For the past few weeks in class, the middle-schoolers of Trey Whitfield have been discussing the importance of Black Land Ownership. They’ve been reading up on the fact that Black-Americans own less than 2% of farmland in the US.
In comparison to the amount of infrastructure Black people have built in this country due to slave labor, the students were shocked, but intrigued to explore more and continue to dig deeper.
They’ve also been discussing the importance of supporting Black owned businesses and how that can deeply benefit their communities.
It’s been incredible to bare witness to their group discussions addressing very pressing issues, such as food deserts in their own communities and how they are interested in making a genuine change.
Matthew (pictured sitting above) loved to quote his favorite Malcolm X quote, “The Ballot or the Bullet” discussing how much of what X has stated in the 60s is occurring in their collective communities are things X had predicted.
The best part about these discussions?
All of the students at Divas STRONGLY believe they can make a huge difference in their communities! Their ambition is truly limitless.
DIVAS (Digital Interactive Visual Arts Sciences) for Social Justice aims to bridge the digital divide by combining media literacy and cultural awareness along with a vast understanding of technology to encourage young women in under served communities to pursue careers in computer science and new media.
This was an awesome and beneficial lesson.