Another world (of media production) is possible

by Tiny

Perhaps another world that REALLY hears unheard communities...

Another world with another kind of media production...

Another world where the media is led, used and driven by people who are usually only talked about rather than talked with...

Another world that views the voices of poor folks, poor workers, disabled folks, folks of color, youth and elders as scholars, leaders, and media producers...

This is the kind of world which would stop perpetuating lies about my family and my neighborhood, lies about displacement, lies about homelessness, lies about police brutality, lies about workers, lies about women and children , lies about me.

This is the kind of world that would hear real solutions to poverty, racism, homelessness, the criminal Un-justice system.

This is the kind of world that would embrace, engage and realize another world vision, rather than silencing, criminalizing and marginalizing all the worlds peoples

As a working poor, formerly homeless, previously incarcerated, mixed race single mama dealing with the struggle to care for myself, my children and my disabled mama, I have been thought of as lazy, stupid, ghetto, or at best, loud, but a writer, a media producer, a scholar, never.

When a story is written or reported about poor mamas and welfare de-form, I and other mamas like me are lucky to be quoted, scanned in a �stock� shot from the welfare lines, once or twice, and then lost in a sea of census figures, social workers and formally educated �scholars� on poverty.

In the Ida B. Wells Media Justice Center at the US Social forum (USSF) slated to happen in Atlanta in June, a radical form of media production will take place. Launched by poverty, race, disability and youth scholars at POOR Magazine/PoorNewsNetwork, a non-profit media, arts and education organization, The Media Justice Center will educate, facilitate and set up collaborations between established corporate, independent, ethnic and alternative media producers and global and local poverty and race scholars. These radical access collaborations will result in several forms of media (radio, TV, on-line and print) about the multitude of events, actions, arts and education that will happen at the very exciting USSF.

As well, we will work to build long-term collaborations between established corporate, independent, ethnic and alternative media and the poverty scholars to create ongoing channels of media access, syndication, and new reporting models, which will provide sustainability to these new media voices and society at large with long-term real and actionable solutions to poverty, homelessness, police abuse, gentrification, displacement, incarceration, violence, immigration and much more.