WELCOME TO THE 21ST CENTURY!

FOR EDUCATORS & COMMUNITY LEADERS: Transformed by Media & Technology

SUNDAY FAMILY FILM SERIES - 12/21, 12/28 & 1/4, (Click on photo to enlarge)

COMMUNITY INTERVENTION: Multi-Media Literacy?

In Los Angeles Unified School District, only 48% of African American and Latino students who enter high school in the 9th grade, complete 12th grade four years later (CRP, 2004). The nationwide public educational system as we know it currently operates using an outdated framework (BMGF, 2007) and has failed to properly engage and prepare minority youth (CRP, 2005), specifically Black male youth, to further their academic goals, develop as morally responsible citizens and to successfully transition, socially and economically, into the community and the workforce of the 21st Century. Institutional racism, the normalization of failure (Gregory, Nygreen & Moran, 2006), disproportionate placement in special education, misdiagnoses, incompetent faculty, disparities in district spending efforts and statewide funding cuts are all key issues stifling our public school system. They also contribute to the rising dropout rate and are creating a regional and national critical need for school reform (Noguera, 2008; Noguera, 2006; NUL, 2007; Gregory, et. al, 2006; Cummins, 2006; 21stCF, 2008; Moore, Heinfield & Owen, 2008). Additionally, as our society adapts to a new global economy and as we transform into a media-driven culture (Jenkins, Clinton, Purushotma, Robison & Weigel, 2008), at-risk youth with limited educational resources are becoming highly susceptible to the dangers of media influence (Boles, 2007).

D. Pink describes our global economic transformation as advancing from the “Information Age (Knowledge workers)” to the “Conceptual Age (Creators and Empathizers)” (2005, pg. 49), and that we are shifting from a left-brained rule in careers to right-brained. The history of African American innovation, spans across the industries of art, science, technology and entrepreneurship. However, if immediate action isn’t taken to break the dropout cycle and close the racial achievement gap in the public school system, higher education and the workforce, Black youth will continue to vanish from societal sight and instead continue to contribute to crime, lost wages and social destruction (Noguera, 2008; NCCD, 2007). Failure has to be acknowledged and reform must be the new priority for public schools, teachers, administrators and the communities that surround them. The high school dropout rate is indeed an epidemic and is saturating our state and city. Black youth, particularly males, are falling by the waste-side, while white youth, usually from more affluent backgrounds, can purchase a higher quality, arts-infused, college and career preparatory education. Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League states:

Empowering black males to reach their full potential is the most serious economic and civil rights challenge we face today. Ensuring the future of the black male is critical, not just for African Americans, but for the prosperity, health and well being of the entire American family (2007, pp. 9).

The African American teenage drop-out and at-risk secondary student of today absorb (most of the time, blindly) messages from the media, society and within public school systems, designed to deflate potential for positive self-esteem, self-images and racial-identity (Hunt, 2005; Noguera, 2008). These messages also exalt routines of consumption, destructive lifestyles, harmful stereotypes and pipe dream careers. The combination of an outdated, dysfunctional public school educational system and the negative influences of the media, are real life, daily experiences for our youth.


MESSAGE MEDIA ED. --- Discover the world of multi-media production, internet technology, advertising, consumerism; the influence it has on our self-image & potential and become empowered by the many ways you can transcend it all to develop the skills needed to innovate in the 21st Century... ONE FAMILY, ONE COMMUNITY AT A TIME.

Find out more by emailing me at shani@messagemediaed.org and receive an overview of our mission and service to the community.


Best,

Shani

Shani Byard, M.S.
Founder
Message Media Ed. - Innovators Uncovered
323-708-2526
shani@messagemediaed.org
http://messagemediaed.blogspot.com
www.MessageMediaEd.org (under construction)

HOPSCOTCH ELEMENT - A Mixed Media Critical Thinking and Empowerment Series - RISE ABOVE THE NOISE

"Since new developments are the product of a creative mind, we must stimulate and encourage that type of mind in every way possible" -- George Washington Carver

Media Messages 101: AN OVERVIEW OF OUR SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY

FOR EDUCATORS & COMMUNITY LEADERS: How Technology Integrated into High School Culture ENGAGES YOUTH TO SUCCEED

WELCOME!

WELCOME TO MESSAGE MEDIA ED'S BLOG! Interested in becoming MULTI-MEDIA LITERATE?

Give us a call to set up a workshop series for you. We serve ages 14 and up. We conduct culture-specific, media literacy-based, intergenerational workshops for youth and families of African descent. Invite us to your living room, PTA meeting, church gathering, after-school program, group home, career conference, etc. Discover the world of multi-media production, internet technology, advertising, consumerism; the influence it has on our self-image & potential and become empowered by the many ways you can transcend it all to develop the skills needed to innovate in the 21st Century... 

ONE FAMILY, ONE COMMUNITY AT A TIME. 

CONTACT:

Shani Byard, Founder

323-708-2526 cell

shani@messagemediaed.org

FOR EDUCATORS & COMMUNITY LEADERS: How Arts Education Integrated in High School Culture ENGAGES YOUTH TO SUCCEED

Media Messages 101: What is TWITTER?

Media Messages 101: How VOTING Works

Media Messages 101: Our World Transformed; Introducing, "Shift Happens" - A Media Message presenting the Magnitude of Global Technology

Media Messages 101: SPOKEN WORD 4 VOTING; Introducing... Sekou (tha Misfit) & Steve Connell, "Take America Back" - Empowering Media Messages

Media Messages 101: POLITICS in the Media; A Jon Stewart Mockery - Manipulating Media Messages

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Sarah Palin Gender Card
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Joke of the Day

Media Messages 101: How PODCASTS Work

Media Messages 101: How WIKI's work

Media Messages 101: High School DROPOUT PREVENTION; Introducing the Boys of Baraka - A Media Message of Hope

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

PART 5

Media Messages 101: How BLOGS work

THE NEED FOR MULTI-MEDIA & ARTS EDUCATION FOR BLACK YOUTH

-African American youth are more likely than white youth to be attracted to TV and have a TV and another form of media resource in their bedrooms (KFF, 2005)

-74% of Black families have the TV on during family meals, 15% of white families have the TV on during family meals (KFF, 2005)

-Responsible and positive male role models exist but are not emphasized in the media (Boles, 2007)

-Media Literacy develops critical thinkers and critical viewers (Thoman, 2003)

-Arts Ed w/ Multi-Media Technology engages youth to participate in rigorous curricula and also instills peer encouragement, perseverance, self-discipline and focus (Camerilie & Jackson, 2004)

-The skill of media analysis has also been found to increase reading comprehension (Hobbs & Frost)

THE IMPACT OF CULTURE-SPECIFIC INTERVENTION

-Culture-specific intervention inspires resiliency needed to counteract negative racial stereotypes, social oppression, interpersonal aggression (Belgrave, Reed, Plybon, Butler, Allison & Davis, 2004).

-Bilingualism and biculturalism are positively related to academic achievement (Lee, 2002)

THE PLIGHT OF BLACK LEARNERS

-African American youth are disproportionately taken out of learning environments and placed in special ed and on campus suspension (Noguera, 2006)

-Nationwide an average of 50% dropout of high school (CRP, 2004)

-2/3 grow up in single parent households and without a father figure (Obama, 2007)

-Black youth make up 16% of the nation’s population and 38% percent are in detention and state correctional facilities (NCCD, 2007)

-Life expectancy has been shortened for black males due to gang violence and black-on-black crime (Noguera, 2008)

-Sometimes, regarding intervention, diversity isn’t always the right approach because culturally we encounter and experience different forms of oppression and prejudice (Sen, 2003)

African American Second Language - Swahili

Just as Italians have roots in Italy, Germans have roots in Germany, Chinese in China, Mexicans in Mexico, Jamaicans in Jamaica, etc., African Americans have roots in Africa. The African American lineage, begins in Africa and travels to many different continents including North America. It's important for African Americans to reconnect with their heritage and true roots. This reconnection and exploration can only enhance knowledge of self and culture, and increase our contribution to the diversity of America.

Kwanzaa, an African American celebration of culture, utilizes the Swahili language, to guide African Americans in learning traditional cultural practices and principles.


Utilizing the medium of Video, learn basic Swahili here, the native language in Kenya, East Africa w/ Joe Maye.


LESSON 1
LESSON 2
LESSON 3
LESSON 4
LESSON 5

Once you've completed these lessons, self-direct your learning of the Kenyan culture and many other cultures and richness our homeland, Africa, has to offer you. Please contribute those learnings here.

Thanks!

Shani (Swahili: Precious & Rare)
Anana (Swahili: Soft & Gentle)
Byard (Family Name: Given to us during slavery)

Black Youth and Media Influence

"Ensuring the future of the black male is critical, not just for African Americans, but for the prosperity, health and well-being of the entire American family." (Morial, 2007)  

Greetings Visionaries,

In April 2008, I conducted a research study with 23 African American high school dropouts & youth at risk of giving up on their education, (male and female, ages 14-21) on Media Influence. I also implemented a culture-specific, media literacy-based intervention curriculum entitled, "The HOPSCOTCH Element", with the same population. When promoting the study earlier this year, many of you expressed an interest in receiving the results. I am now able to provide a final copy of the study for you. 

The title of the study is, "52% DO NOT GRADUATE: EXAMINING MEDIA INFLUENCE ON THE VANISHING INNOVATORS OF OUR NATION". I've included the abstract below. A bound copy with accompanying HOPSCOTCH Element sample curriculum, can be mailed to you for a donation of $45.00, including shipping and handling. In addition to printing and distribution costs, all donations support further research efforts and program implementation. Donations are not tax-deductible at this time. If you would like to place an order, please email me with interest. If you know someone who would be interested in this information, please spread the word.

Additionally, if you are serving the population I am targeting and would like me to pilot the HOPSCOTCH Element, I would be honored to work with your youth.  Email me and let's schedule a time, free of charge.

Looking forward to hearing from you! Thanks in advance for your support.

In service,

Shani 

 

Shani Byard, M.S.

Founder

Message Media Ed. - Innovators Uncovered

323-708-2526

shani@messagemediaed.org

www.MessageMediaEd.org (Under Construction)

HOPSCOTCH ELEMENT - A Mixed Media Critical Thinking and Empowerment Series - RISE ABOVE THE NOISE

"Since new developments are the product of a creative mind, we must stimulate and encourage that type of mind in every way possible" -- George Washington Carver

ABSTRACT

This is a Qualitative research study, created to examine the influence of the media (specifically TV and Music), on the self-image, purpose and potential of “at-risk” Black youth (ages 14-21). I also used a Participatory research design to support the concurrent and separate development of a cultural-specific, media literacy-based intervention program entitled, HOPSCOTCH Element (HE), aimed to address and resolve the social, academic and economic disparities amongst Black youth. Participants in this study either dropped-out of high school or are currently enrolled in an alternative or continuation secondary school (as the result of multiple suspensions, expulsion or involvement in criminal activity) and have been labeled or diagnosed “at-risk” or “special needs” (due to disruptive behavior, poor academic performance and/or too many unexcused absences) by Los Angeles Unified School District or LA County Office of Education. Results from this study confirm all youth participants 1) are attracted to and large users of TV and Musical media, 2) believe media advertisers strongly influence teens, either negatively or positively, 3) feel they receive[d] inadequate education pertaining to their culture in school and express exigency toward learning more about their African and African American heritage. Additionally, the research and data collected from this study support a critical need for the HOPSCOTCH Element, which combines 1) Multi-Media Arts Education, 2) African American Studies and 3) Career Mentoring (the 3-Pronged Approach), to intervene the outdated academic instruction - currently practiced within the public school system - to engage and empower Black youth to excel. Long-term outcomes for this 3-Pronged Approach are to minimize the academic achievement gap, support the social advancement of Black youth and successfully diversify the workforce of the 21stCentury and beyond. I wish to encourage advocates for and organizations engaged in public school reform, and who are privy to the plight of Black youth and other minority youth, to consider Cultural-Specific Intervention programming using this 3-Pronged Approach as well.