By James Windell
The members of the Black History Leadership Society have been persistent in their efforts to keep Black history alive. Each February, in celebration of Black History Month, the Black History Leadership Society (BHLS) presents a program at the Scott Club in South Haven. On February 4, 2025, the Black History Leadership Society will present a program called “We Have Come This Far by Faith – Celebrating African American Women.”
“This year we are doing ‘We have Come this far by Faith,’” says BHLS President Dorothy Sherrod, “and we thought we would do a program featuring African-American spirituals.” Sherrod says she and other BHLS members will sing spirituals and then talk about what those songs meant during the time period when they were first sung.
“By singing and sharing these songs and the meaning of those songs,” Sherrod says, “we hope that people will have a better understanding of what some of the spirituals did to help people to continue their fight toward freedom. That’s really what the title means, ‘We have come this far by faith,’ and that’s what is propelling us to move forward.”
The Black History Leadership Society is an organization of South Haven-area women that was organized 47 years ago to focus on cultural awareness and African-American history. “We work to promote racial harmony, and we provide scholarships to our youth that are graduating from high school and entering college, and we provide financial aid to students,” says Sherrod.
Among the spirituals that will be sung and discussed will be the popular “Wade in the Water.” “Yes, that is a popular spiritual,” Sherrod says, “but most people don’t really understand the gist of what that song represents and its true meaning.”
The BHLS members will be accompanied by a pianist during the program.
The Scott Club, an all-volunteer organization that presents bimonthly arts and cultural programs, presents regular programs that are both educational and entertaining. Its mission is to present programs that support the Scott Club mission of maintaining a center for the advancement of culture, the arts, education and fellowship.
The Scott Club is located at 652 Phoenix Street, South Haven. “We Have Come This Far by Faith – Celebrating African American Women” is on Tuesday, February 4, 2025 at 1:00 pm. Like all Scott Club programs, there is no admission charge. For more information about the Scott Club or to obtain a Zoom link for the program, visit their website at info@scottclub.org
