Golden State Today

In UC Berkeley’s Social Sciences Building, the voice and likeness of Black slave poet George Moses Horton is being recreated with augmented reality. Berkeley alumnus Cecil Brown, a senior lecturer, is using artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) to bring Horton back to life, stating, “I wanted to transport people back to the Antebellum South, when Horton was alive, and to reclaim that era of Black history by retelling it in his own words.”

Brown's project received funding from Professor Cecil Giscombe and collaboration with the UC Berkeley XR Community of Practice. Chris Hoffman, operations director at the Forum for Collaborative Research at the Berkeley School of Public Health, worked with Brown to create an immersive exhibit about Horton, allowing users to interact with Horton's story through new media storytelling tools. Brown emphasized, “We are reclaiming our stories through his words and this digital manifestation of Horton.”

Berkeley faculty members Pablo Gonzalez and Harvey Dong are also at the forefront of innovative projects to bring hidden histories to light. Gonzalez, an ethnic studies lecturer, utilizes podcasts and AR to amplify the voices and histories of marginalized communities, stating, “There is no greater time to do this than now.” Meanwhile, Dong engages his students in history through podcasts and AR digital journals, aiming to make history come alive for them.

Waldo Martin, a professor at Berkeley, collaborated with his daughter Jetta Martin to write "Freedom! The story of the Black Panther Party," a youth-friendly narrative chapter book about the leaders of the Black Panther Party. Jetta approached the project by considering different ways to tell the story, incorporating personal experiences of the party members. Their book has received positive reviews and aims to humanize the Black Panther Party leaders while dispelling misconceptions about the organization.

Jetta Martin expressed the importance of presenting this history to a new generation, noting the parallels between past events and current social issues. She hopes their book will inspire young people to advocate for change, stating, “I hope a book like this can create that spark for young people to advocate for whatever it is that is their thing.”