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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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How Accountability Killed the Kat

By Pendarvis Harshaw

Somehow it all made sense: the only support I had to go to the Black and Male in America conference was from my aunt and my mother - while at the same time, my mother and my aunts brother or as some would call him "my uncle" - made as little as an effort as possible to see me while I stayed no more than 15 minutes from his home for four consecutive days. This exemplifies a number of the topics dealt with during the conferences about Black men, which was held June 14 through June 17, 2007 in Brooklyn New York.

On the night of Friday June 15th, during an interview with Kevin Powell, the conference coordinator, I brought forth a question that had fueled the fire of a previous discussion on the trip: "What do you think about the belief that Black men are now more emotional due to being raised in homes with primarily women - in a sense they have been cultivated to act in the traditional sense of how a woman acts?"

However, before I finished the question two women in the lobby of the church who were paying attention to the interview reacted for Kevin - their reaction instantly garnished my respect. It's sexist for a man to have that perspective, or even for a man to ask that question, they said.

But the question had to be asked. Take a look at our actions and you will see that as a whole, if you are Black and Male in America, you are more emotional and less rational from the older brothers who have gun fights over bumping into each other on the subway to the younger brothers who cry over getting sprayed during a water gun fight.

After the last meeting on Sunday, I dashed out on the 3 train from the Atlantic Avenue Station to see Agzja (pronounced Asia), a longtime friend, classmate, and sister by means of everything except blood. She resides in an area of Brooklyn where Flatbush and Brownsville connect called "the Nineties." I spotted her at 93rd and Sutter. Outside of a public housing high-rise, 40 to 50 men where gathered on the basketball courts. A deejay provided the soundtrack to the street, behind him the chef had the BBQ cracking, and the only aroma that competed was the clouds of lit Fonto leaves and Dutch cigars being sparked during the pre-game speeches.

It was hot. The humidity day that was producing sweat damage to the collars of the XXX-L white T's all across the playground. As an innocent bystander, I soon became a victim of the random fire from a six year-olds' water gun fight. This is real Brooklyn. I watched the kids interact with the older brothers with critical lenses. I honed in on one two year-old, Agzja's nephew. She said he was spoiled and needed men around to establish discipline because her sister gives the kid anything he wants, and if he doesn't get it he cries, gets "emotional." This gave me more fodder for my previous theory.

Overall, the word, symbol, and mindframe I derived from this experience comes from one word: accountability. On so many levels, it can be as simple as telling someone you're going to see them tomorrow, but you don't show up - breaking your verbal bond. Or it can be as deep as saying to your woman that want to bring a child into this world, but then on that child's third birthday you don't show up. At the risk of preaching, I echo the beliefs of accountability on all levels, after attending this conference - maybe that's why the conference was held in church - so now we take to it religiously - or maybe that wasn't Kevin Powel's intent, but a mere bonus to a successful campaign.

In Oakland, California's youth book of slang a "kat" is someone who is "flaky non-sincere, and all out unreliable." After the conference, when I reached a computer with internet access, I updated my myspace title to read: "accountability killed the kat."

Pendarvis Harshaw is a writer and student attending Howard University. You can hit him at: pensandpistols@hotmail.com