A new youth outreach campaign supported by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and musician John Legend encourages young people to express themselves through the arts and understand how the media influences them. The campaign, called 'What's Going on Now,' helps students express their challenges and frustrations in creative ways.
The name of the campaign comes from the famous song and album released by artist Marvin Gaye 40 years ago that brought social problems of the day, poverty, drug abuse, Vietnam, pollution, and more, into popular music.
Participating students record videos, make rap songs and share photos and poetry that express what's going on in their lives. All of the pieces for the project are displayed on the website whatsgoingonnow.org.
Quotes
"I think there's a lot of frustration out there, particularly among young people who are graduating from college and can't find a job, and have all these massive student loans to pay back. And they sense that the American dream is in jeopardy, to some degree. Their sense of fairness and equal opportunity that they thought America promised, it feels like it's kind of slipping away." - John Legend, musician
"We need to make a change. We need to stand up and say, okay, I'm not going to just sit down and watch TV on my couch. I'm going to go out to Cleveland and go help out some people. That's what I'm expecting people to hear in our music." - Diandre Byfield, Progressive Arts Alliance
Warm Up Questions
1. What is media?
2. What problems do you see young people in your school/community struggling with?
3. What does the term "self-expression" mean to you?
Discussion Questions
1. If you were to write a rap about an issue you or young people in your school are facing, what would you write about? Why?
2. Visit the website for this project (whatsgoingonnow.org) and choose your favorite student piece on it. Why did you like that particular piece? What about it spoke to you?
3. How do you think the media influences you and your peers? Think about the media you consume every day (television, music, Internet, books) and discuss ways these things have affected your life.
Additional Resources
