Idea Submission GiveBackHack 2020

The P.A.L Project Submitted by Yayra Tamakloe

What is the problem are you solving?

Holistic health, education and development usually involves a collaboration with both external and internal factors within the communities and the people that are meant to be served. This also means taking into consideration the culture, which is the vehicle, which drives the people in those communities. According to the UN World Social Report, the world is far from giving all people and groups the same opportunity to live a healthy and prosperous life and in 2013, UN understood the importance of particularly intangible cultural heritage and had a conference circled around how it could be safeguarded.Yet still, currently there is limited availability & accessibility to Pan-African cultural education particularly in the diaspora, due to a lack of properly documented and easily accessible cultural content.​

As a person born in Africa living in America, I've seen and continue to see this problem manifest on both parts of the world. Some observations to prove this problem show how:

1) Many Pan-African countries that were western colonies still use western systems of education, which have limited information about the cultures of the people they are supposed to serve (I was educated in such a system).
2) Black people in western communities, who are most likely the minority, are educated within systems that do not provide adequate resources addressing their specific cultural needs.
3)The after-effects of colonization and slavery forced many black people to assimilate to western systems, losing valuable cultural information, in order to survive.
4)Until very recently, content for the Black child did not represent Blackness and this lack of relatable representation has been shown to affect the development of the child by pushing the ideal as "whiteness" as superior.

Unfortunately, if nothing is done to rectify this lack of representation and cultural education, much of the cultures of these diverse populations will be lost and with it, our sense of self.

How will this idea solve the problem?

​The P.A.L Project (Pan African Library) is a project that strives to promote cultural literacy for people of African descent. P.A.L is not just a project, it is a movement with the purpose to collect, curate and share with the world; particularly the Pan-African community, cultural content from the diverse black populations of the world.
Africans have used audio-visual media throughout our history. This means most of our history has been recorded in our music, linguists, poetry, adages, proverbs etc(audio) and dance, drumming, dress etc (visual). With historical occurrences such as slavery and colonization however, many of these cultures have been stripped from its people; who in some cases, have had to assimilate to survive.
Nonetheless some components of these cultures still exist and with the technological age, it is imperative that accessibility be associated with technology. By digitizing in an educational, accurate yet informative way; through the use of web domains, apps and other forms of media, the project will make cultural content easily accessible to black people all over the world. Thus enabling the preservation of what is left of black culture worldwide while encouraging global education within the Pan-African community and the world as a whole.​

Is this idea brand new or has it been partially-vetted?

Brand New

Why are YOU uniquely positioned to solve the problem? What other people do you need to help?

I am a visionary who puts in the work to bring to fruition things people do not see. I have a trail of evidence which includes starting the now 5-years-running FOA(Face Of Africa) Pageant at Kent State University as a way to celebrate the African culture in the Kent community. I also created an annual student-centered survey for the College of Arts when I was student government senator. I am the first fashion student to get a $2000 grant to produce and direct an original play on sexual abuse in the School of Theatre and Dance.
Since last year, I have worked closely with various professors in the departments of Library Sciences, Pan-African Studies, Lifespan Psychology as well as LaunchNet to steer this project. Despite the pandemic, I have also been able to collaborate with individuals from Ghana, Nigeria, Tobago, Senegal and America to tell and produce these stories now on a YouTube channel ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwS_8BomgDQ ). These are a few examples to show my habit of going against the grain. As an artist, an activist, a leader, a queer black woman, immigrant and a scholar, I always have to think outside the box to represent these parts of me accordingly.
I am certain many people do not think of cultural literacy as an avenue that needs exploring however, I see the endless opportunities as well as the positive domino effect embarking on this project will have for not just black people, but the world. I belong to the group of people I am trying to work for, I see beyond the obvious and I have a knack for getting the job done. Therefore this puts me in the position to deliver this project efficiently.