To celebrate Black History Month, the Feb. 7th Upper School Assembly was devoted to learning about a dozen of the greatest people and moments in Black History, as chosen and presented by 10 Upper School students. Familiar names such as Maya Angelou, Billie Holiday, Whitney Houston, Michelle Obama, Rosa Parks and Jackie Robinson were mentioned, as well as a few lesser-known figures like Alvin Ailey, James Weldon Johnson and Dorothy Jones. Students also learned about historical events like the Lunch Counter Sit-Ins, the creation of spoken word poetry, and the establishment of the first Black intercollegiate fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, at Cornell in 1906, accompanied by a step team performance by three Alpha brothers from the Kappa Zeta Chapter at Pace University.

The highlight of the assembly, however, was a performance by D-E Class of 2006 alumnus Larry Stevens, aka Sean Larry, a motivational speaker, entrepreneur, bilinguist, self-taught musician, poet and author who works as a founding dean of students in Harlem by day. Sean spoke of his own struggles growing up without the support of his parents and, vowing for a better life, his journey to D-E and then Cornell University.

As mentioned by Nigel Lassiter '14 in his opening remarks: "Whether it be an individual who stood up for what they believed in, or a movement that influenced the nation, all of us have different ways of remembering and connecting to this annual celebration of African American culture."