Students at Andalusia Middle School learned Friday they can make their dreams come true, if they work hard.

A crowd from the community, along with the student body gathered for the school’s annual Black History Month program.

“If you have a dream in your heart, you can make it come true,” said Andalusia native Debra Church, who sang for the crowd. “You have to have goals, work hard and believe in yourself.”

AMS Principal Victoria Anderson told students that no progress comes without a struggle.

“The struggle is worth it,” she said. “Whatever your dream is, it is possible.”

Students in the program honored the legacy of black history throughout the program.

Malzyzhia Jones and Alexious Stallworth talked about the historical significance of Black History month.

The girls told the audience that a month honoring black history traces back to the 1900s, and Carter G. Woodson was instrumental in black history.

In fact, what Americans now call Black History Month originated in 1926 as “Negro History Week.” The month of February was selected because both Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln were both born in this month.

Additionally, music was incorporated into the program to show how vital it is to the African American way of life.

The AMS band played two songs for the program, with “Integration of Ideas” focusing on African American-themed music.

Hugh and Tawana Stinson performed a moving poetic dramatization “Why Did God Make Me Black?”

During the drama, Tawana asks God why her skin is the color of darkness; why God gave her big lips, a wide nose and “kinky” hair; why her bone structure is so thick; why her eyes are brown and not the color of daylight sky; why do some people look at her skin and think she deserves to be abused.

“Lord, you know my own people mistreat me,” she said. “They say I’m too dark or I’m too light. Lord, why don’t you redo creation and make everyone the same.”

During the drama, the Lord, played by Hugh Stinson, replies and tells her to “get off your knees.”

“I made you the color of oil – black gold,” He said. “I made you the color of rich, dark earth, which gives you the food you need. I made you the color of the black stallion, such a majestic animal. You lips are full so that when you kiss the ones you love, they’ll remember.”

At the end, Stinson realizes she is somebody.

“I am made in your image,” she said. “I’m going to conquer the world.”

Eleven middle school girls performed a creative dance titled “Black Butterfly.”

Those students were Dayzah Gonzalez, Olivia Jones, Tatum Moore, Taran Carrasco, Rachel Sanders, Hale Burkhardt, Hannah McCalman and Elizabeth McCalman.