We need media that changes lives,
tells stories
liberates
holds people accountable
asks questions
seeks answers
champions imagination
protects hearts
encourages minds
and allows all good things to grow.
We need media where we need to be together
in order to create it.
We need media that reflects the struggle
and resilience of our communities,
that tells honest stories
that teaches patience, presence, and process
while reminding us what's possible.
We need media that wakes up the Harriet Tubman in us.
The Audre Lorde in us.
The Nanny of the Maroons in us.
We need media that grows what we will risk
for our collective freedom.
We need media that amplifies our voice.
We need media that is honest and kind,
that invites us to be our full selves.
We need media that supports our healing.
We need media that titillates us.
That inspires us.
That lets us see the very best of ourselves in the present,
and makes us long for the future that we're co-creating.
We need media that speaks to our communities and where we come from.
We need media about being human.
We need media that is owned and operated for, by and about the people.
We need media that amplifies the experience and ideas
of people of colour, queer and trans folks, the working class,
immigrants, the chronically ill and disabled, prisoners, youth,
and all of us who dare to dream of a world where these voices are front and centre.
[ SINGING ] * Have you seen the stars? *
*Have you seen the stars...?*
*Ever sat inside of one, the fabric bends, sending ripples...*
*Of meaning ... to the future ... to the future...*
We need media that sows seeds,
that lifts voices,
that grows communities.
This is media that creates sustainable freedom.
We need media that loves.
We need media that shows the world as a complex and beautiful place,
and gives people the opportunity to choose how they participate in those complexities.
We need media that supports our work in our regions and in our communities.
We need media that supports young people
learning about different ways of being in the world,
and not being desensitized by it.
We need media that tells stories whose endings we don't already know.
We need media that compels us to stretch, explore, and create,
rather than tracing the borders of the narratives we've heard repeated time and time again.
We need media that can be shared not just in the moment of making,
but in the re-telling and sharing of the story.
That can fit in our hands and be passed from one to another,
that is tactile, share-able, imaginative in how it tells and re-tells the stories.
We need media that moves and sings,
takes wings, flies, opens eyes,
creates surprise and belief and relief,
and lets us move, swim, sing, bling...
turn from fear, makes things clear, designs, inspired minds,
gets free, gets open, gets level, correct, connects.
[ SINGING ] *Have you seen the stars?*
*Have you seen the stars?*
*Ever sat inside of one...the fabric bends sending ripples...*
We need media that will act as a guiding hand
to educate, explore, inspire,
and create systems of support for building a world
that is centred on equity and justice for all of us.
We need media that encourages everyone
to be active participants in creating the world they want to see.
We need media that looks like us,
all the ways that we look.
We need media that can be read on a screen reader
or a prison zine
or a life saving facebook group
or a text-to-voice APP
or a printing press in my backyard.
Media that's a secret message passed on and on and on.
We need media made by and for disabled folks
because the world needs our life saving crip genius
and we need it most of anybody.
We need media that's cheap.
We need media that anyone can do.
Media that heals with salt water, and spells and sage.
Media that is a secret map to the next world
that I pass on to you.