Rootz Washington, DCRadio Rootz began in DC in 2006! Expanding on the success of our program in New York City, we figured that youth in the nation's capital needed to learn the skills to make their voices heard!
In DC, our staff are journalists and media makers who believe everyone
should have a voice. To accomplish our goal, we teach others how to make media. From youth in public schools across the district, to youth participants at other community organizations, we have trained more than 50 youth on how to make media,
to have a voice in their community, and create media that will better the communities that we live in.
In just three years, Radio Rootz DC youth has reported more than a dozen stories from
their communities. From stories about dc's local music scene, go-go, to analysis on how society views youth social culture.
We were front and center during the 2008 Presidential Election with stories from the polls on Election Day. And our fingers were numb to the bone bringing you coverage from
President Barack Obama's Inauguration. Rootz's work is recognized and
aired across the nation on the Pacifica and NPR networks.
On this Thanksgiving Day, many families are sitting down to a dinner
made with fresh foods from a local grocery store. Yet there are many
communities where there is no local grocery. And you don't have to
look far. These places exist in cities all over the country. Even in
our nation's capital, there are huge sections of the city where fresh,
nutrient-rich food is hard to find.In this documentary, ten youth explore the culture of eating in a city where some of the most iconic foods are the half-smoke: an extra large sausage split down the middle and usually topped with chili, and something called mambo sauce, which looks like ketchup but more gelatinous. They also looked at the challenges of some communities' access to healthy, affordable food in their neighborhood. Their search took them from the local carry-out, to their schools vending machines to the soil in their own backyards.
Click below to listen to the documentary which will be Aired on Free Speech Radio News and the Pacific Radio Network.
Jasmine Andrews
Jonathan Moore
Keniesha
Cristian Martinez
Chrishaunda
Anayochi
Dominic
Talent
Peace
Selina
This summer, Radio Rootz in DC is working with students from Bell Multicultural High School to produce two pieces about the politics of food in DC. Over the past two weeks, students have started to learn the basics of recording, editing, and interviewing. We’ve also begun to look more closely at media consolidation and the ways in which advertising affects our food choices.
To try to understand our topics for this summer on a national
level, Selina and I attended a press conference on Capital Hill on June 25th
for members of the Healthy School Food Brigade, a group made up of parents,
politicians, and others urging congress to eliminate junk food from our nations
schools. Frustrated by the mixed
message that students receive in schools about healthy eating choices in and
out of the classroom, this group is working hard to eliminate junk food from
vending machines. Check out this piece with audio from the conference and an
interview with one of the organizers that we put together for Free Speech Radio
News.
This is a picture from a community garden tour that our group took this summer for our radio piece. This takes place at Common Good City Farm.
More coming soon,
Melissa LangerMelissa Langer is a recent addition to Radio Rootz, but was born and raised in DC. I recently graduated from Carleton College in Minnesota where I studied history with a focus on colonial urban planning. I’m happy to be home working, learning and enjoying the city in the summer.
More Articles...
Page 1 of 5
