Reflection
In this project, I learned a lot about Washington DC in the 1960s. One thing I learned that I didn’t know about before was the details on how daily life was like for people of color in the book I read for the project, The Help by Kathryn Stockett. It was about black maids in 1960s Mississippi and the struggles and discrimination they have to go through. In previous classes we focused more on the March on Washington and Martin Luther King Jr's “I have a dream” speech. Reading The Help made me understand how impactful and significant the Civil Rights Movement was for people of color.
There are many connections I see between my decade/location and the world today. The first one is how people of color are treated then versus now. In the 1960s, there was segregation and discrimination against race, sex, religion, and national origin. Then in 1964, the Civil Rights Act was put into law and which banned public and employment discrimination and considered to be one of the greatest achievements of the Civil Rights Movement. This helped improve how people of color were treated today but racism still exists today in things such as microaggressions, police brutality and hate crimes. At this point in time it feels like American society is taking steps back instead forward.
The artifact that my group produced that is my personal favorite is the diorama we made of the March on Washington. The whole model is painted in black in white to resemble old pictures from the 1960s and to symbolize the racial discrimination that was taking place. The base is made from wood that is painted grey and the sides are pieces cardboard that have symbols and names of people from the Civil Rights Movement. We cut a rectangle into the base and covered the bottom with cardboard to fill it with resin to make it look like Reflection Pool. We also made a small model of the Washington Monument painted white surrounded by grey, black, and white beads that represent people. In the crowds there are grey beads lined up in letters to spell the word equal. The trees were also painted black and glued onto the diorama to match the theme. It is my favorite because I spent a lot of time laying out beads to spell equal and gluing each individual one to the base. It took weeks to do and it turned out very well.
The aspect I learned the most while researching Washington DC in the 1960s was the social and political side of it. This was because the most famous things that happened in the 1960s were the Civil Rights Movement, signing of the Civil Rights Act, and the President Kennedy assassination. All of these things have a aspect of social, political, or both.
If I could change one thing about this project, I would change the amount of writing products/artifacts required to be completed by in a group. The maximum number of group members in a group was three and there was 4 artifacts that needed to be completed including the choose your own adventure and book reading papers. Some artifacts, such as the diorama took the entire project to build. Even though I was in a group with the maximum amount of people, it was incredibly stressful and became more about finishing artifacts in time instead of learning about our decade.
The book my group read was The Help Kathryn Stockett, a historical fiction book that takes place in 1960s Jackson Mississippi that is about the lives of black maids and the struggles they must go through because of their racially prejudice society. The three main characters are Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson, and Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan. It starts when Skeeter, who is a white woman, visits her friend Elizabeth Leefolt and asks Aibileen, the black maid who works for Leefolt, if she wishes things would change. They eventually talk more and decide to write a book about the experiences black maids had working for white families. Aibileen convinces other maids to tell their story and brings her best friend Minny. They also have to avoid getting caught by white people or they will lose their jobs. This book is related to my decade because it takes place in the 1960s and the book says a lot about the Civil Rights Movement and discrimination people of color had to go through at that time. I think it tied in very well with my groups decade and gave a more personal perspective of what it was like in the 1960s.
There are many connections I see between my decade/location and the world today. The first one is how people of color are treated then versus now. In the 1960s, there was segregation and discrimination against race, sex, religion, and national origin. Then in 1964, the Civil Rights Act was put into law and which banned public and employment discrimination and considered to be one of the greatest achievements of the Civil Rights Movement. This helped improve how people of color were treated today but racism still exists today in things such as microaggressions, police brutality and hate crimes. At this point in time it feels like American society is taking steps back instead forward.
The artifact that my group produced that is my personal favorite is the diorama we made of the March on Washington. The whole model is painted in black in white to resemble old pictures from the 1960s and to symbolize the racial discrimination that was taking place. The base is made from wood that is painted grey and the sides are pieces cardboard that have symbols and names of people from the Civil Rights Movement. We cut a rectangle into the base and covered the bottom with cardboard to fill it with resin to make it look like Reflection Pool. We also made a small model of the Washington Monument painted white surrounded by grey, black, and white beads that represent people. In the crowds there are grey beads lined up in letters to spell the word equal. The trees were also painted black and glued onto the diorama to match the theme. It is my favorite because I spent a lot of time laying out beads to spell equal and gluing each individual one to the base. It took weeks to do and it turned out very well.
The aspect I learned the most while researching Washington DC in the 1960s was the social and political side of it. This was because the most famous things that happened in the 1960s were the Civil Rights Movement, signing of the Civil Rights Act, and the President Kennedy assassination. All of these things have a aspect of social, political, or both.
If I could change one thing about this project, I would change the amount of writing products/artifacts required to be completed by in a group. The maximum number of group members in a group was three and there was 4 artifacts that needed to be completed including the choose your own adventure and book reading papers. Some artifacts, such as the diorama took the entire project to build. Even though I was in a group with the maximum amount of people, it was incredibly stressful and became more about finishing artifacts in time instead of learning about our decade.
The book my group read was The Help Kathryn Stockett, a historical fiction book that takes place in 1960s Jackson Mississippi that is about the lives of black maids and the struggles they must go through because of their racially prejudice society. The three main characters are Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson, and Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan. It starts when Skeeter, who is a white woman, visits her friend Elizabeth Leefolt and asks Aibileen, the black maid who works for Leefolt, if she wishes things would change. They eventually talk more and decide to write a book about the experiences black maids had working for white families. Aibileen convinces other maids to tell their story and brings her best friend Minny. They also have to avoid getting caught by white people or they will lose their jobs. This book is related to my decade because it takes place in the 1960s and the book says a lot about the Civil Rights Movement and discrimination people of color had to go through at that time. I think it tied in very well with my groups decade and gave a more personal perspective of what it was like in the 1960s.