Photo and Story Credit: Tim Hynds and Earl Horlyk, Sioux City Journal
Sioux City, Iowa - Known to his friends and family by the nickname "The Duke," Lamarion Mothershead is a star athlete on West High School's football and basketball teams.
The 17-year-old is also experiencing a bad case of 'senior-itis."
"Yeah, I'm feeling the urge to move on," Mothershead admitted, inside the school's media center. "I'm ready."
Sa'Nya Hayes knows what Mothershead is going through. The 18-year-old Hayes -- a member of West's bowling team and a fan of TikTok videos -- is getting anxious for the school year to end.
Is she already counting down the days to graduation?
"It isn't that bad ... yet," Hayes said with a laugh.
Hayes and Mothershead also have another thing in common. Both understand the importance of February being Black History Month.
Black History Month actually began as national Negro History Week in 1926. Sponsors of the event chose the second week in February because it coincided with the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.
Gerald Ford was the first president to officially recognize Black History Month in 1976.
Ford called upon the public to "seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history."
"If we don't remember Black history, we'll forget about our past," said Hayes, who is the great-granddaughter of Richard Hayes, the longtime executive director of the Sioux City Human Rights Commission.
Mothershead agreed, acknowledging that Black History Month must address the strife many had experienced while celebrating everything they've accomplished.
Read more of the story, courtesy of the Sioux City Journal.