The
Future
Traveling Youth at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum
Kenneth Michael
Kenneth@excapethematrix.com
The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture brings the legacy of prominent Maryland African Americans to the forefront. Through the use of exhibitions and programs the museum tells the story of famous Marylanders that have shaped the country.
Starting at the core of today’s society, the Museum operates a youth volunteer program that teaches the future leaders how Maryland’s black history has played a great role in building America.
“Travelers” the youth development program operated by the Museum, brings high school students from all over the state of Maryland between the ages of 14 through 18 to help them develop leadership skills by learning about their often untold history.
“Students take them self and others on a travel/journey throughout the museum and leave with more than they came in with as far as the knowledge and understanding of their history,” said Christopher Roberts, the Travelers Program Lead.
This is the second training session of the program which, started in the fall of 2007, and gives them knowledge of their history while they fulfill their service learning hours as a graduation requirement and build self esteem.
“Many students come in introverted,” said Roberts, “so through group activities we try to make them more extroverted.” That is one of the most important leadership qualities, Roberts said, because it allows them to express themselves completely. To build that confidence in the students, the program starts off with discussions and debates on topics such as the need for African American museums, lynching, the community, sex, and gender. These are all relevant issues that affect society today and create a platform for each student to speak on the topic.
While they learn to become extroverted through discussions and debate sessions, the youth learn to express their history better through many forms of art such as music, poetry, fashion, and acting. The reenactments of poetry and monologues, as well as focusing on special events are ways the students are able to illustrate the art form of acting to others. The students also express their history through fashion, by putting together hip-hop fashion shows that depict the changing of styles from the 70’s performers to the present day artists.
“More people are on the bandwagon of the programs now because of the success from the Floetic Fridays,” said Roberts
The program shows the students that becoming more diverse in their history allows them to feel more comfortable when confronted with cultural topics. Instead of focusing on the already prominent figures in history, they focus on the stories of often unmentioned people such as local health pioneers Vivian Thomas and Esther McCready that can become foreign in the traditional school setting.
The learning process of the program involves the students greatly because they decide on what important issues or topics to discuss and from there create a days worth of activities for the program. This process makes the information relevant to the students and allows them to be of authority.