Teaching Nineteenth-Century Slave Narratives using Digital Story Maps

Image from The Slave Trail site

I follow a #WorldGEOchat Twitter group that meets every Tuesday evening and am constantly finding new ideas for teaching and for engaging people with social issues that have roots in the past, but are cause for great concern in the present and the future.

Last week I saw a mention of using ESRI story maps to teach the history of the nineteenth-century US slave trade.  I clicked the link and started reading an article titled "Teaching Nineteenth-Century Slave Narratives: Engaging Student Scholars in the Production of Digital Story Maps" written by Amy Lewis, Assistant Professor of Humanities and Liberal Arts, St. Norbert College.

The article is an important read because it encourages student study of the American slave trade, which I feel is and important journey for many to take. It also shows how the students used ESRI story maps to plot escape routes and show movement of individual slaves while in captivity. The author says "the digital story maps engage their interest in ways that few other assignments can match and that they create an awareness of how digital media impacts the ongoing conversation about nineteenth-century slavery that continues to unfold in the United States."

I wanted to share this article, but it did not have usable images so I did a Google search for "slave trade ESRI story maps" then looked at the images.  The one I used in this article is from a site titled "The Slave Trail" which is an extensive resource.

This link opens the ESRI story map on that site.

Thus, by opening one link, reading the article, then doing a search for more information, I'm expanding my own learning. By writing this article, I'm hoping to spark the curiosity of others.  I go one step further. I put links to some of these articles in the Tutor/Mentor web library, to help people find some of the articles I've found valuable.

view examples of maps in stories

It looks like many colleges are using story maps and teaching digital literacy. If you're an educator, or someone interested in history, or in reversing the centuries of injustice caused by slavery, these resources will be useful to you.

However, I'm hoping that some of the students and faculty who learn to use GIS mapping to tell stories will look at what I've been trying to do for 25 years to use stories and maps to support the growth of volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs in areas of high poverty, frequent violence, poorly performing schools and many other indicators that can be viewed on a map.

I don't just want to build a deeper, more empathetic understanding. I want to influence more people to take the YOU role in this graphic. Become someone who helps mobilize time, talent and dollars from people YOU know, to support the growth and continued operations of mentor-rich programs in more places.

I maintain a list of nearly 200 organizations in the Chicago region that offer various forms of tutoring and/or mentoring and plot locations on maps to help build an understanding of where programs are located and where more are needed...and to help parents, volunteers and donors connect with individual programs.

This could be duplicated in other cities, with students from high schools and/or colleges building and maintaining the list of programs, and duplicating work I've been doing to use maps to draw attention to the data resources.

If this interests you, introduce yourself in the comment sections, or connect with me on Twitter @tutormentorteam or on Facebook, or LinkedIN. 

New Study Finds Millions Still Live in Poverty in Illinois

Listen to this short podcast talking about poverty in Illinois. Map and data courtesy of the Heartland Alliance of Illinois. 

While the number of people living in poverty is highest in Chicago and its suburbs, the greatest concentrations of poverty are in many downstate counties. 

Half the World Still not On-Line - Why this Matters.

Image from World Economic
Forum article

I saw this map on Facebook today and opened the World Economic Forum article to learn more. The orange and green areas of the map show hot spots of internet connectivity, meaning the US and Europe and scattered places in the rest of the world are on line and able to read my blog or connect with me and others in meaningful on-line interactions.

Read the article. See why this is important. 

Understand Issues of the Two Koreas - ESRI story map

I follow a weekly #WorldGEOchat on Twitter and this week one Tweet pointed to an ESRI storymap showing history of the conflict between North and South Korea.

A1
really cool rapture comparing the two Koreas https://t.co/XFdd9idOWt
#worldgeochat

— Eric (@eric_falls) May 16, 2018

It's a demonstration of the use of ESRI story maps, and a valuable resource for understanding current events in the Far East.

America: More Diverse. Still Segregated

Map from Washington
Post, 5/2/18

This map shows segregation in the Chicago region and is part of an extensive article titled: Segregation Map: America is more diverse than ever, but still segregated",  in the May 2, 2018 Washington Post. click here

This is not a new issue. I've been adding stories about racism and segregation to this article and this section of my web library for many years.

The Washington Post article draws it's data from a new book titled Cycle of Segregation, written by Kyle Crowder and Maria Krysan . Here's an interview on WGN Radio with one of the authors.

The challenge continues to plague Chicago and other parts of the country. It's a complex problem and as Maria Krysan said in the Washington Post article:

We don't have the integrated social networks. We don't have integrated experiences through the city. It's baked-in segregation,” Krysan said. “Every time [a person] makes a move [they’re] not making a move that breaks out of that cycle and making a move that regenerates it.”

 I've supported well-organized, volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs for more than 30 years because these programs are integrated social networks connecting youth and families from inner city neighborhoods with a mix of volunteers from many different parts of Chicago, many different business backgrounds, and many faith, age and racial backgrounds.

While I've led the Tutor/Mentor Connection since creating it in 1993, few leaders have adopted the strategies I've shared and/or made consistent, long-term commitments to helping this type of program start and grow in all high poverty areas of the city and suburbs. Furthermore, of the nearly 200 youth serving organizations I point to on this list, very few show a strategy and theory of change that describes their program as a social network connecting youth in poverty to people, experiences and opportunities beyond.

Next week The Chicago Community Trust will host it's annual On The Table event, where people from throughout the region gather in small groups to discuss issues important to them, and to Chicago. 

My hope is that many of these groups will use maps like I share and point to on this site, and discuss ways they and people they know can build a better understanding of the places and problems of racial segregation in the Chicago region, then map out strategies and action steps that people can take daily to try to close the gaps.