About

A look into how this project came about and how it was created

How this Project Started

During the Winter break of my first year of my masters program in 2015 I thought of several different Capstone project ideas. I thought about doing a project in which I would one of those AncestryDNA kits and trace my family lineage, but who would be interested in that besides myself and my family? I also thought about creating a website showcasing a data visualization that accompanied a story. One thing I knew for sure, was that I wanted to include everything that I learned in this program.

I took a trip Memphis, Tennessee during that winter break and before I left, I visited the National Civil Rights Museum. While touring the museum I found that most of the material that explained the occurrences during the Civil Rights Era were very similar to the turmoil that had been broadcasted in the media recently.

The information in the museum explained that many American cities are sharply divided by race, with whites, blacks, and other people of color living in separate and distinct neighborhoods. Public policy and practice reinforce the divide. The high percentage of people of color in the criminal justice system can be linked to discrimination in policing — much like during the heyday of Jim Crow.

You can view my journal and Hyan's journal to learn more about our journey.

Creative Brief

The aim of this project is to produce a single project that integrates and applies the knowledge and skills that I have learned during my coursework in the Masters of Fine Arts Interactive Media. Some people believe that the allegations of unfair treatment towards minorities are blown out of proportion. This website will shed light on the issues that minorities faced during the Jim Crow Era and compare them with the issues they face today.

The vision of this project is to create awareness on reoccurring issues within the minority community so that people better understand about unfair treatment toward minorities and create opportunities to address these issues in various communities. This project is in response to the recent criticism in the media regarding how they portray minorities.

“Jim Crow: Now & Then” is a digital, immersive and interactive storytelling experience that will be hosted on a website. The users will read the narrative and interact with the infographics to learn more about various issues. There will be an immersive virtual reality 360 video storytelling experience that allows viewers to see and learn about historic sites, and compare them to how they were during the Jim Crow Era. This is important so the users can get a glimpse of these sites were during the Jim Crow Era and their importance to the African-American community during this time. This project is completely unique because there are no comprehensive websites, let alone websites that include data in a consumable form in addition to a 360 video.

You can view the complete project proposal here.

Timeline


You can view the complete timeline here.

Design Documentation

Although the design on the landing page changed a little, the overall design from the low fidelity wireframes to the completed project are pretty much the same. Creating this website provided a way to deliver information instantly, to large audiences. By included interactive charts to open up questions rather than immediately seeking solutions, and can invite us to have another view. This website serves as a powerful marketing and advocacy tool, and move people from awareness to action by providing background information and call to action buttons.

You can view the complete wireframes, taskflow, annotations, and user flow here.

Promotional Video

Resources

  • Virginia Beach Colored Only Sign. Digital image. Virginia Key Beach. Accessed April 2017. http://virginiakeybeachpark.net/history-2/.
  • Woman With Dreads. Digital image. This Is Your Conscience. Accessed April 2017. http://www.thisisyourconscience.com/2012/05/beautiful-women-with-dreads-take-sexy-to-a-new-level/.
  • A Georgia chain gang in 1941. Digital image. Civil War BSC. Accessed April 2017. http://civilwarbsc.ronelfran.com/chain-gangs-south-and-north-during-and-before-the-civil-war/.
  • Nicholson, Lucy. Prison inmates lay water pipe on a work project outside Oak Glen Conservation Fire Camp #35 in Yucaipa, California. Digital image. The Nation. September 7, 2016. Accessed April 2017. https://www.thenation.com/article/this-week-may-see-the-largest-prison-strike-in-us-history/.
  • Mary. "African Americans' Social & Racial Identity Under Attack -." April 01, 2011. Accessed February 07, 2017. http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2011/04/01/african-americans%E2%80%99-social-racial-identity-under-attack/.
  • YouTube. October 27, 2014. Accessed April 07, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giyyyUbuHeE.
  • YouTube. August 10, 2015. Accessed April 07, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8pwm7GK0BM.
  • Alexander, Michelle. The new Jim Crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. Place of publication not identified: Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, 2011. "Birmingham Civil Rights Heritage Trail." Accessed February 07, 2017. http://heritagetrail.birminghamal.gov/.
  • Blackmon, Douglas A. Slavery by another name: the re-enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II. London: Icon, 2012. Brooker, Russell, PhD. "America's Black Holocaust Museum." 2013. Accessed February 07, 2017. http://abhmuseum.org/the-five-pillars-of-jim-crow/.
  • "Convicts Leased to Harvest Timber." Digital image. World Digital Library. Accessed April 2017. https://www.wdl.org/en/item/4016/.
  • Cox, Robynn J.A. "Where Do We Go from Here? Mass Incarceration and the Struggle for Civil Rights." January 16, 2015. Accessed May 07, 2017. http://www.epi.org/publication/where-do-we-go-from-here-mass-incarceration-and-the-struggle-for-civil-rights/.
  • "Green Motorist Book." Digital image. Black Past. Accessed April 2017. http://www.blackpast.org/aah/negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1964.
  • History.com Staff. "Black Codes." 2010. Accessed February 07, 2017. http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-codes.
  • "Jim Crow." Accessed February 07, 2017. http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/united-states-and-canada/us-history/jim-crow-laws.
  • Kenney, Nicole. "The History of Racial Economic Inequality: Part 1, Slavery." February 06, 2013. Accessed January 07, 2017. https://blackamericaweb.com/2013/02/06/the-history-of-racial-economic-inequality-part-1-slavery/.
  • Little, Becky. "Who Was Jim Crow?" August 06, 2015. Accessed February 07, 2017. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/08/150806-voting-rights-act-anniversary-jim-crow-segregation-discrimination-racism-history/.
  • Logan, John R. "US2010 Discover America in a New Century." Separate and Unequal: The Neighborhood Gap for Blacks, Hispanics and Asians in Metropolitan America, 2011, 1-23. Accessed February 1, 2017. https://s4.ad.brown.edu/Projects/Diversity/Data/Report/report0727.pdf.
  • "Louisiana Voter Literacy Test." Digital image. Slate. Accessed April 2017. http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/06/28/voting_rights_and_the_supreme_court_the_impossible_literacy_test_louisiana.html.
  • McDonald, Michael. "Voter Turnout Demographics." Accessed February 07, 2017. http://www.electproject.org/home/voter-turnout/demographics.
  • "On Views of Race and Inequality, Blacks and Whites Are Worlds Apart." June 27, 2016. Accessed February 07, 2017. http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/06/27/on-views-of-race-and-inequality-blacks-and-whites-are-worlds-apart/.
  • Peláez, Vicky. "The Prison Industry in the United States: Big Business or a New Form of Slavery?" August 28, 2016. Accessed February 1, 2017. http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-prison-industry-in-the-united-states-big-business-or-a-new-form-of-slavery/8289.
  • "Racial Justice." Accessed February 07, 2017. https://www.aclu.org/issues/racial-justice.
  • "Report on the Continuing Impact ofUnited States v. Bookeron Federal Sentencing." Federal Sentencing Reporter, 2012, 1-114. Accessed February 1, 2017. doi:10.1525/fsr.2013.25.5.327. Shapiro, Thomas. "The Roots of the Widening Racial Wealth Gap: Explaining the Black-White Economic Divide." February 2013. Accessed February 07, 2017. https://iasp.brandeis.edu/resources/pubs/Racial%20Inequality%20and%20Mobility.html.
  • Shmoop Editorial Team. "Society in Jim Crow." November 11, 2008. Accessed January 07, 2017. http://www.shmoop.com/jim-crow/society.html.
  • Spatig-Amerikaner, Ary. "Unequal Education Federal Loophole Enables Lower Spending on Students of Color." Center for American Progress, 2012, 1-56. Accessed February 1, 2017. https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/UnequalEduation.pdf.
  • Sullivan, Justin. A protestor stands in front of police vehicles with his hands up during a demonstration on November 24, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. Digital image. The Boston Globe. Accessed April 2017. https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/bigpicture/2014/11/24/ferguson-waits-and-reacts/pahWflEa5XUilnFObOhAUK/story.html.
  • The Opportunity Agenda. "Social Science Literature Review." Media Representations and Impact on the Lives of Black Men and Boys, 2011, 1-47. Accessed February 1, 2017. http://racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/Media-Impact-onLives-of-Black-Men-and-Boys-OppAgenda.pdf.
  • "The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow." 2002. Accessed February 07, 2017. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/index.html.
  • "The Truth About Jim Crow." Accessed February 07, 2017. http://www.theacru.org/jimcrow/.
  • "Thomas Rice Playing Jim Crow in Blackface." Digital image. Black Past. Accessed April 2017. http://www.blackpast.org/aah/jim-crow#sthash.Ld9K8Afq.dpuf.
  • U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. "CIVIL RIGHTS DATA COLLECTION Data Snapshot: School Discipline." U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, 2014, 1-24. Accessed February 1, 2017. http://ocrdata.ed.gov/Downloads/CRDC-School-Discipline-Snapshot.pdf.
  • Uggen, Christopher, and Sarah Shannon. "Still Life: America's Increasing Use of Life and Long-Term Sentences." July 2012. Accessed February 07, 2017. http://www.sentencingproject.org/.
  • "Workplace Fairness: Hidden Barriers." Accessed January 07, 2017. https://www.workplacefairness.org/sc/discrimination.php.
  • PBSShows. YouTube. August 28, 2014. Accessed February 07, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfqLvtFoY0Y.
  • TheLBJLibrary. YouTube. February 14, 2014. Accessed April 07, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXIaFLPjYgU.
  • " What was Jim Crow." Accessed February 07, 2017. http://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/what.htm.