Community Media Initiative
CMI provides training and technical assistance to a variety of organizations through Digital Storytelling Workshops. It works with grassroots groups and public interest advocates to develop and implement communication strategies in support of social and economic justice organizing.
In 2005, CMI Director Mimi Pickering and Workshop Leader Nick Szuberla completed a series of Digital Storytelling Workshops with nine Mid South Delta Initiative community partner organizations in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the workshops helped these small, often rural organizations develop approaches to documenting their work, evaluate their technical and digital resources, brainstorm digital storytelling projects, and strategize on ways to distribute the documentation they produced. Appalshop trainers spent a week with each group introducing digital video, audio and photo techniques, and in the process, producing a short community video.
“I think we learned that we need to tell our story better,” declared Veronica Jenkins, YouthBuild Leadership Development Counselor, after the workshop in Hollandale, Mississippi. “We need to spread the word about the type of impact our work has on the community and young people. If we can educate our community about our work, we can expand the impact. It is important to explain ourselves to the community, and this is a really good way to do it.”
In addition to the specific training, the Digital Storytelling Workshops provided a glimpse into the power of local stories told by local people as a cultural and community development tool and whetted an appetite and desire to do more. “Doing this was important to me. It let me express myself and tell about what I have been through,” said YouthBuild student Michael Bender. “People think that we are over here for the check, but this video shows I am here because I want to be somebody in the community.”
Arthur Carpenter, age 23 and President of the YouthBuild Class, added, “I think our video program will stop some kids from dropping out and inspire a lot of people to do better. I know I want my kids to see it so they know that I had the courage to go back to school to get my GED and try to have a future.”
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