Week Eight, Reel Works

Favorite Link - A Girl Like Me

1.What do you like about the digital story?

I had seen this video before (I think in a class while working on my undergrad).  The message was just as strong as it was the first time.  I like that this video contained the perspective of several young black girls of today.

2.What did you learn from the digital story?

I learned that there are standards of beauty imposed on all races.  I learned that black girls feel the pressure to be a "lighter" skin color.  I also found out that some girls develop a very poor self image of themselves because of their race.

3.What surprised you about the digital story?

It surprised me that young black children looked at dolls of their own race as "bad" because as a Caucasian, I never looked at different races of dolls as "bad."  However, living in a predominantly White area, I never remember seeing many black dolls on the shelves of stores.  

4.How did the digital story provide an example of how digital story telling can build self esteem, help young people voice an opposition to social problems,  or create an alternative to stereotypes of adolescents typically portrayed in mainstream media?

This digital story helps others who may steriotype the young black girls as "ghetto," obnoxious, or unintelligent, realize that theses are all irrational stereotypes.  It also helps empower young Black girls to recreated these standards of beauty imposed by society.

5.How can digital storytelling promote critical media literacy?  Please refer to the reading for this week's Double Entry Journal to answer this question.

Digital storytelling is a critical process where students learn not only the technical skills necessary for creating and sharing their own digital stories, but also interrogate themselves and engage with other contexts for purposes of responsive content creation.