Students will launch the project by examining archival evidence of Black resistance, listening to organizers describe present-day needs, and rapidly prototyping an ethical history-to-action tool with peer and CUP mentor feedback.

Students will listen to organizers, test assumptions against firsthand evidence, investigate relevant Black resistance traditions, and create an evidence-traceable empathy artifact and historical comparison that will guide later problem framing.

Students will synthesize organizer evidence with archival, historical, and literary research to define a meaningful user need, establish ethical design criteria, and produce a partner-validated design brief that preserves differences between historical and contemporary contexts.

Students will generate, compare, and justify multiple tool concepts using organizer evidence and prior historical research, then construct a low-fidelity prototype with contextualized case studies, planning prompts, and meaningful user choices. They will apply accessibility and ethical technology principles, consult CUP design mentors, complete structured peer critique, and pass a rubric-based prototype gate before user testing.

Students will test prototypes with organizers and representative users, complete two evidence-based revision cycles, verify historical accuracy with Schomburg archival materials, and examine accessibility and ethical design with guidance from CUP mentors. Teams will document feedback, compare prototype versions, analyze technology benefits and harms, and prepare a stakeholder-facing presentation for the final showcase.

Students will rehearse an evidence-based presentation, demonstrate their organizing tool to community partners, gather authentic feedback, complete final revisions, and defend their learning through a rubric-based reflection conference and partner handoff.