“Round and round the mulberry bush the monkey chased the weasel. The weasel thought it was all in good fun, pop goes the weasel!" This nursery rhyme is thought of as a funny tale of a monkey chasing a weasel “all in good fun”. But where does this interpretation come from? The only reason one believes the animals in this rhyme are having fun is because the weasel said so. The monkey could be chasing the weasel because he owes him money. One will never know. In her TED Talk, writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, uses this nursery rhyme to illustrate the problem of the single story. The single story is a one sided perspective on a people or nationality. The belief in the single stories of various minority peoples and communities has led to some of the world's most troubling social problems, which include prejudice, racism and racial injustice. These social problems have very real effects on my life and the lives of many others. The single story of the Black community is one of the most problematic. The widespread belief in this single story has led to various racially charged police shootings, unjust court decisions and numerous racially charged acts of violence. Chimamanda Adichie’s talk, as well as my first hand experience with the detrimental effects of single stories, inspired my decision to use my work as a graphic designer to dispel the many single stories that impact our society today. While in graduate school, I intend to focus my research on identifying and eventually dispelling the many single stories told about various minority peoples and cultures, with a focus on those told about the Black community. I would like to focus my research on posters' ability to impact social justice movements. While studying for my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Morgan State University I was exposed to the significant role Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) have had in dispelling the single story about the Black community. HBCUs have worked to further various social justice movements such as the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s as well as the more recent Black Lives Matter movements across the country. HBCUs have often been used as the site for many protests, speeches and peaceful demonstrations. While researching HBCUs impact, I noticed a trend in the way these institutions use posters to raise awareness for social justice issues, and upcoming peaceful demonstrations. This summer, as I continued my research I created posters for and attended numerous BLM protests in the DC metropolitan area. While attending these protests I noticed the abundance of posters created by people in attendance, and how each poster was used to silently vocalize the creators support for the movement in a unique way. Through this research I became interested in the way graphic design and typography have been used to create posters for various social justice movements and to further social reform throughout history. I hope to continue this research and use the resulting knowledge to create a series of pieces that amplify black voices, bring awareness to the social injustices the Black community faces and ganer support for Black social justice movements. I eventually hope to expand my research to include discovering innovative ways to use my art as an engagement tool for social justice. I aspire to combine my design foundation with animation, installation and mural art to create a visual experience that is bold and dynamic enough to reach broad audiences.

“Round and round the mulberry bush the monkey chased the weasel. The weasel thought it was all in good fun, pop goes the weasel!" This nursery rhyme is thought of as a funny tale of a monkey chasing a weasel “all in good fun”. But where does this interpretation come from? The monkey could be chasing the weasel because he owes him money. One will never know. In her TED Talk, writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, uses this nursery rhyme to illustrate the problem of the single story. The single story is a one sided perspective on a people or nationality. The belief in the single stories of various minority peoples and communities has led to some of the world's most troubling social problems, which include prejudice, racism and injustice. These social problems have a real effects on my life and the lives of many others. The single story of the Black community is one of the most problematic. The widespread belief in this single story has led to various racially charged police shootings, unjust court decisions and numerous acts of violence. Adichie’s talk, as well as my first hand experience with the detrimental effects of single stories, inspired my decision to use my work as a graphic designer to dispel the many single stories that impact our society today. While in graduate school, I intend to focus my research on identifying and eventually dispelling the many single stories told about various minority peoples and cultures, with a focus on those told about the Black community. I would like to focus my research on posters' ability to impact social justice movements. While studying for my Bachelor of Arts degree at Morgan State University I was exposed to the significant role Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) have had in dispelling the single story about the Black community. HBCUs have worked to further various social justice movements such as the Civil Rights Movement as well as the more recent Black Lives Matter movements across the country. HBCUs have often been used as the site for many protests, speeches and peaceful demonstrations. While researching HBCUs impact, I noticed a trend in the way these institutions use posters to raise awareness for social justice issues, and upcoming peaceful demonstrations. This summer, as I continued my research I created posters for and attended numerous BLM protests in the DC metropolitan area. While attending these protests I noticed the abundance of posters created by people in attendance, and how each poster was used to silently vocalize the creators support for the movement in a unique way. Through this research I became interested in the way graphic design and typography have been used to create posters for various social justice movements and to further social reform throughout history. I hope to continue this research and use the resulting knowledge to create a series of pieces that amplify black voices, bring awareness to the social injustices the Black community faces and ganer support for Black social justice movements.