NILES — Charlie McAfee said Black History Month and Valentine’s Day make February the month of love.

She and other Niles community members will share that love with their event “Honoring Niles African American Legends” at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 16 at Mount Calvary Baptist Church, 601 Ferry St., Niles.

Its series of presentations will be about the stories and accomplishments of black Niles residents past and present. Organizers hope attendees, especially children and young adults, will leave with renewed esteem to succeed.

The organizers themselves hope to learn something, too. Charlie McAfee and Mary McAfee — of Mount Olive Baptist Church in Niles — Linda Bradford, Robert Bradford and Jeanette Pearson — of Mount Calvary — and Lisa Busby — of Franklin AME Church in Niles — are working to record Niles’ history of black residents and businesses.

It is a history they said has not been properly documented and centrally organized to its fullest extent by libraries, media, museums and members of the community. Events like their Black History Month presentations will not only reveal some of that history but help them record it.

“We’re trying to get some of that information back,” Charlie said. “It’s a part of who we are. It’s our legacy, heritage.”

The group seeks to find not only the breaking news of days past, but the seemingly small aspects of everyday life that impacted Niles’ black community in profound ways over time.

Some organizers recalled shoeshine, in Niles, but have been unable to find his name. They remember black-owned businesses, but are unsure of their history and their owners. They know many community members, but they do not know their full stories nor what history they know themselves.

Properly collecting local history is important for Black History Month because local “unsung heroes” are easy to forget, Mary said.

“Many times, they say a man is not honored in his own homeland,” she said. “You always go national. To actually honor those individuals that are in your own community, I think is great. These are the individuals our kids see every day, and then they can relate to [them].”

Connecting with children and young adults through “Honoring Niles African American Legends” is key to its group of organizers. The event is meant to be a purposeful history lesson, one with positive, present-day impact.

Pearson said presenters will speak of people who saw great personal achievement in their careers and community. She hopes their stories will inspire students who may feel intimidated to work toward daunting jobs or workplaces that are majority white.

She said many students nowadays may not realize that many of their elders faced constant intimidation and barriers to work during a segregationist America a little more than a half century ago. To them, it may sound like ancient history.

Yet, current children’s elders grew up in a racist, white-dominant society in the Niles area. Linda said people like herself and other organizers for the event came a long way from where they started.

“Hopefully, our young people will see what we’re doing and how we’re looking at the ones of old,” she said. “We can look and let them know that somebody that looks like me can do it.”

Linda, Mary, Charlie, Robert and Pearson were all supported by their own elders as they broke barriers in their lives. Now, they wish to do as their elders did.

Their Black History Month event, and the month as a whole, allows those conversations between youth and adults to happen, they said. By keeping history alive, the future is kept bright.

UPDATED 12:50 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4