In a personal post, author Zenzele Johnson shares how The Learning About Multimedia Project (LAMP) helps youth think critically about issues of race, class, and gender in the world around them.<\/p>\n
“My experience of not seeing myself represented in media is why I advocate for diverse media representation. It\u2019s why I work at The LAMP (Learning about Multi-media Project), a non-profit using media as a tool to educate students of color, mostly teens, on how to comprehend, create, critique and ultimately challenge the media. As the Education Associate, I help teach our students to be active, responsible consumers and producers of media.<\/p>\n
For example, in a recent LAMP workshop, students aged 13-15 were learning about the six major media companies that control 90% of the media in America. One slide conveyed five white men holding all media messages in their hands. One asked, ‘These are the men that decide what I watch?’ Facilitators nodded and asked, ‘What do you think?’ One young lady raised her hand and pointed out the absence of women. Another raised his hand and said, ‘Everyone\u2019s white.’ It\u2019s in moments like these that transformations occur.’<\/p>\n