I undertook this research partly as a way of giving voice to a journey that started 22 years ago for me. Most parents are concerned for the mental health and wellbeing for their child. A white parent of a black child is faced with a whole range of contradictions: on one level their child is just a child like any other, but in creating that mix a whole range of other factors come into play. This project has allowed me to look at some of these factors, from biology, to media effects theory, to media ownership, to concepts of black identity and masculinity. This essay can only just touch on this cocktail and begin to tease out the elements and there are clearly elements that have not fully been addressed in this space. Also a new generation of young mixed people is coming into being and their story will be slightly different to this one. But although my findings are very inchoate; the visual exploration of them accompanied by this essay, confirms my belief that this was a journey worth taking and that using these tools to develop media literacy is very important in a media saturated world.
No comments:
Post a Comment