Lena Jackson (SocDoc '14) and Alex Melhuish (SocDoc '14) both received 2013-14 research grants from the University of California Center for New Racial Studies for their documentary projects.
Lena's project will explore the reconstitution of Los Angeles' Crenshaw High School as part of the broader trend of school closure and privatization underway in American public education as a whole. The decision faces concerted resistance from teachers, parents, students, organizers and community members who want to save a neighborhood institution from 'reforms' imposed unilaterally by the district.
Alex's project, 510 Flatlands, is an urban social documentary exploring the scars left from violent crime and engaging in the process of healing in the city of Oakland, California.