10 May
The Detroit Journal
hosts
“Lightshow Bob Dream Come True Tour”
Awesome grantee “The Detroit Journal” is hosting a fundraising event tonight: “Lightshow Bob Dream Come True Tour.” Lightshow Bob was featured in one of their “True stories, real people” episodes.” The event takes place at 8pm at the New Way Bar. Check out the facebook link for more details.
30 Apr
Awesome Trustee, Yodit Mesfin Johnson, awarding the "Strong&Beautiful" teen girls and staff at the DIA.
“Strong&Beautiful” is a teen girls support group within the Rosa Parks Youth Program that meets at the Conner Capuchin Soup Kitchen. The Strong&Beautiful girls will gather interviews from the soup kitchen community about their experiences with violence as well as their ideas for solutions.
AWESOME INTERVIEW WITH “STRONG&BEAUTIFUL.”
Describe your project. What’s the purpose?
Strong&Beautiful is a teen girls support group that meets every Friday at the Conner Capuchin Soup Kitchen. There are 7 girls ages 11-17 involved and 2 adult coordinators, Clara Hardie & Parina Davis-Usher. Although it’s members change, “Girls Group” has existed for 9 years within the Rosa Parks Youth Program at the soup kitchen.
Strong&Beautiful girls are in the process of gathering interviews from the soup kitchen community about their experiences with violence as well as their ideas for solutions. We may also create a series of screen-printed posters featuring the various ideas we have gathered for stopping violence in Detroit through the interviews.
How does this project relate to news or information? What kind of impact do you see it having in Detroit?
By interviewing community members and each other it’s best type of news, investigative journalism, facilities community organizing. Community organizing based media projects in which youth take action to solve community problems.
We are part of the movement to stop violence in Detroit along with the other youth peacemakers in the Rosa Parks Children & Youth Program at our soup kitchen.As part of the Detroit Youth Media Network, our impact will be great. Strong&Beautiful shares a vision to change the way youth organizing is done in Detroit. By participating in the below activities through our Trainings, Gatherings and Major Media Projects, we will become stronger media-makers, community organizers and entrepreneurs. Because youth are the future, the work of youth in the Network may impact Detroit more than anything else going on in the city right now.
23 Apr
Grantee Andy Miller, co-founder of The Detroit Journal, Chancellor, Christina Xu and Dean, Marshalle Montgomery talks about AWESOME on WLQV AM 1500’s Coffee & Community Radio Show. Listen to the March 30th, 2012 interview.
23 Apr
Our 1st grantee The Detroit Journal was featured in the FreePress article “Motor City movies take film world by storm.”
To read the full article click: HERE
TDJ was also a guest on WPRR 95.3fm’s Radio In Black and White show.
13 Apr
Photo Credit: Black JohnsonShowing some Detroit Love to our Chancellor of Awesomeness…..Christina Xu on her BDay.
11 Apr
All photos courtesy of photographer Noah Stephens.
Check out the photos from our inaugural Awesome Party held at the Virgil H. Carr Cultural Arts Center in Detroit.
11 Apr
Marshalle Montgomery (Dean) and Mikel Ellcessor (trustee) were interviewed on CW50′S TV show Street Beat this past weekend talking about Awesome News Taskforce Detroit. Now isn’t that awesome? You can watch the interview here.
4 Apr
Andy and Ben with their Big Check, photo courtesy Noah Stephens.
For storytellers, Ben Potter and Andy Miller don’t reveal much about themselves on their winning site The Detroit Journal. Its tagline is “True stories about Real People.”
The duo are the first winners of a $1,000 micro-grant from the Awesome News Taskforce, for their Detroit video storytelling project. They plan to use part of the proceeds to file to become a non-profit organization.
Their About us page on the Journal website is minimalist. It doesn’t say that Potter is a web developer and social media marketer who graduated from Columbia College in Chicago or that Miller is a filmmaker who graduated from Specs Howard School of Media Arts and works for an local advertising agency.
The two launched The Detroit Journal in January; they’ve already been featured on the Craig Fahle show on WDET and in the Huffington Post – Detroit.
They plan to create and post one person’s story a month, with snippets and small tidbits from events in between. “We’d never get done unless there’s a deadline. So we do one a month,” said Miller.
They answered a few questions from Awesome News Trustee Vickie Elmer, a freelance writer who writes about careers and business (and once worked for another media outlet called the Detroit Journal).
Tags: awesome, awesome foundation, detroit, huffington post, the detroit journal, WDET
2 Apr
We’d like you to know more about our Awesome Detroit team members. In our spotlight today, meet:
Director of Business Development, NEW, Awesome Trustee
Yodit Mesfin Johnson is both a business advocate and an entrepreneur. She is founder of YMJ & Associates a company dedicated to empowering and motivating small business owners in their go-to market strategies.
Yodit was educated at Eastern Michigan University where she studied Marketing and Communications.
In early 2004, she accepted a position as Program Manager for the Michigan Women’s Marketplace; a statewide online women’s business community. She was responsible for recruiting some 6,000 women business owners to the site and collaborating with some 60 business associations to connect her members with their resources.
In 2007, Yodit joined the popular talk radio show for women; MetroChickRadio.com. She is a frequent host on many of the shows.
Recently, she accepted a position with Nonprofit Enterprise at Work (NEW), an organization that provides services and resources to non profit organizations throughout Michigan.
She was recognized as the 2007 Wayne County Small Business Advocate of the Year, as a result of her dedication to the business community. She has extensive entrepreneurial experience and is considered a drum major for women business owners. She is former Board Secretary for Michigan Junior Golfademics, a prospective board member for Int’l Detroit Black Expo, and 2009 recipient of the Athena Award, given for service to the women’s community. Yodit is a humble community servant with a vast skill set and a dynamic personality.
Why do you want to be involved with Awesome News Taskforce?
I’m a “black sheep”. I think out of the box and play well with others. I’m deep in the game…..Google me!
Check out Yodit’s Linked In profile.
30 Mar
The Awesome News Taskforce Detroit is proud to announce that our first-ever $1000 grant went to…
The Detroit Journal is two Detroiters, Andy Miller and Ben Potter, who are creating a series of short films about interesting stories in the city. Competition was stiff, but we ended up choosing the Detroit Journal because we loved the incredible quality of their work so far and their commitment to telling Detroit’s story, one complex and fascinating personality at a time. The grant will be used to cover travel, equipment rental, licensing, crew, and other costs of creating their next episode, which will run between $700-$1200. Up until now, they’ve been paying out of their own pockets, so we’re glad to give them a boost!
How Can You Help?
$1000 is a good chunk of change, but a project needs a lot more support to be successful. Detroit Journal is always looking for new stories, so help them find the subject of their next video by telling them about a person, organization, event, or place that deserves a moment in the spotlight. You can also donate towards their future videos as either an individual or, if you’re a business, sponsor an upcoming episode in exchange for logo placement. If you have other in-kind donations or expertise to volunteer towards their project, please let them know at info@thedetroitjournal.com!
Apply for the next grant!
Don’t forget, Awesome News Taskforce is giving out one of these grants every month. Have a $1000 idea that will inform and engage Detroit communities? Apply here!
