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To: Professor Joy McDonald

From: Mariana Bradley, Kayla Cosby, Khalil Gary, Jillian Kentish, Malani Tate-DeFreitas,

Dejah Tinney

Date: April 14, 2017

Subject: Project Assessment Memo, Eng 102-11

The process for this poster series project took diligence and time to construct. The topic was
chosen fairly, and as a collective we had to make sure that the topic that we chose provided
enough evidence and information to suffice. As a group, we also wanted to make sure we were
all passionate enough about the subject so enough information and illustrations could be
provided. After a fifteen minute deliberation, we chose Police Brutality. The theme of this
project discussed and portrayed the effects of police brutality and what solutions can be
proposed to minimize the issue. After much deliberation, Mariana Bradley and Dejah Tinneys
sketches were selected to be illustrated in the poster series, both electronically and visually.
Malani Tate-DeFreitas took the time to create a colorful, electronic poster which showcased the
names of the victims in various font sizes and colors. She headlined the electronic poster with
the title reading, Stop Police Brutality with a size fifty-five font, which properly branded
the topic of our presentation. Malani also made sure to include the photos of several victims
and also included a quote from Al-Sharpton, which showcased a fairly large font size as well to
upsize the level of importance. The colors of red, white, and blue were chosen to symbolize
patriotism and power. These colors are also used to stand out and catch the attention of the
audience similar to the lights of a police vehicle. Where if sirens and lights of red, white, and
blue are seen it means stop or warning. The background of the electronic poster illustrated a
photo of a police officer which dated back to the Harlem Riots in 1964, and she correlated that
event with an overlapping statistic of 2016. This literature medium showed a correlation of
events between the millennial time period and the pre-segregation period. Malani added this
element of paradox purposely to tell a story about the major difference of time periods as police
brutality continues to be an ongoing issue.

On the other hand, Mariana Bradley created the second poster manually. Instead of a poster
board, Dejah cut a cardboard box and Mariana used it to display what she sketched. The board
was titled, Protect and Serve? which is the official motto for police officers. With our topic
being police brutality, the question mark is in the title because in reality all officers are not
living by that motto. The question mark also symbolizes the questions and concerns of the
families of the victims and the American people who are also indirectly affected by this issue.
The creative idea of the board is for it to look like an FBI display board, connecting pictures of
the victims of police brutality with thumbtacks and string. The string connects them all together
showing how they are all related in some way. As a group, we decided to choose specific colors
that would successfully represent our topic. The title across the top which was Protect and
Serve? was intentionally bolded and each word corresponded with the standard colors for
police lighting. Red, white and blue symbolizes patriotism and love for the people who reside.
The most popular police lighting used in the US is red and blue. Besides red and blue, many
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agencies across the US also use white light to offset their red and blue police lights (Extreme
Tactical Dynamics). Dejah also came up with another idea for the poster to add some creative
elements. Caution tape was used as a border to signify the usual process that usually takes place
when identifying a hazardous situation. In most cases, innocent African American men are
killed and the caution tape again displays irony against the red, white and blue colors. Dejah
came up with four main questions people have had about police brutality; what is it, who is
affected, how can we prevent it, and why is it happening? Mariana decided that she was going
to take the responsibility of using Dejahs ideas to create the poster board and providing
possible solutions to the topic. With the help of everyone in the group, we all came up with
proper ways to alleviate the big problem, which was provided in the tangible poster.
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Works Cited

"Body Cameras' Value Enhanced by Good Policy." America's News. The Press-Enterprise, 04

Nov. 2016. Web. 09 Nov. 2016. < http://infoweb.newsbank.com>

Danilina, S. "What Is Police Brutality?" The Law Dictionary. The Law Dictionary, n.d. Web. 11

Apr. 2017. <http://thelawdictionary.org>

"Shadows That Shine on WordPress.com." Shadows That Shine. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

<https://philochsthing.wordpress.com/page/3/>. Harlem Riots 1964

Olsen, Eric. "Birthday thoughts about the deaths of black men and women at the hands of

police." Medium. N.p., 13 Aug. 2016. Web. 12 Apr. 2017. Police Brutality Victims

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