The PhoVoCo Family History Workshop is the final project of students in AAS/WGS 150: Introduction to Social Justice. Participants are dual enrolled in their high school course and in a credit bearing TCNJ course.
The PhoVoCo Family History Workshop builds upon the the feminist participatory action research method PhotoVoice developed by Burris and Wang (1997) that values students experience and knowledge and development of critical consciousness through the use of photography and dialogue.
Social Injustice Is Often The Result Of intersecting inequalities that are rooted in historical stereotypes and misrepresentations in institutions and culture. Photography has the potential to disrupt existing stereotypes and misrepresentations. Photography can serve as a tool to record realities, raise awareness, to cross linguistic barriers, and serve as opportunities to have participants represent themselves and to tell their own stories.
The Photos and Interviews Shared Here, are inspired by the work of people we learned about this semester, including Ida B, Wells, Zora Neale Hurston, and Nikole Hannah-Jones - who understood the importance of counter-narratives in achieving social justice goals.
This Semester, students learned about interviewing from TCNJ WGSS senior Saray Ramos; about spoken word poetry as counter-narrative by Dr. Tony Keith Jr; about art, community and social justice from Trenton native and TCHS graduate Bentrice Jusu; about historical archaeology from TCNJ professor Dr. George Leader; about Trenton community history from TCHS and TSC graduate Algernon Ward; about photography and storytelling in community by TCNJ alum Aaron Watson Wilson; and about the PhotoVoice process, photo editing, and sound recording by Philadelphia based artist and photographer Prince Spells.
A Special Thanks To The Course Teaching Assistant Kayla Johnson - A TCNJ Senior Psychology Major!
Photo By Miguel Hernandez
Kayla Johnson
Teaching Assitant
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The
TCHS / TCNJ:
Family History Workshop
Photo By Wilmari Torres Madera
Elizabeth Menchu
"Social Justice, it affects our lives and we should have knowledge about it, to be able to see the wrongdoings of the world and do whatever we can to change it."
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Photo By Kayla Johnson
Miguel Hernandez
"We shouldn’t simply internalize our oppressions, we show perseverance each and every day. We can’t look back and give up, instead we need to look upfront and keep going."
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Photo By Ashley Cardona
Melissa Pacaja
"I feel as though many of my identities intersect, such as my culture and gender. I enjoyed learning more about them, because it is an intricate system that both leaves me privileged and oppressed."
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Photo By Miguel Hernandez
Yanely Sajche-Godinez
"Distinguishing who you are is complex. Social Justice has opened my eyes to perceive life through a different lens. You can identify yourself in any aspect you want: I am a 17 year old Guatemalan-American woman. "
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Photo By Melissa Pacaja
Ashley Cardona
"My Social Justice class was very eye opening for me in the sense that it gave me a deeper understanding and perspective I did not have before about issues that go on around me, how they came about, and how they affect our society"
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Photo By Elizabeth Menchu
Wilmari Torres Madera
"I believes that everything is connected to God,
even thought I knows that science has been a great advantage to humanity, and it is making our
world more understandable."
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Prince Spells / partnerings
Marla Jaksch
Professor ...
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Photo By Miguel Hernandez