, GAC’s Student Leader of Unity, who then proceeded to further describe the reason for the day’s special chapel assembly. 

The theme of Soul Train helped celebrate Black History through students’ musical and dance performances from every decade dating back to the 1940s and Negro Spirituals. The program demonstrated the importance of music, how it influences our country and acts as a grand storyteller. 

Woven throughout the Black History messages were performances by multiple groups of students:

• Students Denver Tolson and Milani Anderson sang a beautiful duet: Lift Every Voice and Sing with  student piano accompaniment.
• Poet Langston Hughes’ poem: I, Too read by student Cam Mcgee.
• GAC Spartanettes dance team performed a hip-hop dance compilation titled GLORY.
• Duet sung by students Jeronn Williams and Keith Murphy: Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
• GAC Jazz Band: Performed Duke Ellington’s Caravan and Chameleon

Dr. Orpheus Heyward, GAC teacher, closed out the program with some impactful words for all. “May music never lose its purpose. We need music that conveys that there is a purpose for all that we do…When we get together, the music becomes therapeutic and healing. Thank God for a God who loves all cultures,” he said.