'Question Bridge' Project Inspires Dialogue Among African-American Men

The Question Bridge project, a multimedia art initiative meant to "represent and redefine Black male identity in America," has taken to Kickstarter with Question Bridge Interactive. Through the funding effort, the creators hope to expand their message by developing a multimedia online platform through which the project can go viral.

Question Bridge attempts to combat stereotypes and public misconceptions about African-American men by presenting a video dialogue among people of diverse socioeconomic, geographical, cultural, and religious backgrounds and ages.

This is how it works: Someone asks a question, particularly geared toward a demographic different from his own, and then a variety of men who feel addressed by that particular question answer back. This dialogue is all recorded on video, creating an engaging answer and response dynamic. The project has been featured at the Sundance Film Festival and a variety of museums across the United States. Its creators now want to make their project a social experience on the web.

Since its launch on June 10, the Kickstarter project had already been able to raise almost $19,000, at time of writing, and seeks to raise $68,000 by July 1. Hank Willis Thomas, the creator of the Kickstarter and one of Question Bridge's original artists, stated the official Question Bridge site would be set to launch nationally in January of 2014, if the funding effort proves successful.

The project would allow users to interact more comprehensively with the video interviews and statistics acquired by the creators. According to the project's Kickstarter page, the over 1,600 videos collected for the original video installation will be used to organize and customize the way you can explore the dialogue created by and among African-American men.

Hank Willis Thomas stated that, apart from developing the website, which would be mobile and tablet accessible, a mobile app is also in the works. This would open the project to more participants. "It's really important that our app allows people to get involved right away, and easily from their phones," Thomas explained.

Image courtesy of Question Bridge

Users would be able to interact with the project by finding specific videos through tags participants used to describe themselves, as well as through locations, themes, or age groups. These "themes and identity tags are completely user generated," Thomas explained. Furthermore, the project's Kickstarter page states that "visitors to the site will be able to cross-reference data in real time," and have access to information accumulated from archives and user uploads.

Various keywords and categories would be used in order to compile search-specific statistics that would reveal information about how African-American men from different backgrounds and cultures identify themselves. A planned map tool will also help visitors see how participants are distributed across the United States, according to particular search terms.

Image courtesy of Question Bridge

Ultimately, the creators of Question Bridge hope that their interactive platform will allow participants to shape and direct their own experiences with the project. Thomas and his fellow artists hope that the site and the mobile app will attract a variety of users that will "be able to share question and answer videos with their social networks, sparking important dialogues and broadening the conversation, ultimately furthering the ability for individuals across the country to engage."

Images courtesy of Question Bridge