MEDIA MAKE CHANGE Remembers Joshua C. Watson
It is with a heavy heart that we share the devastating news about the passing of Joshua C. Watson. Josh was an inaugural fellow of the 2012 Community Producers Program that MEDIA MAKE CHANGE co-authored with the Beyond the Bricks Project. He was known as one of the most brightest fellows in his Atlanta cohort. Josh is shown in the video below speaking proudly about his work and his hopes for the future. We learned yesterday that Josh was victim of an apparent robbery while walking home from work. He was murdered on Christmas Eve.
From the Beyond the Bricks producers, Derek Koen and Ouida Washington:
18 year old Joshua C. Watson, one of the young men that graduated this past June from the first cohort of Beyond The Bricks Community Producers Program, was murdered in Atlanta, GA December 24, 2012, robbed on his way home from work. I had the pleasure of meeting Josh in person once, I spoke with him a few times over Skype and we awarded him with a certificate for his dedication to the program. The entire BTBP team was horrified to hear the news that yet another young person with so much promise and potential was taken away forever. Josh was the result of hard work, sacrifice and love by a community of people; evident by the way he presented himself to the world. We here at Beyond The Bricks Project struggle to make the message clear, we ALL have a role and duty to give ALL our children brighter futures and the chance to live their life the best way possible. Senseless violence that we see almost daily in news headlines, in our communities and in our schools is destroying this country. In the life of Josh, lest we forget that too much has already been lost.
If the person who took Joshua from this earth can some how come across this message, I would like you to know that this is not acceptable you deserve to be punished and you are redeemable. To you all, we would like to introduce you to Joshua C. Watson.
We share the sentiments expressed by the BTBP team. The news of Josh's death only strengthens our desire to ensure the work that we do at MEDIA MAKE CHANGE benefits young people like Joshua Watson. He was an inspiration, shining light, and a gift to us all. We would like to send condolences to the Watson family and express our deepest sympathies to anyone who had the pleasure of befriending Joshua during his short eighteen years on earth.
You can pay tribute to Josh's memory on RIP Joshua C. Watson Facebeook page made in his honor.
Community Producers Program is Thriving!
A few months ago Media Make Change partnered with the Beyond the Bricks Project to create a comprehensive media literacy program that serves young Black males. The Community Producers Program is a four-month course that invites young Black males to interrogate media images and subsequently create their own stories using digital media technology. We're elated to report that the program, now in it's second month, is thriving. Take a look at the new campaign video featuring several young men currently enrolled in the program at Teachers College, Columbia University--a sponsoring university.
We encourage you to donate to the summer fellowship program, an extension of the Community Producers Program, so the young men can continue to produce awe-inspiring work. If you are unable to donate, then please consider spreading the word to your various networks and encourage family, friends, and co-workers to contribute to this project.
On behalf of Media Make Change, I want to thank all of those involved in creating this program from the ground up, including Derek Koen, Ouida Washington, Dana Salter, Nisaa Ali, Bianca Baldridge, and Jose Vilson. I'm overjoyed and proud to have been a part of this project with all of you.
Interested in working with and/or contributing to Media Make Change? Contact us directly at mediamakechange [at] gmail [dot] com.
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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Media Make Change Partners with Beyond the Bricks Project!
We are excited to announce that Media Make Change has partnered up with the Beyond the Bricks Project to create a dynamic media literacy curriculum for the Community Producers Program (CPP)! The CPP curriculum will be be comprised of a 4-month media literacy program that serves young African-American men and boys in urban cities around the United States, including Harlem, Newark, Baltimore, and other cities to be added soon. The goal of the curriculum is to build life skills & self efficacy, and to engage in community advocacy by countering negative images of black males through multimedia and film analysis and production.
The project is inspired by the Beyond the Bricks film, a 2009 documentary that follows African-American students Shaquiel Ingram and Erick Graham as they struggle to stay on track in the Newark, NJ public school system (IMDB). Some key features in the documentary include the Reverend Al Sharpton of the National Action Network, John H. Jackson, president of the Schott Foundation, and Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Cory Booker.
Trailer
The Community Producers Program will begin in January 2012 with the official curriculum set to be completed by early fall of 2011. Stay with us at Media Make Change for more updates about the curriculum and the Community Producers Program with the Beyond the Bricks Project
For more information about the Beyond the Bricks project, please visit http://www.beyondthebricksproject.com/
For more information on how to donate media equipment or funds, and to partner with Media Make Change (no longer a non-profit entity but a start-up LLC), please email tara (at) mediamakechange (dot) org.