A short promotional clip encompassing some of Beyondmedia Education's work. ENLARGE
HIV: HEY, IT'S VIRAL! This youth-produced video uses a sex-positive and LGBTQ-inclusive educational approach as a practical alternative to abstinence-only education. The voices of HIV positive urban youth encourage their peers to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS through safer-sex.
(20 minutes).
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TURNING A CORNER tells the stories of people involved in the sex trade and their efforts to raise public awareness of systemic injustice and promote needed reforms. Created in a media activism workshop with over a dozen members of Prostitution Alternatives Round Table (PART), this groundbreaking film recounts their survival and triumph over homelessness, violence and discrimination, and gives rare insights into Chicago's sex trade industry.
(60 minutes).
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DOIN' IT: SEX, DISABILITY & VIDEOTAPE. The Empowered Fe Fes, a peer group of young women aged 16 to 24 with different disabilities, strike again with their second video production, an insightful investigation into the truths about sex and disability. In the video, the Fe Fes educate themselves about sex from many angles by talking with activists and scholars. The viewer tags along on a date between a woman with a disability and her able-bodied boyfriend, exploring relationship issues of dating with a disability over a candle-lit dinner.
(17 minutes).
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WHY THEY GOTTA DO ME LIKE THAT? (The Empowered Fe Fes Take On Bullying) was produced in a workshop with the junior group of the Empowered Fe Fes, a project of Access Living in Chicago. In this film, 13 young women with disabilities explore school-based bullying by interviewing people on why bullying happens and how they respond, then acting out common experiences with new solutions. The Empowered Fe Fes demand viewers to consider bullying as a serious issue of discrimination, letting us know that we can work together to both understand the stop the problem.
(12 minutes).
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BEYOND DISABILITY, 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."
(26 minutes). ENLARGE | PURCHASE
CAN LGBTQ + SCHOOL = SAFE?. This video explores the problems experienced by queer youth in school settings and offers proven solutions, including how to start a Gay-Straight Alliance in your school.
(28 minutes).
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RESPECT ME, DON'T MEDIA ME was produced in a workshop with Sisters Empowering Sisters, a program of Girl's Best Friend. The movie examines the portrayal of young women in music videos and other media. It also asks the questions: what does this kind of portrayal mean for young women? How does it affect our lives, our decisions, our relationships? And what can we do to change it?
(30 minutes).
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REAL TALK ENGAGING YOUNG MEN AS ALLIES TO END VIOLENCE. The Young Women's Action Team asks young and adult men what a male ally looks like, and how to build the movement to stop violence against women. using poetry, dance and interviews, this video speaks to youth who want to confront violence in their communities.
(28 minutes).
ENLARGE | PURCHASE
GIRLS' THEORY: ME-SEARCH RESEARCH was produced in a year-long workshop with girls aged 14-17, using the media to explore their own lives and the world around them. In their own voices, the girls cover topics such as violence, stereotypes of women, sex, relationships, reputation, and the future.
(24 minutes).
ENLARGE | PURCHASE
CondomSenseEducation.org is the website for the partnership between Beyondmedia Education, Howard Brown Heath Center and About Face Theatre. Together they are bringing HIV education into high school classrooms and beyond.
ChainofChange.com organizes youth activists to individually and collectively strategize how to end violence by exposing its roots through the creation of media.
WomenandPrison.org: A Site for Resistance makes visible women's experiences in the criminal justice system by telling their stories and posting their artwork. Your feedback and contributions are welcome.
Beyondmedia Education is thrilled to announce that Women's eNews has named Executive Director Salome Chasnoff as one of the 21 Leaders for the 21st Century and the winner of the Ida B. Wells Award for Bravery in Journalism. These prestigious awards are bestowed upon visionaries who are committed to improving the lives of women and girls.
Touted as one of seven women who "Invent a Better Future," Chasnoff realizes her vision of a better world through her work as an independent filmmaker and her leadership of Beyondmedia Education.
View the official announcement on the Women's eNews website.
Beyondmedia is introducing a powerful collaboration with the Dreamcatcher Foundation, an organization founded by two formerly incarcerated women who have spent much of their lives involved in the sex trade, Stephanie Daniels-Wilson and Brenda Myers-Powell. Dreamcatcher works with girls, aged 12-18, who live in Chicago's Englewood community who are at high risk for incarceration and sexual exploitation.
Using the creative process to generate a safe space for reflection, participants are creating a video in their own voices and of their own determination. The girls will take on the impressive task of using this video to organize other girls and young women to generate community dialogue and actively engage others around issues that young women in this neighborhood face every day.
The Dreamcatcher workshops began in February 2009 and the young women are in the early stages of idea development and production. They are exploring various creative means to tell their stories including: personal interviews, video diaries, photography, autobiographical skits and journaling.
Half of all new HIV infections in the U.S. occur among people ages 25 and younger, but no national platform currently educates young people on preventing the virus. To address this issue, community leaders Howard Brown Health Center, Beyondmedia Education and About Face Theatre joined forces to produce Condom Sense: A Real Life Education. This innovative sex-ed program was created in collaboration with Chicago youth living with HIV.
"HIV: Hey, It's Viral!" is a groundbreaking sex-positive 20-minute video from Beyondmedia Education addressing HIV/AIDS prevention and activism from youth perspectives. The video shows young people what HIV is, how it is transmitted, and how it can be prevented - all spun with a fun soundtrack and entertaining animations to illustrate the science of HIV/AIDS. Focusing on risk reduction, safer sex practices and the importance of testing, the movie stresses the idea that anyone can get HIV, and everyone can help prevent it.
The HIV: Hey It's Viral DVD includes the 20 minute video, plus extra bonus features that explain in depth the biology of HIV, how to use a condom, how to get tested for HIV, as well as individual personal stories of young people living with HIV. Other features include a workbook for educators, an action guide for activists, educational visual aids and more. The video has also been approved by the Chicago Public School board and Beyondmedia is getting one copy to every public high school in Chicago as a resource for teachers to use in their Sex Ed cirricula!
Purchase a copy online now.
Photos from the Chain of Change Youth Summit!
The Chain of Change project organized over 20 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 the Chain of Change website.
The website 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. Now in its second year, the Chain of Change project is being led by a youth leadership committee which will determine the next step and direction of the project in 2009.
Women and Prison: A Site for Resistance is an interactive website that makes visible women's experiences in the criminal justice system and offers information, strategies and actions that challenge the ways that the system reproduces discrimination, exploitation, and civil injustices in the treatment of women and their families. Women and Prison: A Site for Resistance is comprised of oral narratives in audio and transcription forms, creative writing and essays by currently and formerly incarcerated mothers and their children, images, scholarly articles, and links to sites, reports and resources on women's incarceration already available on the internet. More than half of the contributions come from women in the prison system. A Site for Resistance is the first comprehensive internet resource speaking out and organizing against the incarceration of women and girls. Visit Women and Prison: A Site for Resistance and participate!
Over the course of a week, Firebelly Design chose Beyondmedia's Women and Prison project for their annual summer camp program, where 10 designers worked to create a full-color 30 page zine. You can purchase copies of the zine and poster through our catalogue. A huge thank you to Firebelly for your support!
