This activity is itself an example of Friere's notion of shared "knowledge construction." In this assignment, the teacher functions as a "problem poser," asking her students to use their "experiences and knowledge as a means to produce generative themes" (Parmar 30). In this case, the theme is the ways in which media shapes collective memory.
9/11 transformed the United States' self-concept for my generation. We were raised to see ourselves as the strongest country in the world, politically, militarily and commercially. 9/11 rendered us helpless at the hands of terrorists, politically, militarily and commercially.

For many teenagers in the early 1980s, the Cold War was a terrifying, looming reality. Popular movies like War Games and The Hunt for Red October reflected the pervasiveness of this paranoia, but the made for t.v. movie The Day After was different. To see movies, you had no choice but to travel to a theater and spend money, but this movie played in our own homes for free.

We were terrified by the movie's realistic portrayal of death by radiation sickness, and nuclear winter - two concepts that had not yet been represented in popular film, but which everyone feared.

In 1989, student protests in Tiananmen Square in communist China were encapsulated by this one image of a single student facing down 4 tanks. American media loved this photo because it represented the power of the individual to stare down an oppressive, communist government. While we were seeing a China we'd never seen before thanks to the evolution of news media, the images were still "mediated" for us by the selectivity and frequency of the images broadcast (Watson 111). No one knows what happened to the protester.

The fall of the Berlin Wall, along with the events in Tiananmen Square, shaped America's image of communism's demise. The fact that the destruction of the Berlin Wall was a peaceful event, was remarkable. As with Tiananmen square, the media served as "gatekeeper" (Watson 111) - showing images of the impotent Communists at the hands of civilians calling for democracy.

Yet another oppressive government, Apartheid South Africa, also began to crumble at this time. After 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela was released. This picture, with Mandela looking happy and healthy before thousands of supporters of all colors, drove home the message that, once again, freedom, like that which we have in America, eventually conquers oppression.

CNN's footage of the opening moments of the Gulf War marked the beginning of serious cable news coverage. For the first time, we were watching live, relatively unedited footage of a U.S. attack on Baghdad. The images were grainy and appeared to be shot through a night vision lens, but it played in the media as a show of "military might" for all the world to see.

Cameras were not allowed in courtrooms before the early 1990s and after the O.J. Simpson trial, many courts again banned photography. During the "Trial of the Century," cameras captured virtually every moment of the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Images like this one, painted biased portraits of every player. In this picture, Simpson tries to show that the famous "black glove" from the crime scene doesn't fit, but the apparent smirk on his face was what most people remembered.

Cameras were not allowed in courtrooms before the early 1990s, and after the O.J. Simpson trial, many courts again banned photography. During the "Trial of the Century," images like this one painted biased portraits of every player. In this picture, Simpson tries to show that the famous "black glove" from the crime scene doesn't fit, but the apparent smirk on his face was what the media emphasized.

After the Rodney King verdict, America watched the L.A. Riots on television. Stores were looted, buildings were burned, and people were beaten. When this photo was taken, police had been outnumbered and had withdrawn from the neighborhood. Reginald Denny, a white trucker, lay motionless after being pulled from his truck and beaten by several black men - on live television.
This image of a black man dancing and flipping off the helicopter camera contributed to the polarization of the riots as a black-white binary. Images like this cemented one side of the story - black anger - and minimized the cause of the anger - racial injustice in America.

Charles Porter won the Pulitzer Prize for this photograph of firefighter Chris Fields holding, then still-living Baylee Almon, an infant who would later be one of the 168 victims of the Oklahoma City Baombing. The men who bombed the building did so on the 2nd anniversary of the standoff at Ruby Ridge, which the bombers believed had been mishandled by the government.
Images of dead and injured children from building's child care center flooded the media, amplifying the utter depravity of the bombers.

In 2000, Elian Gonzales and his mother defected from Cuba. The mother drowned on the journey and Elias was placed with relatives in Florida. When Elian's Cuban father demanded the return of his son, a heated battle between democracy and communism ensued. When the relatives refused to return the child, border patrol guards had to take him by force. Most photos painted Castro as the enemy, but this photo complicated the conversation making the U.S. look like the enemy.

Most of America watched in horror as the first building was hit, and most watched in disbelief as the second tower was hit. Then the pentagon, then a plane headed for the White House. Was this war? Where would the next disaster occur? The terrorists chose the symbols that day. For the first time since Pearl Harbor, America was being attacked not just at home, but at the very institutions that shape our government and our economy.

Most of America watched in horror as the first building was hit, and most watched in disbelief as the second tower was hit. Then the pentagon, then a plane headed for the White House. Was this war? Where would the next disaster occur? The terrorists chose the symbols that day. For the first time since Pearl Harbor, America was being attacked not just at home, but at the very institutions that shape our government and our economy.

Once the initial shock of the explosions sunk in, the buildings crumbled, sending debris out in every direction. People who were not near ground zero, found themselves running for cover from the massive smoke plumes barreling down the city streets.

Once the initial shock of the explosions sunk in, the buildings crumbled, sending debris out in every direction. People who were not near ground zero, found themselves running for cover from the massive smoke plumes barreling down the city streets.

The horrors of 9/11 ushered in a new era in detention. People could now be held indefinitely if they were believed to be a threat to homeland security. In several dehumanizing acts, American soldiers at Abu Graib prison tortured and humiliated prisoners and photographed themselves smiling and otherwise celebrating their depravity. Images like this one forced many Americans to take a good hard look at the so-called "War on Terror." For many, these photos confirmed speculations of abuse.