By: Erik Gil, Follow South Jersey Intern
SWEDESBORO, N.J. – Black History Month is celebrated every February to mark the importance of Black History. From local rallies to organizations, events were held to commemorate the history and current-day strides that African American communities hold to preserve their history.
On Sunday, February 23, community members gathered at First Baptist Church of Swedesboro to commemorate a Black History Month event with the theme “I Am The Change.” This event was in collaboration with the organization’s Martin Luther King Jr. event that was originally canceled due to inclement weather.
The event was sponsored by the H.E.L.P. organization (Historical, Educational, Lodge Hall, and Preservatory) along with the Swedesboro Black History Program. The H.E.L.P. organization holds the initiative to preserve three sites in Woolwich Township. The Richardson Avenue School, which was, at the time of its opening, the only segregated school in Swedesboro; the Mt. Zion AME Church, which was a station stop for the Underground Railroad; and the Mt. Zion AME Church Cemetery, which is a resting place for former slaves and Black Civil War troops. Founded in 1989, this has been the organization’s 23rd year sponsoring events in the community.
The event included a musical tribute from the PACE band leading a musical prelude to the Creative High School Concert Choir singing songs expressing the resilience of former enslaved people, including a poetic monologue called “I Am the Change” by church member Dardyn Fauntleroy.
“Change is not something that just happens, change is made, change is demanded, change is fought for,” Fauntleroy said. “Black History is what we choose to do now. We stand on the shoulders of those who refused to accept the world as it is. I am the change that refuses to be silent when injustice speaks, I am the change when the world tries to keep us down to silence our voices.”
A keynote address was delivered by Dr. James Peterson, a writer and educator, and the evening radio host called “Words.” In the address, he expressed that the only lasting truth is change. He also expressed the importance of being literate throughout the endeavors of making a change.
“If people are not literate, we are not going to make a change that we want to make,” Peterson said. “All that you change, changes you, the only lasting truth is change.”
Sherry Lynn Hall, the director of community programs of H.E.L.P., who has been with the organization for 23 years, has been the pillar for the community to raise events among other activities that the organization does to make the African-American community and Black History more known.
“I am the change that is stating what I envision for America in the future,” Hall said. “I have to make it happen today. It is causing us to not sit on our laurels, but systemic racism did not in the 40s and 50s. With the government taking away program initiatives stating that some southern states aren’t allowed to teach black History, amongst other political statements, we need to change, and we need the current generation to rise up and say we aren’t going back to the past. Change is happening today.”
The H.E.L.P organization has been a successful initiative in preserving not only historical sites but bringing people together to acknowledge the Black community and the continuation to make themselves known. For more information on their work and upcoming events, please visit https://www.helpinc.org/.
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