Ric Mathis is the filmmaker chargeable for B1: The Film, a perspective on the present financial disaster and its influence on Black People, which emphasizes prioritizing the wants of Black folks by “getting on code.” Mathis’ ebook, B1: The Curriculum, offers members the possibility to work together with totally different prompts and actions related to the Black group.
Chike Akua, Ph.D., is a professor of academic management at Clark Atlanta College and in addition contributed to a part of Mathis’ B1: The Curriculum together with his Akua Media Score Scale. He spoke to rolling out about what it means to be “on code,” and defined the media ranking scale.
Whenever you hear “getting on code,” what does that imply?
It represents the inspiration of our tradition, that there are particular issues that we do as a folks, and there are particular issues that we don’t do. When it’s sure issues that we simply don’t do, which means you’re off code. Being on code means loving our folks, supporting our folks and dealing collectively, cooperatively and collaboratively. It means lifting us up and never bringing us down. These are only a few of the issues that it means to be on code. Supporting Black companies, uplifting your race, placing us first — to not the exclusion of different folks — however working in a means that’s in our personal greatest curiosity. We’ve been skilled to do the precise reverse. Proper now, so lots of our younger folks have solely been uncovered to the worst of our tradition, after which they start to affiliate Blackness with violence, ignorance and criminality, quite than associating Blackness with excellence, achievement and respect. One of many issues I recognize about this movie is it helps us to recenter ourselves in one of the best of our tradition.
What’s the Akua Media Score Scale?
As an educator, I realized very early on telling college students what to imagine isn’t a part of what schooling is about. Not solely that, it’s not efficient, both. It’s a must to current info in such a means that folks can draw their conclusions. I might see the impact and the influence that media was having on my college students’ conduct and their pondering, however they weren’t seeing it in themselves. Means again within the ’90s, I developed the Akua Media Score Scale as a means for them to critically analyze the media that they have been consuming so they may select their program, their video or their film. The size has 10 questions on it, and also you’re purported to fee that video, TV program or film on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the very best. For instance, a few of the questions are: “What’s the picture of Black manhood on this film or program? What’s the picture of Black womanhood? What’s the picture of Black household life? Is there pointless profanity? Does the principle character endure a metamorphosis and an awakening of consciousness that modifications their conduct and their circumstances?”
Right here is the registration hyperlink for the B1 Kwanzaa occasion.
