Farmingdale High School’s R.E.A.L. Harmony club has a dream, a dream which has been accomplished with great success. The club’s desire to spread cultural awareness and to promote diversity was put on display in an amazing Black History Month showcase held on Tuesday, February 28, 2023. It was the third annual occurrence of this event, highly anticipated and awaited by members of the Farmingdale community who wished to be both enlightened and entertained. The event was held in the auditorium and the curtains opened at 6pm, starting the visual timeline of Black history throughout the decades. By the end of the program, brought back to present day, R.E.A.L Harmony had again brought people together in support of cultural awareness, with the audience left in tears and in the light of Black history.

What is R.E.A.L. Harmony? R.E.A.L Harmony is a club at Farmingdale High School that works to promote, celebrate and spread cultural awareness and diversity. The club was established in March of 2019 by students who yearned to make a positive change out of a negative situation, and has exponentially grown ever since. The club has hosted a variety of showcases, fundraisers, and events that have all received positive recognition and feedback and have all flourished with great success, this year’s Black History Month event included.

The showcase included tributes, an appearance from Farmingdale High School’s Steppin’ Dalers, musical performances, poems, and so much more. The theme of the event in its entirety was Black history throughout the decades, and incorporated skits to educate the audience members on key points of history and key people that made this history. The event was complemented with a slideshow that contained facts and quotes from African American people who changed the world in numerous ways, starting with the influential people in the 1920’s and ending with people who are continuing to make new history. The showcase ended with a send off to senior members of the club who had devoted time to spreading awareness and celebrating multicultural beauty, all of them being rewarded with recognition and a rose. As the audience had embarked on the educational journey, the R.E.A.L. Harmony club produced a memorable presentation of why the event was so important, and why it is needed to display the development of Black history that is unknown to so many.

R.E.A.L. Harmony club members and advisors contributed immense effort to put on this event, with a lot of practice in preparation for the organized showcase. R.E.A.L. Harmony advisor Mrs. Lahda-Jivraj stated, “I think that the show went very well, we are really proud of everyone who put all of the effort in. The practices went great, and I think it was everything that they envisioned it to be.” Members had similar feelings towards the success of the showcase, and the process of preparing for it as well. R.E.A.L Harmony senior board member Courtney Cameron stated, “My favorite part was just spending time with all of these amazing students and peers. We worked so hard and we appreciate all of the love from those who showed us support.” Senior board member Amya Johnson added, “I am very proud of everyone and I think that we did well with all of our performances. I think that everyone was well-spoken. It’s great to recognize how far we have come along in history, happy Black History Month, and be true.”

The success of this year’s Black History Month event undoubtedly shows the power of the club and its motivation, exciting the Farmingdale community as they prepare for their next event with great anticipation and enthusiasm. The event was produced by inspiring people that will go on to do great things and educate people on things that need to be both celebrated and talked about as they all have dreams to make reality.