Members of the Brookline community came together in the MLK room on Friday, Feb. 28 for the Black: Past, Present, Proud Potluck Celebration. Music played in the background as attendees sat around long tables to socialize and eat food from the tray-laden buffet table.

The potluck was the final event in this year’s Black History Month celebrations, which were organized by the Black Student Union (BSU) and the Black History Month Planning Committee.

According to Black History Month Planning Committee Head Adebukola Ajao, the potluck is an opportunity for different aspects of Black culture to be brought together.

“Black culture is vast. It’s not one thing. We have African food, Caribbean food, African-American food, Indian-American food, Afro-Asian food,” Ajao said. “We bring it all together so we can taste different parts of the culture.”

Ajao said that the potluck wraps up the Black History Month celebrations on a high note because it brings people together, whether they have Black heritage or not.

“It’s an opportunity for everybody who was a part of the planning: staff, students, families, communities. It’s not just for Brookline High school, it’s for the entire Brookline community,” Ajao said.

Senior Autumn Johnson said that the potluck gives people an opportunity to meet others within the school community.

“I think it’s important to know who’s at the school. Even if you’re not Black, it’s nice to come and to see—and there’s good music, food and socializing,” Johnson said.

Pierce School Steps For Success program advisor Sophya Louis said that events like the potluck are important to the school community because they celebrate many cultures at once.

“I think there’s this image of only Black Americans, and we often don’t think about Black people from other parts of the world as well,” Louis said.

Junior and BSU member Fiyako Ajao, who helped plan the potluck and other Black History Month celebrations, explained that the potluck was a commemoration of Black culture.

“We just wanted to celebrate being Black and all of the history, all of the good, bad, the ugly and the beautiful parts,” Ajao said. “We’re celebrating who we are and inviting other people to join us.”