The Beyond the Bricks Media Literacy Program will begin at the end of this month in Harlem, New York City. This past December, we held a focus group with several young ‘black’ men in Harlem. We were pleased  by the positive feedback we received about the curriculum overall. The young men were enthusiastic about the program that offers them the space to interrogate images of ‘black’ males in mainstream media, and allows them the opportunity to produce their own work in response. Media Make Change and the Beyond the Bricks Project are looking forward to the amazing projects that will surely come from some of our brightest young men in the nation. Stick around, there’s much more to come!

Beginning in February 2012, the Media Make Change website will have a distinct new look. Since our inception, we’ve made some significant organizational changes in hopes to broaden our reach into various communities. Working with the Beyond the Bricks project is just the beginning of where MMC plans to go in the new year with curriculum and professional development, as well as digital media production.

Speaking of new digital media production projects, I will be launching my first podcast in February entitled Disaster Narratives. Disaster Narrative podcast will feature stories from disaster-affected people from around the world. My hope is that through these stories we can reflect on our own humanity. I look forward to documenting and listening to the stories of struggle and triumph from everyday people, living everyday lives. In the meantime, if you or someone you know would like to share your story about disaster in whatever context, please email mediamakechange [at] gmail [dot] com. Stay tuned!

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook!

Digital counter surveillance–namely what we see happening as protesters become citizen journalists by turning digital cameras on the system that is meant to protect them, can arguably be seen as a tactic of the #OWS movement. Time will only tell if, in fact, these are tactics of the movement that can work to transform policies in the long run. In the meantime, keep watching.

“A police officer uses pepper spray on an Occupy Portland protester at Pioneer Courthouse Square, Oregon” (via The Guardian).

Video of UC Davis students being pepper sprayed by the police.

“What’s happening right now in downtown Manhattan would look DRASTICALLY different if there weren’t 20,000+ eyes watching via #tech #OWS” – @taralconley (November 15, 2011).

Whatever your view is of the Occupy Wall Street movement, one thing’s for sure, lots of folks are paying attention via new media communication technologies. Keep watching.

Follow @TheOther99

Follow @OccupyWallStreet

Check out the interview below as Anthony talks about using Pivot.

In your own words, what is Pivot?

Pivot is an animation program that expresses who you are, like for me, if you’re someone who likes Dragon Ball Z [an Japanese animated manga series].

Why do you use Pivot?

I have a very creative mind so Pivot allows me to convert my creative ideas into an animation.

What are your favorite objects or stories to create using Pivot?

Well, I usually create my own versions of Naruto and Dragon ball Z, but anything goes with me.

Anthony Conley, 8th grade

How does Pivot help you illustrate & tell a story?

Each scene brings new ideas. A scene could start off with a guy drinking coffee and then he might end up seeing something going on outside his window. [Pivot] brings a wide range of ideas into play.

Would you recommend Pivot to anyone?

Yes and no. I say no because it takes time and effort. You can get frustrated easily because the animation doesn’t come out the way you think it should.

Do you plan on doing anything with animation or graphic design in college or as a career?

Maybe, I’m really good at it!

What other animation software do you create with?

I’m starting to use flash animation, but the rest are too complicated.

Do you create using other software technology besides animation? If so, can you list and describe them?

I use this program called Google SketchUp. It’s like making a blue print for something you want to build. It’s self-explanatory really. Lol.

Here’s an advanced video example of Pivot animation:

Special thanks to Anthony Conley for being interviewed for this article.

We are excited to announce that Media Make Change has partnered up with the Beyond the Bricks Project to create a dynamic media literacy curriculum for the Community Producers Program (CPP)! The CPP curriculum will be be comprised of a 4-month media literacy program that serves young African-American men and boys in urban cities around the United States, including Harlem, Newark, Baltimore, and other cities to be added soon. The goal of the curriculum is to build life skills & self efficacy, and to engage in community advocacy by countering negative images of black males through multimedia and film analysis and production.

The project is inspired by the Beyond the Bricks film, a 2009 documentary that follows African-American students Shaquiel Ingram and Erick Graham as they struggle to stay on track in the Newark, NJ public school system (IMDB). Some key features in the documentary include the Reverend Al Sharpton of the National Action Network, John H. Jackson, president of the Schott Foundation, and Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Cory Booker.

Trailer

The Community Producers Program will begin in January 2012 with the official curriculum set to be completed by early fall of 2011. Stay with us at Media Make Change for more updates about the curriculum and the Community Producers Program with the Beyond the Bricks Project

For more information about the Beyond the Bricks project, please visit http://www.beyondthebricksproject.com/

For more information on how to donate media equipment or funds, and to partner with Media Make Change (no longer a non-profit entity but a start-up LLC), please email tara (at) mediamakechange (dot) org.

Media Make Change is currently seeking to partner with community and non-profit organizations to provide media literacy and technology training services to underserved and youth communities. Some of the key highlights of our curriculum include:

• Social Media for Social Justice (See past workshop outline for Allied Media Conference).
• Media Literacy Training based on media education scholarship from Teachers College, Columbia University and Temple University.
• Video and Film Production lead by documentary media maker and founder of Media Make Change, tara l. conley. See more of conley’s work on Vimeo.
• Photography lead by local photographers and artists in the NYC metro area.
• Computer Literacy Training lead by founder tara l. conley whose work experience with child and adult learners spans over several years.

Media Make Change wants to build a culture of learning through media and technology. As we transition into a new season Media Make Change will focus on partnering with organizations that believe media are effective tools for advocacy, creativity, and learning.

If you are an organization seeking to expand your services and outreach to the community through media and technology, please contact us at tara (at) mediamakechange (dot) org.

See more of our work at Media Speaks!

Story Melodies Vol. 2: A Tale of Two Cities is the next installment of Story Melodies from tara l. conley and marks the beginning of the next phase of documenting the life and times of New Orleans and survivors of hurricane Katrina. This project will develop into a significant piece of social commentary that takes a critical look at a city filled with so much culture and history yet still remains in turmoil after the levees broke.

Story Melodies are short vignettes produced by tara l. conley that incorporate musical and visual elements about stories of the everyday. Story melodies present social commentary by thoughtfully interweaving audio and visual elements with the unique stylistics of documentary maker tara l. conley. Some Story Melodies are complete in their final form, others may be transformed into a larger and more expansive films for mass public view. For tara, stories are melodies in the key of life.

To view more Story Melodies from tara l. conley please visit our Vimeo page.

All photography by tara l. conley

Tatiyana is a freshman in high school with a unique eye for capturing the experiences of youth. From schooling, to friendship, to love, to simply hanging out, Tatiyana brings these special moments into focus through precision and depth. Here is her story of the everyday.

My Gangsters

Anna Marie and Joey were playfully flashing their jackets when I saw that my camera naturally lit up the hallways so that everything in it stood out. I told them to go down the hall a little more and flash the people up ahead ! Anna Marie suggested that I take the picture with Joey too (: This reminds me of teenagers for sure — always doing crazy, random things.

My Journalism Class

This is my most favorite picture. It really shows the personalities of my friends and how different they are. Savannah (second girl pictured from the right) has a really cool look on her face that gives away so much emotion! And Joey (right next to her) looks sly and charming. And of course Anna Marie, who always has a smile on her face.(:

Lemons

I took this during jounaslism. The yellow in this picture is just for Anna Marie because it’s her favorite color; I decided to just get on the ground and take a random picture and she got right on the ground with me! When I see this picture, I think of happiness lemons! Haha (:

Together

Anna Marie and Elijah, two people who are an absolute mess ! This is the very first day they were going out. I took this picture only because I wanted to capture the very first moments of a blossoming relationship.(:

Fort Bliss Comic Book

If Fort Bliss were a comic book, I know that this is what it would look like. I took this while my sister Zoe was playing soccer on the parade field. Originally, there was a golden sunset, but when I played with the tones and hues, I found that this picture looks even more magical than a normal sunset picture ! (:

Ethnographers researching social practices and interactive communication within computer and non-computer mediated environments face various challenges in the field. That is to say, ethnographic research methods have been further complicated by the online/offline continuum. For this analysis, the online/offline continuum is defined as an interactive and communication phenomenon characterized by the distribution of identities and social practices that shift between computer and non-computer mediated environments. The following literature review is an introductory exploration into various theories and constructs that guide discussion about meaningful approaches to conducting ethnography of the online/offline continuum. Specifically, the following questions are addressed:

1) How can conceptions of space, place, and time help us to understand and approach researching the online/offline continuum?

2) How have scholars been reworking ethnographic research methods of the online/offline continuum?

3) What new constructs and forms of ethnography are emerging because of online/offline continuum?

4) What new formulations have emerged as a result of the literature reviewed?

Discussion

Based on literature presented, several new insights and formulations have emerged about ethnographies of the online/offline continuum.

First, emerging ethnographies of the online/offline phenomenon are characterized by connective methods, reflective approaches, experiential epistemologies, relational theories, and experimental practices.

Second, researchers must continually revisit interpretations of space, place, and time to further guide research of the online/offline continuum.

Third, ethnographers must formulate and rework definitions of the online/offline continuum and of alternative forms of ethnography to expand upon those mentioned here.

Fourth, ethnographers must continue to investigate social practices in relation to computer and non-computer-mediated environments.

Finally, researchers must be incline to consider the “cyberspace knowledge question” (Hakken p. 182) to better understand pedagogical approaches and assessment practices in relation to the online/offline continuum. The last formulation is also important to how we understand the influence of technologies on doing research (Wolf, 1992, p. 127) doing community, and seeing ourselves throughout the online/offline continuum.

Outline

Space, Place, & Time

• Manuel Castells’ Space of Flows (1996)

Virtual Ethnography

• Christine Hine (2000)

Reworking Ethnographic Research Methods

• Christine Hine’s “connective ethnography” (2007)
• danah boyd (2008)

Ethnography as Epistemology

• David Hakken’s “knowledge question of cyberspace” (1999)

Emerging Constructs & Ethnographies

• Johan Fornas, et. al “digital borderlands” (2002)
• Robert Kozinet’s Netnography (2010)
• Michael Wesch’s digital ethnography (2010)

Story Melodies Vol. 1: Coming of Age in the City from Media Make Change on Vimeo.

Story Melodies Vol. 1 is the first of a series of upcoming digital shorts. Coming of Age in the City highlights the stories of three individuals living in New York City. Their stories are weaved together by the sounds of some of the world’s most talented street and subway musicians.

I came up with the idea to begin a series of stories that read like the music we hear. I set out to explore and capture the paradox of sound and image, both of which asks us to consider, what does the image sound like and what does sound look like? Through the paradox we can find meaning.

Because of this project, I’ve been able to explore nearly every facet of my imagination. I’ve engaged with my favorite art forms, video and photography, and Ive discovered brilliant sounds of music along the way. After months of collecting sounds and images, I hope to have created a visual and audio work in concert.

I am sincerely thankful to all of the street and subway musicians I listened to along the way. A few listed below:

The Crowd (http://wearethecrowd.com)

Alex Lo Dico Ensemble (http://alexlodico.com)

Charlie Guitar (http://nyccharlie.com/)

Made Over (Youtube: bryken89)

The Meetles (http://meetles.com/)

If anything, through this project I learned that stories are the melody in the key of life. (Hat tip to Stevie Wonder

Enjoy.