Message Media Ed presents... REAL TALK

Scholars call it critical discourse, the youth of today call it Real Talk. This video highlights recent discussions and media messages produced during, The Digital Elder Project, Diversity Leaders, and Sankofa Digi-Family Day. Message Media Ed is an African/African American Centered organization, dedicated to closing the digital divide and increasing innovation and leadership in the Black community. Our mission is to produce Black leadership for the Digital Age: Culturally Conscious Role Models and Meaningful Participants in the Digital Landscape. In order for our mission to be realized, we engage in REAL TALK, to heal, teach each other, and identify essential issues that need to be addressed and transformed, both digitally and in the real world, as a skilled, united community. For more info and a complete calendar of our upcoming workshops and events, please visit http://MessageMediaEd.org/ - Join us!

On-the-Go Media Message from Shani

A brief greeting and update from Executive Director of Message Media Ed, Shani Byard-Ngunjiri. As mentioned, please visit http://MessageMediaEd.orgfor more info on our upcoming events, Diversity Leaders Boot Camp on Saturday, March 26th & Diversity Leaders 6-day Spring Retreat, April 18-23rd, during spring break. PLEASE WATCH our most recent video, "Message Media Ed presents... REAL TALK", right here on YouTube!

You can also access the Message Media Ed facebook group & the Black Family Love Movement facebook fan page, via the website as well. Lastly, stay tuned for new video podcasts from our most recent Digital Elder graduates!

... and the WINNERS ARE...!!!

Message Media Ed presents Digital Lyricist Black History Month Contest 2011, highlighting young visionaries from South Los Angeles. Out of 12 applicants, 4 finalists were chosen to work with Founding Board Member of Message Media Ed, Brother J of X Clan, to prepare for their final performance at Sankofa Digi-Family Day, February 27, 2011 @ Earlez Grille in Los Angeles. 2 Winners were chosen to receive a laptop and scholarship to Message Media Ed's Diversity Leaders 6-Day Spring Retreat in April! For more information on Message Media Ed's mission and programs, please visit http://MessageMediaEd.org/, call 323-708-2526 or email info@messagemediaed.org

Digital Lyricist Contest WINNER: Krys Bragg, age 18

Digital Lyricist Contest WINNER: Kyli Cole, age 13

Digital Lyricist Contest FINALIST: Demontae Thompson, age 18

Digital Lyricist Contest FINALIST: Montel Givens, age 13

Bittersweet news...

Greetings Family!

Your response and enthusiasm for our Digital Lyricist Finalists and Sankofa Digi-Family Day, Sunday, February 27th @ Earlez Grille, is truly humbling! We are filled to capacity and cannot accept any more RSVP's at this time. Our guest list for Sankofa Family Day is now closed. :( :) :/

However... those of you who did not make our RSVP deadline, don't worry because we have other upcoming events to share with you!

Upcoming Events from Message Media Ed:

Saturday, February 26th: I am a presenter at LA Media Reform Summit @ Occidental College! Please attend my workshop,"Media Literacy for Social Justice: Producing Black Leadership for the Digital Age", 3:30-4:40pm, and learn about our researched-based, cutting-edge, hybrid formula for empowering youth, adults and seniors of African descent to utilize human, cultural, and technological resources for innovation and community advancement. Click here for summit details and registrationand I look forward to seeing you there!

Saturday, March 12th & 13th: Message Media Ed presents, The Digital Elder Project - 2-day Empowerment Retreat @ LA Urban League West Adams/Baldwin Hills WorkSource Center! Enhance your Texting, Email, Facebook, Podcasting Skills, and more!  Increase your awareness of African American social, economic and educational accomplishments and challenges! Enhance youth/adult communication! **Special guest speaker: Robin M. Caldwell, Huffington Post Technology Blogger & Executive Editor of Black Web 2.0! Produce video podcasts! Registration deadline: Friday, March 4th. Click here for retreat details and to register today!

Saturday, March 26th: Message Media Ed presents, Diversity Leaders Boot Camp @ Village Health Foundation! A 4-hour leadership intensive, designed for youth/youth adults, ages 13-25, and their parents/guardians/mentors, to enhance youth/adult communication; identify youth challenges & strengthen youth support systems; clarify career goals and leadership roles as young African Americans; practice critical tools for analyzing negative media stereotypes that strongly impact self-images and self-esteem! Youth produce video podcasts sharing their vision for their community! Registration deadline: Wednesday, March 23rd. Click here for boot camp details and to register today!

Mon-Sat., April 18th-23rd: Message Media Ed presents, Diversity Leaders 6-day Spring Retreat @ Village Health Foundation! Designed for youth/young adults, ages 13-25, this leadership retreat sets the standard for all spring break experiences. Participants will graduate having enhanced their skill-sets in computer operation, internet research, resume writing, public speaking, critical thinking, peer mentoring, journaling, and self-reflection! All youth produce an online portfolio (blog), a professional representation of their talent, voice and passions, useful for college and job applications! Registration is now open, participation is limited to 20, and first come first serve. Registration deadline is Friday, April 8th, but we may reach capacity before then. Click here for retreat details and to register today!

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Can't make any of our events, but you still want to support our mission of closing the digital divide and increasing innovation and leadership in the African American community? We got you covered! :)

Please support our Black History Month Fundraiser... Buy professional and supporting our mission! Only $20 for our unique Mini-Executive Notebooks! Click here to check them out and to purchase today!

Lol! Is that enough for you? Thank you for taking the time to read our news. We appreciate you :). Don't sleep family... join us!

In service,

Shani

Drum Roll please... Announcing our Digital Lyricist Contest Finalists!!!

Congratulations to all of our applicants! This was a hard decision because all of the submissions were excellent...

Announcing the Digital Lyricist Contest Finalists:

Demontae Thompson, age 18 (Cal State Northridge)
"I dose off with one thing on my mind/the reconstruction of South LA/ I envisioned a more dynamic place/Where tear drops on a gangster's face are not from killing someone/But from mentoring those who can uplift his race."

Krys Bragg, age 18 (Mount San Antonio College)
"I wish that dreams could filter their way back into the acoustic screams that haunt us/Plant reasons to live again/Reincarnating a city that was made for greatness/But killed prematurely/Because dreams aren't so conscious"

Kylie Cole, age 13 (Accelerated School)
"They toss me the 'N' word/I clench it in my hand/Because nothing can compare to being a slave for the white man/We broke the chains and became free/One of the greatest achievements in Black history"

Montel Givens, age 13 (F.A.M.L.I. After-School Program @ Audubon Middle School)
"If speaking the truth will get you shot in the head/ I guess I better shush up because no one will hear me if I'm dead. Of course I'm talking about King. Even beyond the grave, I bet he still believes."

All applicants are invited to attend the final performance, Sankofa Digi-Family Day on Sunday, February 27th, 3-6pm at Earlez Grille, and will receive a special gift from us! 

Finalists will perform on that day and we will select 2 winners! Both winners will receive a laptop and a scholarship to our Diversity Leaders 6-day Spring Retreat in April! 

We are so proud and excited to celebrate with everyone! 
Join us on the 27th for Sankofa Digi-Family Day! http://sankofa22711.eventbrite.com/

SANKOFA Digi-Family Day - Message Media Ed's Mission Comes Alive!

FREE FOOD! FREE ADMISSION! FUN YOUTH/ADULT ACTIVITIES! 

CASH PRIZES!

SANKOFA DIGI-FAMILY DAY!

Special guest performance by Brother J of X Clan! 

Youth performances by the Digital Lyricist Contest Finalists! 

It get's no betta' :) 

Oh wait... it does because you will be joining the Message Media Ed family to experience the goodness... Priceless!

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27TH, 3-6PM @ EARLEZ GRILLE

Please read all PROGRAM DETAILS and RSVP here 

http://sankofa22711.eventbrite.com/

BY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18TH!

Digital Elder Early Bird Registration Ends - Friday, 2/11/11!

Join the rest of our Digital Elder graduates, and become a Digital Elder in 2011! 

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION CLOSES FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH!  The next Digital Elder 2-day Empowerment Retreat takes place on Saturday & Sunday, March 12 & 13 @ the LA Urban League West Adams/Baldwin Hills WorkSource Center!

Catch the early bird for only $45 & register today at http://DigitalElder.org  Full & partial scholarships available to participants in need as well!

Using the role of the traditional African elder as a guide, a Digital Elder is a role model who utilizes modern tools of communication, to listen, nurture, guide, acknowledge, share wisdom and affirm. 

The Digital Elder Project is funded in part by the California Consumer Protection Foundation.

Buy Professional for our Black History Month Fundraiser & Support Black Leadership for the Digital Age!

Introducing...

Message Media Ed            
Mini-Executive Notebook!

For only $20...

This notebook makes you professional & organized at your biz meetings, school or just when you are jotting down your brilliant thoughts...

And you are supporting our cause to produce Black leadership for the Digital Age!!

(Size 8.75" x 6.5")

About us and our logo:
Message Media Ed provides traveling professional development workshops, for youth, adults and seniors, designed to close digital, socioeconomic, cultural and academic divides in the African American community.  The overarching principle guiding our work stems from a contemporary interpretation of the West African concept of Sankofa (also symbolized as the Sankofa Bird in our logo): To cultivate knowledge of self and our past, in order to skillfully advance, and diversify our future.  Therefore, we target potential participants for our workshops who are from predominantly African American communities, whose ancestors were displaced from Africa and brought to America through the transatlantic slave trade, and have been historically marginalized; socioeconomically disadvantaged; and harshly media stereotyped.  We reconnect participants to African principles, language and heritage, and empower them to use human and technological resources to counter and thrive in a media saturated, predominantly Euro-American society and educational system.


Our mission is to produce African American leadership for the Digital Age: culturally conscious role models and meaningful participants in the digital landscape. We do this by providing supportive, creative learning environments for cultural healing, leadership development, and skill building in critical media literacy, social media and information technology.

Legacy, Nat'l Council of Negro Women & Message Media Ed - Join Us!

You are invited to join the National Council of Negro Women for their Black History Celebration!

Film screening and panel discussion of...

Legacy: Black and White in America, February 5, 2011, @12pm

 Watch the trailer here!

Shani Byard-Ngunjiri, Founder/Executive Director of Message Media Ed, will be joining other featured panelists, to discuss how far we've come and the path ahead. 

This is a FREE event for ALL AGES

National Council of Negro Women House

(3720 West 54th St. Los Angeles, Ca. 90047)

Refreshments will be served immediately after the program

Please call Anita @ 310-351-5833 or Yolanda @ 323-779-7934 for more info.

IN CASE YOU MISSED US: (Video) Message Media Ed's In-Studio Radio Interview on KPFK 90.7FM!

From UpRising Radio (http://uprisingradio.org/home/?p=18225)

A poll by the Pew Research Center this past Summer documented a new development in the digital divide between racial groups. The Center found that Blacks and Latinos use mobile phones to access the internet at a higher rate than whites. People of color have lagged behind whites in personal computer ownership, but this is changing as lap-top ownership is equalizing. Still, a lower percentage of Blacks and Latinos have broadband internet service at home compared to whites. The higher reliance on cell phones for internet access is keeping pace with new technologies that make phones multi-functional. However research shows that people with a PC engage in a wider variety of online activities than phone users. A Pew Center researcher told the AP that, for example, it’s a lot harder to update a resume through a phone than it is on a computer. The poll’s findings suggest that mobile phone users are more likely to limit internet activity to personal communications and entertainment. In South Los Angeles a community group called Message Media Ed is working to bridge the divide and increase digital media literacy among communities of color. Message Media Ed has workshops and trainings such as, “Digital Elder” and “Diversity Leaders”, focusing on empowerment through skills training and community building. Message Media Ed focuses on the African American community and experience. Its model of leadership building and empowerment is rooted in the complex experiences of blacks in the US, and the media’s relationship to, and depictions of, communities of color.

GUEST: Shani Byard-Ngunjiri, founder of Message Media Ed, Brother J from X Clan

The deadline for the Digital Lyricist competition is February 4th. Find out more about Message Media and the contest atwww.messagemediaed.org or call 323-708-2526.