B Fly

B-FLY FALL 2018

ADVICE COLUMN

@URGENTINC #RITESOFPASSAGE

YOUTH ART FEATURED AT SOUL BASEL DEC 6-8TH

LIGHTS ON AFTERSCHOOL OCT 25TH

DOCUSERIES WITH MIAMI'S BEST AUTHOR OF 2018, OCTAVIA YEARWOOD

INTO THE WILD WITH SIERRA CLUB

WATCH HOT NEW MUSIC VIDEO "LOVELESS GENERATION" FROM "OUR VOICE MATTERS" ALBUM ON SOUNDCLOUD TEA & TITLES COMING IN DEC

#OURVOICE MATTERS

FALL 2018

FACE & RITES OF PASSAGE

FACE/RITES OF PASSAGE TEAM SALIHA NELSON Vice President

SHEDIA NELSON Programs Manager/Artistic Director

LOREN DANIEL Career & Technical Education Coordinator

RENAVIA BUCKHANNAN Career & Technical Education Coordinator

JOEY ASHLEY Media Specialist

ASHELY REQUENA Career & Technical Education Coordinator/Facitiltator

NIA YOUNG Career & Technical Education Coordinator/Facitiltator

CATHIANA SYLNE Media Lab Manager

MONICA BISSAINTHE Peer Educator

JAEL LABRIE Peer Educator

FALL 2018

1ST TAKE YOUTH FILMS FEATURED AT URBAN FILM FESTIVAL

"MY BIG BROTHER INSPIRES ME," YES CAMPER JACARIA EVANS, JEREMIAH JONES, FACE ALUMNI/FILM MAKER/ACTOR.

PHOTO CREDITS

Program funded by

Quanisha Bell, Digital FACE, Shauntravia West, Christelle Eliama, Ashley Requena, Shedia Nelson Editor Shedia Nelson

CENTER FOR EMPOWERMENT & EDUCATION 1000 NW 1ST AVE., STE 100, MIAMI, FL 33136 I (786) 581-7821 F: 866-811-7778 I FACEBOOK I WWW.URGENTINC.ORG I TWITTER/IG: @URGENTINC

B-Fly

@urgentinc #OurVoiceMatters #RitesofPassage #FACE

table of contents 6

Special Events

6

Our Voice Matters Collection

8

Student Council

9 "Battle of Love" new youth led comic book release

08

16

8

10 Miami Dade County Public Library Technobus 11 Youth poetry 12 Urban Film Festival

10

14

12 Life Lessons with Octavia Yearwood 13 iGen Film Festival 15 Digital FACE 16 Advice Column 5 Know Your Rights Camp 17 Lights on Afterschool

11

12

URGENT, Inc. CENTER FOR EMPOWERMENT & EDUCATION 1000 NW 1ST AVE., STE 100, MIAMI, FL 33136 (786) 581-7821 I F: 866-811-7778 FACEBOOK I WWW.URGENTINC.ORG I TWITTER: @URGENTINC i IG: @URGENTINC

SAN FRANCISCO Historic Overtown - Eight FACE and Rites of Passage youth had the exclusive and exciting opportunity, along with many other youth development programs across South Florida - in attending Colin Kaepernick's Know Your Rights Camp. This camp is an empowering youth leadership campaign for our youth to raise awareness in higher education and instruction on how to properly interact with law enforcement in various scenarios. Thank you to Talent 4 Change for the amazing support and Colin Kaepernick, and his whole team for being the epitome of being agents of social change for better future for our future leaders of the world.

Some key takeaways our youth gained from attending include: “I liked the positive message that the event is sending about Knowing Your Rights. Having this information is a great help and guaranteed to improve experiences people have with the police.” ~ Anonymous

“I think this little ‘session’ was quite educational. I really enjoyed the speech as to when they guy said that ‘Love aint no sucka stuff that correlated with my life and it spoke to me as an individual.”

-Sarena Noel “I liked how we learned about police brutality and how we can set up our plate with healthy food.” ~ Juberney Etienne

he t n i Stop ve o L f o e m a N

Special Events OCT New comic "Battle of Love" 20 Coming Dec 2018

iGen Film Festival Free College for a Day at Miami Dade College N Campus

OCT 27

Know Your Rights Camp

NOV 10

Bike riding in Shark Valley, Everglades National Park with Sierra Club ICO Miami

NOV 17

Miami International Book Fair

DEC 1

Etiquette Lunch

DEC 6-8

Youth Art Soul Basel "Our Voice Matters" Youth Exhibition "Battle of Love" new comic book

DEC 10

Tea & Titles

JAN Florida Film House 12-14 1st Take Film Program MAR Spring Break 26-30 Film Boot Camp MAY TBA

Program Graduation & Community Art Expo

EVENTS/6

OUR VOICE MATTERS POETRY COLLECTION: PHOTO BOOK, POETRY FILM & ALBUM

Photobook on Sale!

l e s a B l u So YOUTH

Ten talented young poets and photographers contributed to this photo book collection of portraits taken by youth. Their poetry reflects how they see themselves and community social issues.

A

EXHIBITION

MIXED

MEDIA

LOCATION: THEATER MIAMI,

DATE: VIP

Purchase your copy today! www.urgentinc.org Https://FS3.FORMSITE.COM/URGENTINC/FORM26/IN DEX.HTML

HISTORIC

819

About the Collection

Listen to "Our Voice Matters" EP album with new recorded tracks on SoundCloud.com/urg entinc!

Songs written and performed by youth in Rites of Passage produced

by PATH to Hip Hop with compassionate lyrical life coach Sekajipo ForThePeople.

"WE WANT TO THANK YOU BECAUSE HONESTLY NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT YOU. YOU GIVE US THE PLATFORM FOR EVERYTHING WE NEED TO PROVE OURSELVES SO WE'RE GLAD THAT WE ARE ABLE TO MAKE YOU PROUD!" - MONICA BISSAINTHE, AMBASSADOR ALUMNI "WE WORKED HARD FOR THIS AND WE GOT MORE PLACES TO GO." - DEONDRE MARSHALL, ALUMNI

NW

FL

33136

DEC.

6TH

LYRIC

2ND

AVE.,

RECEPTION

TIME:

4-6PM

DATE:

DEC.

8TH

COMMUNITY

EP Album on SoundCloud

INTERACTIVE

COLLECTION

TIME:

ARTS

DAY

1-3PM

Our Voice Matters is a mixed media interactive youth art collection that will have your toes tapping to original hip hop songs and fingers snapping while stimulating your mind through rhyme and spoken word. See storytelling through photography and feel like a super hero.

This collection highlights youth voice, honors elders and showcases youth talent through poetry, film, photography, music and visual arts.

Special Features: Award winning poetry film, Our Voice Matters, original album, “Our Voice Matters,” music video, “Loveless Generation,” and comic book story board for, “Battle of Love”.

Community Arts Day

Feel like a super hero! Have fun creating your super hero at URGENT, Inc's community arts day with our young super heroes and talented, published author, entrepreneur and recording artist Ramon "Absoloot" Robinson and Chivas Davis. Enjoy a family day with open mic youth poetry and music by Preserving Archiving Teaching (PATH) to Hip Hop. Come share your super power!

s n o ti

a l u at

r g on

C

Edison Park K-8 Center Student Council Member Angelica Champagne, President

Edison Park K-8 Center Student Council Member Miliah Johnson, Secretary

STUDENT COUNCIL MEMBERS

Edison Park K-8 Center Student Council Member Ritha Fenelon, Vice President

Congratulations Marcus Williams, Rites of Passage Media Project Ambassador Alumni on being selected to be apart of the Miami Dade County Youth Commission.

Edison Park K-8 Center - Young ladies are learning the art of storytelling through making a comic book through self-discovery, acceptance, growth and innovation lead by Ramon "Absoloot" Robinson, an entrepreneur, recording artist and accomplished comic book writer with art instruction lead by artist Chivas Davis.

They titled their comic "Battle of Love" where the super heroines are Love, Hip Hop and Sunshine whose super power is love to help heal their community. Get your copy at Soul Basel on December 8th at Lyric Theater from 1-3pm for community arts day.

PHOTOGRAPHYÂ / 5

Miami Dade County Library Technobus

SAN FRANCISCO

Empowering young ladies in STEAM through a series of pop up film making and technology based workshops provided by Miami Dade County Library Technobus! Our young ladies are getting a crash course in film making, technology, innovation and video editing. Thank you Marlon Moore for coordinating these pop up workshops!

ALL ABOUT ME

Youth Poetry More Than a Color

I am Godly, respectful, proud of how

I am outspoken, loud and loving

I look and loving

I need more people to acknowledge

Black, a color that defines me

I need a good and Godly life and

the world we like

Don’t remind me the color

most of all love

I love the fact that I have the power to

that you claim is

I love my generation, my life, Jesus,

change it

inside me. Unlike you

the angels and most of all Jehovah

I fear people won't listen to the

I am criticized for the

I fear insects, and all of the things

voice of reason

color that caresses my skin.

that are ugly, except dogs

I miss the times where people can

You’re clearly

I miss my poodle, my love that died

come together to love each other

blind to not realize the beauty that’s with

and the goodness

I plan to awaken the youth to their own

I plan to have my education, get my

voices

in me. Bear in mind

own family and take care of my

I want to create a future that people

deep inside we’re all the

family

can look forward to

same so why do you

I want to be an athletic swimmer

I believe we can do it if we try

undermine me as if I’m

and African dancer I believe in what I believe

not worth your time. So please -Ashley Requena

look back and remember the things my people have

- Kisura Williams

accomplished in the frame you’ve unkindly bestowed upon them.

I am proud of myself

I am talented and smart

Black a color

I need art to keep my life moving

that defines me,

I love to paint and draw to

you lack the mindset to

express myself

realize the strength that bares in me.

and thankful for how I look and glad to

I fear that my art isn't good enough

So let me remind you

be Godly

I miss my BFF, I haven't seen in awhile

that this color is more

I need to feel passionate about myself

I plan to become an artist

than a color it’s stronger than any other.

I love to be kind and funny

and sell my art

My ancestors endured the pain and

I fear spiders and birds

I want become someone more

suffering you’ve

I miss the brother who died badly

I believe I can make

bestowed upon them this

that is why I think God everyday

my dreams come to reality

makes me even more proud

I plan to go on a cruise

-- Ma'kayla Reynolds

to say that I’m powerful and there’s

I want to be a YouTuber as I grow up

no other race like mine.

I believe I can do things that people say I can not do

- Leonce Luma

- Shiann Myers

I am a beautiful Black woman I need nothing from anyone demand respect and attention I love the curliness of my hair and the pigment of my skin I fear that our time, our society will revert to its hateful time I miss the person I used to be I plan to initiate the change I see I want to be as loud I believe people can change with the right motivation

- Monica Bissainthe

PAGE 6

STORIES / 9

Historic Overtown - students enjoyed a fun and educationally charged day learning about directing, acting and screenwriting at Florida Film House's Urban Film Festival.

At the festival, 1st Take film program's featured four short films produced by youth in URGENT, Inc.'s FACE Rites of Passage youth development program.

HAVING FUN AT IGEN FILM FESIVAL Historic Lyric Theater - Youth played theater games with Wesley Wray, youth actor in Oscar winning film "Moonlight" and improv theater with Marcus Major. They learned the fundamentals of storytelling for film with Yonel Aris. This festival's creator is the talented Elijah Wells, film maker and entrepreneur.

Comments from our youth: IGEN FILM FESTIVAL / 14

"I liked how we got to watch films. I learned how you film a movie. It helped me because I want to be an actress. I want to make my own movie. My favorite quote by Confucius is 'Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.'"

- Miliah Johnson "How we learned about BME of story plot from a movie clip. We learned some new vocabulary like conflict and intro. I Iike creative writing."

- Kimaiya Reath "I learned that you should always research on what you want to become and not go into something not knowing about it. I also learned that when you act you have to connect with your character to fully perform well."

-Cherlyne Jean-Louis

DIGITAL FACE IN ACTION

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

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11

Dear Blue Rain, How do you show your appreciation for leaders in the past like Malcom X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Ida B. Wells, Shirley Chisholm, Thurgood Marshall, Frederick Douglass and for current leaders like former President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Ava Duvernay, Viola Davis, Zendaya Coleman and Maya Penn?

Sincerely, Thankful Dear Thankful, I am thankful for these leaders because they helped shape the United States. They stood up for our rights and women's rights so we can be seen as humans and not as slaves. These influential leaders created innovative change, help shape our political system, inspire young entrepreneurs in creative design, inspire healthy eating and fitness and promote pro-social norms while leaving an imprint in media and our history.

I'm also thankful for the inventions we use every day like the traffic signal by Garrett Morgan, potato chips

by George Crum, the women who helped Americans fly to the moon that include Katherine G. Johnson, Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan, the touch tone telephone and caller ID by Dr. Shirley Jackson, developer of IBM by Otis Boykin, built first fastest computer in 1989 was invented by Philip Emeagwali, and the ice cream scoop

by Alfred L. Cralle, just to name a few.

We can choose to be apart of his/her-story or wonder what happened to our-story.

Sincerely, Blue Rain AKA Elizabeth Champagne, 15 with assistance by Shedia Nelson ADVICE COLUMN / 14

Show your support for URGENT, Inc's Afterschool Programs on Give Miami Day with a donation: www.urgentinc.org.

ADVICE COLUMN / 14

Marcus Williams, Youth Ambassador and Romeo Miller

Digital FACE