Project Descriptions
Dominic C. | Drawing
Informative drawing inspired by the narrator’s struggle with identity in The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. My drawing focuses on the narrator’s struggle with his identity throughout the book The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, and how he battled with who he was for most of the book.
Joscelyn H. | Trifold Presentation
My project includes an overview of the movement, the effect the movement had, the people who had an impact on the music during that time, the music styles and how they changed. It has three sections with the left having the music, the middle section having the synopsis and the effect the movement had, and the right side having the people.
Hailey W. | Game
This project will be a Spot-It deck that includes images that relate to the book, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. Images that will be included are the places he traveled to, important people in his life, interests, and things that affected him. This project will connect to the text because each image will relate to the Ex-Colored Man and his life. Each picture will also have a short description of what it is and how it relates to the text.
Lillian T. | Informational Explanation
My project is using a timeline of major events in African American history, explaining and using people’s experiences of being biracial, the history and effects of whitewashing, and using a simplified explanation of blood quantum and how it influences black erasure.
Hailie T., Scarlett L. | Poster
Our poster is about taking excerpts from the book and relating them to certain Jim Crow laws and talking about how they relate to each other.
Sareah R. | Sculpture
My project is about cause and effect about the book called The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man. I want to pull things from the book that has happened, then what happened next afterward. I’m also going to use historical context to somehow connect these two together so that you can get a better understanding of some real-world context.
Ariana M. | Informational Video
I will be connecting interracial couples and the history behind the view of them and their progression of them throughout history. While connecting to the fact that James Weldon Johnston found out the fact that he was black and passing. And how there’s a stigma behind interracial couples and the result of them having mixed children. To do so I will be creating a video cooking a chosen food that represents the black culture and explaining the history being interracial couples, the progression of them, and how being black changes the way you view yourself and your identity- since that’s what happened to JWJ.
Izzy L. | Collage
This art piece/collage will show various African-American musicians and will be accompanied by a short page of background information which I will read aloud that describes the influence of African-American music and musicians on American music and culture.
Trip K. | Trifold Presentation
This project is a presentation on Soul Food throughout southern America and how it came to be as a whole, including the differences between soul food and southern food, recipes and samples of soul and french foods, (comparison of French Vs Soul food), and how the character’s status changes his view on soul food in its entirety.
Lily N. | Contemporary Dance Routine
I am doing a contemporary dance routine to the song Bleed the Same by Mandisa. My dance routine is about how we are the same no matter what the color of our skin is. It shows a scene that is in the book, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson, where he was in school one day when the teacher had asked for all the white students to stand, he stood but then the teacher told him to sit back down and rise with the other students, he didn’t know that he was mixed race until then. In my dance routine, also shows feelings of what it’s like being separated and how we should stand up and fight for each other and not against each other.
Paine E., Allan K., Henry S. | Podcast/Interview
This interview is a video podcast with American musical artist KennyHoopla. In this interview, Allan, Henry, and I will be asking him questions about Music from the present and the past. As well as how music affects people and his passion for music with a slight dive into the music industry itself. We will then write a reflection about the questions we asked and how they related to The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man.
Allicyn V. Brianna W., Sophia H. | Timeline Poster
Our poster will be in a timeline format to show the different places James Weldon Johnson travels. We will have food available for the audience to eat as we are presenting the poster with information on how the food originated. In the background, we will play ragtime music such as what Johnson would play at his performances.
Loria D. | Informative Silhouette
My silhouette will be in the shape of a man, similar to the one on the cover of The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, with a summary of Booker T. Washington’s life and accomplishments. The words forming the silhouette will be highlighted with white, grey, and black, representing how both Washington and the narrator are both biracial, being both black and white- something in between (grey).
Lee D., Liem N. | Informational Video
This Video will teach about what redlining is, with a slight emphasis on redlining in New York City. It will start with an introduction and then go into the history of redlining and its origin. The video will then start to talk about the long-term effects of redlining, and in the last section, we will talk about some of the potential solutions to these long-term effects. Finally, we will end with a brief conclusion.
Violet M. | Brochure
I am making a brochure about the different places the main character traveled throughout the book, mostly focusing on what the areas looked like during the early 1900s, what the music was like, and also incorporating some cultural influences. More specifically, in areas such as Paris, I would focus on what the theaters and cafes would’ve looked like because those were the places he went.
Kiley V. | 2D Portrait
This project is a portrait of James Weldon Johnson, but instead of the normal portrait with shading and pencil, the details and depth will be created by words and phrases that stick out. Important moments in his life, and important memories. Anything that could’ve changed the way he thought or was thinking.
Miles V. | Informational Video
A video about the history of jazz with visuals accompanying a script written and recorded. It covers the origin of Jazz and the spread of it across the country along with the history of African-American music in the cities that James Weldon Johnson visits across his journey in the book. It will talk about the history of jazz from its beginnings into the modern-day and how it has evolved.
Natalie K. | Canva Presentation
My media presentation will focus on soul foods, their origin, and how it connects to the book. I will also be making some food along with the presentation, Sweet Tea, and Cornbread muffins. These are two very common soul foods that are still eaten today. The presentation will also explain how the foods made connect to the book.
Konrad B. | Informative Video
My video shows how HBCUs have been historically overlooked by the average person and how important they were to the Black Community during the early 1900s. I will also talk about how they grew to the prevalence and grew to become some of the top colleges in the United States. The video will include some stories from The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man and how it relates to the importance and the culture of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Hannah F. | Informational Trifold
My project teaches about where jazz music originated and historical people and locations that are important to the creation of jazz. A portion of the project is a summary of the influential locations and people. The other portion of the project is images, maps, and timelines mentioned in the summary, that will be displayed on the trifold. I also discuss how James Weldon Johnson’s book The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man observes the genre of jazz music, and how jazz, and music, in general, affect the main character of the book.
Brianna S. | Oil Painting
My painting combines elements of colorism and passing into a painting both symbolically and physically. Using themes from the gambling section of the book, I picked the overall tones of the painting, including darker shades and more muted tones. Along with the more muted tones, I incorporated some of the more rough-and-tumble styles of this section of the book, including a more beaten-up sidewalk, trash piled in the alleyway, and other rougher characteristics. The only lighter part of the painting comes from a streetlight, which I used to represent the benefits of colorism to lighter-skinned African Americans. Finally, I used the two subjects of the painting to represent passing as they walked past each other.
Shaylee S. | Painting
My Presentation will explain how throughout the ages systematic theft of African American culture has been happening for ages. How white-washing isn’t just the theft but the erasure of culture. I will be explaining the symbolism in the painting within colors and objects while connecting different quotes to issues they had in the book as well as modern-day issues.
Grace P., Emma N. | Board Game
Our board game follows James Weldon Johnson’s journey through the world and through life as a mixed individual trying to find what makes him truly happy. We related different elements of Candy Land to the text and use it to symbolize the good and bad that occur through his lifetime. The different locations of Candy Land show the different places of the world where he traveled and how they affected his life.
Katherine G., Julia B., Max B., Mary D. | Digital Model
We were inspired by our interest in scientific aspects we discussed while reading The Autobiography of An Ex Colored Man. We chose the specific item of trauma due to the trauma that the narrator went through during his life, affecting his actions. Our model will be a digital, hands-on model that will allow a viewer to focus on specific parts of the brain and learn about how certain types of trauma affect each part.
Steven C. | Video
My project is going to contain propaganda about African Americans and how they were depicted in the book The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. The propaganda shows how on a regular basis the treatment through the community and how they were depicted in newspapers.
Ayden D. | Biographical Website
This website gives an in-depth representation of black women in history as well as what they did to affect history. It will also comprise of different events in their lives which led up to these black women paving the way for others as well as influencing society. I specifically chose this topic because I believe that there was a lack of representation of black women within the book, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man.
Christian G. | Essay
In the text The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, the narrator experiences discrimination towards the color of his skin in various times in the book. This essay will go a little further into this topic and talk about reverse discrimination by comparing it to the type in the book, giving examples of reverse discrimination throughout history, and making a point on how we can prevent it from happening.
Sam M. | Recorded Presentation
In the book, we were introduced to the idea of passing, of being able to interact in situations differently by seeming to be something you are not. We can imagine a person of education, someone who is wealthy, a man, a woman, black, white, we all make a story for a person described, but it is not always so easy. We tell ourselves not to “judge a book by its cover”, but it is innate, a human thing to do to assume. In my presentation, we look into why people are able to pass, their reasons, and our innate desire for acceptance. We look into three people from different backgrounds, who all seem to do the same thing in different situations to fit in. Those who are able to do things they would not have thought otherwise, to pass.
Aaliyah M. | Interpretive Dance
My dance revolves around the main plot elements of The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. You will see confident, expressive dancing mixed with fearful, almost paranoid movements reflective of the dangers of passing. All this will be performed over a ragtime song.
Ruby S. | Cork Board Display
My project focuses on the scientific effects of both listening to and playing music on the brain. Both of these things yield different effects, therefore my project will separate them into two different sections. This project will be done on corkboard using small, hand-written pieces of paper.
Sue T. | Digital Painting
The artstyle of my project is inspired by Harlem Renaissance artist Aaron Douglas, who often portrayed social issues involving race in his artwork. With that in mind, the focus of my painting is to represent the unfair treatment of black people in the past. This art piece shows the difference between white and black people: black people couldn’t have ever succeeded as much as the white men who exploited them to gain success.
Payten T., Maddie K. | Pamphlet
The pamphlet focuses on identity and what it is. It shows people different information regarding identity as well as some statistics. There will also be a hotline number for people to be able to contact if they need someone to talk to. The visual representation focuses more on the book and the identity struggles that the main character goes through in the story. It shows the different identities that the character presents himself as throughout the book and some quotes from the book.
Ally T., Lexy S. | Playlist and Artist Component
The playlist includes songs that incorporate the struggle of being African American or of the mixed race. We plan to incorporate research by learning and looking at some different styles of music that impact the lives of African Americans and more specifically, the narrator. We plan to use songs that relate to the narrator’s life by diving back into the book and picking out some of the things that happened to him during the book. Looking at this from the artistic perspective, we might have some visual art that represents the songs by just painting them on canvases or using the canva app.
McKenzie P., Drake M. | Pamphlet and Webinar
To begin, redlining was a discriminatory practice taking place in the 1930s through the late 1960s in which services were withheld from potential customers who lived in neighborhoods classified as “dangerous.” These neighborhoods were significantly made up of racial and ethnic minorities, and low income residents. Redlining in contrast with The Autobiography of an Ex-colored Man continuously has recurring themes such as identity, race, and disparity. Since there are many common themes seen through both the book, and the “event” these will be weaved together for the GWT project.
Alexis H. | Minecraft World/Recording
I will be making a Minecraft world with different buttons with the options African American, White, and mixed/multicultural. When you click these buttons it will teleport you to a house. The house you choose to teleport you will represent the conditions in which each race was given/treated. (NOT my opinion, will be fully based on stereotypes.) In these houses there will be information on different activists. In the mixed/multicultural one, it will be a mix of the two houses and will contain activists who struggled finding their own identity throughout their journey. I will screen record myself going through the different houses since I will not be able to make the world interactive. I will be relating my project to the book by relating the struggles of mixed activists to the author of the book.
Matthew C. | Mini-Documentary
My mini documentary, Passing, will give its viewers a better understanding of the concept of gender passing in the transgender community – what it is, why it exists, and what transgender people do to blend in with the gender they identify as. It will also discuss racial passing to connect back to the mentor text, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man.
Autymn P., Vianna D. | Conspiracy Board/Web
The conspiracy board/web focuses on connections between five different races in a conspiracy theory-type manner. Some of the groups that are included on the board are mixed-race groups similar to the Mulatos, which is the focus of our text, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. It mainly focuses on the history of these groups, such as how these groups came to be and how European influence/geography had affected them. It also will have statistics and information on their lives in America.
Jeramiah H., Myles W. | Informational Tri-Fold Poster Board
We will be building an informational trifold based on the various struggles African Americans and in particular, African American women, face every day. The poster will go into the details of how someone coming from two minorities (Women and African Americans), strived towards building a successful nonprofit and becoming its CEO. This is able to connect to the book from various angles. Much like in the book, the chances of African Americans succeeding is lower because they lack the resources and recognition needed to be successful. Furthermore, the amount of successful African Americans is far in few between much like today’s world. By diving into the aspects of a successful story, we’ll be able to make further connections with the text.
Lay W. and Saksham D. | Podcast and Slideshow/Painting
We plan on making a podcast that talks about the struggles the colored people had before the 21st century
Finn L., Maddie D., Henry H. | Podcast
The podcast host (Maddie), interviews two different people on what music means to them and their daily lifestyle. The host will ask questions about the new spirit of self-determination and pride, a new social consciousness, and a new commitment to political activism that comes along with the Harlem renaissance. The first person is a musician from Harlem (Finn), and the second guest is an ex-enslaved man talking about slave hymns and their influence on jazz today (Henry). They will discuss the cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s.
Lily M. | Trifold Presentation
The trifold will describe the life of Korla Pandit, a famous organist from the 1940s, and reflect on his contributions to African American music and culture. Although his fans knew him as an Indian man from New Deli, Korla Pandit was actually African American, born in St. Louis, Missouri. He lived his whole life passing as Indian until his death; shielding his fans and his family from the man under the turban: John Roland Redd.
Katie H. | Travel Itinerary
For my GWT projects, I have decided to make a travel itinerary of the major places James Weldon Johnson had as his main character in the book The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man who lived and visited. I will incorporate different activities such as museums, old hotels, famous landscapes, as well as eating at restaurants built in the 1900s. The main cities the travel itinerary will incorporate are Atlanta Georgia, New York City, as well as Paris.
Kanijah C. | Emaze Presentation
For my GWT project, I am going to create an online presentation describing the impacts of colorism. I am going to include the controversy surrounding the complexion of your skin, police killings of unarmed black men due to colorism, the struggle of skin appreciation within the black community & more. I am going to include visuals like videos showing how much colorism goes on in our daily lives. I will show some victims that were killed even though they were unarmed, just to show how common it has become to judge someone based on their skin color as well as stereotypes surrounding their skin tone.
Suzy D., Genevieve H. | Piano Duet Performance
We are going to practice and perform a duet of a classic ragtime song, “The Entertainer,” which was a big part of the beginning of the ragtime era.