On Feb. 38, Grady hosted its annual Black History Month program organized by the Student Government Association.

Junior Class President Taylor Spencer, who delivered the program’s keynote speech, spoke to the Southerner’s Elise Isakov about the program’s organization and its purpose and as well as SGA’s role in organizing it.

“For the African-American students listening to my speech, I want them to take away that just because you have all these differences and all these adversities and you have all these challenges that you can still be an exceptional student if you really want to work towards it,” Spencer said. 

Spencer students trust SGA representatives to make their concerns known.

“SGA is for the students to have a voice,” Spencer said. “There are many people in their grades who connect with many of their peers and they’re trusted by their peers. So, they are told problems they want to have addressed.”

The program left students and staff pleased with the performances.

“I was pretty impressed,” said Anthony Smith, a long-term substitute teacher who attended the program. “I was very inspired. I was moved. I was excited beyond my anticipation.”

Smith was equally impressed by the enthusiasm and excitement of the students attending program.

“The reason why I love Grady so much is it’s so diverse,” Smith said. “We are all one anyway, just from different walks of life. We’re human, because I’m a black man, but first, I’m a human being, in a black man’s body. And I hope everyone is proud of the way they appear here on Earth, because we’re all are the same, just have different containers.”