(Originally published December 20, 2011)
by C. Denise Johnson
For New Pittsburgh Courier
Contrary to what you may have heard or read, there is hope among young Black males, and that hope was more than palpable last Thursday during the New Media Academy celebration at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture. The event was the culmination of six months of intense examination of the way media and culture impacts the lives of youth and how to become media savvy.
Jasiri X and Paradise Gray of 1Hood, founders of the academy, say that in addition to developing critical thinking skills, other goals include teaching the young men how to create, market, and shape world perception of themselves. The participating youth will be taken through the process of cultivating their voice via various forms of media. The academy was fund through a grant from the Heinz Endowment.
The specific focus, though not limited to, is to educate the participant in the nuances of the culture of today’s media, as well as, to enhance their focus on education and personal accountability in today’s world. “This alternative education program serves a dual purpose of equipping the communities youth with the proper tools for self-expression as well as occupying their time with positive influences with a specific goal oriented agendas.”
The young men met twice a week after school at the August Wilson Center where each student had access to laptop computers for research and editing their work. Their field work included attending the observing professional Black journalists at work during the Frank Bolden Urban Journalism Workshop, a trip to the Andy Warhol Museum and the Occupy Pittsburgh encampment.
A number of current events during the course of the academy presented opportunities to students to discuss mainstream media coverage as well as have a hand in producing videos now available on YouTube including “I Am Troy Davis (T.R.O.Y.)” and video commentary on Jordan Miles.
The culminating event at the August Wilson Center was more commencement than graduation as the six young men (ranging from 14 to 18) who completed the program shared their thoughts on what they’ve learned.
“We have to create new media to change the image,” said Romie Yates of Wilkinsburg. “We’re not that stereotype. We have to stop feeding into that stereotype. We have to make music that is not disrespectful to women and to ourselves.”
Hakim George, a student at Pittsburgh Science and Technology said, “We should not have to announce our movements in advance if we have an encounter with the police.”
Gabriel Warren of Woodland Hill, an aspiring blogger, added “Being Black has a negative connotation, but Black does not equal ghetto.”
After receiving their certificates, the students (who later performed as the New Media Allstars) joined the racially-diverse audience to hear from some of hip-hop’s more conscious pioneers as Jasiri X and Kimberly (Dr. Goddess) Ellis moderated a panel discussion entitled, "Taking Control of Our Image", which included Hip-Hop journalist Davey D, Wise Intelligent of the legendary rap group Poor Righteous Teachers, renown author and educator Bakari Kitwana, journalist and social media expert Jesse Muhammad, co-founder of Occupy the Hood Malik Rhasaan and Grammy Award-winning Hip-Hop artist Che "Rhymefest" Smith.
Smith, who collaborated with Kanye West on “Jesus Walks,” discussed how mainstream journalists’ attempt to manipulate his Chicago city council campaign by focusing on his past backfired and resulted in providing him with media exposure he could afford to buy.
The panel touched a wide range of issues including the use of social media. “Part of the problem is the mainstream tries to dumb us down,” said Kitwana. “(Black folks) have been high tech more than twenty years out of necessity. Texting was being done on pagers because we didn’t have access to PCs and phone.”
Following the panel the evening was capped by a freestyle performance featuring the old school and the new school of conscious hip-hop.
"I had an absolute wonderful time," said Brandi Fisher. "The panel was informed and communicated well to the audience. It was refreshing to be in the presence of such intelligence and wisdom and for there to be a platform for the young people to hear it."
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