In discussing how social change takes place in the research stage of community-based arts work, Schwartzman and Knight instruct the community-based artist to "conduct interviews and survey, attend meetings, meet community leaders"(159). The surveys we conducted with the girls involved with the Sisters of Nia project were incredibly telling in a lot of ways.
Like I mentioned, the older girls we met with during our initial orientation--girls between 12 and 17 years old--answered the question "How do you think other people view black women?" with incredibly negative responses. Interestingly, I noticed that the younger girls who joined us during our second meeting--girls between 9 and 11 years old-- answered this question a little more positively. One 9-year-old had some trouble writing her own answers, so I wrote them for her; when asked this question about other people view black women, she replied "The think they're pretty." What happens to these girls once they reach middle-school age that alters their views so drastically? I am excited to hear from class members still working on Sisters of Nia how the program influences both the younger and the old girls, and whether the impact is different for each group.
In thinking about the Essay Workshop that I plan to carry out, I am curious what kinds of perceptions the students have of the role of African Americans in the history of Mart. Also, how do black students feel that other people--adults in the community, white students their age, their teachers, their history books--portray the role of black citizens in the history and development of the town? How might students' perceptions be shifted through the course of interviewing older black citizens of Mart? Perhaps even more importantly, how might students work to shift other people's perceptions?
Those are some great questions. I will be interested to see if you gain any answers to these by the end of the semester.
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