Gandhi Brigade Launches Teen Pregnancy Awareness Campaign

The Trachtenberg Office attended the launch of the Gandhi Brigade’s "Youth Moving Forward" Campaign in which Latino/a youth address the issue of teen pregnancy. The program was held at the City Place Mall and included introductory presentations by Carlos Pinto of the National Campaign and Susan Cruz of the University of Maryland, as well as the much anticipated debut of the campaign video and poster unveiling.

The Gandhi Brigade is a youth voice project that was started in Silver Spring, Maryland. Inspired by the vision of Mohandas Gandhi to create local peace brigades, the project uses the media arts as a tool for connecting youth to their community and to critical issues in their world. The mission of Gandhi Brigade is to prepare the rising generation to become whole leaders in a broken world. Adults with experience working with youth or media coach teens and young adults how to use video and graphic arts to explore a variety of social justice issues. Since its beginning the Gandhi Brigade has created dozens of social justice media pieces and is recognized in the Washington DC metropolitan area as a leader in the field of youth led social change.

In January 2010, the Gandhi Brigade convened a group of youths and launched a 13-week, youth generated, teen pregnancy prevention video production and graphic design project. For two hours every Friday afternoon through May, Heather Kubo and Hawa Touré from the Gandhi Brigade worked with at-risk teens from the community to produce three posters for print and three 30-second public service announcements (PSAs) for television. The target audiences for the posters and PSAs include Latino parents, youths, and community leaders. Susan Cruz, from the University of Maryland's School of Social Work, is responsible for initiating the project. Recognizing the need for Latino teen pregnancy prevention messages in Montgomery County, Ms. Cruz brought together the Gandhi Brigade and the Latin American Youth Center, located in Washington, DC, as core partners. Together, each of these organizations was responsible for providing the youths with the knowledge and resources necessary to complete the project at hand.

For more information call: (301) 588-1399 or email heather@gandhibrigade.org or visit the Gandhi Bridge on the web at http://www.gandhibrigade.org/.

Trachtenberg Office Salutes Gandhi Brigade

The Trachtenberg Office was represented at the Gandhi Brigade’s 2010 Youth Media Festival kick off event held this weekend at City Place Mall in Silver Spring.

The Gandhi Brigade is a youth-directed community media project that has worked out of the Long Branch community in Silver Spring, Maryland since 2005. Since that time, it has worked with over a hundred teens helping them find their voice through community media. Notable film projects include "Finding our Turf," a documentary about youth public space in downtown Silver Spring and "PROPAGANDA!" a mixed media production about immigration. This year, eighty young adults—94% of them minority, immigrant, or disabled youth—worked with a dozen media professionals to produce video and graphic design that explored issues of justice, community, and positive youth development. In the process of creating media, the teens gained a deeper understanding of our community and the importance of their voice in shaping its future.

Gandhi Brigade prepares young people to become powerful leaders. In collaboration with adult allies, young people create multimedia that engages and transforms our community. It prepares youth for this leadership role through the integration of spirituality, entrepreneurship, and community relationships. Media professionals train and certify young people in various new media, including video and graphic design. Once certified teens give back to their community by teaching media skills to others and by creating media that challenges and inspires in the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhi Brigade peer instructors, called Circuit Riders, team up with partners to deliver instruction and support to create media through after-school programs. The youth serving partners include Passion for Learning, Einstein EMAL, African Immigrants and Refugee Foundation, Blair Sports Academy, Pyramid Atlantic, Community Bridges, School Girls United, and Long Branch Library. Other important projects include an annual youth media festival called Express Yourself in which young people from the Washington area show film, photography, and graphic design.

For more information, visit http://www.gandhibrigade.org/.