The Media History Timeline is an interactive timeline that links our personal histories with larger histories of social struggle and popular movements for justice, and explores the role of media in these histories. Currently, it is also a workshop curriculum that educators and organizers can use to create a timeline with those they are working with. The final version will be a space where the user is not only given the opportunity to share individual experiences in an historical context, but can also build community for justice, education, healing, and empowerment. Youth want the user/audience to add their personal experiences with the police, in schools, and with media in order to connect young people to organizing happening on the ground.

The MHT has been developed from Global Action Project’s unique political education, media production and youth development curriculum. GAP youth explored interaction design and new media software to develop this online resource for organizers and educators that explores the relationships between media, social justice, public policy, and popular culture. Youth learned the basics of web development, group decision-making, app development and planning, media literacy, research planning and implementation, and developing data systems. The group is developing a prototype web-based interactive timeline to be shared widely in the program’s third year.

GOALS: Understanding how media creates and promotes systems of oppression is key to also understanding how it can also be used to embody and promote the values of liberation. This workshop encourages participants to consider various impacts that media has had on them personally as well as on social movements in the 20th century.

OBJECTIVES: Look at the role media has played in young people’s own lives. Understand the historical context for media and its impact on society. Learn about specific movements and the role media plays in advancing social justice.

Explore our Prezi about how we developed the MHT!

You can find other inspirational curricular materials that involve creating timelines about social justice struggles and peoples’ history on the following sites:

Project South‘s Timeline trainings and tools: http://www.projectsouth.org/education-and-research/toolkits

Project South

National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights‘ BRIDGE curriculum: http://www.nnirr.org/drupal/shop/curriculum

NNIR Bridge curriculum