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.
MMC Partners with Harlem Scholars for 1-Day Workshop!
Harlem Scholars Program at The City College of New York
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NEW YORK CITY - Media Make Change will host a 1-day workshop this Saturday March 31st at City College with high school students from Frederick Douglass Academy. MMC is excited to collaborate with the Harlem Scholars Saturday Institute and their college readiness program. We will work with students and guide them on how to use social media and blogging tools to spread awareness about topics relating college prep. Students will produce media according to the following college readiness topics:
- Increase cost of attending college
- Minority faculty/professors on college campuses
- Retention and graduation rates of minority students
- Student services and career development
- Campus organizations
- Relationship between school and school athletics
- College ties with the community
As part of an interactive workshop, students will be invited to post teams blog here on Media Speaks! about one of college readiness topics above. MMC has hosted interactive workshops in the past. In 2009 our team went to Detroit and presented an interactive workshop on Social Media for Social Justice (you can check out the photos from Allied '09 on our Facebook page).
We encourage our online community to get involved. If you'll be on Twitter this Saturday morning from 9AM to 11AM, follow us at @mediamakechange and use the hashtag #MMCHarlemscholars for up-to-date tweets from the event. Students will also be using their smart phones and computers to live-tweet projects as they post to Media Speaks! We also encourage HBCUs that are on Twitter to be involved in the conversation. Some of these students might be headed toward an HBCU very soon, and what better way to engage them while they're researching colleges than through Twitter!
See you on Saturday!
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!
Don't forget to like us on Facebook!
Keep Watching Vo. 2: Police Pepper Spray Protesters
Police officers pepper spray UC Davis students with countless digital recording devices capturing the event. Digital counter surveillance--namely what we see happening as protesters become citizen journalists by turning digital cameras on the system that is meant to protect them, can arguably be seen as a tactic of the #OWS movement. Time will only tell if, in fact, these are tactics of the movement that can work to transform policies in the long run. In the meantime, keep watching.
"A police officer uses pepper spray on an Occupy Portland protester at Pioneer Courthouse Square, Oregon" (via The Guardian).
Video of UC Davis students being pepper sprayed by the police.
Keep Watching #OWS
"What's happening right now in downtown Manhattan would look DRASTICALLY different if there weren't 20,000+ eyes watching via #tech #OWS" - @taralconley (November 15, 2011).
Whatever your view is of the Occupy Wall Street movement, one thing's for sure, lots of folks are paying attention via new media communication technologies. Keep watching.
Follow @TheOther99
Follow @OccupyWallStreet