On Friday, February 28, as Black History Month came to a close, approximately 200 members of the AFS community gathered for the second annual Black Excellence Night. Last year, Brianna Clarke ’20 created the event with the help of Mikael Yisrael, Director of Diversity and Inclusion, to give students identifying as Black/African-American the opportunity to showcase their talents to the school. Brianna carried forward and built upon the new tradition this year with the help of the BSU’s Black Excellence Night committee. An audience of family members, students, friends and AFS faculty/staff packed the bleachers in the Berman Athletics Center gym for the event. They all witnessed an entertaining evening carefully crafted by AFS student leaders. After opening remarks from Brianna, Gabby Warner ’22 and Ajae’Lyn Price ’22, the performance portion of the program began. It featured students from both the middle and upper schools singing, dancing, reciting poetry and displaying various talents. Our Black senior students and athletes were honored, along with BSU clerks. Finally, an inspired and joyful group moved into a beautifully decorated Stewart Lobby where they broke bread, conversed and shared in community spirit.

Brianna shared her thoughts on the growth of this year’s Black Excellence Night saying, “One of our main goals for this year was expanding the event and getting as many people to attend as possible. Our attendance more than doubled! Another main goal was fundraising. We knew from last year that there are many small, unforeseen expenses so we wanted to raise as much money as possible. Thanks to Sloane Waldman (Director of Parent Engagement), who let us use the concession stand in the Berman Center, we raised over $500. After the event, many attendees told Brianna how much they loved the performances from both middle and upper school students. Brianna shared, “I think people were shocked that there is so much hidden talent in our community. Black Excellence Night was created to bring these hidden gems that no one expects into the light. I hope people learned that Black students have so much to offer and see that we are an undeniably strong presence in this community—and what we bring cannot be found elsewhere.”

Brianna has some words of gratitude adding, “Thank you to Bonita Huggins (Director of Communications), Lisa Kurtz (Assistant Athletics Director), and Mikael Yisrael for being an amazing support team, having my back throughout this process, and always being willing to make it work. Thank you for never saying no, even when I ask at the last minute.”