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Fairfax County Public Schools marked Black History Month on Feb. 19 with a celebration at Woodson High that connected the county’s overlooked past with calls for students to shape a more equitable future.

Built around the theme “From the Threads of Our Past to the Fabric of Our Future,” the event brought together students, FCPS officials, School Board members, a George Mason University professor, local authors and the 360 Worship Music Ensemble.

Four contributors to “Black Communities of Fairfax: A History” — Etta Willson, Linneall Naylor, Rondia Prescott and Jenee Lindner — participated in a panel discussion. Students from Woodson and other FCPS schools read excerpts from the book throughout the evening.

Darnessia Semper, who works in equity and cultural responsiveness for FCPS, served as emcee. She reflected on relatives born in rural South Carolina in the early 1900s who earned college degrees and created opportunities for later generations.

“So I had a fabric to grow from,” Semper said. “They’ve paved the way for me to be where I am.”

Marcia St. John-Cunning, appearing on behalf of School Board Chairman Karl Frisch, said she had attended a birthday commemoration earlier that day for the late congressman John Lewis at the Springfield high school bearing his name.

She described the Woodson event as part of FCPS’s commitment to recognizing diversity and the people who shaped the country.

“Make no mistake — Black history is America’s history,” St. John-Cunning said.

She said that commitment should extend beyond February and be reflected throughout the school system, including in efforts to ensure that students feel respected and supported and that school names represent the community’s values of equity and justice.

St. John-Cunning also invoked Lewis’ enduring appeal for hope, perseverance and “good trouble” in the pursuit of change.

Mason District School Board representative Ricardy Anderson focused on the national Black History Month theme, “African Americans and Labor.” She traced the impact of Black workers from the forced labor of enslaved people through the Great Migration and into the work of modern educators, activists and entrepreneurs.

Anderson said FCPS employees follow generations of Black educators and leaders who pushed for equity and educational opportunity. She pointed to Dr. Luther Porter Jackson, whose name is on the county’s only secondary school that served Black students during segregation, as a reminder that education has long been central to the struggle for justice.

Although progress has been made, Anderson said, substantial work remains. She described Black labor as a fight for dignity, fair pay, opportunity and justice, while warning that policies dismantling programs focused on understanding and equity threaten decades of gains.

“In the face of these challenges, our commitment to celebrating and teaching our Black history becomes even more crucial,” Anderson said. She urged the community to work toward making equity a reality rather than merely an ideal.

FCPS Chief Equity Officer Nardos King connected the program to Woodson High’s namesake, Carter G. Woodson, widely known as the father of Black history. She said his scholarship helped ensure that African Americans’ contributions would no longer be ignored and called the school’s recent renaming a statement about honoring people who advanced justice, education and opportunity.

King emphasized that Black history is present in Fairfax County’s communities, schools and roads, not confined to a distant past. She told students that they are carrying those lessons forward and have the ability to challenge injustice, lead compassionately and help determine what comes next.

“History isn’t a relic — it’s a tool,” King said, urging students to use it for empowerment and change.

She also called the gathering a challenge to build a school system in which every student, family and community can thrive, and encouraged attendees to sustain its spirit throughout the year.

Following the keynote address, attendees stood to sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” led by the 360 Worship Music Ensemble. Two students later shared personal stories, followed by contributors to “Black Communities of Fairfax: A History.”

Willson spoke about her enslaved ancestors, including her mother’s grandmother, who she said had many stories to pass down.

Lindner, a Fairfax City historian, said African Americans once accounted for 30 percent of the local population but have received little attention in traditional accounts of the area’s history.

“I’m proud that those stories are finally being told,” she said.