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.
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The Sound of Equanimity
There is a redefinition of music on the airwaves. You can hear it from the metaphor makers of the spoken word movement to hip hop and jazz fusion playlists occupying every cd player in America. Words strung across beats and rhythms have given rise to several distinct musical productions. Among these is the just released Equanimity Project (A Clear Vision Produciton), which is a mellifluous blend of spoken word, jazz and 21st century funk.
The brainchild of spoken-word poet, musician, writer, and executive producer Diem Jones, the effort is a collaboration of a multitude of artists associated with the Voices of Our Nations Foundation. The collection of tracks compiled on the CD are diverse and musically contemplative, urging the listener toward a higher understanding of life. For example, on the track "Life and Love," the muted horn of master trumpeteer Eddie Gale wales behind Jones' intoned query, "It's about that love thing/ Its about that peace thing/ Its about that loving your peace of mind so much that you wouldn't think you deserve the right to take another's life..." The song is one of the strongest on a CD full of meaning, subtext and prose-fueled melodies.
Other stand-out tracks include Mind Time, Nomad, Sahara Nights, and Cachet. The assortment of players on the CD is really a treat. Assembled for the first time are such renown poets and musicians as Quincy Troupe, Elmaz Abinader, Suheir Hammad, Al Young, Tony Khalife, Zuri Moore, Gabriel Powers and others. Fladimir ms Woo even makes does a cameo or two.
As Jones' second solo effort, (his debut was 2003's "Black Fish Jazz"), he says his aim on "Equanimity" was "to deliver positive, reflective messages of Cultural Consciousness integrated with rhythms that will shake the matter to see what's up!" From the sound of things, he's accomplished his goal with this effort. Although at times melodically spare, the message in the music more than makes up for any short-comings in production. Thematically, Equanimity is a bold and refreshing contribution to the current musical landscape. It's meaning is clear: "consciousness is awareness." That by uniting themes of joy, peace, anti-violence, and self-knowledge across a spectrum of spoken word poetry and music, people's minds can be piqued, just a little bit. Making the dance of life all that more enjoyable.
Visit http://www.culturalconsciousness.org. For more information or bookings please call (866) 202-6152 or e-mail info@culturallconsciousness.org
Posted on February 20, 2006 4:05 AM
Comments (1)
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Posted by uljrwzset yzvef | August 18, 2007 2:00 PM
Posted on August 18, 2007 14:00