Class information
AFN 128 – Black Women in the Americas, the Caribbean
11 students
The changing status of women in African traditional societies is compared with changes in the status of Black women in the United States, the Caribbean, and Brazil.
Project overview
PROJECT
1] Students will work collaboratively on an e-zine type poster [or a ppt open lab assignment titled “A Black HERSTORY: From Africa to the Atlantic World!” – [add the name of the Black Woman profiled here]”.
2] They will have a choice to work individually or collaboratively on An assignment where students will explore and examine the role that black women [in Africa and in the Americas] have played in resistance movements throughout history as well as the effects of racial, gendered, class, and other types of socio – economical, and political oppression on them.
3] In the poster, students will select a profile of ANY black woman and design a poster about their life, struggles, challenges, and notable contributions to black womanhood, black feminism, and empowerment.
Why did you select this project? How does it relate to identity and purpose?
PURPOSE
1] Students will learn about the changing status of women in traditional African societies compared with changes in the status of black women in the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
2] Students will understand the involvement and the contributions of Black Women in the development of historical social, intellectual, and economic institutions in Africa, and the African Diaspora is analyzed.
3] Students will utilize texts that demonstrate the black woman’s agency and draw on the black woman’s particular ways of signifying, testifying, and serving as counter-narratives to the pernicious myths, which for centuries have circulated regarding the black female body and role in contributions to society.
4] Students will apply the concepts of unlearning historical truths and learning about the many “mis – education” in African History.
Poster Display / Presentation
Each student will present/discuss their poster or ezine during the Women HERSTORY month of activities at BMCC in March of 2023. Students will also get a chance to display their poster project at the Social Justice Week of activities at BMCC or at the Dept of Ethnic and Race Studies 50th Anniversary Conference in April of 2023.
What advice do you have for other faculty who would like to implement a similar project?
Emphasis on the study of black feminism from the perspective of “unlearning” historical truth about African women and black women in the diaspora’s contributions to women’s liberation movements and struggles.
Related materials
You will find useful resources on creating posters or ezines here:
1] Experiential Tools: https://experientialtools.com/
2] How to make a zine – https://guides.library.cornell.edu/zines101/make
3] Infographics – https://visme.co/blog/what-is-an-infographic/
4] Zine and booklet template from word: https://anatomicair.com/book-templates
5] How to Make a PPT Poster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZfVV8PG1b0
6] How to make an academic poster using PPT-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WnhoIbfcoM
