
Media Action Grassroots Network (MAG-Net ) April Digital Dialogue Co-hosted with Global Action Project
All across this country from Seattle to Chicago to Philadelphia, public school education and teachers unions are under attack. In the past year, hundreds of public schools have been closed down in mostly brown and black communities, in the name of budget cuts and improving the quality of education. At the same time, millions of taxpayer dollars are put into building more prisons to incarcerate our youth, rather than closing the inequality divide and improving neighborhood schools. Structural change of the media system is integral to winning change in the educational system. We need an accountable media system that is not driven by market forces, but rather by community needs.
This April Digital Dialogue helped uplift the voices of those directly affected by these issues that are fighting for better public schools, against the school to prison pipeline, and for teachers' rights and unionization. It will convene community members who are working at the intersection of education justice/reform and media justice. On the call we heard from grassroots activists and organizers who are using media and culture to advance these fights.
- Xian Barrett, Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE) of Chicago Teachers Union
- Beth Patel, Philadelphia Student Union
- Albert Sykes, Young People's Project
- Chrystian Rodriguez, Global Action Project
Moderated by Betty Yu, Center for Media Justice