Guest Columnist (NEW)
Media is today’s education. In the civil rights movement TV told the story of the civil rights movement. We don’t have media telling the story of today’s civil rights movement – education. Dr. Adelaide Sanford, Educator, New York Board of Regents
To help our membership have a greater understanding of the critical value of funding media tools as part of their overall communications strategy to advance their area of grantmaking (social justice, healthcare, etc.) or portfolio, ABFE invited Ouida Washington and Derek Koen, producers of Beyond the Bricks, to be ABFE Guest Columnists. (Sharon Toomer for ABFE)
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Media Tells the Story, Raises Awareness, Advances a Movement
By Ouida Washington and Derek Koen
As filmmakers, we look at our work as a tool that can help break down barriers and allow glimpses into the personal stories that help change people’s attitudes and perspectives. Our vision for Beyond the Bricks was two-fold; first we wanted to give a voice to young Black men whose real stories we felt were drowned out by all the negative perceptions too often associated with them - we wanted to show the raw potential these young boys possess. And secondly, we wanted to offer scholarly information about how communities can begin to change these perceptions. We believe that Bricks can go a long way in altering negative views of our children so that we can begin to believe in their success.
We started Washington Koen Media Productions in 2006 ago with the expressed mission of producing positive high-impact human- interest media that can be utilized to inspire, inform and bring about 
meaningful change. Through our near 29 years combined experience in the film/ video industry, we have witnessed the impact of the work. One of the projects we are very proud of and as an example is a 23 minute short documentary we produced with the non-profit organization Advancement Project, This is My Home, about displaced public housing residents of New Orleans fighting to get back into their unharmed units/homes a year after Hurricane Katrina. The film was distributed to over 3,000 displaced residents (to encourage their return and fight) and to others, as a part of a successful awareness campaign. The film was also used as part of a presentation to Congress to influence the passing of a Katrina-related bill. For us this is a great example of how media can help give the unheard a voice and allow people to better understand an issue and call them to action.
Each day we are inundated with everything from reality shows to 24-hour rotation of the same news stories and what we really need more of is media that can really be meaningful in our lives - stories that reflect our stories and teaches us something about ourselves. It is our hope that Bricks does that and it is our goal to continue to bring this message to a wider audience.
Outreach
Our philosophy with this project is that it is essential to go into the communities where the work will be done to get their attention. By sharing the film at Town Hall Meetings, it helps set the tone for a discussion based on solutions and next steps. Town Halls invite diverse voices and backgrounds to be heard, which expands an understanding of the issues and may germinate new ideas. Then we offer the film in smaller targeted screenings where the call to action work can be implemented. We will further our efforts to bring this message to audiences through the beyondthebricksproject.com website, which will share video content from Town Hall meetings as well as user-generated videos and comments.
We have so far had the opportunity to show Bricks and spark discussion among approximately 900 community members, in over five cities. And the turnout and passion from these audiences have encouraged us to continue what we hope is a national movement to help our kids.
The opportunities for new ways to reach stakeholders is vital and are made possible by visionaries, like Orlando Bagwell and the Ford Foundation, who provided the production funds to make the film, and shares our belief in the power of visual media and its ability to reach people in ways that few other mediums can. As we move steadfast into the outreach efforts for Bricks, we only hope that other foundations and grant-making organizations’ imagination allows them to support this effort and that they can envision the many possibilities of supporting useful and relevant media, and its ability to bring focus to the work that needs to be done.
The Beyond the Bricks Project wants to bring attention to the issues, promote the solutions, and encourage action from communities. We believe it can have a significant impact by engaging and inspiring communities to address the issues that are so adversely shaping the future of our children.
Ouida Washington, Producer and Derek Koen, Director are the Co-Founders of Washington Koen Media Productions.
Guidelines for ABFE Guest Columnist Submissions
ABFE has opened its website for current members and supporters to share their opinion and perspective on matters related to philanthropy and the Black community. Our website is a platform with an audience of foundation trustees, executives (CEOs, Presidents, Program Officers) and staff as well as the nonprofit community. We open our site to perspectives that add value to the work you do in philanthropy and how that work will ultimately improve Black communities.
This platform is intended to offer insight in the same way as a newspaper op-ed page. Please follow these guidelines for submissions:
• 750-800 word count limit
• Informative, compelling, timely (relevant)
• The topic can be political, social, economic, philanthropic, cultural, historical, public policy, etc.
• Structured and clear thought process. This is an opinion-perspective-commentary. Stream of consciousness (sometimes ranting) is fitting for our message board in our Members Only section.
• Original (your thoughts)
• Sourced properly
• Clean copy-grammatically accurate
Contact Sharon Toomer at stoomer@abfe.org for more information.