Project: Black History Month: Power Hour
Company: Apple Inc. (retail level)
Scope: Apple Retail, Chicago market
Format: Virtually led sessions
Project Length: recurring
Project Retired?: No
My Contributions: keynote presentation and discussion topics
Programs Used: Keynote
I volunteered to revise some of my college thesis work as a part of a discussion series for my store’s Black History Month events. My senior thesis explored the world of autobiographical graphic novels, dissecting them under the lens of art history and sociological documentation. I particularly emphasized the ability for graphic novels to act as trauma narratives - being able to use words and visuals to fully capture the experiences of those who have had traumatic experiences to work through and illustrating it in a way the audience can truly immerse and understand. One of the narratives that I analyzed was MARCH, a graphic novel depicting the life of former congressman John Lewis, now deceased, as he grew at the same time as the civil rights movement and even worked with Dr. King.
For the sake of brevity and not reciting my entire thesis paper to my coworkers, I worked on highlighting some key points of the first book as well as providing some synopsis without giving too many spoilers in case people wanted to read it for themselves. I put together a keynote presentation with clippings from the novel, along with points from my own analysis, to bring into the discussion.
Given that these Black History Month discussion series occurred during peak times of the Black Lives Matter movement, there were a lot of parallels to be drawn. I led the sessions, keeping in mind the hour timeframe, by both presenting my analysis from my thesis years back and drawing those connections to what we were experiencing today. What came out of these talks was levels of emotional and informative engagement from my coworkers, and I look forward to presenting it again for the following BHM events.
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