I made the logo in the bottom right-hand corner during Graphics class, and will be screen-printing some T-Shirts to sell, as well as distributing this flier to connect with 2 - 3 additional youth organizers. We'd like to have a team of 4 - 5, to work together on getting Detroit REPRESENT! ready for kick-off in early October! 

In Graphic Design class, we're working in teams to design a logo and flier for the Whole Note Healing Collective . This is the latest iteration of the logo I'm working on...

In Graphic Design class, we have just started to learn to use Adobe Illustrator. For our homework, we all were asked to make business cards that represent ourselves, as students in the DFM Program. Here's Mine:

In Video Class, last week's homework assignment was to take footage that represents the following 3 things:

- An action or reaction
- A state of being
- An emotion

In class we'll be discussing the ways that we can convey ideas through images. The images I took are below:

A State of Being

An Action / Reaction

An Emotion

We've also been working on planning our videos out in greater detail, for our Major Media Projects, and I've made a lot of progress on mine. I decided to create a video that could serve as a short "About Us" / PSA, to both educate the community about what REPRESENT! Is, and to raise some of the important issues we hope to tackle, as a group. We'll focus on issues like LGBTQ youth inclusion in/exclusion from transformative work in Detroit, how being people of color affects our LGBTQ identities, or how age impacts our experiences, in general. We'll especially wanna focus on topics that have the most relevance to REPRESENT!, including questions about how we relate to current media portrayals of LGBTQ youth of color, and what images we hope to change or create.

As far as planning goes, I have a pretty good start. Besides writing the script, I still need to determine exactly where I want to shoot each scene. I like the idea of just shooting most of the video on the street - but perhaps dipping into spaces where transformative work is happening, like at gardens and farms around the city, at makerspaces or at Fender Bender, at Ruth Ellis Center, or the Young Brothers United space. I need to figure out where I'll be shooting as soon as possible.

I already know who I want to be in the video. I'm interested in interviewing the youth helping to form REPRESENT! as well as any other youth who might be interested. Since, at this time, all the youth are over 18, I don't have to worry about getting parental permission for them to be in the video, but if I consider featuring a youth under the age of 18, we'll need permission slips for them to be featured.

I wanted to incorporate music produced by an out LGBTQ person of color from Detroit, and thanks to one of the youth organizers of REPRESENT!, we were already able to ask for permission to use one of Insite the Riot's songs, and were given the go-ahead. (You can check out her music here, by the way.)

I wanted to incorporate graphics into the video, but since I'm also in the graphics workshop, I'm planning to create any graphics used, so I won't need permission to incorporate those. Other than that, the only permission I think I'll need will be permission to shoot in a particular location, depending upon where we decide we'd like to shoot.

Video Brainstorming Mind Map

Below is a mind map illustrating some of the many connections I'd like to draw, in my Major Media Project video. The map below illustrates some ways that LGBTQ youth of color and Detroiters, as a whole, have suffered similar forms of oppression, and then portrays ways that both groups could benefit from combining forces. At the core is a brief explanation of REPRESENT!, so the video's cohesive element could be an explanation of how REPRESENT! is designed to act as a catalyst for this kind of collaborative work. 

Reflection # 1: Orientation Writing Prompt

Prompt:
- What is your vision for your Major Media Project?
- What ideas do you have for your Major Media Project?
- What are you planning to investigate, and how does it relate to Detroit's future?
- What media skills do you need/want in order to complete your Major Media Project?

Response:

When I applied to the Detroit Future Media Workshops, I was hoping to gain skills to help me work towards the formation of a new collective of LGBTQ youth of color. The collective I'm working on assembling is called REPRESENT! and is intended to provide a media platform for LGBTQ youth of color from Detroit to create and promote media portrayals of themselves that feel more authentic than those provided by mainstream media coverage. Through creating these representations, youth involved in REPRESENT! would be able to develop their own interests and skills, gain self-confidence, engage directly in community organizing efforts, connect with other organizations doing important work, foster a sense of community pride / rootedness, and actively participate in a process to change attitudes towards LGBTQ youth of color in Detroit. At this point, I'm working with a small group of passionate local youth who are excited to see this project happen, but we need help gathering resources, organizing volunteer efforts, and getting the word out to more youth.

Based on these needs...

My vision for my Major Media project is to create a video that can help to inform the community about REPRESENT! and a flyer to compliment the video. The purpose of having both a video and a flier is to reach different audiences. My plan is to post the video online, and post the fliers in public places around the city. The video will probably be farther-reaching, and accessible to folks who might fund the program, or people with the resources to volunteer. I'll make efforts to show the video to as many youth as possible; but because many youth have limited or no access to the internet, fliers will be primarily directed towards them. Combined together, the video and fliers will get the word out to youth who might want to get involved, community members doing similar work who might want to collaborate, people who might want to donate, or folks who might want to volunteer. In order to accomplish both of these goals, I'll work in both the graphics and video workshops.

My vision is to work, in the Video workshops, on creating a short video piece that features youth involved with the project (as well as others who aren't directly involved) discussing some of the concerns they think need to be addressed, and proposing possible solutions. It would feature the work of some of the other amazing LGBTQ youth / youth of color organizations already doing amazing work in the video, and then discuss the role that REPRESENT! would play in the community. This video would serve as an invitation to youth who'd like to get involved, an explanation of the project, for anyone who isn't quite sure what we're all about, a way of connecting with people who might like to donate or volunteer, and a way of connecting with other like-minded organizations, whose work we support and admire. In the graphics workshops, I'll work on designing a flier that provides much of the same information, but in a more condensed format. Creating a flier will also give me the opportunity to work on branding for the program. Coming up with a logo, color scheme, and other elements that I can re-use as the project begins to grow will help me down the line. Because of the format, there won't be room for full-length interviews, but I might be able to incorporate a short quote from one of the youth organizers, or a tagline that helps people remember us.

Although my Major Media Project is designed to be used as an outreach tool for REPRESENT!, I don't want it to be purely functional in nature. In addition to providing information about the program and how to get involved, I want to inspire LGBTQ youth of color who see either the video or the flier to get excited about their own power to create change right here, in Detroit. In particular, I'd like the video to incorporate these elements, since the format will allow for more detail than the flier. As a part of the video, I'll interview youth, asking them to consider ways that we can turn our experiences of oppression and struggle into unique strength and knowledge/wisdom. I'll also explore youth's ideas about what it's like to be young, LGBTQ, of color, and from Detroit. How is the experience portrayed by mainstream media? Is it portrayed at all?  Do youth feel they "fit in" to the broader LGBTQ community? If so, how so? If not, why not? I'll ask youth to discuss their ideal Detroit. How can youth from Detroit participate in some of the amazing work of re-imagining the city in a way that is inclusive and affirming of LGBTQ youth of color, and our experiences? What kind of spaces would youth build? What kinds of attitudes or stereotypes would they change? Considering problems like the digital divide, increased homelessness and foreclosures, educational malpractice, or the criminalization of oppressed people, what strategies are youth already using, to survive? What would it take to create a space where youth can feel safe in their identities, their bodies, their lives, and in Detroit?  How is Detroit's future and the liberation of LGBTQ youth of color intertwined? How can those two seemingly separate movements become the same, in concrete ways?

In order to complete my Major Media Project, I'll need to develop skills in the actual technical use of video equipment, since I've never made a video before. I'm a photographer, so I do understand certain elements, like composition and lighting, but I'm not not experienced with how to incorporate elements like sound, and movement. Also, because I've worked mostly in black and white photography, I will need to further develop my understanding of color. In the graphics workshop, I'll also want to learn about color, as well as illustrator, since I've never used that program before. I also have very little print-making experience, so I'll need to build that skill-set.