08/11/09 - MSP Newsletter: News for our partners and friends
"Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches . . ." -- Pauline R. Kezer
It's all about growth this summer at Main Street Project. We want to make sure that our friends and allies know where we're headed and why. And we want to take the opportunity to say thank you to our most recent funding partners: The Social Change Fund of the Headwaters Foundation for Justice; and the Emma B. Howe Memorial Foundation, a fund of The Minneapolis Foundation. In these challenging economic times, the generous support of all our funding partners is the lifeline of social change. Here goes the update . . .
Changing connections
Welcome to our newest staff member, Steven Renderos. He comes to us from the Minnesotano Media Empowerment Project, an initiative of the Chicano Studies Department at the University of Minnesota. We've been fortunate to work with Steven over the last year on the DTV transition, Justice 2.0 trainings, and as part of the Media Action Grassroots Network (MAG-Net) collaboration. As Media Justice Organizer, he'll play a lead role in our media justice and community building work.
Best wishes to Amalia Deloney who has accepted a position with the Center for Media Justice as Coordinator of the Media Action Grassroots Network (MAG-Net). Amalia has been with Main Street Project since the beginning, helping under-represented communities find their voice, and inspiring us to focus on the strengths of community and culture. She'll continue to consult with Main Street Project on broadband policy and media justice training. ¡Felicitaciones, Amalia!
Changing the way we think about food
If you regularly listen to public radio's The Story, you may have heard Regi, Director of the Rural Enterprise Center, share some of his own story. In a June 27 interview dubbed "Fight to Farm," Regi describes growing up farming in Guatemala and the experience of farming in Minnesota - both challenging, but in very different ways. Listen to Regi on The Story. Then read his blog for an update, and of course, check out new photos of the chickens!
Hillside Farmers Cooperative is the name of the southeastern Minnesota co-op now formally established for Latino farmers who receive training and support through the Rural Enterprise Center's Agripreneur Training Model. Right now, we're continuing to work on the huge step of creating a physical training center, and on expanding market and partnership opportunities for co-op farmers and their sustainably grown local products - including a collaboration with our friends at Thousand Hills Cattle Company.
Changing the way we tell and share our stories
Participants in our June Justice 2.0 training can add the title "Digital Promotores/as" to their resumes. During two separate training sessions, Social Change Fund grantees of the Headwaters Foundation for Justice learned about media justice and the power of storytelling. Then they created digital stories (called "PlaceStories") about their organizations and the work they do. Upcoming trainings include the Iowa Latino Conference and sessions with our Common Threads Project partners in Fargo/Moorhead.
Watch this powerful story by CrossingBarriers.
Watch more PlaceStories.
We continue to tell our story and share our ideas about the connections between media justice, policy and culture with national audiences. At July's Allied Media Conference in Detroit, we shared lessons learned from our collaborative DTV Transition campaign. Steven Renderos is one of the presenters at the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture in Boston at the end of this month. And we started this week by joining our friends at the Midwest Rural Assembly, talking about rural broadband, rural policy and what's possible.
"There is nothing wrong with change if it is in the right direction."
-- Winston Churchill
We're with Churchill on this one. We're moving forward, not always in a straight line, but always with the clear goal of helping more people actively participate in community life. Speaking of which, we're interested in your feedback, suggestions, and even donations!
Enjoy the rest of the growing season . . .
MSP_NL_08_11_09.pdf