This project will create a database of every black issue bill introduced in Congress from 1947 to 2016 (all the way to 2020 as more data becomes available). This database would also include biographical information for all members of Congress (MCs) who served during this time period, all MCs' committee assignments, all MCs' ideological scores based on roll call voting, and survey data on their constituents' attitudes from 2006 to 2018. The database will be used to further ongoing research projects around the efficacy of black agenda setting at the national level.

A means to develop mathematical talent is to strengthen mathematics knowledge and skills through preparation for Math competitions. Preparation for Math competitions inspires the participant to increase the amount of time spent studying Math and increase the difficulty of problems studied. Thus, each participant becomes a winner through preparation. Each becomes a champion by improving their mathematical ability through preparation for Math competitions. The Annual Math Competitions Bootcamp has been held for nine (9) years at Morehouse. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the bootcamp was held online last year. However, Mathletes rose to the occasion despite the change in the format of the competition. Once again, the main objective to facilitate participation of underrepresented groups in mathematics competitions was achieved. Students joined online from all over metropolitan Atlanta and surrounding states to take part in the online version of the bootcamp. While the main objective of the bootcamp has been achieved, focused effort is continued to increase the involvement of students in the surrounding neighborhood of Morehouse College, Atlanta’s West End and Westside communities. The goal is to ensure that this local community of scholars are aware of this fun activity that develop their fundamental Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) knowledge and skills needed to succeed in school, technical careers and life. Thus, through the continued support of the AYCGL SocialJustice and Leadership Innovation Award, it is with great pleasure to raise awareness of Morehouse College Tenth Annual Math Competitions Bootcamp in Atlanta’s West End and West Side communities.

Health—whether at an individual or a population level—extends into the home, workplace, school, neighborhood, and community. Social determinants of health include not only access to health services but also quality education, economic stability, social and community support, and healthy environments. This project provided a framework for community members and students to engage and acquire the skills and resources to investigate the health of their community, and then plan, implement, and evaluate actions that change the environment to promote and improve health. Often people are unaware of environmental issues or the threats that a community may face. Photography may expose those issues by visually displaying both the beauty of nature and the consequences to that beauty of accidental and deliberate environmental degradation. Exploring different areas of Proctor Creek watershed on a walking tour, along with local community partners, students were to document their journey through digital imagery (photographs and/or video) highlighting environmental conditions or social determinants of health they would like to address in the community. Students would then develop a remediation plan, complete a reflection journal, and participate in a service learning activity.

A means to develop mathematical talent is to strengthen mathematics knowledge and skills through preparation for math competitions. Preparation for math competitions inspires the participant to increase the amount of time spent studying math and increase the difficulty of problems studied. Thus, each participant becomes a winner through preparation. Each becomes a champion by improving their mathematical ability by preparing for math competitions. The Annual Math Competitions Bootcamp was held for eight (8) years on the Morehouse College campus with a primary objective to facilitate participation of underrepresented groups in mathematics competitions has been achieved. Implementation of this important program provides a competitive and inspiring opportunity for students from the Metropolitan Atlanta area, especially the West End community. The goal is to ensure that this community of students are aware of this fun activity that develop their fundamental Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) knowledge skills needed to succeed in school and technical careers.

The proposed collaborative project with a local high school sought to bring a group of students to a film screening with our annual Spring Semester class, West African Fiction & Film, in order to view an African cinema classic, Keïta: The Heritage of the Griot (Dir. Dani Kouyaté, Burkina Faso, 1995), a modern retelling of the most famous epic in West Africa, the Epic of Sunjata (13th c.).

Students from a local high school were to be selected by their teacher/s to attend the film and discussion. Prior to the screening, they will be given study guides and study questions, including background information on the Epic of Sundjata, on Mandé cultures, and context on the modern history of West African countries, especially those with Mandé populations (Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, the Gambia, Liberia, etc.). After the screening, Dr. Janis was to provide key quotations from the film and notes on Sundjata’s unique leadership qualities based on the tradition of Mandé wisdom from the tradition of griots (cf. D.T. Niane’s text as well as contemporary translations and criticism). Student response papers or video responses involving directed analysis of one or two of the topics were to be submitted.

This project proposed a journalistic approach to understanding the cultural context of community, both past and present, through the use of virtual reality storytelling. It is part of a 19-year focus on community-based power as examined through the tools of journalism and cultural studies. The proposed study extends the already developed strategy of visual storytelling by engaging viewers toward experience in order to have them understand people beyond stereotype.

Dr. Andrew Douglas will introduce a new FYE, “Debt and Democracy,” which will explore various ways in which debt affects democracy around the world, with special emphasis on the current student debt crisis and political proposals for reparations and debt cancellation. The course includes a significant service-learning component: students will be required to partner with Morehouse alumni (from the debt-free 2019 class and other classes) and gather data for an ongoing longitudinal study of Morehouse graduates. Students will deliberate with alumni about the value of a liberal arts education, its place in a democratic society, its costs and accessibility, and its impact on career and other life choices. The course and its service-learning component is intended to establish an intellectual and curricular basis from which members of the Morehouse community can work together to lead national conversations on some of the most urgent challenges facing our democracy today.

The Writing Social Justice Program is committed to commemorating the 60th Anniversary Atlanta Student Movement, learning about the importance of student movements, in general, to social justice and to the production of a digital and physical exhibit highlighting the research that the voices of the people involved in these movements. The project will feature quest lectures by local scholars, opportunities for to collect oral histories, and end with a project to advocate for markers/monuments on the Morehouse campus to commemorate Morehouse students like Julian Bond and Lonnie King who were involved in the movement.