Critical Media Literacy: Reading Ethnicity in the Media

The potential election of the 1st African American President of the United States has led many people to declare an end to racism and the beginning of a new period of unity between all Ethnic groups in our country. As a Ethnic Studies teacher in an inner city urban charter high school, this question is one of many that my students and I will be analyzing and discussing in our class this year.

Brazilian educator Paulo Freire stated that true literacy comes when we are not only able to read words, but when we are able to read the world around us. My 9th grade students are all English Language Learners who have had difficulty reading the English words around them. I want to improve their reading and writing of words by encouraging them to read the world around them. I will do this by using Critical Media Literacy.

Critical Media Literacy challenges students to critically examine and read messages that the media plays for them everyday. In order to do this, we will be examining many issues through movies, television, music videos, music, and magazines. We will read what the media says about different Ethnic groups and issues that affect them. As a culminating task, my students will create documentaries about issues that we will study over the year. Some of the topics that we will cover include: Ethnicity and Education, Ethnicity and the U.S. Prison System, and Ethnicity and Immigration. This is where you come in. I need to purchase enough cameras so that my students can create these documentaries.

With your help, my students will be able to show what they have learned in our class this year in a new and authentic way. They will present their documentaries at our 1st Annual Ethnic Studies Film Festival at the end of the school year. Students learn best when they are presented with authentic topics that they can relate and engage with. Please help my students and I engage in a life altering educational project this year. Thank you for your donation! Any little bit helps.