PannellandLawson1

AllysonPannellandErikahLawson
ProfessorRaymond
UWRT1104
25July2016
Colorism

WehavedecidedtodigdeepintohowcolorismaffectsmanyareasofAfricanAmerican

culture.Weplantoseehowcolorismisshowninmedia,theatre,books,policebrutality,andin
music.Wearegoingtogobacktotherootofthelightskinvs.darkskinproblemthatoriginated
inslavery.ThroughoutAmericanculture,darkertonedpeoplehavebeenfrowneduponmore
thanlightertonedpeople.Lighterpeoplewereseenasbetterandmorevaluabletosocietythan
darkerpeople.Wewanttofindoutwhythisisandhoworifitcanbereversed.
Wewillstartoffapproachingcolorismwithaseriesofsurveys.Wewillaskourpeersif
theyseeitasaproblemandanyotherthingstheyhavenoticedalongwithit.Then,weplanon
havingmorepeopletakeoursurveythroughsocialmediainordertogetmanydifferent
perspectivesontheissue.Wearegoingtomostlyfocusonthelinguisticandvisualmodes.We
planondoingaspokenwordpieceinordertomakesurethatourmessageisheard.Ourvisual
modewillconsistofapowerpointwithmanypicturesandvideosofhowcolorismisshownin
variousscenarios.Itwillbebrokenupintoourfivesubcategoriesthatwehavedecidedcolorism
canbeshownin.
Wearegoingtosetasidetwonightsofstudyhallweeklytoprepareforthisproject.We
willalsousesomeofourlabtimetogettheworkdone.Weknowthatwewillhavetomake
severaltripstothelibraryinordertofindoutmoreinformationaboutthehistoryofthisinternal

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battle.WeplantostartourresearchonThursday,July21stinordertogetaheadstart.We
shouldbedonewithcollectingallofourinformationbySaturday,July23rd.OnSunday,July
24thwewillstartputtingourinformationontheslidesinwhichweshouldbefinishedby
Monday,August1st.Wewillthencontinuetoreviewoverourprojectuntilthedayitisdue.We
willbothberesponsibleforlookingupinformationinbooksandonthecomputer.Allysonwill
beinchargeoffindingpicturesandvideoclipsforthepowerpoint.Erikahwillberesponsiblefor
writingoutthecontent.Wewilldomostofourworkwiththeuseoflaptops,ipads,andcell
phones.
Ourproposedplaniseffectiveforourtopicbecauseitisdesignedtogiveavisual
representationofhowcolorismisshowninmanyareasofAmericanculturesuchasmedia,
policebrutality,books,theatre,andmusic.Itisonethingtojusthearabouttheissueofcolorism,
buttoactuallyseewhatisbeingsaidorportrayedisanother.Itwillgivetheaudienceabetter
understandingofhowbigofanissuecolorismreallyisandhowtheywillbeabletofixthe
problem.
WewantedtodoresearchonthistopicbecauseitaffectsAfricanAmericansinourdaily
lives.Younggirlsbelievethattheyarenotprettybecausetheirskinisdarkduetothefactthat
thisiswhatsocietyhastoldthem.Weseehowdarkerwomenarealwaysportrayedastheangry
friend,thehoodfriend,andtheghettofriendwhichisnotthecase.Itissadtosaythatthe
colorismbattleisnotsomethingthatotherracesusetodescribeus,itissomethingthatwehave
donetoourselves.
Weplanonendingthepresentationwiththerecenteventsofpolicebrutality.Thiswill
hopefullypersuadeouraudiencetobecomemoresociallyawareoftheissuesgoingoninthe

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AfricanAmericancommunityandhowtheycanallrelatebacktoeachother.Thetakeaway
messagefromourprojectisthatnoonepersonisbetterthananother.Weshouldalltrytowork
togetherasaracetomoveforwardandbyhavingthisdivided,weareonlyholdingourselves
back.