2016 Program: Media and Technology

In the 19th century, Jim Crow laws enforced racial segregation at the state and local level. By the 20th century these laws were replaced with discriminatory drug and crime policies that created a new, racially biased system of mass incarceration. From the increasing use of fusion centers to police technologies and predictive policing practices, the Internet and related digital technologies facilitate the speed, scale, and secrecy of policing -- and exacerbate racial bias. Across the country, communities of color are fighting back. Learn about the ways high-tech policing threatens racial justice, hear stories of resistance, and learn how you can protect your city from racial bias in high-tech policing.

Have you ever watched a show that relies on tired tropes about people of color and wondered, “How can I change that?” Have you ever followed a wildly successful and entertaining advocacy or video campaign featuring influential spokespeople and creative storylines and wondered, “How can I do that?” This panel/workshop will help you learn how to do both. You’ll hear from and engage with the creative teams from ColorOfChange.org – whose work is focused on shifting and reshaping harmful media narratives about people of color and advancing policies for a more equitable society – and Weird Enough Productions – whose work is dedicated to creating positive media content of people of color and providing essential education about media literacy (how to identify and combat negative stereotypes) to local communities. We’ll share actionable recommendations from a newly released #PopJustice report, which makes the case that leveraging and influencing pop culture are keystones to social change, particularly in relation to countering stereotypes and fears, and improving attitudes, toward people of color and immigrants. We’ll close with an activity, allowing you to share your experiences and begin the process of developing your own toolbox for #PopJustice. You’ll better understand how to participate in or even launch similar campaigns and projects.

As the visibility of queer & trans people of color in mainstream media becomes more common, it is crucial that we look critically at the ideological messages they contain. In this interactive queer & trans youth of color focused workshop, we’ll analyze historic and recent examples of how queer & trans people of color have been represented in mainstream/dominant media and discuss the impact this media has on us as individuals and our communities. When we work together to create our own media, we build our analysis, relationships, and vision through the creative process, and we strengthen the impact of our voices. Using the FYRE Media Justice Camp model, participants will learn media literacy skills that we can use to reframe reproductive, gender, and racial justice issues based on our analysis and lived experiences to create our own community-centered media. We’ll showcase examples of previously created media and lead participants on a journey of what it means to create larger narratives that speak to what queer & trans people of color need for our lives and communities to get better, to feel safer, to love freely and openly, to be liberated.