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The Southwest Michigan Black Heritage Society"The connection to yesterday" |
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The Southwest Michigan Black Heritage Society"The connection to yesterday" |
When we learned that the "RACE: Are We So Different" exhibit was coming to the Kalamazoo Valley Museum from October 2, 2010 to January 2, 2011, SMBHS joined the Kalamazoo RACE Exhibit Initiative and teamed with the Western Michigan University Journalism Program to develop the "Telling the Kalamazoo Community RACE Story," an oral history and journalism project. The goals of the project were to provide young people with the opportunity to learn about diversity and community to build on their skills and aptitude in writing, to connect with members of diverse communities, to build awareness and appreciation among community members about the varied racial and ethnic experiences of those around them, and to provide a partial record of dialogues around RACE Exhibit programming.
SMBHS Executive Director Donna Odom co-directed the project along with Sue Ellen Christian, an associate professor of journalism at Western Michigan University. Professor Christian is a former professional journalist who has served on the staffs of the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit News. She has guided students through reporting on race and ethnicity in the community for ten years.
Three high school students - one each from Loy Norrix, Kalamazoo Central, and Portage Central - were chosen to work in teams with three interns from Western Michigan University (WMU) and two from Kalamazoo College to train for and conduct oral history interviews with five members of the African American community. WMU journalism students interviewed citizens of varying ethnicities from throughout the city to develop feature stories and Q and A articles.
Project Co-Directors Share Their Insight
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JOIN THE DIALOGUE
You can help us continue the dialogue. Order your copy of the "Telling the Kalamazoo Community RACE Story" book. It contains the stories of all five oral history interviewees, the journalism feature stories and Q and A articles, project photos, a project evaluation, as well and a resource section with discussion questions, recommended reading, and recommended websites. This product of the project was designed to be used as a tool for continuing the dialogue on race and ethnicity. The book is $10.00 and includes a DVD with excerpts from the oral history interviews.
Click on the image to order your copy.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
Thanks to the following individuals and organizations: