FAMU Journalism/Graphic Design Students
Produce Project Highlighting FAMU Student Activism![""]("/headlines/UserFiles/Image/SJGCLogo-Web.jpg")
Tallahassee, FL – As recipients of an “Eyes on the Prize Black College New Media Project” grant, 11 students in Florida A&M University’s School of Journalism & Graphic Communication (SJGC) have produced “Guardians of the Dream,” an interactive Web site highlighting more than 50 years of FAMU student activism.
Challenged to use new media platforms, the student-led project, located at www.famuactivism.com, features three mini-documentaries and a pod-cast that chronicles FAMU students’ activism during the 1956 Tallahassee Bus Boycott, the 2000 protest against the One Florida Initiative, and the 2006 March for Martin Lee Anderson.
SJGC students were awarded one of 15, $5,000 grants funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Blackside Inc., who produced the acclaimed “Eyes on the Prize” civil rights documentary series. The competitive grants were issued to 15 historically black colleges and universities as part of an initiative created by the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC). The initiative was designed to engage students in civic discussion through the use of new media formats.
“Having the chance to produce these reports on civil rights initiatives and then have them posted on the Consortium’s Web site adds an impressive dimension to the students’ educational experience,” said James Hawkins, dean of the School of Journalism & Graphic Communication.
Hawkins, who called the NPBC New Media Project a “phenomenal opportunity,” added that he was proud of the students’ work and diligence during the project. “All of us in the School of Journalism & Graphic Communication are profoundly appreciative of this experience,” Hawkins said. “We expect to continue looking for opportunities for our students to produce such segments and subsequently employ new media to deliver them to the appropriate audiences.”
The SJGC will debut the project on April 5, 2007, in the SJGC Lecture Hall, at 6 p.m.
-30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------
For more information:
Yanela Gordon
(850) 412-5395
yanela.gordon@famu.edu
-----------------------------------------------------------------
