Walking into the Student Activities Center on a Monday after school, you are immediately greeted by smiles from the members of the Black Leaders Union, or BLU. This year, BLU is led by junior Riley Bazillion.
“I think [BLU] is important to have because it allows a space for the black students of OPRF to connect. Even if they’re not in the club, just to have the space available is amazing,” Bazillion said. “Oak Park wasn’t a very welcoming community to Black people, and so having this community I feel has shown improvement upon Oak Park and OPRF as a school.”
Bazillion has been a member of BLU since her freshman year, but in her first year as president of the club she aims to create more concrete plans for its members. “Now that I’m here, and I’ve been in the club, I’ve seen what people want to see. I feel like I’m able to fulfill their hopes,” she said.
Members of BLU believe that Bazillion has
achieved this goal. “Riley has taken so much initiative,” said Zaria Larnell, junior and member of BLU. “She is so great at planning BLU Thanksgiving and BLU Halloween. She always brings snacks for the club. It’s always a really fun time.” Larnell along with other members of the club visited Hinsdale South High School on Friday, Nov. 9 to connect with other Black Student Unions from Illinois schools and attend workshops to increase leadership skills. This is just one of the activities that Bazillion has helped to organize for the club, making her a strong leader not only in the eyes of her peers but with sponsors as well.
Bazillion “has developed her leadership skills which has allowed students to appreciate how club meetings are structured. She’s taken in good form, she’s planning, she’s thinking, making sure that she is on point so that the students know that when we have a meeting, this is what they can expect, and she follows through on expectations,” said Leandrew Wade, a Driver’s Education teacher at OPRF and one of the sponsors of BLU.
Bazillion’s role as president largely entails “plan[ning] out how the meeting is going to run for that week, checking up with Mr. Wade as well as our vice president Jaela [May], and we contact people at the school if we want to have events,” she said. From event planning to community building, Bazillion is a leader not only at BLU but within OPRF as a whole.
