Washington DC Exploring Black America

Though only a fraction of the population, African-American culture is an integral part of the American identity. Being in a cultural bubble at Overlake, this project week seeks to expand the understanding of a less-represented perspective beyond the scope of their history of oppression. By traveling to D.C., students will experience and learn about a handful of outstanding attributes that relate to the state of Black America through the lens of a culturally rich city

Overall Purpose:

While many only appreciate Black America as being discriminated against racially, there is so much more knowledge and opportunity for learning about the culture and traditions and hidden history about this community. It is important to note that understanding black America is not solely for black americans; a critical piece of building a cooperative, non-polarized nation is seeking knowledge about those who have an identity different than your own. The foundation of the national feuding between liberals and conservatives, blacks and whites, rich and poor is the lack of empathy and understanding for the other side.

What we will do:

Unlike the classroom, this project week will not be a history field trip. We will take the time to dive into 5 central themes of the black community: faith, education, politics, socio-economics, and art. Each day of the trip will be dedicated to exploring beyond the surface-level of these aspects, digging up knowledge that is unavailable in any school’s curriculum. After each full day we will take valuable time to reflect on the past, present, and future of each aspect that we dive into.

Preparation:

We will take club times to prepare months in advance by not only establishing a foundation of knowledge about Black America, but also setting up guidelines to maximize our learning during our short time in D.C.