South Bronx Community Charter High School: Design Your Future

SBCCHS asks its students to “Skill up. Design your future. Be EPIC.” We explored Afrofuturism, imagining a tomorrow built on the foundation of today.

The mural wall is divided in two by a column. The left side represents the vibrant present-day urban landscape students call home—buildings along the Grand Concourse, Yankee stadium, a tiger to represent the Bronx Zoo. Students are well aware of homelessness and poverty, so there is an acknowledgement of those issues with the one crumbling building.

The right side represents the future. A phoenix, symbol of resilience, takes flight into a world filled with futuristic buildings and flying transportation. The future is exemplified by a student’s crown of planets and stars commemorating her mastery of STEM and her exploration of the universe.

In the word “COMMUNITY,” the “I” becomes a tree of knowledge flourishing in a lush green garden. Students work together to reach its fruit. The different flowers echo the diversity of the school.

At the center of the mural is the new school, a launch pad for the student springing into the future. He is ready to receive the ball being passed on to him from the present, represented by Kevin, a student and a leader in the SBC community who tragically passed away in 2020. The fire of the South Bronx sun is reiterated in the basketball, as well as the phoenix, and the crown of the student on the far-right. That fire—energy and passion—is carried throughout students’ journeys, from the Bronx to the beyond.