Mascot politics, public pedagogy, and social movements: Alternative media as a context for critical media literacy

Abstract

Within the culture of central Illinois, mascot politics has been a hugely contentious issue. Since 1926, the university employed the use of the fabricated 'Chief' Illiniwek to motivate and entertain fans at athletic events. Since the late 1980s, Native American students began a campaign to end this 'tradition'. This article examines the critical narratives of independent media producers who utilized a variety of public art forms to contest and help to finally eliminate this racist practice. Their narratives illuminate the strategic role of public pedagogy in the process of social struggle and provide an example of how the production of alternative media content can be critically appropriated in ways that help mobilize, sustain, and build collective actions for social justice.