All of us, we’re all products of Black history. All of us use things that have been invented by Black people each and every day. Black history is American history. We should celebrate that every day and not just in February.
With a gentle nudge, Faith Yahnke found her inner lion.
On Monday, February 2, the Milwaukee Area Technical College student gathered her courage, steeled her nerves, got up and performed a traditional African dance to help celebrate the start of Black History Month.
Yahnke joined MATC instructor Dr. Jacqueline Robinson in swinging and swaying on the floor of the college’s Student Lounge at the Downtown Milwaukee Campus.
The dance was the strong lion dance, a folk tradition with deep roots in western African countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone, said Robinson, who wore authentic African garb and danced barefoot to the percussion-heavy, jangling beat.
“These days we need strong lions,” she said. “We need people who are strong, resilient and persevere.”
Yahnke, who is in the college’s Criminal Justice Studies program, joined other students and MATC faculty and staff to eat, dance and celebrate the beginning of Black History Month.
What began as a singular week of learning and recognition called Negro History Week in 1926 has grown into an overall cultural observance of Black history throughout the month of February.
MATC has numerous events planned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of that recognition, said Michael Rogers, vice president of Student Engagement and Community Impact. And he invited everyone at MATC to join in.
“All of us, we’re all products of Black history,” Rogers said. “All of us use things that have been invented by Black people each and every day. Black history is American history. We should celebrate that every day and not just in February.”
In a LinkedIn post, MATC President Dr. Anthony Cruz said the college’s events will honor the African American educators who transformed higher education and expanded access, equity and excellence.
“Leaders like W.E.B. Du Bois, Mary McLeod Bethune, Carter G. Woodson and Anna Julia Cooper reshaped scholarship, challenged injustice, and centered the power of education to liberate minds,” Dr. Cruz wrote in the post. “Their legacies remind us that education is not just about instruction, it is empowerment and possibility for generations to come.”
Woodson was the guiding force behind Black History Month. A historian and educator, he was the second African American to receive a doctorate from Harvard University (Du Bois was the first).
In 1925, Woodson organized Negro History Week. The event was first celebrated during a week in February 1926. The celebration was expanded to a month in 1976, the nation’s bicentennial.
At MATC, this year’s theme is “Routes, Roots and Reflections,” said Courtney Kelly, coordinator of career services in the college’s CareerHub and a member of the Black History Month planning committee.
At Monday’s kickoff, Kelly asked students, faculty and staff for the one word they thought of when they heard Black History Month. Answers included empowerment, intelligence, family, progress, culture and legacy.
“We want you to embrace this month and participate in what is happening here,” Kelly said.
Lunch was provided by Richmond’s Restaurant and Catering, located at the Sherman Phoenix Marketplace, 3536 W. Fond du Lac Avenue in Milwaukee. Attendees feasted on catfish and chicken, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, salad, and corn bread.
As the visitors ate, Dr. Robinson danced. She started alone but soon cajoled Yahnke into joining her. Later, Dr. Robinson got five or six others, including Dr. Cruz, to dance with her.
“We all have connections to Blackness and to Black culture,” she said.
See MATC’s other 2026 Black History Months events
About MATC: As Wisconsin’s largest technical college and one of the most diverse two-year institutions in the Midwest, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a key driver of southeastern Wisconsin’s economy and has provided innovative education in the region since 1912. More than 30,000 students per year attend the college’s four campuses and community-based sites or learn online. MATC offers affordable and accessible education and training opportunities that empower and transform lives in the community. The college offers more than 180 academic programs — many that prepare students for jobs immediately upon completion and others that provide transfer options leading to bachelor’s degrees with more than 40 four-year colleges and universities. Overwhelmingly, MATC graduates build careers and businesses in southeastern Wisconsin. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.