Obama Administration Funds Educational Video Game Starring 'Black Female Alien Superhero'
LatestWell, this is certainly some outside-the-box thinking. The federally-run National Endowment for the Arts has put $100,000 towards an experimental, informative video game out of the Spelman College of Atlanta called HERadventure, which takes on 2012’s “war on women” with a dystopian spin.
What would happen if the societal issues affecting women put other planets at risk? Well, of course, HER, a black female superhero, would swoop in with a plan to save the universe. HER is central to HERadventure, a science fiction-based, multimedia platform project that interweaves virtual worlds, digital and social media to create a gaming and storytelling experience. HERadventure not only entertains but tackles social issues that permeate the daily reality of many women.
HER enlists a corps of “superheroes in training” (HERadventure users) to take meaningful action and offer solutions to issues such as negative self-esteem, discrimination, eating disorders, and depression, which are causing women’s auras to suffer.
The game, which releases on March 8th, also uses Facebook and Twitter as gaming platforms. HERadventure is one of nine recipients of the NEA’s maximum grant. It was created by filmmaker and digital artist Ayoka Chenzira, Ph.D. (photo above), inspired by her attitude towards social issues at large: “What we do on Earth impacts the universe − not just pollution destroying the ozone layer, for example, but our thoughts and how we organize gender roles and social systems also have impact.”