How a Milwaukee college student is using Instagram to get people interested in Wisconsin history and social justice issues

A Milwaukee college student is helping get people — especially those her age — interested in learning more about Wisconsin's history, social justice issues and current events. 

How? She uses easily digestible graphics with "21st century lingo" to break down topics — like "Four baddies who have shaped Wisconsin's history," for example — then shares them on Instagram. 

Christina Boyd, a Jamaica native, has "always" had a passion for social justice. 

Around the time of the summer 2020 protests against racial injustice, she launched an Instagram account, Woke Wednesdays 414, to speak to what was going on.   

But instead of making her posts "reactionary," like many she was seeing, she said she wanted to help people understand why things were happening and give people an approachable way to learn more about her longtime home, Milwaukee. 

"There's just so much diversity within the areas and people," said Boyd, 22. "I just feel like that's something that, as I've been growing up here, I have been able to appreciate more."

Her first Instagram post, in June 2020, highlighted Milwaukee-area Black-owned businesses. 

She gave an example of a big business, then provided a local, Black-owned alternative — like swapping Starbucks with Manhattan Mocha, 7600 West Capitol Drive, and Famous Dave's with Heaven's Table BBQ, 2238 North Farwell Ave. 

The following post was about Juneteenth — which commemorates when Union Army soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, with the news that all slaves were free, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation — and promoted a Milwaukee celebration of it. Next came an explainer on "defund the police." 

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It's been well over a year since Boyd began posting bi-weekly to her Instagram blog, and she has no plans on stopping. 

"When I first started, I didn't know my niche would be Milwaukee," she said. "But then I found out there's a lot to Milwaukee that I do know and that I don't." 

How she decides what to educate people on

Boyd's posts are oftentimes inspired by her classes at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, current events, and conversations with people about issues in their neighborhoods. 

If there's a topic that's sticking with her, she goes with that. Otherwise, she consults a running list. She typically begins with something broad that piques her interest, then narrows it down through research. 

She compiles the information into a word document, then plans out what will be on each slide. 

"I always think, if I was in a classroom, what would be the best way for me to see this information?" she said. 

All of her posts include a resource slide to show where she got the information from. 

"I definitely encourage people to continue educating themselves about the topics and learning more about Milwaukee's history, whether it's the good or the bad," she said. 

To create the graphics, she uses Canva, Adobe Illustrator and Clip Art. 

When she first started the blog, she said she was happy when her posts would get 20 likes from family and friends. Since then, many have gotten hundreds of likes, and occasionally, over 1,000. And followers reach out to her with encouraging messages, she said. 

What "motivated" her to keep the account going was the reception she got from her post on a landlord who's notorious for evictions. 

"Once that (post) went out, it just spread like wildfire on Facebook and Instagram," Boyd said. "That's what really pushed me forward and propelled me. I was like, 'OK, I need to keep doing this because people are obviously listening or didn't know all of this stuff was going on.' "

A passion for social justice, future goals

Boyd has been passionate about these topics since she was a member of a social justice club at Brookfield East High School, where she graduated in 2017. 

One experience she had with the group still sticks with her to this day and even inspired one of her blog posts.

The club attended a screening of the "Milwaukee 53206" documentary, which chronicles the lives of people in the ZIP code with the highest incarceration rate among African-American males in the United States. 

Boyd said she was hooked from the moment the film started. And years later, she conducted research and created graphics about the ZIP code to share on Instagram. She said that's been one of the most meaningful posts she's done. 

Her other posts have focused on Milwaukee's STD ranking, segregation, Black LGBT pioneers, gentrification, food deserts, human trafficking and more. 

Boyd's Instagram work has also helped shape what she wants to do with her life. 

"I've been able to be creative, do the digital work and see the finished product and the process of making and researching everything," she said. "That's really helped me figure out what career path I wanted to take."

Boyd is studying marketing with an emphasis in digital marketing, and plans to graduate this December. In addition to the Instagram blog, she also does freelance social media work for a couple of Milwaukee businesses. 

Upon graduation, she hopes to land a job at a Milwaukee digital marketing agency. Her goal is to one day have her own. 

She also plans to continue growing Woke Wednesdays 414 and hopes it inspires educators to come up with more relatable approaches to teaching. 

Contact Hannah Kirby at hannah.kirby@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HannahHopeKirby.