Against the backdrop of the mountains of Tennessee, and sheltered from brisk cold by the large meeting rooms of a Hilton Hotel, about 75 people sought new answers to the old problem of historic disenfranchisement by U.S. media.  

This diverse band of justice-seekers represented media, organizing, and cultural arts organizations from across the Southern states.  They were brought together by members of the Media Justice Fund -- the Fund for Southern Communities and the Appalachian Community Fund to share their media justice stories, strategies, and victories.  Through the songs and digital stories of Knoxville’s own Carpetbag Theater, a popular education session with the East Tennessee Progressive Network, presentations by American Forum, Appalshop, and others, and dynamic small group discussions,  these groups worked together to tackle fundamental questions about the role of media and culture in the lives of their constituencies and to identify the media policies, content bias, and ownership issues that pose both threats to and potential opportunities for building a regional movement in the South.  

More inspiring than even the participants themselves was the fact that media and culture were treated as mediums to be fought for and used as part of a larger strategy in the struggle for social justice, a concept still gaining traction in the movement for media reform.

I was honored by their invitation to offer opening remarks and deepen our collective understanding of media justice, because media justice is more than sexy rhetoric; it is also a powerful re-framing of a centuries-old relationship: the relationship of disenfranchised communities to political power.  Media justice houses an analysis of that relationship, a participatory strategy for local to national change, an agenda for relevant policy and structural change, and a broad vision for racial, economic, and gender justice- all of which combine to create a framework for fundamental media and social change that includes the radical redistribution of communication rights and power.  

In the South, like all other parts of the country, U.S. citizenship remains an unfulfilled promise for the vast majority.  For communities disenfranchised by race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability- an understanding of the role media and culture play in reinforcing systemic inequity is critical and determines the nature, scope, and method of its transformation.

The strategy for media change in the South was the conference hook, and the diversity of tactics was inspiring to hear.  Ranging from an independent radio show-Holler to the Hood -- currently under the threat of an indecency fine for giving voice to the incarcerated -- to the development of a national black weekly newsmagazine, from the alliance-based strategic communications of the Community Media Organizing Project to the uses of documentary media to unveil the hidden reality of police brutality -- the participants each manifested the principle of creativity at the heart of every media justice strategy. 

As a panelist I had the opportunity to share how the Youth Media Council implemented the framework of media justice through regional media justice initiatives like the campaign to Unplug Clear Channel and Oakland’s first FCC Hearing, through our on and off-line media action network of more than 50 people, and through our multimedia action paks.  More importantly, as a participant I got the chance to bear witness to and learn from some of the most incredibly savvy, strategic, and sophisticated organizing and media work occurring in the country.  All of this raised in me the question: As a regional movement building media strategy and action center, how does the Youth Media Council support the media capacity, sharpen the media strategy, and strengthen the media leadership of this particular frontline of groups?  How can the YMC, from our location in the Bay Area, use our media justice organizing, PR strategies for disenfranchised communities, and media skills and leadership development to expand and strengthen the movement for media justice and support the development of a regional media justice strategy throughout the South?

As working class whites, and blacks, immigrants, and native people of all classes, the participants of this media justice convening understood that traditional media reform tactics would not be enough to win freedom for the thousands of impoverished, racially and economically oppressed communities they represented.  These organizers, media producers, and artists focused their attention on solutions, exquisitely demonstrating the inherent power and capacity of home-grown media leadership. Sponsored by a grant from the Media Justice Fund of the Funding Exchange, the gathering gave me more than insight.  It gave me hope.  I hold this experience deep in my heart and look forward to nurturing partnerships with each of these amazing organizations in the near future.  Come the hell of poverty or New Orleans high water, Tennessee represented with a commitment to media justice as native as the mountains, and as enduring as change.  

Holler, cause a just media system just can’t wait.