US Social Forum: Final Thoughts

As Media Literacy Project staff members begin to integrate our experiences and knowledge gained from the US Social Forum into our programs, we wanted to share with all of you some of the thoughts that will inform our work this coming year:

• LGBTQI communities need access to media tools. However, media policies are being written as you read this blog, media policies that have huge implications for our daily lives. One example of such media policies has to do with the need for Net Neutrality—the need for a free Internet. Without Net Neutrality, queer health websites (like this one) could be blocked by Internet providers! We encourage all of you to join the Media Action Grassroots Network. Join us in telling the FCC that we need a free and open Internet.

• Queer communities must address multiple oppressions in order to strengthen our movement. LGBTQI leadership, from the local to national level, must represent—both in presence and in analysis—the breadth of our communities. Our movement needs LGBTQI working-class, people of color, people with disabilities, and non-English speakers in leadership roles.

• An increase of responsible speech in our media systems would have positive impacts on the queer community. We hope that all LGBTQI organizations join the National Hispanic Media Coalition in urging the FCC to conduct a report on the impact of hate speech on various oppressed communities. MLP strongly believes that journalists and news reporters must be responsible with their messages and with their framing of stories in order to increase understanding and accuracy in articles and programs.

• The quality of our health impacts our abilities to tell our stories, and our stories must be heard.  Our stories are our histories, our culture, our identities, and our influence. In addition, healthy communities are a fundamental outcome of media justice.

• Media must be defined broadly because media are rooted in culture. A dance, a song, a poem—each is a form of media. We must elevate forms of media that best speak to and reflect the communities we come from, are part of, and work in.