During one of the many lunch periods in October 2020, the Immaculata BSA, with help from teachers and the school chaplain, dedicated to create a powerful display in our school on the second floor, next to the chapel. This display portrays a lot of the issues Black people face on a daily basis, as well as a couple of student voices, on how they feel about issues like; injustice, racism, microaggression, and lots more.
When students walk by the display, they will remember three things: they matter, they are important and, they belong.
The Black Student Association wanted to take the BSA and its mission in a new direction in 2023 and focus on Black Excellence. Redesigning the display outside the Chapel was the first step in that rebrand. The Display takes times to bring attention to stories the celebrate Black voices and characters, different ways to design and style hair, and the artistic skills of Immaculata students.
Black people have proven to remain resilient and outstanding in all circumstances. The purpose of this display is to showcase role models in the Black community, that students can always emulate and look up to. Black people have shown courage and pride in worldwide career paths such as medicine, music, sports, politics, modelling, and lots more. When students see these role models, they will say to themselves; If they can do it, I can do it too.
This art piece created by using the faces of Immaculata High School students demonstrates how diverse and inclusive our school is, as well as representing and preserving Joy Newton's legacy as the first black person to attend Immaculata High School.
Our beautiful painting by Fr. Falke is Immaculata HS student Joy Newton. She was the first black student at MAC. She is in the 1970s uniform and wears the Immaculata school ring on her finger.
Not only has Immaculata BSA created artistic displays, we have also sourced around from scientific displays. Through display, we acknowledge amazing people of colour who have achieved great things and yet got little recognition for it.