Digital Arts Service Corps - activism

Danielle on TV! on CCTV's Critical Focus

danielle martin — Wed, 30 May 2007 03:12:23 +0000

Check out my appearance on a panel about changing the media on Cambridge's cable access station, CCTV Critical Focus show. As it says on their blog, "Critical Focus: A Forum on Media Today is a series of six one-hour videos investigating how representations in the media affect culture, politics, and behavior. Each episode features a diverse panel of experts from academia, journalism, the broadcast industry, and social action agencies assessing the impact of media on our society." This episode focused on discussing some concrete ways citizens can learn about and change the media landscape. Of course, I plugged both the CTC VISTA Project and MassIMPACT's work doing digital storytelling with housing developments in the Boston area. I felt pretty privileged to sit next to fellow panelists like Nettrice Gaskins, Lauren-Glenn Davitian, and Steve Provizer, who've been working on community media, technology, and activism for YEARS, and have folks interested in what I had to add.

Click To Play

WAM! It's more than just onomatopoeia...it's women media

danielle martin — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 18:56:08 +0000

I'm here at MIT (my fall place of graduate Urban Planning studies, btw) at the 2007 Women Action and Media (WAM!) conference this weekend, a yearly conference that combines a bunch of topics that interest me - media, activism, social justice, and women's issues. I read BITCHfest for my book club recently (selections from BITCH magazine), and it got me more interested in feminist media related issues, especially in that the techniques and lessons learned by feminist activists around framing in the media relates to many other issues (such as poverty, network neutrality, and more).

So far, I've gone to three very different sessions. The first pre-conference session attracted me around the idea of framing class more effectively in the media. [I mean, come on, we're VISTAs fighting poverty, right?] Ellen Bravo (and her book, Taking on the Big Boys) suggested a few interesting hooks to change the way the mainstream media frames issues of class and work:

The Snow Day - The kids don't have to go to school, but many low-income parents do; that means that a snow day really means a day home alone for many youth.

The Flu Epidemic - The media is always covering stories about people not staying home to stop the spread of the flu virus. But if you really think about it, people with low paying and/or part-time jobs can't afford to take sick days and they usually have service jobs like cleaning public spaces or handling food.

"Best places to work" lists - We need to probe more about these lists, because the companies on the list often give money to associations that give awards.

I went from thinking about poverty's media image, to the image of social change on the web. Allison Fine, and her book Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age, has been getting a bit of buzz at Project HQ because it's basically what the CTC VISTA Project is trying to do only a daily VISTA basis. Mostly the session fueled more questions than answers:

? Is MoveOn.org really just a reflection class organizing techniques?
We need to tap into the core fundamental ways of behaving by successful social change organizations and how they convey to using new media/tech. Primarily, we should focus on how to start and facilitate conversations to build a movement. You can start with an online conversation but they can be better implemented combined with in-person discussions.
? Why are there no comments on our organizations blog?
There was a frustration around not getting any interactions on blogs and listservs, because they get put out there and they don't get used. This can be combatted through connecting these conversations to in-person interactions and by also participating in other nonprofit's online networks.
? Are we blogging/podcasting just because it's cool?
The challenge is that there is an array of tools to have two-way interactions but are non-profits really taking advantage of that? Are they really offering up space to comment, but they don't respond (listening deficits)...behaving still one-to-many communication scheme?
? Are we liable for things said in blogs/forums on a site if we host it on our server? Many participants were afraid of not having enough control of the message if the movement building happens in an online social network.

On Saturday, I became "press", helping Alana, a very capable young woman of the Project Think Different Media Watch Team, video several sessions over the course of the day.

In the Our 21st Century Bodies, Our Multimedia Selves session, the presenters spoke about how their transporting information dissemination from a published book (Our Bodies, Our Selves) to online (http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org). I liked how Elana Hayasaka simplified how new online media are taking advantage of the weaknesses of classic print media for activism:

- update quicker and more often
- more accessibility / web search function
- avoid cost page limits
- dispersal to a wider audience
- involve the reader (interactivity)
- appeal to younger readership

Yet again, the topic of the "freedom" of blogging versus having a moderation scheme came up. But I like that they admit that the focus of the blogs shouldn't just be just a public relations tool for the organization, but instead give a framework (social, political) for further discussions of women's health. I also really like one example blog they referenced Hollaback Blogs, that encourages people to blog a photo/video (from your camera phone) of a person that sexually harass them on the street.

"For some fun, go listen to the HOTGirls (Helping Our Teen Girl in Real Life Situations) version of JT's "Sexy Back." It's a good way to start thinking about framing media for young women of color (YWOC), as demonstrated by this project out of Atlanta, GA. I was really impressed by the materials from the presenters in this workshop, from the Advocacy Institute - they have some great handouts on Designing Effective Outreach Strategies. More so, I was impressed by the media examples from the Pro-Choice Public Education Project (PEP) Recognize campaign. Most interestingly, both HOTGirls and PEP have campaigns/programs fueled by youth leadership councils and did extensive research ahead of time on tailoring the message effectively for YWOC.

[Download the powerpoint from the Do You Know Who You’re Talking To?: Effective Messaging for Young Women of Color, with Nicole Clark, Candace Webb session here.]

Finally, I ended the day in the "On the front-lines of Media Justice: Transitions in Policy and Movement Building" - which really meant: how do we change gears in a social change organization without causing a crash. Hannah Sassman presented a great case study of how Prometheus Radio Project decided if they were going to expand their community radio efforts into community wireless efforts. They made the hard decision to not go with the community wireless buzz because it didn't fully serve their constituents.
"We made the decision to put off expanding into wireless advocacy efforts until when the time was right, not when the time was sexy." Sari Gelzer also alluded to the decision making process of the Global Action Project to update their efforts to train youth-led organizations in media skills, in an environment where the part-time implementors of programs in non-profits didn't necessarily have time and/or opportunity to participate in decision-making.

[We had a great discussion on some specific examples of how non-profits approach transitions and sustainability, but I had videotape the session so I'm hoping Hannah posts the notes soon on her blog http://hannahjs.worpress.com.]

On that note, I'm pooped. I'm off.

PTD's Youth Action Summit photos

danielle martin — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 20:26:07 +0000

Just a quick note to post some photos I took yesterday at Project Think Different's Youth Action Summit. The Media Watch Team, under the direction of CTC VISTA Colleen Kelly and former VISTA Cara Powers, led discussions in the state of Boston youth's representation in mainstream media and some actions they might take to change the situation. Some of that action will take place on their new electronic community (built in Drupal by CTC VISTA Dina Vecchiarelli). More photos here

My Letter to John Mayer...I'm Not Waiting

danielle martin — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 20:52:00 +0000

Dear Mr. Mayer,

I've been a fan of your songwriting and style for quite a while. I've persisted in this admiration even in the face of people calling you a "sell-out", your experimentation with new genres, and your screaming female co-ed fan base. Many times, I've marveled on how well you articulated moments of behavior and feelings around growing as a post college adult and finding a purpose in the world. I tend to actually pay for your albums and listen to what you have to say, as do millions of other people. In this way, I've become a consumer of both your goods and your philosophy.

But I am also an activist. I believe every person has a story and deserves to be heard. I speak out for what I believe, but I also made a now two-year commitment an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers In Service to America) to actually take action to support my beliefs as well. And while I try to read and listen to as many voices as I can to both support and challenge my beliefs, the one voice I refuse to give audience is one of apathy.

In my work as a VISTA (especially with my placement this year with the housing developments of Boston and Massachusetts), I've listened to many types of voices: voices of fear of walking down a street to participate in GED programs because of gang violence; voices of anger around misrepresentation in the media; voices of exhaustion about the powerlessness caused by bureaucratic systems and ignorance of opportunity. Many of these voices are not heard beyond the walls of small community centers, church basements, or under funded technology programs, and certainly not in the mainstream media or on the floor of Congress. And I have to admit there were moments in the past couple weeks where I was shocked that people were hesitant to share their voice with me because of who I am and where I come from.

Here’s why I’m writing to you. Your song "Waiting on the World to Change" angers me - not because I disagree when it calls out an unpopular war, media bias, or corporate owned media content, but because its proposed solution is to abide. I'm glad you “care” and have awareness that “the fight ain’t fair.” But I’m discouraged to hear that you know these things, but have chosen to use your far-reaching voice to encourage our shared generation to merely “wait” for it all to blow over until power comes to us by default.

While working with non-profits, I’ve encountered a surprising fear of change in the way we do things, even though our missions is often to exact change in other institutions, systems, and individuals. In the face of such stoicism, some fellow VISTAs have expressed frustration and say “why doesn’t that older generation just loosen up a bit or let us take the lead?” In our role of building capacity in the war against poverty and disempowerment in one short year, there’s no room for VISTAs to wait for the voice of the people we serve to be heard. We’re not volunteers in waiting for America. We’re “standing at a distance” from the sources of funding and power in our communities, but we’re trying to improve the system and enact change NOW because the need is not always in the far off future

So every “we” uttered in your song angers me, because you purport to represent my fellow VISTAs and I…and you don’t. If you feel misunderstood, Mr. Mayer, then I’d wish you’d turn your writing talent and power to reach millions of listeners toward highlighting the work of few who are trying to empower people to make change, if you’re not willing to do it yourself.

Sincerely,

Danielle Martin

VISTA Leader

CTC VISTA Project / MassIMPACT

P.S. Please note: the opinions in this letter are solely my own and do not represent those of the CTC VISTA Project or MassIMPACT. In addition, you could also begin to remedy this situation by providing free tickets to your shows to any interested AmeriCorps volunteers and giving them a chance to share their work with your audiences. VISTAs love free tickets.