The Bowling Green Middle School performing arts center hosted a Black History Month assembly for students Friday.

Students of the middle school filled the auditorium to hear what their fellow classmates performing in the event had to say.

The first part of the presentation showed Elzie Odom, the prior mayor of the city of Arlington, who was shown on a projector and spoke of the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” in which he entitled “The Negro National Anthem.”

According to Odom, the song spoke to him about God assisting the African American culture throughout slavery.

After the video, students in the audience were asked to stand while the performing group of middle school students sang the song to the crowd.

Next, the students all introduced themselves to the crowd and spoke of influential African Americans throughout our history.

Individuals such as Ray Charles Robinson, Carter G. Woodsen and Barack Obama were shown throughout a presentation with slide shows on each of them. The slides explained to the students how important these people are in American culture today.

In the next video on the projector, an African American man spoke about the importance of the new trending title “Black Lives Matter.”

During the YouTube video, the man explained that as a country we have a long way to go when it comes to racism. According to him, people today continue to use racial profiling and often view African Americans as a threat.

To follow up on the video, students from the Bowling Green area then came in to teach the middle school about the dance form of stepping.

A group of girls in the Black Culture Club from Bowling Green High School performed a stepping routine to the crowd and explained the importance of stepping to the African

American culture.

After the steppers left the stage, a group of students from the University came in to talk about what they do within their organization called the Bowling Green High Flyers.

The organization was created by four African American students at the University. The students wanted to find something to be involved in off-campus so they founded the BG High Flyers.

The group of four men performed multiple flips and dance routines that they had rehearsed for the show.

After the assembly was over, the students returned to their classes for the rest of the school day, having learned more about Black History Month from the assembly.