I am here repping Youth Media Council at the Allied Media Conference and can I just say, wow. I have been to so many conferences this year, and they are always inspiring, but not always in a positive way. Usually, I get mad and have to write scathing reviews about the lack of vision from or understanding of disenfranchised voices.

This is not the case at the Allied Media Conference. After getting in late to Detroit last night and getting over some jet lag, I made it over to the opening ceremony. The strong presence of radical thought filled the air around me and was only heightened by the powerful words of the presenters. Three Detroit activists--Grace Lee Boggs, Charles Simmons and Elena Herrada--discussed the role of media in activism, but also focused on what is happening on the ground in Detroit. I was so inspired I wanted to just move on in to the D.

Following this included some profound spoken word poetry by Versiz, Angela Jones and D. Blair. If you don't know, get familiar.

For a minute the MC passed the mic around for youth voices to speak about the media that they want to see. Most of the folks that spoke out were from Detroit Summer (please get familiar) and spoke about a media that needs to highlight their voices, educate future leaders, train youth to feel comfortable in front of the camera and to feel confident about their voice and their communities. Some folks talked about how the media needs to highlight local activists and local artists and a media that tells the truth.

What do you think? We are all clearly not happy with the way the media treats our respective communities and organize in a variety of ways to fight misrepresentation, that is probably why you are here reading at all. What kind of media do YOU want to see?