The following is a summary of an interview with Julio Salgado regarding a project with the Center for Civic Media at MIT on the role of Media and Technology in Social Movements.

Contextualizing Media Practice

The following is a summary of an interview with Julio Salgado regarding a project with the Center for Civic Media at MIT on the role of Media and Technology in Social Movements.

About Julio Salgado and Dreamers Adrift

Lo siguiente es el resumen breve de una entrevista con Nancy Meza con respecto a un proyecto con el Center for Civic Media en MIT sobre el papel de los medios de comunicación y la tecnología en los movimientos sociales.

The following is a summary of an interview with Renata Teodoro regarding a project with the Center for Civic Media at MIT on the role of Media and Technology in Social Movements.

Networked Collaboration

Collaboration with networks and alliances has played a large role for the Student Immigrant Movement in Boston, comments Renata. Recently, SIM has found support from the faith community. “The faith community is still a huge resource…I would say even more than organizations.” Churches are significant because they are often indiscriminant of citizenship status, which allows for outreaching to both undocumented immigrants and non-immigrants at once. Also, high schools and universities have been excellence sites to reach undocumented youth. “Most of those people [faith communities and students] aren’t engaged yet into any type of movement.”

The following is a summary of an interview with Renata Teodoro regarding a project with the Center for Civic Media at MIT on the role of Media and Technology in Social Movements.

The Student Immigrant Movement

Renata Teodoro is the Development Director of the Student Immigrant Movement (SIM), which is an undocumented youth-led immigrant’s rights organization that focuses on education. SIM emerged from the battle for in-state tuition for undocumented youth in Massachusetts, but has also been very active around the Dream Act, stopping the deportation of students, and “building leadership of young people in the community.” The best source for more information on SIM is their website, or by visiting their office in Chinatown.

Lo siguiente es el resumen breve de una entrevista con Kyle de Beausset con respecto a un proyecto con el Center for Civic Media en MIT sobre el papel de los medios de comunicación y la tecnología en los movimientos sociales.

Kyle de Beausset ha sido involucrado con los movimientos de derechos para inmigrantes por casi siete años. Específicamente, Kyle ha estado trabajando en el área de Boston con el grupo Student Immigrant Movement. Al nivel nacional, Kyle trabaja con la red United We Dream y también ha colaborado con Dream Activist. Actualmente Kyle está empleado con Presente, y su blog personal se encuentra en Citizen Orange. Kyle llegó a ser involucrado con el movimiento de derechos para inmigrantes cuando era estudiante de licenciatura en Harvard College. Entrenado como periodista en el periódico estudiantil Crimson, Kyle empezó a usar los medios como herramientas primarias de activismo – una práctica que solo ha fortalecido tras el tiempo.

The following is a summary of an interview with Nancy Meza regarding a project with the Center for Civic Media at MIT on the role of Media and Technology in Social Movements.

Sound Bytes

The following is a summary of an interview with Nancy Meza regarding a project with the Center for Civic Media at MIT on the role of Media and Technology in Social Movements.

Nancy Meza is a graduate of University of California, Los Angeles and an immigrants’ rights activist. She received her training from Inner City Struggle in 2003, where she learned campaign strategy, political education, and organizing. At Inner City Struggle, Nancy was part of the Media Collective, an intensive after school workshop series that lasted for 6 months and involved analyzing and deconstructing the media. “I think it’s important to understand [that] the media plays a huge role in our society, not just in terms of…projecting a message, but…creating our own messaging for campaigns.” At this media collective, Nancy learned the background on media, media ownership, and how the media functions. “I was able to learn…how to create your own media and how to …really create a message, how to frame a message…and how to get your ways across in an effective way in terms of a campaign.”

The following is a brief summary of an interview with Kyle de Beausset regarding a project with the Center for Civic Media at MIT on the role of Media and Technology in Social Movements.

Kyle de Beausset has been involved with immigrants’ rights movements for nearly seven years. Specifically, Kyle has been working locally in the Boston area with the Student Immigrant Movement. Nationally, Kyle works with the United We Dream network and has also collaborated wtih Dream Activist. Kyle is also currently employed with Presente, and his personal blog can be accessed at Citizen Orange. Kyle became involved with the immigrants’ rights movement while an undergraduate at Harvard College. Trained as a journalist at the student newspaper the Crimson, Kyle began using media as his primary means of activism - a practice that has only strengthened over time.

One of the central projects that I have been involved with during the fall semester examines the role of media and technology in immigrants' rights movements. I have been able to conduct several interviews with student organizers and community members, which have been very insightful into media strategies. The three most significant findings thus-far are: 1) The need for low cost and sustainable media and technology in order to facilitate organizing efforts 2) The centrality of social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter to reach communities at large and 3) The important role that national alliances and networks play in organizing efforts, especially in conversation with state level and federal level legislative measures. The goal for this project is to provide a comparative study of media strategies amongst immigrants' rights movements on a national level, in order to understand effective uses and also challenges posed. More interviews are yet to come, mostly from Eastern states, as much work on the subject has already been gathered on the South West.