Bridging the Gap With Dmh

Cultivating Our Capacities & Brightening Our Communities:
Educational Opportunity for the Descendants of the Enslaved in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

PHASE ONE: ACQUISITION AND RECRUITMENT

​A formal announcement of the program will be made and a facility will be secured. Solicitation of participants will begin through a comprehensive marketing campaign. A Board of Directors as well as a Community Guidance Committee will be assembled in order to give direction to the program. Selection for the guidance team will center around local people with a demonstrated commitment to the understanding, acknowledgement and removal of historic barriers to educational opportunity for the descendants of enslaved people in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. The team will represent a cross-sectional collaboration of the community with intentional focus on: Policy makers, Faith-based community members, Local descendants of enslaved people in Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Orange County, Business community representatives, Grassroots activists, Policy experts, Youth Media/Narrative change agents, Housing community experts, and Legal counsel.

Based on recommendations from the Guidance Committee, the Board will hire a Director, Assistant or Co-Director, and Administrator who will spend Spring 2022 researching other successful enrichment programs. They will explore partnering with the UNC School of Education, evaluate descendant participants’ education data and develop a curriculum for the program. They will also collaborate with to develop transportation and nutrition plans.

Methodology

The program will seek to address the needs of the whole child. A community partnership with the family, school and community will be formed to aid and support the student’s well-being and sense of security. The program will partner with university educational programs to provide trained, community educators who will conduct individualized tutoring for each of the children in the program. Upon entrance into the program, the students will be assessed to determine their academic proficiency and will be provided with an education plan. The program will feature field trips, travel to different universities and offer enrichment opportunities which will introduce and expose students to the larger world and future possibilities.

PHASE TWO: RESEARCH, PLANNING AND CONTACT

The Director(s) will hire staff members based on the research findings in the spring. They will explore engaging with the education departments at UNC and NCCU to recruit student volunteers who will receive academic credit for working with the program. Supplies will be purchased for the fall opening and contact will be made and maintained with the families of program participants. Student assessments will also be conducted for individualized learning plans. Enrichment and daily schedules will be developed during this time.
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PHASE THREE: IMPLEMENTATION AND REPORTING

The program will launch. Quarterly public progress reports will be developed and disseminated to the families and to the community at large with c

We are youth-led, elder informed, and dedicated to centering, exploring and sharing marginalized Black history in Chapel Hill. We range in age from middle school, high school, college and beyond. We are supported by the community and have made effective progress. View our projects and programs with the James Cates Scholars here: https://www.bridgingthegapdmh.org/copy-of-what-we-do

Summer 22 Project
Wood Panel
The James Cates Scholars Summer Institute 2022

What We Hope to Do with the James Cates Scholars this Summer: Our focus this summer is housing. This intergenerational exploration will focus on land acquisition in Chapel Hill and land loss. We hope to offer new insight into affordable housing by speaking with long term Chapel Hill residents to further understand the history of housing in our community. Additionally, we plan to share our findings with EmPOWERment Affordable Housing to assist them with their mission “to empower individuals and communities” with housing education.
Our program will run M-F from 9:00 - 1:00 from June 27th until July 15th

We are Learning
We are learning from experts in the field about Documenting, archiving, photo journalism, writing, and producing historical narrative and the Critical Oral History Process.

We are Partnering

We are working with local organizations such as Bikeworks and the Rogers Road RENA Center to learn more about our community and environment.
We are Listening

In addition to our oral history sessions on James Cates, led by community scholars, we are hosting listening sessions from experts in the field of documentary and archiving.
We are Producing

A community history archive will be made available online as well as in print at accessible community locations, such as Chapel Hill Public Library (CHPL) and local community centers serving historically Black neighborhoods to address the digital divide and accessibility to community archives.

We seek to develop A self-directed tour of relevant historic Black neighborhoods in Chapel Hill

An offering of episodes of Re/Collecting Chapel Hill local history podcast in collaboration with CHPL

A mini-documentary using the voices of project narrators, archival audio, and historic photographs.