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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Boondocks Vs. Bet= Viacom Vs. Viacom (When will Negroes Learn?)
by James Morgan
So today I was searching online to see the new Boondocks episodes that I had been missing recently. I happened to find out that two episodes had been cut.
"Why?" I wondered.
I came to find out that in these two episodes series creator Aaron Mcgruder had taken satirical swipes at B.E.T. or as I like to call it "Black Exploitation Television." I started to write a blog about the suppression of freedom of speech in the Black community but then I remembered something... B.E.T. is not owned by the Black community but a company known as Viacom. This corporation happens to also own the Cartoon Network which is the same channel that airs episodes of the Boondocks. While this may not be a surprise to some people, I do feel that we must critically look at the B.E.T. Network a lot more critically than it has been looked at in the past.
As a Radio TV. Film major at Howard University and a lifelong student of history, I feel that we must not only look at what this channel produces in terms of programming (i.e, brainwashing), but we must also look at it in terms of the seeming monopoly that B.E.T and its chief rival TV One have in terms of Black representation on the airwaves.
Whenever there is the threat of a monopoly Congress has broken it up in the past in order to make sure that one corporation does not beat out the competition totally and become the all powerful sovereign in an industry. When will we break the Viacom (B.E.T, MTV, etc.) stranglehold on our media?
Mcgruder offered a critique of the network and his work was suppressed. What was so harmful in his two episodes? He made fun of a few record executives and the programming that they choose to show. Was the reason that the episodes were not shown because in his satire there was (as there always is in satire) an element of truth? I think so.
I think the issue the series creator has tapped into is the fact that we in the Black community are in fact not in control of many of the things that are supposed to represent us. The sad thing about the Boondocks episodes that have drawn the most scrutiny is not that they are lies created by white corporate executives but that they are truths told by a young Black American artist through the eyes of a more politically aware young Black America.
Posted on March 4, 2008 11:06 AM
