We're a Culture, Not a Costume Campaign

As an African American female, growing up in the 'burbs presented me with several opportunities that other members of my culture did not have. But it also came with its own unique set of challenges and left me with a number of questions about why society worked the way it did. What does it really mean to be a minority? In what ways do people view us that are different than the ways in which we view ourselves? And what were are implications of these perceptions? Much of my life had been impacted by my racial status, and I had always yearned to unpack why. So in college, I joined a group called Students Teaching about Racism in Society (STARS), not only to be able to learn these answers for myself, but to have the opportunity to educate others about the complexity of these matters as well.

While in STARS, I created a campaign for Halloween called "We're a Culture, Not a Costume" to combat several incidences of racially-insensitive costume-donning on at my university. And not only was this campaign effective-- it went viral, appearing on hundreds of news news media networks (CNN, Huffington Post, TIME Magazine, and The Root, to name a few), was viewed over 30 million times on social media platforms worldwide, was featured in two books, and museums in both France and Canada. I cannot express how grateful I am to have been able to help create dialogue around this matter, because conversation is always the first step toward progress!

As covered by ABC: https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/10/ohio-university-students-hit-racist-halloween-costumes

As covered by CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2011/10/26/living/halloween-ethnic-costumes/index.html

As covered by Time Magazine: https://newsfeed.time.com/2011/10/26/were-not-a-costume-student-campaign-targets-racist-halloween-costumes/

As covered by Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-pacific-heart/201110/we-re-culture-not-costume-campaign

As covered by The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/10/30/culture-not-costume/

Key Skills: Project Management, Art Direction, Graphic Design, Personnel Management/Coordination, Copywriting, Public Speaking