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...July 24, 2008 6:51 PM
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.
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June 16, 2007 5:18 AM
By Maya Pope-Chappell
Amid broken homes, fatherless children, baby mama's, and children being raised by 50 Cent and MTV, emerges a refreshing look at the bond shared between father and son. In their last performance together as a father and son duo, Eddie Levert Sr. and Gerald Levert teamed up for the last time before Gerald's untimely death last November. In their new book, I Got Your Back: A Father and Son Keep It Real About Love, Fatherhood, Family and Friendship, Eddie and Gerald, along with co-writer, Lyah Beth LaFlore, shed light on their unique and profound relationship. More... | Comments (34) | TrackBack (0)
April 15, 2007 7:56 AM
By Kwan Booth
For the over 30 years, the poet, professor, biographer and memoirist Quincy Troupe has been fooling around with words. "The Architecture of Language," released in October 2006, finds the poet at a creative crossroads. Since the 1999 collection "Choruses", Troupe has been hinting at a new direction in his work. One poem from that collection, "Song," promises "words & sounds that build bridges toward a new tongue" and "Architecture" is Troupe's attempt to make good on that promise. In this collection, newer, more experimental poems share space with Troupe's classic jazz styles.
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April 27, 2006 11:49 AM
by Cheo Tyehimba
Writers of the world did some justifiable playa hatin' last week against Kaavya Viswanathan, the 19 year-old Harvard sophomore who has been accused of plagiarism in her debut novel, "How Opal Metha Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life." To add insult to injury, Little, Brown, Viswanathan's publisher, gave the then 17 year-old high-school student, a reported $500,000 for a two-book deal. Passages in Viswanathan's book bare striking similarities to author Megan McCafferty's books, the 2001 novel "Sloppy Firsts" and the 2003 novel "Second Helpings."
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August 1, 2005 7:18 AM
By Don K. Taylor
In the annals of social psychology, there was perhaps no greater incisive people observer than Eric Berne. He wrote the hugely popular book "Games People Play". He pioneered the work which he called "Transactional Analysis" and broke away from the established psychiatric medical boards of his time to give him the intellectual freedom to develop and practice his work in game analysis. He lived and practiced in San Francisco in the ‘50's and ‘60's. Since I make my living working with people, I am constantly amused, befuddled, and sometimes terrified at the games people play!
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July 24, 2005 9:20 AM
By Monique Y. Wells
James Baldwin and Richard Wright may well be the two most famous African-American expatriates to have lived in Paris in the post-World War II era. But despite the fact that they were both black men who critically examined social issues in the U.S. and abroad, their lives in France contrasted sharply. Wright was a central figure in the African-American community in Paris, while Baldwin was peripheral to it. Wright achieved fame prior to moving to Paris while Baldwin did so afterward. Whereas Wright became increasingly disillusioned and bitter during his years in Paris, Baldwin evolved as a writer and a man in embracing aspects of his nationality and sexuality that eluded him in America.
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October 10, 2004 9:14 AM
Over the last 10 years, African-American publishing has seen its longest period of sustained growth ever. Independent presses and many corporate divisions, including six imprints specifically dedicated to black books—Amistad, Dafina, Harlem Moon, OneWorld/Striver's Row, Walk Worthy and the children's imprint Jump at the Sun—are publishing black authors across the spectrum, in every adult fiction and nonfiction genre, as well as in the children's market. But while African-American incomes have been rising, the amount spent on books has been decreasing, along with book sales across the board.More... | Comments (9)
