Diversifying Narratives Through Social Media
SJUSD students work together to bring change for the district using Instagram to share infographics.
By Isabella Klawitter
SJUSD students work together to bring change for the district using Instagram to share infographics.
By Isabella Klawitter
After the Black Lives Matter movement gained interest and support this summer and people began rethinking what diversity means in our lives, a group of students from San José Unified School District high schools took upon this challenge and decided they wanted to make a change.
The group of students heard about the organization Diversify Our Narrative (DON) and the idea sparked to become Diversify Our Narrative SJUSD to be able to inform students about social issues in the community through infographics on Instagram (@diversifyournarrativesjusd).
The goal of DON is to spread political awareness. Shalvi Kamble is a junior at Leland High School and is currently working with other students in SJUSD to sign a petition to add more diverse literature to our curriculum instead of removing the books already present and then hopes to move onto bigger projects with the district.
“We’re a student-led organization called Diversify Our Narrative that is trying to pass a resolution to mandate at least one book written by a Black, Indigenous, or other author of color about their experiences in every K-12 English class in our district,” said Kamble. “Since the national DON organization is centered around diverse literature, our SJUSD chapter is also focused on books. However, aside from books, we also support a new curriculum such as the ethnic studies bill that was recently considered in the California government.”
The ethnic studies bill states that students at California State Universities will need to take an ethic studies course in order to graduate. The bill was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on Aug. 17, 2020.
Sofia Merlo, 9, thinks the petition is a great way to teach diverse stories which would help students expand their knowledge on different cultures and backgrounds.
“I think it’s for a great cause and I hope it gets enough support so that we can actually diversify our schools curriculum, and yes, I will sign it,” Merlo said.
Social media is a great accessible platform that allows DON to reach a wide variety of students, since they’re able to communicate and create posts about serious issues in a concise and straight-foward format.
“We post about issues that we care about, but the information that we include is all factual and from outside sources, not our own opinions,” said Kamble.
However, Ariana Lara, 12, feels it is a great way to start a discussion but it has to serve with more purpose in order for it to be effective.
“I have mixed feelings about using social media for these kinds of things. I do think it’s great to catch people’s attention and get people talking. But I think that’s the most it does, starts a conversation. It’s great to start a conversation but it has to lead to action or else it’s not really helping anyone,” said Lara.
The word “narrative” is how we present and understand an event and promote a particular point of view or set of values. The word also applies to how we view and interact with our community which is the main purpose of DON.
“Diversify Our Narrative means that we should be making an effort to educate ourselves and each other of any and all issues that the world is facing, learn how this affects us, and learn how to help. This relates to the account, because we’re using it to spread knowledge of political education,” said Kamble.
While the debate of what diversity means still goes on with DON, it’s also helping students reevaluate what diversity means in our community.
“Diversity to me means inclusion and validity of all human beings. Diversity is when we can all come together as one but still recognize our differences,” said Lara, “Diversity is understanding we have differences but at the end of the day we’re all simply human.”
The group of students heard about the organization Diversify Our Narrative (DON) and the idea sparked to become Diversify Our Narrative SJUSD to be able to inform students about social issues in the community through infographics on Instagram (@diversifyournarrativesjusd).
The goal of DON is to spread political awareness. Shalvi Kamble is a junior at Leland High School and is currently working with other students in SJUSD to sign a petition to add more diverse literature to our curriculum instead of removing the books already present and then hopes to move onto bigger projects with the district.
“We’re a student-led organization called Diversify Our Narrative that is trying to pass a resolution to mandate at least one book written by a Black, Indigenous, or other author of color about their experiences in every K-12 English class in our district,” said Kamble. “Since the national DON organization is centered around diverse literature, our SJUSD chapter is also focused on books. However, aside from books, we also support a new curriculum such as the ethnic studies bill that was recently considered in the California government.”
The ethnic studies bill states that students at California State Universities will need to take an ethic studies course in order to graduate. The bill was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on Aug. 17, 2020.
Sofia Merlo, 9, thinks the petition is a great way to teach diverse stories which would help students expand their knowledge on different cultures and backgrounds.
“I think it’s for a great cause and I hope it gets enough support so that we can actually diversify our schools curriculum, and yes, I will sign it,” Merlo said.
Social media is a great accessible platform that allows DON to reach a wide variety of students, since they’re able to communicate and create posts about serious issues in a concise and straight-foward format.
“We post about issues that we care about, but the information that we include is all factual and from outside sources, not our own opinions,” said Kamble.
However, Ariana Lara, 12, feels it is a great way to start a discussion but it has to serve with more purpose in order for it to be effective.
“I have mixed feelings about using social media for these kinds of things. I do think it’s great to catch people’s attention and get people talking. But I think that’s the most it does, starts a conversation. It’s great to start a conversation but it has to lead to action or else it’s not really helping anyone,” said Lara.
The word “narrative” is how we present and understand an event and promote a particular point of view or set of values. The word also applies to how we view and interact with our community which is the main purpose of DON.
“Diversify Our Narrative means that we should be making an effort to educate ourselves and each other of any and all issues that the world is facing, learn how this affects us, and learn how to help. This relates to the account, because we’re using it to spread knowledge of political education,” said Kamble.
While the debate of what diversity means still goes on with DON, it’s also helping students reevaluate what diversity means in our community.
“Diversity to me means inclusion and validity of all human beings. Diversity is when we can all come together as one but still recognize our differences,” said Lara, “Diversity is understanding we have differences but at the end of the day we’re all simply human.”