Generation Justice’s mission is to inspire youth to become media makers committed to social transformation. Through intentional design, Generation Justice provides youth with media making experience, community awareness, empowerment, confidence, and a place of belonging. Generation Justice creates media from the principles of equity, inter-generational connectedness, and civic engagement.
Generation Justice Alumna Jonquilyn Hill conducts an audio interview at the NM KIDS COUNT Conference. Jonquilyn is a graduate of Howard University with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and is currently a Desk Assistant at NBC News in Washigton, D.C.
Generation Justice has a commitment to racial and gender equity in media making, which increases understanding, tolerance, and commitment to balance in the gathering and telling of stories. As a result of a strong track record of supporting youth through middle/high school and into college, Generation Justice has successfully began to evolve into a pathway for youth of color to pursue journalism.
Our objectives for this project are guided and informed by the bleak state of affairs in the journalism and media fields today. For example, one report states that only 21.8% in television, 12.9% in newspaper, and 11.8% in radio are journalists of color. We are addressing this particular inequity through an intentionally designed fellowship for youth of color currently in the process of attaining their higher education or recently completed. Through an innovative, social justice-based, and intergenerational framework, this fellowship will act as a main point of entry for those fellows and our youth participants to become the next generation of socially responsible and civically engaged journalists of color in New Mexico and nationally. Fellows will be provided with invaluable exposure to the fields of journalism and media making through interactions with local, national, and international journalists, many of them people of color.
The Generation Justice Fellows Program will propel youth of color, poor youth, and youth with disabilities to further their commitments to journalism/media careers by training and networking with professional journalists and by showcasing Generation Justice youth work. Generation Justice will give fellows opportunities to build their own journalistic voice and gain valuable organizational and networking skills while working with seasoned journalists. In turn, the fellows will offer the same to the middle/high school age youth, creating a positive cycle of learning, challenge, accomplishment, and evaluation.
“I also had to realize that being a journalist means being a storyteller. My job is to relay the stories from the community but to keep their authenticity. This switched my focus from being about my byline to it being about the people. This was a life changing realization.
I’m truly thankful for all that Generation Justice and the Kellogg Foundation have given me. Being a fellow has shaped my life goals, furthered my career, and given me access to more opportunities to grow.”
– Pauly Denetclaw, Generation Justice Fellow 2013-2014
From: Meeting Jessica [Blog]
“I ask myself “How did I get so lucky to exchange ideas and questions with such a giant in this industry?” The answer is simple; it is because of Generation Justice and its fellowship program. I know that I am in the right place, with the right people, and working toward the right goal. I have been at Generation Justice since October, and I can say without hesitation that this experience has already doubled my multimedia knowledge and experience. Until Generation Justice, I had never completed any radio, blog or multimedia trainings, let alone produced any, and it’s only been three months!
I have now met a journalist who has reached the mainstream, yet stayed true to her identity. Without this fellowship opportunity I would be walking into the journalism world blind, fearful and unequipped. I cant express how much Generation Justice has done for me in such a short time; I can only strive to get better day-by-day and take Maria Hinojosa’s advice and be a fearless journalist rather than a reckless journalist.”
– Jason Fuller, Generation Justice Fellow 2013 -2014