AMC 2008

Presenter: Una Aya Osato

This workshop will begin with a live performance of a multi-media one-woman show Recess. Recess is a play created from the experience of the author, Una Aya Osato, attending and teaching in NYC public schools. It confronts the state of today's public school system where struggles for power, criminalization of the youth and the effects of a suffocating bureaucracy are an every day reality. Through Recess, participants will experience how performance can be used to make abstract ideas real and personal in the classroom. We will discuss other ways of incorporating theater and performance into classrooms and together begin to generate solutions to the larger questions of how education can become humane and liberatory for all.

Presenters: Amy Bach, Heavyn-Leigh American and Habibah Ahmad of Manhattan Neighborhood Network

What is youth-centered participatory action research and how can it be used to advance the field of youth media? Come hear about a collaborative research project that the Manhattan Neighborhood Network's Youth Channel (YC) is doing to involve young people in the development of a cable tv channel dedicated to media made by youth for youth. Called "YC All-City", it will be the nation's first channel to work with teams of young people to shape, produce, and promote youth programming. The workshop will offer participants an opportunity to explore some of the challenges, possibilities, and strategies for supporting organizational work that allows the community to take an active role in the process of research.

Presenters: Sacajawea Hall, Radio Rootz (New York City); Alexis Neider, PS 155 William Paca School (New York City); Tim Dorsey, Youth Media Learning Network (New York City)

This workshop is geared towards an audience of youth media-educators, working in a variety of media types (audio, video, print, web or other) and settings (community-based organizations, afterschool programs, schools, media arts centers, and more). We will look closely at samples of youth-produced media, viewing footage of young people engaged in media-making, then conduct role plays for educators as learners. All will be invited to reflect upon their teaching practices, to approach their work as learners, and to consider how they might support one another and other colleagues moving forward as educators teaching youth media.

Facilitators: Ingrid H. Dahl, Youth Media Reporter; Tim Dorsey, Youth Media Learning Network; Meghan McDermott, Global Action Project; Rebecca O'Doherty, Appalshop

At the Youth Media Educators Caucus, youth media practitioners (including educators, program staff, teaching artists, and youth) are invited to participate in an open dialogue about our work within the dynamic, diverse, and ever-expanding field of youth media. This is an opportunity to reflect on emerging trends, share updates from our programs, and highlight a number of national initiatives that support the work of practitioners who teach youth to produce media. The Caucus will provide a space to discuss perspectives, trends, topical issues, and next steps. In addition, this networking opportunity will facilitate dialogue amongst attendees regarding current work in the field and areas to work collaboratively and/or partner. Come greet old friends and welcome new colleagues at AMC.

Presenters: Facilitators from the Palestine Education Project; Students from Bushwick Community High School

Using a mixture of demonstration and discussion, this workshop will share the Palestine /Israek Education Project's (PEP) work using media in teaching about about Israel/Palestine. We will explore ways to raise awareness about the Palestinian struggle while developing ways for youth in the US to articulate and address their own connections to colonialism, racism, and militarism. Educators and students will co-facilitate, using Palestinian hip hop videos and lyrics, digital stories made by Palestinian youth in refugee camps, radio and video pieces created by youth in Brooklyn, and clips from the documentary “Slingshot Hip Hop” to jumpstart conversations around racism, occupation, and resistance. This workshop will provide concrete activity suggestions, hand-outs, and audio-visual materials.

Presenters: Binh Ly, Global Action Project; Kat Aaron, Radio Rootz; Jennifer Macchiarelli, Youth Rights Media; Amber Marie Felton, Philadelphia Student Union

Many in the youth media field believe that they are doing social justice work by simply working with youth of color or youth from underserved communities and exploring issues that impact them. While that work may tackle important social issues, it does not necessarily fulfill its potential to affect social change. This panel will share strategies from several youth media organizations, who are connecting youth voice with social justice movements.

Presenters: Gabriel Duncan and Ras K'Dee

In this workshop, the grassroots media group Seventh Native American Generation (SNAG) will discuss the genocide of California Natives beginning with massacres during the Gold Rush of 1849 and continuing with forced removals, boarding schools, reservations and mercury pollution. We will provide accounts shared by SNAG's founder, Ross Cunnningham (a Pomo from Northern California) and through clips from the film "Gold, Greed and Genocide." Afterward SNAG will lead a writing workshop with participants around their experiences with cultural genocide and resistance, modeled after its work with Native youth in schools and on reservations. Some of the writings produced during the workshop will appear in the next issue of SNAG, which is dedicated to the shared struggles of Palestinian and Native youth. You can purchase a copy at the workshop for $5. It comes with a music CD inside of Native artists from across the country.