e-Magine Initiative 2025 Summer - West Metro Chinese Church (WMCC)

Location
West Metro Chinese Church (3695 County Rd 101, Plymouth, MN 55446)
Admission
FREE
Event Details

Service Learning Project: Sankofa Food Justice Mapping and Storytelling Initiative
Trainees will engage in comprehensive training on Sankofa principles—the African concept of learning from the past to move forward—while developing critical digital AI literacy and social justice advocacy skills through Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping of North Minneapolis’ food ecosystem.
Trainees will create detailed, multilayered maps showcasing community gardens, food shelves, urban farms, and local food businesses documented in the NorthStar Registry, while simultaneously producing multimedia content for the Digest platform through video documentaries and podcast interviews that capture the oral histories and cultural significance behind each food sector.
Working with community food leaders and elders, youth will learn to analyze American Community Survey (ACS) data to create demographic layers that illustrate the socioeconomic realities of BIPOC communities across census tracts in zip codes 55411, 55412, and 55407, revealing patterns of food access, income distribution, and community assets. These data visualizations will be integrated into the broader Sankofa Map platform, creating a comprehensive digital archive that connects to the NorthStar Urban Farm & Food Digital Platform’s community directory and cultural preservation efforts.
This project empowers Trainees to become community researchers, data analysts, and storytellers while developing a powerful advocacy tool that documents both the challenges and resilience of North Minneapolis’ food system, ultimately supporting community-controlled economic development and food sovereignty through evidence-based mapping and culturally grounded narrative preservation.
Training Materials

Service Learning Project – Sankofa Introduction & State of AIs (June 16)

Generative AIs PART 1 – Writing and Generative AIs PART 2 – Image (June 17)

Generative AIs PART 3 – Graphic Design (June 23)

Service Learning Project – Sankofa Introduction & State of AIs (June 16)

Generative AIs PART 1 – Writing and Generative AIs PART 2 – Image (June 17)

Spatial Data Science & AI, PART 1: Introduction to GIS, Spatial Data Collection (June 18)
Spatial Data Science & AI GitHub Repository
250618Going with the Grains_ Food and Collective Power Across Continents

Spatial Data Science & AI, PART 2: Online Portals for Spatial Data (June 24)
Spatial Data Science & AI, PART 3: Spatial Data Management, Visualization, & Analysis I

Spatial Data Science & AI, PART 4: Spatial Data Management, Visualization, & Analysis II (June 26)

Project Discussion and Demos (June 30)

Maximizing the Exposure of AI Contents – Prompt Engraining and Canva 101 – please share infographics and Comic Strips and postcard design (July 03)
250703 Design to Nourish_ Canva 101 for Food Sector Storytelling