Black Youth Perspectives

Black Youth Perspectives (1991)
Duration: 00:29:43

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Themes: Education and Families | Urban Challenges |

Guests: Vincent Calles, Wenona Bryant, Chris Lee, Jasminder Grewal, Diona Smiley, Neeme Jarvi
Host : Randy Henry
Producer : Tony Mottley


Summary: Guest Host Randy Henry talks with a panel of five teens who have produced a series of videos that examine various aspects of city life. The teens - Chris Lee, Jasminder Grewal, Vincent Calles, Diona Smiley, and Wenona Bryant - had made their videos as students in a media arts program at Golightly Vocational Technical Center on the city's east side.

The program intersperses extended clips from the students' videos with conversation about what inspired the videos and the teens' ideas about the city and the subjects of their videos.

Calles' video focuses on the Mexican community of southwest Detroit, while Grewal's examines the struggles of the Del Ray neighborhood. Lee looks at a docent outreach program of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (including an interview with DSO Music Director Neeme Jarvi), while Smiley and Bryant look at a school for physically challenged students.

The videos are remarkable for their quality and for the range of topics examined - social and cultural diversity, urban decay and development, community cohesion, and education. Taken as a whole, the program offers an intriguing look at the capabilities and concerns of Detroit youth in 1991.

Related Production Materials held at MSU Libraries, Special Collections:
Box 4, File 13, Black Youths and Their Perspectives - October 6, 1991 - Show # 2300B
Box 6, File 11, Life Styles of Black Youth – September 28, 1992 – Show # 2400A
Box 8, File 4, War on Black Youth –June 22, 1993 – Show # DBJ SP01