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Rev. Malika Leigh Whitney and Double Dutch Dreamz
Caption: Reverend Malika Lee Whitney describes Double Dutch Dreamz, an intergenerational space for play and learning.
When she was growing up in Harlem in the 1940s, Reverend Malika Lee Whitney played a lot of street games, like hopscotch, jacks, stick ball, and stoop ball. But she loved jumping Double Dutch the most.
Today, Reverend Whitney leads Double Dutch Dreamz, a program she founded in Harlem in 2008. Double Dutch Dreamz promotes cooperative learning through games. Participants write Double Dutch rhymes about racism, sexism, and other issues in their community—learning about history and systems of oppression as they move.
The group jumps Double Dutch in public events and at a variety of educational settings. Reverend Whitney hopes to reintegrate this form of play into children’s lives and learning.
Date: December 2019
Creator: The Grandparents Storylab
Source: The Grandparents Storylab
Source link: https://www.thegrandparentsstorylab.org/double-dutch-dreamz
Copyright: Under copyright. Used with permission.
How to cite: “Rev. Malika Leigh Whitney and Double Dutch Dreamz,” The Grandparents Storylab, in New York City Civil Rights History Project, Accessed: [Month Day, Year], https://nyccivilrightshistory.org/gallery/rev-malika-leigh-whitney.
- Is Double Dutch Dreamz an example of educational activism? Why or why not?
- Why does Reverend Malika Lee Whitney think that Double Dutch is the ideal method for teaching youth about social justice?
- What role does joy play in Rev. Whitney’s work?
- What space for joyful play would you like to have in your school, neighborhood, or community?