February 2025 marks the 99th Black History Month, first established in 1926 and officially recognized in 1976. This month brings light to the culture, history and struggles of the African American people. Here at Mounds View, the Black Student Union (BSU) celebrates this month by giving Black students a safe space and giving back to the community. 

The BSU’s hard work goes into creating a safe space for Black students in the school. “I hope that Black students at Mounds View can be more seen and heard and know that there’s a space for them where they can [be] free and comfortable to be who they are,” said junior Nungswi Sackhi, a leader at the BSU meetings. 

BSU also creates a welcoming environment for students to strengthen bonds with each other. “I think that BSU leaves a huge impact on our community because it is a great way to meet other Black students at Mounds View and build connections with people you may not talk to on a daily basis,” said junior Alyssa Gatumbo. “Building community means creating and strengthening relationships with others in your community and creating a space for everyone to feel accepted and connected.”

In addition, BSU does many fundraising events, donating to places that support their core belief of supporting and building community. One of those recipients is the Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery (MAAHMG), an organization that documents and highlights experiences and achievements of Minnesotan African Americans. “We went to [MAAHMG] for our field trip during May last school year because we wanted to send them a donation last year, but we didn’t have enough time or resources, but [this year] we made enough money [to donate],” said Gatumbo.

From Feb. 11-28, BSU also collected school supplies in the student services office for elementary schools in the Mounds View school district. “Since the theme of education is important to the Black community we should be making efforts to provide to who we can. So, for this project we decided to give back to our Mounds View community, providing to all six of our amazing elementary schools,” said senior Jayda McAdams.

Some of BSU’s other service projects include selling BSU t-shirts during early February during lunches and hosting a Kids Club for Communication Night on Feb. 27. The goal of this club was to provide parents a free, supervised place with games and snacks to drop off their younger kids while meeting with teachers. 

Discussions of possible future fundraisers and community events circle the club, including planning monthly BSU movie nights. “There are other things that we’ve talked about doing that could be fundraisers or could simply be fun community activities. One example is we’re in the works of planning a series of BSU movie nights, hopefully once a month for the rest of the school year is what we’re looking at,” said BSU advisor and associate principal Ben Chiri. 

Mounds View BSU thrives at creating a unique culture that reaches out to leave a lasting impression. “I hope to leave a positive mark for future students and I hope to be able to reach enough people through the work that we do,” said Gatumbo.