Greetings from The Paley Center for Media’s Education Department!
Welcome to the latest installment of “What We’re Watching,” a weekly Paley Education@Home guide. During this unprecedented time, we thought we would reach out to our community with some tips and ideas for consuming media with your kids! We know that screen time has increased so we’re here to help! Each week we are highlighting a different theme that connects to two selected programs, one for younger kids and one for older students, each with related activities.

Consuming media with your kids is a perfect jumping-off point to making media literacy a part of your everyday lives. Familiarizing yourself with the basics is a great first step. In case you missed it, you can view our first edition about media literacy best practices. We also recommend the National Association for Media Literacy Education’s Parents Guide—it’s a terrific introduction!
Weekly Zoom Meet-ups
Thursdays, 3:00 to 3:30 pm ET
Students Grades 3+ can join us for a weekly Zoom Meet-up, Thursdays from 3:00 to 3:30 pm ET, to chat about the week’s theme and engage in some hands-on learning led by a Paley Educator. Parents and teachers are welcome to join as well!

For connection details, please RSVP to eduny@paleycenter.org.
What We're Watching: Black Filmmakers
This week we want to put the spotlight on black filmmakers and stories. The path to becoming a successful filmmaker is not an easy one but, because of Hollywood’s substantial and ingrained racism, it is exponentially harder for black artists. In fact, in 1919 a writer named Oscar Micheaux had to form his own production company in order to make films. He became the first African-American to make a feature film and he went on to make forty-four more, both silent and with sound. His remarkable achievements in film history paved the way for the future generations of black filmmakers whose names might be more familiar to us today. In order to highlight contemporary black voices, this week we are showcasing two of our favorite filmmakers: Ryan Coogler and Stanley Nelson. Both are masters at visual storytelling and activists at heart.
This Week's Recommendation for Younger Kids: Black Panther
Black Panther (2018)
Recommended for Grades 7+
Available to stream on Hulu and Disney+

Simply put, Black Panther is nothing short of an American masterpiece. It effortlessly combines stunning visuals and pitch-perfect performances with thoughtful discourse on race and power. It embodies the true potential of what popular media can do to reflect and respond to society. Whether you’re watching it for the first time or the tenth time, we think you’ll be spellbound.
Viewing Questions
  • What do you learn about the origins of Wakanda and the Black Panther?
  • How does Wakanda compare to Oakland in 1992?
  • Describe Black Panther. What is he like?
  • What does it mean that Black Panther hides in plain sight?
  • What do you think the meaning behind the colors used to differentiate the Wakandan tribes is?
  • How does the film play with the storytelling conventions of superheroes v. villains?
  • How do you think Black Panther is reflective of the time in which the 1960s comic book character was created, and how does the 2018 film go further to reflect on contemporary America?
  • How might the film add to or spark uncomfortable but important conversations about colonialism, slavery, and stereotypes about the African diaspora?

Additional Resources

Watch
The Meteor Man, dir. Robert Townsend (1993)
Static Shock, TV series (2000–04)
Teen Titans: “Troq”, S4 E6 (2005)

Read
The Black Panther: Panther’s Rage Vol. 1 (1966–76 comics), Grades 7+
Black Panther Volume 1, A Nation under Our Feet by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Grade 7+
Black Panther: The Client by Christopher Priest (2001), Grade 7+
Kindred, by Octavia Butler, Grades 6+
The Water Dancer, by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Grade 8+

Listen
This Week's Recommendation for Older Students: Black Panthers: Vanguard of a Revolution
Black Panthers: Vanguard of a Revolution (2016)
Recommended for Grades 11+
Available to stream on PBS

The 1960s were a defining moment in American history. From civil unrest, a new revolutionary culture emerged and sought to drastically transform society. The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, for a short time, put itself at the vanguard of that change. This documentary explores the Black Panther Party, and the movement that gave rise to a new revolutionary culture in America. Their causes are relevant again in an era that has seen the rise of the "Black Lives Matter" movement and tense relations between African-American communities and the police. The Black Panthers condemnations of injustice, oppression, and brutality in the late '60s and early '70s couldn’t be more pertinent today.

Viewing Questions
  • What are the biggest misconceptions about the Black Panther Party that the film challenges?
  • How would you compare the Black Panther Party to the mainstream Civil Rights movement of the 1960s? What do they have in common? How did they differ?
  • How would you describe the forms of resistance championed by the Black Panthers? Which were the most successful in your opinion? What lasting impact have they had?
  • What comparisons can you make between the Black Panther Party and current issues around police brutality, mass incarceration, and racial profiling? 
  • How does the work of the Black Panther Party relate to activism today? 

Additional Resources

Watch
Freedom Riders, dir. Stanley Nelson (2010)
Fruitvale Station, dir. Ryan Coogler (2013)
Malcolm X, dir. Spike Lee (1992)
The Murder of Fred Hampton, dir. Howard Alk (1971)

Read
Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, Grades 8+
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia, Grades 5+
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

Listen
Young Game Designers: New for You!
We are thrilled to offer our online student community two exciting opportunities to learn game design through our partnership with the Urban Arts Partnership’s School of Interactive Arts (SIA).

SIA: Summer Coding Camp: Apply now for a six-week (July 13 to August 2, 2020) virtual coding camp where you will learn the foundations of game design and be introduced to C# programming language on the Unity game engine.

The Ghost School: Interactive Video Game That Teaches Computer Thinking: Create your avatar then make your way through the levels of the haunted schools as you learn programming logic and syntax, computational thinking, and more.
Paley Online Classes
Explore these rich, full online classes, with complete thematic descriptions, clips from the Paley Archive, pre- and post-viewing questions, associated vocabulary, further online resources, and more.

As always, if you have any questions, thoughts, or ideas, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at eduny@paleycenter.org.

Happy viewing,
Rebekah Fisk, Director of Education
Caroline Quigley, Senior Manager of School & Family Programs

Support The Paley Center for Media

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