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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Be A Father to Your Child
by Maya Pope-Chappell
If you were to turn on a popular video music channel, you'd probably see a video portraying a Black man either pressed up against some half naked chicks, throwing money in the air, or a combination of both. What you won’t see are healthy images of Black masculinity or fatherhood. In a society where Black masculinity is revered as a commodity, a product that is marketed, sold, and mass consumed, Be A Father to Your Child: Real Talk From Black Men On Family, Love, And Fatherhood is a God-send.
An anthology comprised of essays, interviews, poems, and lyrics, BAF presents personal accounts of fatherhood and manhood from 24 Black men who came of age during the emergence of hip hop culture. Featuring published author Kevin Powell, filmmaker Byron Hurt, Professor Jelani Cobb and a host of other writers, artists, and community activists, BAF presents a rather holistic view of fatherhood. Editor, April R. Silver says: "Editing this project was like a counseling session. There is a sensitivity that you have to have because you're dealing with men with realy sensitive issues."
Opening with an insightful discussion of Black masculinity, BAF gives a comprehensive summary of the social ills that negatively affected Black families such as unusually high unemployment and incarceration rates, drug epidemics, and "rolling stone" absent fathers. What comes next are candid interviews and earnest essays that interweave hip hop into an emotionally driven and in-depth dialogue into the meaning of fatherhood. From a narrative of a man coming out to his father to a man who was raised by a sampling of fathers, BAF touches on the challenges and successes of fatherhood.
Aimed at repatching the father/children disconnect that affects many within the hip hop generation, BAF helps to provide insight and understanding to men committed to creating healthy families. The compelling stories that make up this book calls the reader to take an introspective look at their own relationship, or lack thereof with their own father or men who stand in as a father figure.
"this is an ongoing movement," said Mo Beasly, one of the contributing writers to the book. "There is healing that has to be done and its decades in the making. We need to keep writing and keep telling these stories."
Posted on July 24, 2008 6:51 PM
