In 2011, the Chicago Jobs Council celebrated its thirtieth anniversary. This brief video highlights some of the accomplishments they’ve achieved in assisting unemployed people with access to job training programs and education they need in order to find jobs. Various council board members and participants in job training programs share their experiences within the organization from its formation to its goals for the future.
Beyondmedia Education partnered with youth media producers and the Coalition for Education on Sexual Orientation (CESO) and Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) to create a multi-media toolkit on issues facing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer / Questioning (LGBTQ) youth in Illinois public schools. Can LGBTQ+ Schools=Safe? focuses on sexuality-based discrimination and anti-gay violence of LGBTQ youth in Illinois schools, and shows how to start a Gay-Straight Alliance or Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA). See http://beyondmedia.org for more information.
The Empowered Fe Fes (slang for female), a group of young women with disabilities, hit the streets of Chicago on a quest to discover the difference between how they see themselves and how others see them. Their revelations are humorous, thought provoking and surprising. As the young women grapple with issues as diverse as access, education, employment, sexuality and growing up with disabilities, they address their audience with a sense of urgency, as if to say, “I need to tell you so you’ll see me differently.” See http://beyondmedia.org for more information.
In 2008, the Chain of Change project organized over 25 groups of youth activists across the state of Illinois to individually and collectively strategize how to end violence against women and girls. Giving these groups access to flip video cameras, Beyondmedia challenged the groups to think about their own roles in this struggle and to create short video segments to be uploaded to this website.
The website subsequently serves as a platform to facilitate discussion around the topics and issues the videos address and serves to strengthen the bonds between the participants and to raise awareness of violence against women and girls, in all its complexity.
See https://beyondmedia.org for more information.
Beyondmedia’s Girl World Media Workshop was a year-long after-school program with Alternatives that began in 2001. Alternatives provides innovative leadership and advocacy opportunities to lower-income girls and young women on the north side of Chicago. Beyondmedia collaborated with 19 girls, aged 14-17, in the Girl World Teen Group to produce a video, “Girls’ Theory, Me-search Research”.
In their own voices, the girls cover topics such as violence, stereotypes of women, sex, relationships, reputation, and the future. The young women critically examined representations of teenagers and women of color in mainstream media and took to the streets to interview the public about the subject. As a result, their smart, hip video merges personal discussions about the daily struggle to be a righteous sister with the mixed blessings of the world at large. See https://beyondmedia.org for more information.
“Respect Me, Don’t Media Me” was produced in a workshop with Sisters Empowering Sisters, a program of the Girls Best Friend Foundation. The film examines the portrayal of young women in music videos and other media. It also asks the questions: “What do these kinds of portrayals mean for young women?”, “How do they affect our lives, our decisions and our relationships?” and “What can we do to change them?” See https://beyondmedia.org for more information.
Beyondmedia partnered with the Young Women’s Action Team to produce “Real Talk,” a film that features the voices of men in their community. In the film, the girls ask young and adult men what a male ally looks like and how they can build the movement to stop violence against women and girls. Using poetry, dance and interviews, this video speaks to youth who want to confront violence in their community. See https://beyondmedia.org for more information.
00:15 Title animation: “HIV: Hey, It’s Viral!” followed by a classroom skit where students are asked what they of the word “viral”. 01:16 Onscreen text animation: “What is HIV?AIDS?” Reginald Davis and John Gafeney discuss being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. 02:33 Onscreen text animation: “Who gets HIV/AIDS?” Kevin Irvine says “Anybody can get HIV, it doesn’t matter who you are, it matters what you’re doing.” Discussions of the HIV epidemic’s disproportionate effects on young people, women, people of color, gay, and […]