By Spencer Drake
Black History Month is celebrated all throughout Lincoln Parish. People in all walks of life stops and recognize the importance of the month-long holiday.
Devonia Love-Vaughn is the dean of Inclusion Initiatives & Student Success at Louisiana Tech University and said she is very passionate about the holiday.
“Personally, Black History Month is something I celebrate all year,” Love-Vaughn said, “through my desire to honor those who have paved the way for me to be able to work in an area of higher education that is near and dear to my heart.”
Businesses in Lincoln Parish also celebrate the month-long holiday. Antwuan Watson is the manager of the local shoe store, KickzThrone, in Lincoln Parish.
“Here at Kickzthrone, we greatly appreciate and recognize Black History Month. It is very important to us,” Watson said. “It’s a time to reflect on the people who paved the way to give us an opportunity to be where we are today.”
Students from the surrounding universities, Louisiana Tech and Grambling State, also shared similar views on the importance on celebrating Black History Month.
Sara Falcon is a student at Louisiana Tech and said she understands how important it is to properly recognize the holiday.
“I think it is very important to recognize Black History Month because it is a reminder of the systematic racism that still plagues our country and state today,” Falcon said. “It reminds us of how far we have come and how far we still have to go.”
At GSU, Shemar Page outwardly shows his appreciation for the people who have fought for the causes celebrated in Black History Month.
“There were people before me who did things a certain way and those people allowed me to live the way I do: a free African American with the freedom of choice,” Page said.
