Presenter(s): Ashley Terrell
Co Presenter(s): Jared Giles, blayne goring, miles Lawson, Kundin Semeredin, Ellis Mimms, Okeoma Okoro, Samson Johnson, Halston Harper, Miracle Trice
Faculty Mentor(s): Curtis Austin
Creative Work 5 M
This project examines the black community and how images in the media impact their daily lives, their self-perception and their mental health. The research was conducted on a personal level in which information was gathered by looking at scholarly articles, various books, and in-person interviews designed to understand the individuals. We believe that if there are negative images in the media that are showing black people in a negative light, then it’ll affect their well-being and mental health. To collect the data, we used a camera to record interviews around UC Berkeley. For those who didn’t feel comfortable being filmed, we provided the option of completing a written survey. The sources we used were the students that attended UC Berkeley and those that we encountered in various locations throughout the Bay area. The majority of our sources were sociological abstracts that contained information relevant to our study. Through the collection of quantitative and qualitative data, we reinforced the concept that media of all types (newspapers, advertisements, social media, etc.) collectively distorts the representation of the lives of the black community. This misrepresentation leads to real-world consequences that essentially perpetuate societal and systemic racism that is subsequently internalized by black people. We focused on how the media perpetuates the negative stereotypes of black people. The purpose of the research is to explore the link between how the media portrays black individuals and its effect on their communities. We wanted to explore how bias and controlling images shape African American self-perception and whether there are any negative impacts to these communities.