Overview of Key Project Ideas/Activities:

It was all hands on deck this spring break as we tied loose ends together to finally complete our white paper. We had the outline prepared and several of the sections completed from earlier class assignments, it was just a matter of making the content flow and assembling the final product. Each group member worked on a section and added or removed content as needed to make the white paper concise and flawless. Additionally, several of us re-read the paper and fixed any errors.

Updates on Current Progress:

We completed the biggest portion of our project; now onto the easy stuff. Our group split into two smaller groups to complete our next two assignments. Brianna, Ashley, and Amir are working on the popular education piece, which is a video composed of clips taken from the tours in the South Bronx. In the video, we hope to portray a repeated image that represents the South Bronx Unite movement, whether it’s the image of Mychal Johnson or the word “Boycott” followed by the FreshDirect logo. This repeated imagery, like in the ACT UP movement, influences people to associate the image with the movement and its ideas. Our target audience for the video is the South Bronx community, especially those who do not know about the issue entirely. Eventually, this knowledge will spread from just this community to other communities and eventually the borough and city. The script for the video is written with each member recording a voice-over. We will mostly focus on the issues, data, and policy recommendations. Overall the video will be approximately 3 minutes long.

Nick, Fanny, and I completed the PowerPoint presentation last night. The information is second nature to us at this point; in fact, we even have some of the data values memorized. This would be especially helpful during our model city council presentation on Saturday. The PowerPoint was completed very quickly, and we tried to keep the slides themselves concise and added pictures to persuade our argument on each slide. Today we checked the slides for grammatical errors and fixed minor details. On Saturday, we hope to show the video after our presentation to strengthen our argument visually, especially with clips of heavy smoke evading from nuclear plants located next to a little league baseball field.

Challenges Encountered/Remaining Tasks/Group Dynamics:

Thankfully, we did not face any difficulties during the completion of all of these projects. The biggest challenge for our PowerPoint was picking a theme we all agreed on. Otherwise, everything is running efficiently and on time. We finished the White Paper and PowerPoint relatively early, and the video is near completion. During each Macaulay class, the entire group focuses on getting work done, which leaves minor tasks to complete at home. We assign jobs during class so each member knows what to do ahead of time. I think our group dynamic is great and I am glad we can all rely on each other to get the job done.

Side note:

After looking at the “ACT UP” discussion and reflection section, I realized South Bronx Unite is very similar to ACT UP and TAG. In my response, I said, “From ACT UP and TAG, we learn the valuable lesson that community change can occur even when there is little hope or motivation for these individuals. We see the strong influence of community planning and how it can be successful with the right strategies, determination, and dedication.” Now I realize how truthful this statement is. South Bronx Unite has the historical and community knowledge it needs to fight back, all it takes is a matter of constant persuasion to the city officials and fighting back for their health and land.