Happy New Year!
On behalf of Media Make Change, I'd like to wish everyone a happy 2012! We're excited to begin this year with brand new projects in the pipeline.
The Beyond the Bricks Media Literacy Program will begin at the end of this month in Harlem, New York City. This past December, we held a focus group with several young 'black' men in Harlem. We were pleased by the positive feedback we received about the curriculum overall. The young men were enthusiastic about the program that offers them the space to interrogate images of 'black' males in mainstream media, and allows them the opportunity to produce their own work in response. Media Make Change and the Beyond the Bricks Project are looking forward to the amazing projects that will surely come from some of our brightest young men in the nation. Stick around, there's much more to come!
Beginning in February 2012, the Media Make Change website will have a distinct new look. Since our inception, we've made some significant organizational changes in hopes to broaden our reach into various communities. Working with the Beyond the Bricks project is just the beginning of where MMC plans to go in the new year with curriculum and professional development, as well as digital media production.
Speaking of new digital media production projects, I will be launching my first podcast in February entitled Disaster Narratives. Disaster Narrative Podcast will feature stories from disaster-affected people from around the world. My hope is that through these stories we can reflect on our own humanity. I look forward to documenting and listening to the stories of struggle and triumph from everyday people, living everyday lives. In the meantime, if you or someone you know would like to share your story about disaster in whatever context, please email mediamakechange [at] gmail [dot] com. Stay tuned!
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Introducing The Board!
Media Make Change is proud to announce its newest Board of Directors! Not sure how we did it, but we successfully managed to bring together some of the brightest and most innovative minds of snew media and non-profit management. So, without further ado . . .
First up is Joseph Perez, an IT Specialist and one of the first to join our board. Joe played a major role in developing the MMC website, along with our Executive Director, Trina Chiasson. I'm continually amazed by his talent and dedication to MMC. I encourage everyone to read about Joe's impressive background in the IT Industry and with Open Source technology in the Board section of our website.
Next, is Nathan Havey, a new media and political campaign strategist who has worked on major campaigns in Denver, LA, D.C., and Boston. Nathan and I met at Brave New Films, where we single-handedly ruled the world of Communications, at the Associate level! Aside from being incredibly smart with a unique ability to problem solve using his imagination and creative genius, he's also a person with a tremendous amount of integrity, and he is a wonderful friend. Oh, plus he takes a really awesome picture behind a Macbook Pro.
Aisha Mohamedi Richard is an attorney in New York City who used to teach law and advocacy to teens in Baltimore City. She's a wonderfully gifted woman dedicated to her work and serving the communities around her. I met and connected with Aisha on Twitter this year, and I've kept up with her night court tweets about the criminal justice system, flirty male lawyers, and grumpy judges. She's incredibly insightful about issues concerning women/human rights and issues relating to communities of color.
Myra Donnelley is currently the Director of Development for Brave New Films. Myra's knowledge about non-profit management, fundraising, grant writing, etc., is second-to-none. When I thought about starting a media justice non-profit, Myra was the first person I consulted. Even while working with Myra at Brave New Films, I was always in awe of her dedication to community development, education, and media advocacy. She is a walking, talking resource library of foundation and non-profit information. Myra is a wonderful woman and friend who thankfully kept in touch with me on Facebook after I moved away from Los Angeles.
Finally, Jose Vilson is an educator in the New York City public school system, he's also a poet, writer, and popular blogger. His work with youth is no less than admirable. He is dedicated and passionate about education and using the written word to empower communities. He's also a techy like many of us here. His knowledge about social and new media technology/methods will be invaluable as we continue to develop MMC. Jose and I met a few years back on one of the social networking sites - I think Facebook? I quickly learned that even in social networks, it's a very small world. I found out that Jose (a native New Yorkah) is friend's with a childhood friend of mine (from Ohio), of whom he met by way of a popular African-American blogging site! Did you get that?
Check out Jose's website and blog at http://thejosevilson.com.
There you have it! If you want to know more about these wonderful folks (and we just know you do!), please check out Media Make Change's About/Board page.