In honor of Blog Action Day, I thought I’d write a bit about Socially Aware Media and how poverty comes into that.

I’ve found that many people get into media because they want to make the world a better place. And the media does have that power. We can create change, and do on a daily basis. Yet creating change and making the world a better place can be two completely different things. Yes, you have the power to change things for the worse. And it’s happened. I think I can safely say that media around the world has encouraged - both implicitly and explicitly - racial and gender injustice, for instance. Yet in those same areas, there has been a lot of positive change brought about by media.

An example: Today I met with a woman who I first met July 2007, at a conference in California where we showed “Fuerza”. Ben (the director) and I had a Q&A session afterwards. This woman asked what she could do about immigration. We gave some generic answers, as well as an idea to work with the Mexican economy to decrease the “push” factor of immigration.

Fast forward a year: this woman has led a discussion group on immigration at her church, traveled to the border to explore sustainable economics with Mexicans, visits undocumented immigrants at the local detention center weekly, meets with an immigrant rights group weekly, and more. And she still isn’t satisfied.

Okay, at this point, I think I must change my mind on an earlier point. The media has little to no power to make actual change. It does, however, have the power to encourage others to work for change. “Fuerza” will not change policy, comfort a mother torn from her family, or create a sustainable local economy. But its viewers can.

Now, media has a strange relationship with poverty, one unlike other genres of social injustice. Making media takes money. In general, creating media is getting cheaper, but it’s still expensive to make a movie, publish a newsletter, or even a blog.

Now, it is wrong to jump in and say, “Oh! I have a voice! I will speak for the poor!” The impoverished have a voice. They know how to speak. They simply don’t have access to the same equipment, connections, etc., that we have due to our privileges. They’re not being heard.

So you’re not a “voice for the voiceless.” Your job as a socially aware media creator is to allow the people who aren’t being heard or are being silenced to speak to those who weren’t listening. These people may be inspired by the new voice to make change.

When dealing with poverty, or any other issue of injustice, you must take into consideration the imbalance. You must realize that perhaps your video has only men, because you only interviewed politicians and other people in positions of power. Recognize the systems at work, and always look on the low side of the power totem pole for your best stories, the other side, and potential to make the world a better place.

I’m happy to announce that Fuerza has won a Silver Telly Award! I was the Editor and a Producer on this project, which was released in November 2006.

This is the highest yearly award that the Telly’s give, and past winners in the documentary category include Current TV, Broadway Video (founded by Lorne Michaels of SNL fame), Discovery Health, National Geographic, ESPN, The Weather Channel, and more.

For more information, check these links:

• Article in South Bend Tribune
• Goshen College Press Release
• Telly Awards Website

Fuerza will be shown this Friday night as part of 4F (First Fridays Film Festival). We’re returning to the place
we premiered, Goshen Theater, in downtown Goshen. We’ll be talking a little before the film plays at 6:20. We’ll also be hanging around and selling some DVDs. There will be about 40 different shorts and movies playing, all for free, so stop by even if you have seen Fuerza 20+ times.

After a recent Fuerza showing, someone (we’ll call
them Pat) came up to tell me that they mostly enjoyed it, but one part
bothered them. It was the part where we showed the video of the mother
in Mexico to her son in Indiana.

“It went on too long,” Pat said. I explained that we cut out over half of the scene as it was. Pat
thought it was showing the emotional side too much. “Do we need to just
look at the issues, separate from emotions?” Pat asked me.

Socially Aware Media means that the whole story is told. Emotions are
an enormous part of immigration, and to separate the personal aspect
from the rest would really be detrimental to the story, to the people
involved, and to the understanding of all.

As I was leaving, Pat told me that the scene made him uncomfortable. Is
this really a bad thing? I don’t think so. I’ll be honest, I HATE being
uncomfortable (I have to leave at certain points in Zoolander and The
Office). But when used properly, it can really spur deeper thinking.

This is the scene from Fuerza that I’ve gotten the most comments on, and many
of them are about how we handled the situation. Some people have told
me that it was perfect, and others have seen it as manipulative and too
drawn out. I, however, and content with how it is, and think we handled
it respectfully and honestly.

Related links-
My Kid Could Film That
Why church is loud

Last night I had the privilege of presenting Fuerza to a class at Notre Dame. Let me tell you what, it was slightly intimidating. Here we are, 4 kids from a small liberal arts college, taking questions from students at one of the most prestigious universities.

But it went fine. As much as I am not a fan of public speaking, I have really grown to love and embrace speaking about Fuerza. It’s something I love, and had a blast doing. So maybe I still stumble occasionally, and what not, but it’s still fun.

The class was Migration: Documented, and part of the university’s
Institute for Latino Studies. Each week, the class (and any public)
will watch a film on migration. Sounds like an awesome class to me.
By the way, if you’re in the South Bend area, check out the other films in the series. It looks decent.

Well I’m back in school now. I’m taking classes to pick up a social policy minor I tacked on last spring. So that means I am in Social Welfare Policy and Program (I think that’s the name… it’s long and has those words), Mediation, and a night class called Race, Class, and Ethnic Relations. I’m really excited to take what I learned about international relations over my time in the DR and Honduras and apply it at more domestic and personal levels.

I am also doing layout for the Goshen College Record and working as Managing Editor for GC Journal, the on campus/online TV show. I also have a weekly radio show on 91.1 The Globe, Wednesdays from 12-2. You can listen in online at GlobeRadio.org.

Tonight, I’ll be at Notre Dame, presenting Fuerza in a class there. Stop by if you’re in the area.

Uprising Radio did a pretty good review on Fuerza. They’re a California-based public radio show, and Fuerza was a gift for pledging.

The review starts around 11 minutes into the streaming feed, and runs about 12 minutes. Here’s a direct link to the feed.

My favorite line:
“Fuerza: a documentary that shows the link between two cities you’ve probably never heard of.”