| Link Community School 120 Livingston Street Newark, NJ 07103 Tel 973-642-0529 Fax 973-642-1978 admission@linkschool.org development@linkschool.org |
Black History Month, February 2009
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Black History Month Lecture Series Black History Month was set in motion in 1926 to celebrate the achievements of African- Americans. Typically the focus has been on remembering people who made their contributions in the past, such as W.E. B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, Rosa Parks and others. But this year, an historic one as we saw the election of the first African-American President of the United States, we turn our attention to African Americans who are in the process of making their mark on the world while we still commemorate those who paved the way for today. The Black History Month Lecture Series at Link Community celebrates the achievements of young African-Americans who share their inspiring stories with us and serve as excellent role models for the youth of today. |
| February 9, 2009 Ms. Lauren Jones, entrepreneur  Ms. Lauren Jones admits right up front that her education in business and finance, great as it was, was boring. While shopping for greeting cards to send to her African–American friends and not finding ones that truly represented African-Americans, Ms.Jones had an inspiration: to use the doodles that she drew while suffering through some of those dull classes, she could design her own cards! Thus was born her line of greeting cards featuring a family called The Braided Bunch. Working from her home, Ms. Jones’ online and trade show business has blossomed. She encouraged students to follow their instincts and passions and be creative about their future endeavors. |
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February 19, 2009 Dr. Jeffrey L. Robinson, business scholar, professor, entrepreneur and advocate for community economic development  Dr. Jeffrey L. Robinson inspired students and staff today with his talk on excellence. Citing the examples of several individuals who have achieved excellence, including the “fastest man in the world”, Usian Bolt, he asserted that they did so by following a concept he terms “A Diamond of Excellence”. They were able to combine their passions (“the things you are naturally drawn to”) and gifts (“natural abilities”) with discipline and belief in themselves to ensure their success. All four items are the pieces that come together like a puzzle to result in excellence. But, Dr. Robinson said, “It’s not enough to be excellent, for excellence is just the precursor to significance. Don’t just be great. Be significant. Make a difference.” He further challenged students to “become part of the change” that is happening, the change ushered in by the election of Barack Obama as the first African- American President of the United States, which will open the door of possibility even farther for those who follow “The Diamond of Success .” |
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Classroom Activities  8th Grade English Classes are reading the classic, A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry and based on her life growing up in Chicago. The play claims a couple firsts: the first play written by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway and the first play on Broadway with an African American director (Lloyd Richards). For the play, Ms. Hansbery won the New York Drama Critics' Award for best play of the Year. She was the the youngest playwright, the fifth woman, and the only black writer at that point to win the award. The 7th grade Art class is exploring the work of African American Artist, Jacob Lawrence,  who named his style “dynamic cubism.” While his art has a cubist bent, Jacob stated that he was much more influences by the shapes and colors of Harlem. His paintings tell stories ranging from enslavement and freedom, of human migration and renaissance, of struggle and triumph. After viewing his artwork, and taking a glimpse into the life of this world famous painter, Link students began creating their own figure drawing collages. They were asked to draw and paint human figures and in collage form place them in either realistic or abstract backgrounds. These original works of art allowed the students to tell their own stories through their artwork. A variety of materials were utilized for this project. Upon completion of the project our Link artists will be asked to write a paragraph describing the scene they created, as part of a self-evaluation assignment. (Painting above is a self portrait by Jacob Lawrence.) Here are examples of student work:  Art in the style of African-American artist Art in the style of African-American artist Jacob Lawrence by Cazembe Nicholas, '10 Jacob Lawrence by Oscar Gomez, '10 Drama classes are working on monologues and other prose pieces written by or about African – Americans. Some students will present at the Black History Month/Grandparent Day Celebration later this month. Mr. Steinfeld's Literature Enrichment classes read "Thank You, Ma'am", a short story by author and poet, Lanston Hughes who wrote about the black experience during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920's. |
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Grandparent Day/ Black History Month Celebration Join us for the special program on February 27, 2009 at 6 pm in the school gym. View the actual program for the evening. |
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