FORWARDEVER MEDIA CENTER
Writer Alex
Haley writing The Autobiography of Malcolm X with Brother Malcolm.
"The
media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make
the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power.
Because they control the minds of the masses."
- Malcolm X
Mission
The Forwardever Media Center is 100% committed to providing unconventional writing workshops and media literacy training to "at-risk" Black youth, particularly males, ages 14 through 24. Working in partnership with The Mentoring Center in Oakland, CA., the Center's writing workshops, website internship, and film forums, help students develop critical thinking skills and discover their creative talents. We recruit youth for our programs from the California Youth Authority (the state's largest prison for youth) as well as from universities and high schools. This cross-pollination of young minds creates dynamic shared experiences.
Programs
Whatchusay Cinema–A monthly film forum hosted at schools or community centers in Northern California that explores issues such as race, class, gender, and society. Students are joined by a panel of activists, educators, athletes, entrepreneurs, etc. to rate the films and convene roundtable discussions about corresponding relevant issues in society. For info about film screenings and schedules contact: cheo@whatchusay.com
Writing Workshops–We offer intensive seminars in journalism, creative writing, cultural criticism, new media, film production, etc. These seminars are taught at the center, located at 1224 Preservation Park, Oakland, CA, 94612. They are also available on location, at schools, community and detention centers, churches, etc. For info about class schedules contact: cheo@whatchusay.com
Internships–Whatchusay.com offers competitive internships to young writers who have clearly demonstrated a passion for the craft of writing or media production. The 3-month internship covers news writing and reporting, feature writing, creative writing, media literacy and new media. Working in partnership with community based organizations, universities and international and national media outlets, we produce a pipeline of informed journalists of color who will go on to create their own independent media organizations or work for major media organizations.
More...« Message to Bush: Bagdad is in New Orleans | Main | Katrina Offers Glimpse of "Slave Foremen" Leadership »
Slingshot: On New Orleans
Like you, I'm reading all of the latest reports about the crisis in New Orleans and thinking why, oh why, do African people in America, generation after generation, remain powerless in this country? Now don't get me wrong, this is not another bitter indictment of "the man" or "the system." It is just a quizzical observation. We all know the facts. Bush admited he was slow to react, but why? Is it that the city under seige was comprised of 70% people of African descent? Is it that these folk were mostly the service-industry poor who made their livings waiting tables, washing dishes, cooking meals, tending bars, dumping trash, or entertaining all the tourists that frolick in New Orleans? Or maybe it's because they were the lonely ones -- the sad people who walk the streets, drug-addicted and homeless. Maybe the powers-that-be were slow to react because, well because they could.
The thing that gets to me most is the space Black people occupy in this country. For most of us, it's a fantasy island filled with middle-class illusions. A sparkle-a-minute bling-bling bonanza where we are so anesthesized by consumerism and our own ahistorical sense of self, that when events like this happen we react like Cinderella at the stroke of midnight. We were told about the limitation of our existence before the dance and then given a long leash...So if you ain't got no real power from jump, how you gonna get mad?
Politically-minded entertainers like Kanye West or Michael Moore step up and speak their minds about their outrage but at then end of the day, its because they have the power to do so. Does what they say put more power in the hands of the dispossessed? Does all of this week-late quarterbacking really change a damn thing for the powerless? You guessed it. So even though I have my own ideas about how to grab the power we need in this country, I want to hear from you. This is an altar call for progressive, conscious and committed Black brothers and sisters...our family in New Orleans needs us. We've formed a BLACK THINK TANK here in Oakland and are about power-for-the-powerless. Creative, coherent, sophisticated and revolutionary multipronged solutions is what it will take. Any ideas? What kinda power we got?
- cheo tyehimba
Posted on September 3, 2005 1:59 AM
