Abstract

In the fall of 2013, during her senior year at Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy in South Side Chicago, Janaya Greene wrote the screenplay for the short film, Veracity, in her film study class. With the support of their teacher, Mr. Eugene Hazzard, Janaya and her classmates participated in Scenarios USA’s curriculum and national writing competition (www.scenariosusa.org). Middle and high school students in Chicago, New York, and Cleveland wrote stories and screenplays in response to the question, What’s the Real Deal About Power and Place? Along with winning submissions from New York and Cleveland, a national selection committee chose Veracity to be transformed into a short film. Veracity explores what it means to come out in high school from the point of view of two African American female characters. In this interview, screen writer Greene talks with art education professor Karyn Sandlos about how media stereotypes shaped her experiences growing up, and how a film about same sex desire and friendship between two young Black women is provoking critical conversations amongst audiences of middle and high school students.

Keywords: media education, art education, stereotypes, sexuality, gender, race, LGBTQ relationships, curriculum, teaching and learning

How to Cite:

Sandlos, K., (2016) “Media Arts Education in the Post-Racial Classroom: An Interview with Janaya Greene About the Short Film, Veracity”, Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education 33(1), 154-171. doi: https://doi.org/10.2458/jcrae.4901