When Multimedia Meets Multicultural, Girls Of All Ages Benefit

Because there are a lot of multimedia offerings out there working hard to send positive messages to urban/multicultural youth, we thought we would round up and recognize a few prime examples that target different age groups. Feel free to leave your own suggestions in comments!

Tweens

Juviez. First up is a new computer-animated series, called Juviez, created by 13-year-old Nia Conley. Juviez follows a group of African-American and Hispanic 6 to 8 year olds living in the big city. Not your typical urban kids, there's Alexia, a 7-and-a-half-year-old musical genius; Ray, an artistic prodigy; JoJo, the star student; Meka the math whiz, Junie, a master at memorizing; and Manny, a 15 month-old super intelligent baby.

A child prodigy herself, Nia came up with the idea for Juviez when she was only 8. Her purpose for creating the series was to show young people, "the meaning of  'Yes, I can!'" A trailer of the series is available on YouTube and will be released at major retailers on March 17.

The whole idea of this series is fantastic. The animation, in my opinion, is a little rough around the edges, but enough to keep the interest of the target age group. I'm very familiar with today's programming for children and Juviez is definitely needed. The cartoons my two young kids watch are mostly limited to either all one race or creatures and animals that have no race. Juviez reflects the actual diversity that surrounds youth and the topics that concern them.

I predict it may take a while for Juviez to take off because it is something new and different, but with things like a soundtrack in the works and Juviez gear, such as backpacks and coloring books, parents will find the show refreshing.

Teens

Teen Diaries: The Ultimate Life Guide for Young Urban Women. Next up is something helpful and fun for teenagers: Teen Diaries: The Ultimate Life Guide for Young Urban Women is a very well designed and attractive website for this age group.  Still in its building stages, many celebrities have endorsed its purpose: to help 13 to 22 year-old multi-cultural females transition into adulthood.

Finances, fashion, and education are just some of topics and information the site provides. The "diary" portion allows teen bloggers to write on subjects that matter the most to them and they can get advice about anything by writing a personal "Dear Nicole" letter.

Founder model/producer Aeshia De Vore Branch understood the need to provide young females with positive media that is still entertaining and hopefully Teen Diaries and Teen Diaries TV will give girls everything they need.

Twentysomethings

Momma's Hip Hop Kitchen. Last but not least, an important event will be held this Saturday, March 7, in the Bronx, New York. It's that time of year again for the 2nd annual Momma's Hip Hop Kitchen, the soup kitchen for the hip hop soul.

A free concert is lined up with artists such as La Bruja, Lah Tere of Rebel Diaz, Rokafella Patty Dukes, and more. The concert is the artists' time to showcase their love of music and hip hop without the offensive, degrading lyrics usually heard.

The purpose of the Kitchen is to build on a women's strengths,  continue to validate community women by building an organization rooted in faith and collective power, and to provide the foundation for profound individual and systemic change.

All I have to say about this is: Too bad I don't live in New York!

About Gynae:

Gynae is a frequent contributor to Ypulse's new Urban Channel. She currently works with The Cipher Project in Austin. She's also been involved in Better Hip Hop Bureau Austin and is currently in training to be a Lonestar Rollergirl, which has a program for young girls called Austin Derby Brats.

For more coverage of urban/multicultural youth culture, check out the new Ypulse Urban Channel.

Categorized under: Urban

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