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September 7, 2023Black History for a New Day Course Impact Report: The Ripple Effects
Community Transformation Starts with You
Justified Anger is a catalyst for justice and community transformation, but we know that this is deep and slow work that happens in individuals in order to change systems. Those who have attended the Justified Anger Black History for a New Day course tell us all of the time that they have been changed by the experience. But we want to keep evaluating what kind of impact this experience had on them personally and collectively in their local community?
The UW-Madison Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies conducted an evaluation of the Black History for a New Day course, focusing on impacts on past participants and the “ripple” effects of this for organizations and more broadly. We hope you are as encouraged as we are to hear about the change that you and other allies are making in the community. The release of our new report demonstrates Justified Anger’s vision of community and system transformation that interrupts cycles of poverty, racism, and discrimination. Now let’s keep growing and expanding the work. Dr. Gee’s call is to continue to “educate, donate, and affiliate.”
The true impact of this course is so much more than just learning the facts about history. We’ve seen people engage as allies in new ways in our community after taking this course. We’ve heard individual stories about personal transformation over the years. The Ripple Effects Mapping evaluation helps us to verify this anecdotal information in a scientific way that helps us confidently describe the amazing ways learning accurate history broadly impacts our community.
I was just elated, excited… try to teach the staff what we learned from the meeting before….
And so it’s just kind of exploded into more.”
– Focus Group Participant
What are Ripple Effects?
Ripple Effects Mapping (REM) is an evaluation approach that combines elements of one-to-one interviews, group interviewing, mind mapping, and qualitative data analysis that is often used to identify outcomes that go beyond individual-level outcomes.
Participants reported increases to their personal knowledge of Black history and awareness of issues affecting Black people. A majority of respondents indicated the course also impacted their behaviors or actions. Participants noted workplace efforts, impacts within their faith communities, and action within their “spheres of influence.” Join the info session to hear stories and specific impacts from the evaluation that will be sure to inspire you.
This article was written by Eli Steenlage with information from the Ripple Effects of Black History for a New Day Report.
