Black History Month
In class we read True Colours an interview with Angélica Dass and students had to write letters to her on identity, diversity, race and discrimination.
Watch a talk she gave on her ongoing project Humanae. It's a TED Talk
The Beauty of Human Skin in Every Colour
Visit her official website for Humanae, too.
TED Talks are amazing because you can find the transcript and you can choose from many languages for the subtitles
> First listen to it in English with subtitles in English
> Listen to it again with subtitles in your own language
> LISTEN & PAUSE
> TAKE NOTES
> Use the transcript for self-correction
Did you understand her story?
Première students
Black History Month and Humanae can be used in 4 themes for your E3C exams.
They can fit into:
Diversity & Inclusion > How does popular culture define beauty?
> What is Black History Month?
Private vs Public > Are stereotypes about culture or power?
> How can we take a stand against racism?
Art & Power > How can art empower people?
> How can art drive positive social change?
> What role can artists play in our society?
Citizenship & Virtual Worlds > How do we build our identity through social media?
CREATE LANGUAGE CARDS
Here's a model language card created by Estelle (1G3) using Canva
LISTENING + READING + WRITING
> CREATIVE WRITING
Write a letter to Angélica Dass and write to her about
who you are
what you think about her project Humanae,
your experience of race, identity, diversity and equality,
what you think about what she said in the interview / in her TED Talk.
USE WHAT YOU KNOW
USE SENTENCES FROM OTHER LANGUAGE CARDS YOU CREATED
Kids Explain Black History Month
What were the Jim Crow Laws?
Sing along to this rap song to celebrate Martin Luther King's legacy
You must watch Selma by Ava DuVernay on Bloody Sunday and the march from Selma to Montgomery that Doctor King organized to put pressure on the governement to grant African American people full rights to vote.
Listen to Glory by John Legend and Common
Here are the model letters that TL LVA students wrote
Angélica Dass, Robin,
Humanae project, Villeneuve-sur-Lot,
Spain. 47300 France
Friday, 20th February 2020
Dear Ms Dass,
Hi, my name is Robin, I’m 17 years old and I’m in Humanities. I study literature and i’ve been studying English for 11 years. This year in class we talked about your project and read your interview that you gave for Foreign Affairs. That is how I heard of your project.
First of all, I have to say that your work is just amazing, all those portraits are beautiful and I love the fact that you choose to show that colors, gender and age don’t matter. Indeed, I find it really clever to take the Pantone color from the nose, where the colors are always changing in terms of lights or if we have a flu or something else to enhance the fact that the color itself has no importance. It is brilliant and can really make people think about race, identity, diversity and equality. Even if we all look different, we are all human beings. What matters is what's deep inside.
I have to say that I’ve never experienced racism myself. But, at least once in our lives,we all have seen someone suffering from it. I think that our century is the time to drive positive change around us because society needs to be equal and fair with genuine equality.
Yours sincerely,
Robin
Angélica Dass Jasmijn
Humanae project 47300 Villeneuve-sur-Lot
Spain France
Thursday, 20th February
Dear Ms Dass,
My name is Jasmijn, I’m 17 years old.
Your project Humanae is an inspiration for everyone. The fact that each pantone number is different is so beautiful ! It’s amazing to see that each human being is unique, it moved me. Have you already taken photos of twins ? It would be so nice to see if twins have the same pantone number !
Personally speaking, I think this project is great. In fact, I’m Dutch but I’ve been living in France since I was born, but my whole my family is Dutch. So when I was younger, I first learned Dutch so my French wasn’t perfect at all. A lot of children made fun of my nationality, my language and even my name. It was so terrible that I began to say that I was French which I’m not. I even changed the writing of my name to stop them from bullying me. It followed me until I was 15, school still thought my name was written as I said it was at the time. It’s very hard, especially for children to face racism, because they often really don’t know why people treat them that way and the truth is they shouldn’t.
I’d like to take part in your project because I want to leave a mark. To say to the little me and all the students who have been bullied because of their origin, religion or skin color how unique they are. How unique everyone is, how wonderful diversity is!
Yours sincerely,
Jasmijn
Dear Ms Dass,
My name is Margaux, I am 17 years old and I’m French.
I heard of your project in class and I find it very interesting ! Humanae is very inspiring, it is a thought-provoking way to fight racism I think.
From my experience in my school, I see many people with so many different origins and backgrounds. Of course I know poor and rich people, with also different religions and beliefs. I have seen racism many times and it makes me sad, I’m sick of it. I think everybody is equal and racism separates people. Actually we don’t need to be separate, we need to accept each other.
I’d like to take part in your project because I believe that it is important to do projects like yours. In class, we have seen many works of art which denounce key issues in our society like racism, discrimination, sexism, homophobia. I agree with you that artists have a huge role to play to educate people and open their eyes, to change the way they think and behave.
For all the people in the world who suffered from racism and other types of discriminations, your work of art is an amazing inspiration.
I love the way you want equality for everyone, to show people’s true colours.
Thank you for working on this wonderful project Humanae.
Yours sincerely,
Margaux
Dear Ms Dass,
My name is Margot, I am 18 years old and I live in France. I was reading about your project Humanae and I found it very fascinating, not only because of the beauty of your art, but also because of the idea behind it, “to encourage people to talk about things that are uncomfortable in society”, as you said in the interview for the magazine Foreign Affairs in February 2015.
I feel there are still a lot of people who are narrow-minded and racist, sadly. Skin color is still taboo. However, I think it is getting better. There are still people who don’t accept racial equality because of racist stereotypes, but I am personally convinced that things are changing and the best is yet to come.
New generations are still fighting for racial acceptance. For example, there are “Great demonstrations against racism” in Montréal. We can find information on the website that was created to explain what this movement is about: “On October 27, the fourth Mass Demonstration Against Racism will take place in Montreal, to denounce the racism and xenophobia that oppress thousands of people every day. An oppression that is expressed either through discriminatory laws, hateful comments, constant police repression, or directly through violent acts.”
Taking part in your project would be very gripping and rewarding. I would be glad and honored to be one of the faces in Humanae ! Your project is really beautiful.
Thank you for making things happen. Artists are essential for society, they help make the world to evolve and change mindsets, like Theodore Melfi in his movie Hidden Figures that highlighted the roles that Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson played during the Space Race. These three African American women scientists were pioneers in the NASA’s space program in 1969 and I was impressed by their courage, resilience and determination as well as their genius and skills.
I totally agree with you when you point out that you want to make art that is connected with real people, not only the world of art. Art concerns everybody, and can touch everyone on key issues. We should all follow the example you set and take a stance for diversity and equality.
Art moves people and makes them move. That's how powerful it is!
Yours sincerely,
Margot
Dear Ms Dass,
My name is Léa, I’m a student and I’m 18 years old.
I think your project Humanae can touch everyone because it's extremely fascinating and it deals with a key issue in our society. It shows human diversity in the world and these differences can be and should be a strength for people.
Let me tell you why your project moved me. As it happens, my step-father was a victim of racism when he was young, something like 30 years ago. He went to a new school but he is black and the other children were white. So, the other children made fun of him. It hurt his feelings a lot and when he tells this story there’s a lot of sadness and anger in his eyes. It breaks my heart to think that people and even children can be so mean.
What’s more, in class, I studied a painting by Norman Rockwell entitled The Problem We All Live With and I couldn't believe my eyes to see that racist white people insulted and tried to attack a six year-old African American girl who just wanted to go to school. It took place in 1960, 60 years ago. Ruby Bridges’ courage and determination resonated in my heart.
I feel sad that there’s still so much racism around the world. Nevertheless, this month, I was proud to celebrate Black History Month and remember all the black activists who risked their lives and fought so hard for freedom, justice, peace and equality: Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X . We also celebrated other black heroes like Bob Marley who inspires so many people thanks to his songs. We watched Hidden Figures by Theodore Melfi and celebrated African American women top scientists at NASA, pioneers who helped send a man into space.
I care a lot about this issue. I want to take a stance against racism and discrimination. This is why I’d like to take part in your project to show my step-father and everybody else around me that skin color shouldn't matter. We are all people. We are all human beings.
Thank you for the time and energy you dedicate to Humanae, such a heart-warming and thought-provoking project that fills me with hope. You are my hero. Through you, I have found my voice and my true colour.
Yours sincerely,
Lea
Dear Ms Dass,
My name is Manon, I am 17 years old and I’m a French student of Literature and Languages. I heard of your project in English class.
Your project Humanae is fascinating and beautiful. In my opinion, it shows that we all look different but it also shows that we are still the same, we are all humans and we should be treated equally. And I think you proved how nice diversity is and how people should embrace their skin color.
Personally, I never had to face racism but I have already seen terrible scenes on TV or social media. It affects me how intolerant and disrespectful some people can be. How on earth can they think skin color makes someone different or even inferior to them? I watched witness accounts of people who were bullied or hit because of their religion or their origins and it just makes me wish that one day we could learn to live together without hate.
I would like to take part in your project because I find it very inspiring and I would like to deliver a message that means a lot to me. Nowadays, global art projects like yours need more media coverage because I am sure that art is something powerful and it can really have an impact on people and open their eyes, and I would love to help you in making this world a better place to live in.
Yours sincerely,
Manon
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