Breakfree 2.0
"Goodbye stereotypes! Hello not-stereotypes!" That is the motto for our fantastical foray into the world of social justice. In our Breakfree 2.0 project, we attempted to shoot down stereotypes and open people's minds so that institutionalized racism would go bye-bye! We made videos, art pieces, speeches, and a Breakfree Rockestra (a rock orchestra!) for the project. We presented all of it at our 11th grade exhibition at Queen Bee's in North Park. Check out all the stuff we did down below. Our class really gave it our all, so APPRECIATE IT.
1. About Breakfree
Inspiration
Stereotype Activity & Institutionalized Racism
To begin our project process, we did a little activity where we put up four large pieces of paper on the walls. Each paper had a different race written on it: White, Black, Mexican, and Asian. On these papers, we wrote every stereotype we knew about each race. The process was stressful for some of us who felt uncomfortable saying these things, but it proved to be an eye-opening experience for the institutionalized stereotyping that goes on in the world every day. Institutionalized stereotypes are accepted preconceptions about people based on their race, gender, religion, etc. We re-created this activity for our exhibition at Queen Bee's so that the visitors could experience the activity for themselves.
Readings About Discrimination & Concept of Stereotype Threat
We were assigned several readings during our Breakfree 2.0 project, and one term always seemed to show up in them: stereotype threat. Stereotype threat is when people are or think they are conforming to stereotypes about their group. Stereotype threat can influence one's thoughts and self-esteem to the point that they think they are nothing more than those pre-conceived stereotypes. Through the Breakfree 2.0 project, we aim to get rid of these negative thoughts so that people realize they are more than what society labels them.
The Project Description
The official description of our Breakfree 2.0 project is as follows: "This project is a MOVEMENT that we are naming #BreakFree. This project is about creating something VIRAL that encourages our viewers to “BreakFree” from the misconceptions, to BreakFree from societal judgments, to BreakFree from history’s abuses, and more importantly to BreakFree from the threats of stereotyping. Our Dream Goal is to become VIRAL in the world of the media." That's right, hoss. We goin' viral. Spread the word!
2. Writing Process
Personal Pieces
Draw My Life Video
For my main personal piece, I made a "Draw My Life" video about how my brother faced discrimination in the school system for his mental disorder. You can watch the video below.
Group Video Project
Project Proposal
For the main course of this smorgasbord of a project, I teamed up with Jake Sinsay, Kalista Hayes, and Kaila Millard to make a video that would help someone break free from a stereotype. Who was this someone, you ask? Pit bulls! They're a breed of dog that faces more discrimination than any other breed. Take a look at the proposal we made for our video below!
Presentation
After we wrote up our proposal, we made a presentation to share with the class about what we wanted to do. Take a look below!
Storyboard
In order to ensure we underwent the proper filming process, we created a storyboard. Take a looksie!
Final Video
Our final video turned out better than I thought it would. Look, it's right here, below this sentence! So watch it!
3. Reflection
Overall Reflection
I think that Breakfree 2.0 was an overall pretty good project. It allowed me to spread the message of stopping discrimination towards pit bulls. I also got to see the great work that my fellow classmates produced for their videos. The road leading up to my finished video was a difficult one, though. From the get go, my group and I wondered how we would be able to get good footage of people being scared of pit bulls without being too invasive. I worried about this for days, until the day we planned to film came up. On that day, it happened to be pouring rain. I was disappointed that we weren't able to get any work done that day, but I was also relieved that I avoided some possibly awkward social situations with people that are scared of dogs. The stress from thinking about filming got to my head, and I considered giving up on the project because of how foolhardy what we were trying to do seemed. My teacher, Joanne, offered some advice to help move us along, but I still wasn't feeling it. Then one day, all of a sudden, I got a creative burst and wrote down some questions that we could use to interview people around town about pit bulls. From there, everything seemed to come together. I changed the idea of having people hold pit bulls to instead letting the people visiting the shelter interact with the pit bulls in a yard. This idea worked out pretty good, and I'm satisfied with the final product. While the process of making the video was very painful for me, the end result was worth it. I am glad I was able to experience this project.
Exhibition Reflection
For our exhibition, we rented out a studio in North Park called Queen Bee's. Here, we showed off the products of our Breakfree 2.0 project to parents and visitors. A team of designers was formed at school that took charge of the layout of the building, making it look up to snuff for our snazzy project. In the front of the building was a large stage where we played in our Breakfree Rockestra. People reading poems and gave talks on this stage. In the next room over was a mini stage for more presentations, a wall for art pieces and "That" Cards, and tables where people could view our group videos. Oh, and I assisted with the refreshments table by going to the store and stocking it up before the exhibition started. Yum! I liked the exhibition a lot. It had a very positive atmosphere and I enjoyed everyone's presentations. I think it was a huge success with our audience as well. I would gladly do something like this again.
4. Thanks!
Phew... This was a tiring project. Well, thank you for taking the time to read about it! I think it was a worthwhile experience. I'd also like to thank Joanne Sith and Mike Handforth for being so supportive and convincing me to tough it out to the end. Goodbye, everyone, and don't forget to #breakfree!