Calgary M&M Youth and Photo Workshop November 24th, 2012

Have a look at what Calgary youth saw:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmunac/8365804810/in/set-72157632483224562/

MULTIMEDIA+MULTICULTURALISM (M&M) in partnership with Women, Action and Media(WAMOTTAWA)! And GSAED presents….

PHOTOS: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmunac/sets/72157632426259790/    

UNA-Canada’s Multimedia & Multiculturalism Initiative (M&M) in partnership with WAM!Ottawa (Women, Action and Media) and GSAED (Graduate Students Association of the University of Ottawa) presented:  “Beyond the Sound-byte”:  A Panel discussion on new media and diversity at Ottawa University on December 4^th, 2012

 The panel was designed to promote how new/social media facilitates cross-cultural dialogue, as five media makers from diverse racial, cultural and social groups spoke about the intersectionality of identity,  and access to mainstream media.  Sixty individuals attended the event, with representation from diverse cultural communities, including Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trangender (GLBT) communities and First Nations communities.

The first panelist, Vera Wabegijig is a First Nations media artist and poet. Vera discussed how blog interfaces challenge her artform while also making it accessible to the public. She spoke about the linguistic challenges of navigating two languages in her work, while still maintaining the messages contained in her work and responsibly representing her traditional Bear Clan lineage/community. 

The second panelist, Myron Khatheer is a student in the Child and Youth Worker program at Algonquin College, who discussed how social media helped them[1] to deal with the challenges of ‘coming out’ to their community.  Myron has used Facebook and social media to launch campaigns and build networks for youth who face challenges as immigrant youth, navigating “hyphenated” cultures and gender norms.

The third panelist, Elisha Lim uses comic strips, graphic novels and video as a tool of inclusion for queer people of color.  Lim commented on the difficulties they[2] encountered working with mainstream media outlets while trying to promote work that deals with issues of sexuality, race and gender. While mainstream media is making efforts to be inclusive, it does not yet acknowledge the legitimacy of media work which looks at the issues not yet accepted by dominant mainstream narratives.

The panel concluded with Specs and Veils, the dynamic duo of Fartousa Siyad and Kayf Abdulqadir.  Both students at Ottawa University, Kayf and Fartousa realized there were no Somalian actors online and decided to create a YouTube video about their experiences as young Somali women in Canada. Their video “10 Types of Somali Girls” went viral globally (receiving over 150,000 hits) and drew the attention of mainstream media like CBC Radio and Google. Since this unexpected success, the duo has decided to continue producing comedic videos by and for youth from the Somali diaspora.  The response they received revealed how net-based audio-visual satire and comedy are effective as tools to deal with the challenges of integration while building resilience and readiness for newcomers.

Themes and discussion topics:

• Panelist experiences with online hate/cyber bullying in social media networks
• Responding to parents and/or community members who do not approve of the work being produced
• Emergence of ‘new’ words and phrases, neologisms
• How ‘call-out culture’[i] can help initiate a change in attitudes, and foster media inclusion.
• The challenges of accessing mainstream media networks, who do not acknowledge intersectionality and related identity politics
• The use of audio-visual media as a tool to convey/create visibility for underserved communities while also building resilience through comedic narrative about the challenges of integration
• Responsible representation of the communities who you represent and dealing with online bullying and negative feedback

Partners: WAM!Ottawa (Women, Action and Media – Ottawa Chapter) and GSAED (Graduate Students Union – Ottawa University)

Association Canadienne pour les Nations Unies

Multimedia + Multiculturalism

Event: M&M EDMONTON Citizen Journalism Workshop

Location: SCERDO (Somali- Canadian Education and Rural Development Organization)

Oct. 27- 28, 2012

 Photos of the event: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmunac/sets/72157632470212295/

The United Nations Association in Canada’s (UNA-Canada), Multimedia and Multiculturalism (M&M) Initiative welcomed Edmonton’s youth for a two-day workshop discussing Citizen Journalism. The workshop was held at the Somali- Canadian Education and Rural Development Organization, and sponsored by the Alberta Human Rights Commission and the Human Rights Education and Multiculturalism Fund (AHREMF).

On the first day, Sarah Kambites (M&M Project Manager) spoke to youth from diverse backgrounds about UNA-Canada, encouraging them to engage in the media, education, and society in general. This was followed by Vivian Giang (M&M project officer- Edmonton branch) who introduced M&M, using interactive activities to explain the concepts of diversity, and multiculturalism.  

On the same day, the youth welcomed Pauline Mukashema, executive director of the African Canadian Center for Excellence who gave some tips on how to blog. Pauline’s detailed workshop was very insightful and interactive. She shared her ideas with the youth in how to create a blog, where she then posted it on her page, Racine Noir or Black Roots.

Speaking about how to write a story, Marliss Weber (Writer- Parodose Communications) advised the youth on how to reach the target audience using social media tools, without forgetting the importance of the traditional media. Weber also shed light on the importance of citizen journalism as an opportunity for everyone to fully express themselves and project their thoughts in public. 

The first day workshop also included presentations for two of Edmonton’s M&M interns who shared their experiences with the youth and encouraged them to consider a career in the media industry.

On the second day, the youth was mentored by Hope Walls (Photography professional) who revealed some secrets behind meaningful photography. Speaking about the dos and don’ts in photography, Walls asked the youth to take pictures showing multiculturalism, trying to use new elements other than skin color. She also advised them to be creative while 

Have a listen…: http://www.cbc.ca/ottawamorning/episodes/

MULTIMEDIA+MULTICULTURALISM (M&M) in partnership with Women, Action and Media(WAMOTTAWA)! And GSAED presents….

  “Beyond the Sound-byte”

*A FREE PUBLIC EVENT*

UNA-Canada’s Multimedia & Multiculturalism Initiative (M&M) in partnership with WAM!Ottawa (Women, Action and Media) and GSAED (Graduate Students Association of the University of Ottawa) Presents:  “Beyond the Sound-byte”:  A Panel discussion on independent media and diversity within diversity.

Date: Tuesday, December 4, 5-7pm

Venue: Rm. 140, 90 University Rd, University of Ottawa

Panelists: Elisha Lim (Toronto)

      Specs and Veil (Fartousa Siyad & Kayf Abdulqadir) (Ottawa)

      Vera Wabegijig (Ottawa)

      Myron Khatheer (Ottawa)

This event will feature independent media makers who use new media to explore issues of identity using new/social media as a tool to build social awareness and cross-cultural dialogue.  The panel will include 5 independent makers from diverse groups who will share their work and their viewpoints on how social media can be used a tool to convene diverse groups and explore diversity within diversity.

About M&M….

UNA-Canada’s Multimedia & Multiculturalism (M&M) initiative reflects a commitment to social cohesion in Canada by examining and enhancing the role media plays in contributing to the inclusive representation of all Canadians and implementing innovative employment enhancement.

M&M works directly with media agencies, post-secondary institutions and ethno-cultural communities to work towards strategic goals, open up dialogue and work towards creating media that is free from stereotypes, racism and other forms of discrimination. By representing the broadest possible spectrum of voices, opinions, and realities, and by being accessible to all Canadians, inclusive media provides an authentic account of the world around us and works to bring under-represented populations into the mainstream and showcase the ‘new mainstream’.

About WAM!..

“Women, Action, & the Media (WAM!) is an international grassroots organization dedicated to building a robust, effective, inclusive movement for gender justice in media. WAM! works to connect and support  media critics and makers, activists, academics, and funders working to advance the participation, ownership, and representation of marginalized communities. Our work is part of an advocacy movement for gender justice in media.

WAM!Ottawa was founded in fall 2012 and operates under WAM! core values. WAM!Ottawa is intergenerational, anti-racist, anti-colonialism and anti-imperialist, pro-economic-justice, trans-welcoming, queer-friendly, pro-immigrant, anti-abelist, sex-worker friendly, interfaith, and supports size diversity. We welcome members of all gender identities. WAM!Ottawa is located within unceded Algonquin territory. We stand in solidarity with Indigenous people’s territorial and cultural rights.”

Presenter Bios

Elisha Lim tells stories through comic strips, graphic novels and video, to celebrate queer people of colour. Lim’s graphic novel “100 Butches” is a visual documentary of comics about 100 queer people, and the majority of them are part of an international racialized queer community. The novel has earned art grants and an introduction by New York Times bestselling comic artist Alison Bechdel.

Solo shows of Lim’s illustrations have exhibited in Toronto and Ottawa and group shows in Philadelphia, Toronto and Montreal, and Lim was the very proud curator of Montreal’s 2012 racialized gay pride week: 2-QTPOC. Lim’s video collaborations with Coco Riot have screened in Seoul, Singapore, Bangalore, Los Angeles, Texas, Chicago and Toronto.

Vera Wabegijig’s roots reach back generations from Mississauga and Wikwemikong Unceded Reserve. She is a member of the Bear Clan; Trickster’s Fireball Society; and also a board member at SAW Video Co-op. Vera is Anishnaabe artist who uses the written word and moving images to express her vision that guides her like the north star.

Her poetry has been printed in many anthologies including Yellow Medicine Review Fall 2012, XXX NDN, Surviving in the Hour of Darkness, Breaking the Surface, Our Words, Our Revolutions, Reclaiming the Future, and, Sweetgrass Grows All Around Her to name a few. Vera has been a featured poet at the Talking Stick Festival, VerseFest, Uts’am/Witness, The New Canoe, and most recently at Voices of Venus.

Vera is also an emerging media artist. Granny Braids, a visual love poem has been screened at ImageNative 6^th Annual Film and Video Festival, ImagineNative 4^th Annual Film and Video Festival, and Follow the Eagle, a NFB short documentary was screened at Dawson City Film Festival.

Currently, Vera has a collection of poetry, Manoomin Bwaadang– Wild Rice Dreams, that will be published by Bookland Press in 2013, and will release, Shokode (Fire), a short documentary created alongside with her daughters, Storm and Grace this winter 2012.http://verawaabegeeshig.wordpress.com/

Myron Khatheer is a student in the Child and Youth Worker program at Algonquin College. They have been volunteering with the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa for 3 years now on projects focused on newcomer youth and newcomer communities as well as LGBTQ communities. They have also been working on Youth Engagement programs within YSB as well as with the Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health providing training to youth serving agencies on youth engagement. They are very active within their peer community in advocating for social justice and inclusion.

Specs and Veils is the dynamic duo of Fartousa Siyad and Kayf Abdulqadir. Both participated in the Adobe Youth Voices project at Rideau High School. Kayf had the opportunity to travel to the US to study and screen her work through this program. After graduation, Kayf and Fartousa decided to continue making videos about their experiences as Somali Canadian young women. Their video 10 Types of Somali Girls went viral globally and drew the attention of mainstream media like CBC Radio. Since this unexpected success, the duo has decided to continue producing comedic videos by and for youth from the Somali diaspora.

For more information about WAM!Ottawa, please contact:  womenactionmedia.ottawa@gmail.com facebook.com/WAMOttawa, @WAMOttawa

For more information about M&M, please contact: Simmi Dixit, M&M Project officer; simmi.dixit@unac.org OR Chelby Daigle, M&M Ottawa Regional Coordinator; chelby.daigle@unac.org,  www.mmunac.org, @mmunac

United Nations Association in Canada
Association canadienne pour les Nations Unies

MULTIMEDIA+MULTICULTURALISM (M&M) in partnership with Women, Action and Media(WAMOTTAWA)!and GSAED (Graduate Students Association, Ottawa University)

*A FREE PUBLIC EVENT*

Please register to attend on Eventbrite: http://mmunac.eventbrite.ca

UNA-Canada’s Multimedia & Multiculturalism Initiative (M&M) in partnership with WAM!Ottawa (Women, Action and Media) and GSAED (Graduate Students Association of the University of Ottawa) Presents: “Beyond the Sound-byte”: A Panel discussion on independent media and diversity within diversity.

Date: Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 5-7pm
Venue: 70 Laurier , Arts Building, Ottawa University Campus
Panelists;

Elisha Lim (Toronto)
Specs and Veil (Fartousa Siyad & Kayf Abdulqadir) (Ottawa)
Vera Wabegijig (Ottawa)
Myron Khatheer (Ottawa)

This event will feature independent media makers who use new media to explore issues of identity using new/social media as a tool to build social awareness and cross-cultural dialogue. The panel will include 5 independent makers from diverse groups who will share their work and their viewpoints on how social media can be used a tool to convene diverse groups and explore diversity within diversity.

For more information, please contact: Simmi Dixit, M&M Project officer; simmi.dixit@unac.org OR Chelby Daigle, M&M Ottawa Regional Coordinator; chelby.daigle@unac.org

About M&M….
UNA-Canada’s Multimedia & Multiculturalism (M&M) initiative reflects a commitment to social cohesion in Canada by examining and enhancing the role media plays in contributing to the inclusive representation of all Canadians and implementing innovative employment enhancement.
M&M works directly with media agencies, post-secondary institutions and ethno-cultural communities to work towards strategic goals, open up dialogue and work towards creating media that is free from stereotypes, racism and other forms of discrimination. By representing the broadest possible spectrum of voices, opinions, and realities, and by being accessible to all Canadians, inclusive media provides an authentic account of the world around us and works to bring under-represented populations into the mainstream and showcase the ‘new mainstream’.

About WAM!..

“Women, Action, & the Media (WAM!) is an international grassroots organization dedicated to building a robust, effective, inclusive movement for gender justice in media. WAM! works to connect and support media critics and makers, activists, academics, and funders working to advance the participation, ownership, and representation of marginalized communities. Our work is part of an advocacy movement for gender justice in media.

WAM!Ottawa was founded in fall 2012 and operates under WAM! core values. WAM!Ottawa is intergenerational, anti-racist, anti-colonialism and anti-imperialist, pro-economic-justice, trans-welcoming, queer-friendly, pro-immigrant, anti-abelist, sex-worker friendly, interfaith, and supports size diversity. We welcome members of all gender identities. WAM!Ottawa is located within unceded Algonquin territory. We stand in solidarity with Indigenous people’s territorial and cultural rights.”

Presenter Bios
Elisha Lim tells stories through comic strips, graphic novels and video, to celebrate queer people of colour. Lim’s graphic novel “100 Butches” is a visual documentary of comics about 100 queer people, and the majority of them are part of an international racialized queer community. The novel has earned art grants and an introduction by New York Times bestselling comic artist Alison Bechdel.
Solo shows of Lim’s illustrations have exhibited in Toronto and Ottawa and group shows in Philadelphia, Toronto and Montreal, and Lim was the very proud curator of Montreal’s 2012 racialized gay pride week: 2-QTPOC. Lim’s video collaborations with Coco Riot have screened in Seoul, Singapore, Bangalore, Los Angeles, Texas, Chicago and Toronto.

Vera Wabegijig’s roots reach back generations from Mississauga and Wikwemikong Unceded Reserve. She is a member of the Bear Clan; Trickster’s Fireball Society; and also a board member at SAW Video Co-op. Vera is Anishnaabe artist who uses the written word and moving images to express her vision that guides her like the north star.
Her poetry has been printed in many anthologies including Yellow Medicine Review Fall 2012, XXX NDN, Surviving in the Hour of Darkness, Breaking the Surface, Our Words, Our Revolutions, Reclaiming the Future, and, Sweetgrass Grows All Around Her to name a few. Vera has been a featured poet at the Talking Stick Festival, VerseFest, Uts’am/Witness, The New Canoe, and most recently at Voices of Venus.
Besides writing, Vera is also an emerging media artist. Granny Braids, a visual love poem has been screened at ImageNative 6th Annual Film and Video Festival, ImagineNative 4th Annual Film and Video Festival, and Follow the Eagle, a NFB short documentary was screened at Dawson City Film Festival.
Currently, Vera has a collection of poetry, Manoomin Bwaadang– Wild Rice Dreams, that will be published by Bookland Press in 2013, and will release, Shokode (Fire), a short documentary created alongside with her daughters, Storm and Grace this winter 2012.

http://verawaabegeeshig.wordpress.com/

Simmi Dixit (Project Officer, M&M) presents a Media 101 workshop with Equitable Education’s “Interdependant Media Workshop Series” Ottawa Ontario, September 2012.

Rachel Lau

Web articles

Children: drowning in numbers:

http://www.globalmontreal.com/by+the+numbers+drownings+in+quebec/6442678859/story.html

PQ vision Quebec:

http://www.globalnews.ca/mass+shooting+on+danzig+street+in+scarborough+leaves+2+dead+21+injured/6442680549/story.html

Nadal pulls out of London:

http://www.globalmontreal.com/6442682150/story.html

Charest tours Quebec:

http://www.globalmontreal.com/6442682430/story.html

Day camp safety:

http://www.globalmontreal.com/day+camps+to+take+extensive+measures+to+ensure+safety/6442682254/story.html

Bones in Riviere-des-Prairies:

http://www.globalmontreal.com/6442682226/story.html

Housing for Jun Lin’s parents:

http://www.globalmontreal.com/montrealers+offer+housing+to+parents+of+dismemberment+victim+jun+lin/6442682104/story.html

James Holmes:

http://www.globalmontreal.com/james+holmes+unassuming+killer/6442683052/story.html

Gang links in Montreal murders:

http://www.globalmontreal.com/6442696398/story.html

Quebec Solidaire’s fiscal plan:

http://www.globalmontreal.com/6442696290/story.html

Quebec Solidaire and free education:

http://www.globalmontreal.com/6442696373/story.html

Photo galleries

London 2012 inspiration for young athletes:

http://www.globalnews.ca/photos/london+2012+inspiration+for+young+athletes/6442688661/gallery.html

Jean Charest in Sherbrooke:

http://www.globalmontreal.com/Pages/PhotoGallery.aspx?id=6442690105

Impact soccer photo gallery:

http://www.globalmontreal.com/Pages/PhotoGallery.aspx?id=6442692377

Nouran Abdellatif

Size matters not a bit to model citizen

Veterans mark D-Day with benefits protest

Canal isn’t just for boats anymore

-          Hail to the chef

Keep interprovincial bridge out of Greenbelt, group warns

Gatineau announces $17 million parks reno

Blind runner aims for 2012 Paralympics

Cops make 60 drug arrests

Police probe youth allegedly urging dog to bite students

-          Conference looking at social barriers welcomes children’s rights wunderkind

Cheap Trick hires lawyer for stage-collapse lawsuit

Funny people rally to help ailing comedian

City slammed for age limit on student transit discounts

Marking National Aboriginal Day with a gesture of remembrance

Riders react to transit union shakeup

Ottawa firefighters win extrication challenges

Serial killer Cléroux pleads guilty to three murders

-           Victims’ families speak out

Sporty cyclists live the ‘lo life

Nurses to get cash infusion in discrimination settlement

Fire dept. has lead in Alta Vista blaze

“South Central Ottawa” marketing efforts irks Centretown residents

Condos not a takeover, developer insists

Not so Wilde about South Central

Canadian Forces members go the distance in Netherlands

Dig in. Archeology month offers public chance to discover history

Marina Giannitsos

Photo Gallery:

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/photos/gallery+2012+edmonton+international+street+performers+festival/6442675732/gallery.html

Online Stories:

Euro Cup

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442657448

G4S CEO Talks

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442663515

Salt Therapy

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442663762

City of Edmonton Parade Balloon

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442664411

Ticket Machines Detect Explosives

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442664608

Wife of Injured G4S Releases Statement

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442665049

Permanent Memorial

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442665336

New D&D Initiative

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442666094

Heritage Tree

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442666309

Motorcycle Theft

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442667051

Habitat for Humanity in St. Albert

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442667981

Skrillex Cancelled in St. Albert

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442668105

Prices Down in Sylvan Lake

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442668581

G4S Funeral

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442668874

Jasper Flood

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442669630

Public Washrooms

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442670153

Boonstock

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442670401

Housing in Thorsby

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442672739

Speed Reductions in Neighbourhoods

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442673486

Aboriginal Youth Hockey Camp

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442673911

Street Performers

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442674124

Lotto Max

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442674658

Commercial Hotel & Blues on Whyte

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442674812

EPS Minority Recruits

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442676023