In preparation for their journey the Black To Our Roots youth were given the assignment of asking themselves these questions. Their responses were written in their recruitment essays and some in portions of video that I took. The content used in their essays can serve as insightful material to generate fundraising that exceeds far beyond just your average “bake sale”. Once they begin telling their personal stories those narratives can be a primary source for their funding. The community will be drawn into the shape of their world. And their understanding of themselves will become genuine and worth exploring. Here are a few portraits taken by myself of some of youth who are participating in the Black To Our Roots program. Also is a portion of their recruitment essay that will be transformed into fundraising letters.

Chanel Eaton, Age 15

Babatunde, Age 17

Jocean, Age 15

Here is a rough video experiment I shot asking a few of the youth why they want to go to Ghana and if they considered themselves “African”

Black To Our Roots Interview from Jennifer White-Torres on Vimeo.

Jennifer White-Torres

Graphic Design

Current Thesis Subject: Cultural Heritage and Identity

Current Thesis Focus: New Funding protocol, amplified story telling using design to raise funds and bring awareness to Black To Our Roots Program.

How can a cultural organization sending a group of 40 Baltimore city youth incorporate design to influence their community? And how can they use design to increase their funding?

The context of my thesis will try to answer these questions. I will be attempting to create and incorporate new funding models to prepare the Black To Our Roots Baltimore City chapter youth for their 3-week trip to Ghana.

I want to be able to use the most feasible and resourceful material to help fund their travels. Using graphic design to solve this problem will be a challenge but it will help bring a more reputable and credible sense of stability to an already fertile organization.

Using facts from the organization like “48/52 African slave dungeons are located in Ghana” partnered with a youth’s personal story will serve for a strong graphical funding model. Exploring the strong messages that this organization represents will be an essential part of the overall thesis narrative. For the past 3 weeks I have been dissecting why the Black To Our Roots youth want to go to Africa in Using and finding how design can amplify those feelings and discoveries will be remarkable discovery since design isn’t a fundamental part of their overall platform.

My future goals will be to conduct more design experimentations such as posters that will amplify portions of their recruitment essays/fundraising letters into strong typographical fundraising posters. I will also develop a tabloid brochure that specifically highlights their preparatory cultural journey and their need for funding. A possible theme for the brochure could focus of “Fund a Dream” or Why Should I go to Africa?” I also see a strong potential web presence being incorporated into their funding. If funders can be directed to a specific location to allocate funds, this might help the youth manage their funding needs more precisely.

As an organization Black To Our Roots already has realistic but often-idealistic fundraising tools. Most of their current fundraising models are holistically based. They consist of community clean-ups, garage sales, art auctions, video diaries, and community surveys, book making and dance classes. My role will be to find a cohesive design component that will magnify what the youth will be participating in once they get to Ghana.

I believe sharing with others what exactly their journey will entail and the specific reasons they are going will help bring the community and the corporate sector closer to their story and will make it more real. Although I will be helping the organization with some of their essential design collateral I don’t want it to be misconstrued as a typical pro bono client/graphic designer relationship. I see this thesis as the ultimate design challenge. I believe this organization and the story behind it serves as fertile ground for design revitalization.

Ah, thesis. Since my last post I have continued to dive more into exploring the compelling organization called Habesha Inc. & The Black To Our Roots Education Program.

Habesha stands for Helping Africa By Establishing Schools at Home and Abroad. Its a Pan African organization that cultivates leadership in youth through practical experiences and in-depth cultural education, sustainable agriculture, holistic health and technology. According to the Habesha handbook– its their vision to be an organization that is committed to excellence and social responsibility.

Their passion is to prepare youth for leadership in their communities and lives as they are taught about their African identity.  The Black to Our Roots (BTOR) educational program is a component that I will be focusing on for my thesis. The culminating component of BTOR is an educational and cultural enrichment 3-week tour to Ghana, West Africa.

The Youth are recruited-from public and private schools, community centers, and places of worship. They must be of African decent and between the ages of 13-17. They also have to write a 500-word essay or creative piece based on theme “What Africa Means to Me” to even be considered into the program.

2 letters of recommendation is required and their report cards! (tsk tsk) This program means business! Once selected they are invited to an orientation/reception that is held in their honor.

2 weeks ago I had the privilege and delight of attending this reception with over 40 young people in attendance! I was asked before hand to snap a few shots of the ceremony to capture the moment. After introductions and a meet and greet each Habesha youth was asked to stand before their peers and clearly state why they want to go to africa.

I was blown away by the flawless eloquence most of them possessed. They each had thought provoking answers to share and their peers and parents cheered them on in full support. The orientation was a success and I felt more involved and aware of my role in the program than ever before. Right away I knew that I wanted to use my design skills as a way to tell their story and help these kids get to Africa.

What’s next? – Helping the kids create fundraising ideas with design! Helping them focus on the true purpose of their journey. Helping them to identify how it’ll change their life. Helping them identify why its important to articulate those ideas to people beyond their reach in order to get the funding they need. In order to bring a sense of confidence to these kids they need to know that what they are doing is life changing! Being able to articulate that will not only get them to their destination but will teach them valuable skills and life lessons.

They are going to spend the next several months learning about Africa.  They will attend workshops that will help develop their voices, participate in community service events and even take a trip to New York to take a tour through the streets of Harlem for a Harlem Renaissance Tour!

I definitely didn’t get a chance to do that when I was in middle and high school. The only time the Harlem Renaissance was during Black History Month! The organization is self funded and each child is required to raise their own airfare! There is definitely a lot of collective fundraising that will take place. This week was pretty busy for me. I read all 40 essays submitted by the youth. I wanted to read their words and know their thoughts. If I’m going to tell their story Its important for me to know their history and why they are who they are.

I also visited Connextions Academy, a public charter public art school in West Baltimore. A lot of the youth attend that school and were influenced by their concrete african cultural classes (drumming, dancing) to get involved. I got a chance to conduct some raw interviews with some of the students.

Each interview lasted about 5 minutes since a few of them were in dance class. It was nice to see them in their element and most of them talked about their love of african dance and african drumming which ultimately inspired to make the move to join the BTOR program. The first official workshop since the orientation will be this Sunday. The youth will be given the task to revisit their essays and create a video or photo diary based on their essays. Some of these can be used as potential fundraising material! More to come!

Additional next steps:

Attend more workshops, focusing on creative tools that can be implemented for fundraising.

Create donation booklets

Serve as official marketing/graphic facilitator

Conduct more interviews–Wash DC chapter attending Ghana last summer and will now help newly formed Baltimore Chapter fundraise.