An Interview with Ra’mya Davis
Ra’mya Davis is designing a curriculum to teach African and African American history and culture. She is a senior at Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School in Washington, DC. When not designing for social change, Ra’mya can be found creating through writing – be it poetry, or brainstorming scenes and ideas for movies.
What inspired you to focus on African and African American History?
In 8th grade, I asked a few of my peers if they had any knowledge of the Algiers Motel incident of 1967. They all said no. The Algiers Motel incident of 1967 happened during a time of riots in Detroit in response to police brutality. This is one of far too many examples of police harming and killing Black people, and not being held accountable.
You can’t begin to truly understand the history of the United States without being knowledgeable about African and African American History. Discussions held in school about certain historical topics about African Americans that were either unheard of, or not detailed enough, inspired me to tackle this project. African American history is deeply important to me because especially during these unprecedented times of 2021, it is an opportunity to fix a lot of wrongdoing in the U.S.
Realizing the gaps in the history you had been learning, you set out to design a curriculum filled with content that you hope, eventually, every young person in the United States will have the chance to learn. Tell me more about what you have designed.
My venture is to create an African and African American curriculum that will be implemented into all school districts across the US but I am first targeting DC.
Last year during the pandemic I was able to create a lesson plan on the Harlem Renaissance and shared it with more than two educators to test out in their classrooms. I got great feedback indicating the lesson was fun and students learned from it.
I created and hosted a film discussion about Judas and The Black Messiah to create a safe and interactive space for my peers to learn about Fred Hampton, the Chicago Chapter of the Black Panther Party, and overall Black Panther Party and its contributions. I had five guest speakers tell their unique connections to the Black Panthers and how they viewed the movie.
Lastly, my final success I will share is that I co-created a class that connects to my school’s organization called Pathways 2 Power. Pathways 2 Power is a student-led initiative that started off advocating for the end of gun violence in our city DC but with the creative and passionate minds of TMA warriors each year we contribute to addressing many more issues such as police brutality, racial justice, safe passage, mental health, etc. I will be co-teaching the Pathways 2 Power course for the spring semester at my school.
Congratulations on your successes so far! What is next?
I will be a first-generation college student! I am excited to explore a new place and learn more about myself. While maintaining good grades I hope to continue to make more connections, as I am now. Whatever part of the US I spend my next four years of school at I will do a lot of research on the area’s black history and culture to build a collection of information I can use for my curriculum.
I currently have 7 college acceptances and $63,000 worth of merit-based scholarships so far! I am proud of what I have accomplished in life thus far and can’t wait to see what else I do in the near future. Every day I am doing what I can to enjoy life to the fullest because that’s all I can do while I am on earth creating new futures.
How has being part of LearnServe shaped the way you approach your work, or see the world?
LearnServe helped me learn the business side of shaping the world. I also learned that everything I do for creating sustainable change will be at least 98% non-profit just because the best things in life are free!
What advice do you have for LearnServe students or other young social entrepreneurs who are just starting out?
Make sure you are truly passionate in what you create and never forget the helping cause that made you create the product in the first place.
Thank you for sharing these words of wisdom and encouragement! I’d like to conclude by asking you what keeps you inspired and grounded in this work.
Three words: “I AM A REVOLUTIONARY!” by the late great Fred Hampton.