Questions ranging from race to the war in Iraq were the topics of discussion Friday at the Teen Summit panel discussion, which was hosted by the the Center for Black Studies.

DeKalb, Sycamore and Oak Lawn high school students were in attendance. The event started with the students asking questions to the panelists. Many of the speakers encouraged the teens to surround themselves with positive people so they can be successful in the future. Black images in the media also were discussed.

“If you see negative images of people who look like you in the media, eventually you start to feed into them,” said Milissa McClaire, a junior art education major and panelist at the event.

The students also revealed their disappointment with the school system because they leave out essential events in black history and never teach history about blacks before the Middle Passage.

“It’s frustrating because they only tell us what they think we ought to know,” said Destine Walker, a DeKalb High School student.

The discussion became heated because many students found what the panelists were saying was inconsistent with what they had been taught in their school systems.

The highlight of the event was when “The Boondocks” cartoonist Aaron McGruder spoke. McGruder’s comic started in 1999 and is now in 256 papers around the country and reaches more than 20 million people.

McGruder speaks about political issues through his cartoon characters.

“The point [of the comic strip] is to get black people to think critically about the world around us,” he said.

McGruder presented many historical facts, which he said are seldom mentioned in the media.

“The United States has a history of befriending nations and after they get what they want, they betray them,” he said.

He also spoke about how he thinks history is rewritten to make the United States look good.

“History can be an interesting thing when people have guilt on their shoulders,” he said.