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...April 8, 2008 6:46 PM
by Maya Pope-Chappell
The media had a field day with Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his "anti-American" antics. The "God damn America" and "Chickens coming home to roost" sound bites were broadcast in a constant loop from CNN to Fox News. The once respected preacher was quickly turned into public enemy number one. At least that's what I thought when I first wrote this piece following the Wright firestorm. However, my feelings toward Wright have taken a turn since the National Press Club stint in which Wright answered questions about his beliefs, American politics, and the Black church.
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March 3, 2008 11:47 AM
by Maya Pope-Chappell
In January, my generation of voters took a break from the distractive amenities of camera phones, myspace, and YouTube, to cast their vote during the primary elections here in California. As a 24 year-old who has only been able to vote in one other presidential election, I walked into the polling place near my home in Oakland on Super Tuesday eager to cast my vote for Barack Obama. Not because he's a Black man, although that is an added plus both personally and historically, but because he brings hope and commitment to change needed in America.
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March 3, 2008 11:30 AM
By Pendarvis Harshaw
I've been thinking about the connection between the consumption of fast food and the consumption of political information. It seems these days, we consume both rather greedily with little time to think about the consequences of this consumption. How does it shape our waistlines as well as our perspectives? Whether its political spin or happy meals, when does consumption consume? More...
February 19, 2008 10:43 AM
by Maya Pope-Chappell
It's OK to choose whichever presidential candidate you please, but it's not OK to not support Obama if your reasons are as follows:
1. "America is not ready for a Black President"
2. "He'll be killed!"
3. "The Clinton's did a lot for Blacks and we want them back!"
These reasons represent a fear-based mentality rooted in backward thinking, underestimation, and excuses that ultimately sell ourselves short.
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January 13, 2008 12:12 PM
By Cheo Tyehimba
There's a showdown a-coming and it's so much bigger than an election to determine the next democratic nominee for president of the United States. It could very well provide a good barometer of complex social issues revolving around race and gender in the United States. To really understand it, we have to go back. More than a decade ago, before anyone had heard the name Barack Obama, a shrewd governor from Arkansas named Bill Clinton appeared on the national scene. He immediately realized he had something uniquely different than the other candidates vying to be the democratic nominee for president in 1992. Bill liked black people.
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January 4, 2008 8:26 AM
By Pendarvis Harshaw
All around the nation, young Black men can be found on corners, front stoops, backyards, in garages, so on and so on. There is a common thread: Dormancy. These young men are motionless, without drive. Much like these boys, cars with dead batteries can be found curbside, in garages, in backyards sitting dormant, motionless, with no drive. Both the automobiles and these boys fall victim to the restraints of the battery life they were manufactured and born with, and in time, die out due to limited energy.
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October 4, 2007 10:10 AM
By Pendarvis Harshaw
Spike Lee called it Jungle Fever, Tae Diggs calls it his way of life, and Black Muslims call sac-religious. What is it about Inter-racial dating that constantly promotes discussion in the United States of America? Shouldn’t love be accepted as love? Or is “love” used as a veil to cover a stigmata tied to the historic relevance in society? More... | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
October 3, 2007 11:42 PM
OPINION
Some of us have been killed, shot, raped stabbed, cut, burned or beaten by someone who looks just like us. Why? Is the pain in our hearts so deep that we can kill and not feel? Have we, many whose ancestors were enslaved, and whose parents and grandparents once picked cotton and cut sugar cane and tobacco, lost our appreciation for life? Have we lost our way? Did our families come out West or move up North to have grandparents see their grandchildren kill each other in streets of cities like Oakland, Los Angeles, Baltimore, New York, Chicago, New Orleans, and others?
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August 15, 2007 8:54 PM
by Cheo Tyehimba
In his renowned 1927 essay, "The Problem of Generations," German sociologist Karl Mannheim adeptly defined a generation as "a cohort of people who collectively feel the force of a historical event and develop a consciousness about it." Folks in the 30's had the Depression, in the 40's they had WWII, and the generations of the 50's and 60's formed their value-systems from their immersion into the political and social cauldrons of that time. But to the post civil rights generations born during the late sixties, seventies and beyond, a consensus about our "historical event" seems to be lacking. Sure there's 9-11, but even this event has seemingly been trumped by something more pervasive: The Digital Revolution.
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July 9, 2007 10:25 AM
By Orisanmi Burton
That your girlfriend? he asked with a grin. I nodded.
She pretty, he continued. I smiled relieved that he did not take the opportunity to jab at me with an insult as he so often does. Why you didnt get her pregnant yet?
We are not ready to have kids, I reply.
Why not? You dont want kids?
I do want kids. But it is good to have a plan first. A plan for how you are going to raise the child. He starts to get upset. You dont need no plan. All you gotta do is get her pregnant. You scared.
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July 9, 2007 10:22 AM
by Lasana O. Hotep
People make decisions from the information that is available to them. Where do you get most of your information? Better yet, what kind of information are you exposed to? Does this information help you solve problems in your community? These are valid questions to pose to college students on the verge of being our next generation of decision makers. According to the US Census Bureau, 17% of African-Americans over age 25 have four-year college degrees. One would assume that this group would have a broader information base than the rest of Black America. In the instance of formal exposure to knowledge that may be the case, but academic institutions are not our only or primary source of information.
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March 22, 2007 12:58 PM
As I and my husband sat watching The State of Black America 2007, presented by Tavis Smiley, we were awe struck, motivated, inspired, filled with pride and edified by the broad ranging views of the impressive collection of black intelligentsia represented on the stage. Following each of the richly-crafted commentary from rapper Chuck D to astronaut and engineer Mae Jemison to Professor Cornel West to poet Sonya Sanchez to one of my innovative classmates Omar Wasow (just to name a few), I ooohhed and ahhhed out loud as each broke it down, laid it out and spoke truth to power. More... | TrackBack (0)
