Afro-Media Literacy For Better Human Relations

 i have explored the Issue and Concerns of Unconscious Racial Biases several times during and before the recording of my documentary on various issues and concerns in our society with a focus on the most vulnerable  members of in society. I like that these conversations are being had. The fact that South Carolina just removed the Confederate flag gives me hope that we as a country are becoming more culturally sensitive and acceptance of diverse culture is on the horizon!!

attending a cultural sensitive training i'm always expecting everyone to be open to change, in fact i want to believe that everyone in attendance is there because they want to understand how to get along with various cultures and end the stereotypes placed on different cultures. Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 6pm i attended my first culture sensitive training at The Academy of Natural Science called "Awaken The Dreamer, Changing The Dream" (http://www.pachamama.org/engage). The Symposium is dedicated to awakening hopeful new perspectives for building a new future...one that is built on sustainable practices, spiritual fulfillment, and social justice.(http://ma.cal.basecampbusiness.com/node/10810). My first reality check came when we were asked to put a pachamma bracelets on the wrist of the person sitting next to you. i was sitting next to a white man who refused to place a bracelet on my wrist or me put one on him, so i put mines on myself. not everyone is ready to level the playing field.

in March 2013 The Philadelphia Magazine published an article "Being White In Philly" expressing the views of a white man whose son was attending Temple University, which is located in a predominately African American community. The backlash from the African American community and city of Philadelphia lasted about two weeks and then the conversation disappeared. i was hoping to have conversations around the city about the article but got backlash because white people don't want to deal with their unconscious biases. so i hosted a blogtalkradio show with Ms. Linda Wallace "The Cultural Coach"
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/redhen/2013/07/25/red-hen-exploring-our-conditions-with-ms-linda-wallace .

today i attended "Dismantling Unconscious Racial Biases, Strengthening Cultural Responsiveness" facilitated by Dr. Shani Byard from Leimert Park Los Angeles. We were asked to start the workshop by standing in circle holding hands, of course the white women to my left refused to hold my hand, in fact the hand chain was broken starting at my left and ending in front of me, so not only did she refuse to hold my hand but the hand of the white person standing next to her. i wasn't offended, just realized again that not everyone was at the workshop with the same purpose and maybe these particular people don't like to hold hands of people they do not know. What did get to me is the white women who has taught me to garden and for some reason has been acting a bit funky towards me lately. We held hands for a moment that felt strained, so i took the moment to take a photo. She began to cough and we had another valid reason not to hold hands in the circle and i decided to get what i can get from the workshop.

Dr. Shani shared with us that she became sensitive to the negative messages being put out via hip hop music and their effects on our society. Dr. Shani started going into the public schools with a goal of assisting our youth to find themselves and not get caught up on the media images. What Dr. Shani found was that the teachers were unconscious of how media stereotypes influenced them as well and were suspending students constantly because they were not able to relate to the students. This culture clash along with standardize testing fuels the school to prison pipeline. Dr. Shani Byard formed Afro-Media Literacy training company to assist in tapping into and changing the unconscious racial biases. www.messagemediaed.org

i really enjoyed how Dr. Shani outlined how the media producers sale morals, influence how we act and socially desirable actions. media is a powerful tool.

what does your staff look like? how well do you know the people you are working with or for? how diverse is your board? When entering a different community think about what your privileges looks like to the community you are entering. Dr. Shani Byard shared some great handouts and resources. "Guidelines for Being Strong White Allies" adapted from Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Social Justice by Paul Kivel. www.paulkivel.com "Vital Voices Lessons Learned from Board Members of Color" www.boardsource.org . "Media Literacy Core Concepts and Key Questions" The Center for Media Literacy www.medialit.org . "Is Your Teaching Style Racism Free?" a 2014 Message Media Education Report

We have to keep this conversation going!!

Thanks Soil Generation for this anti racism training!!