Radio Rootz's mission is to work with young people in communities historically excluded from the media and help them build the knowledge and tools to become the next generation of media makers and civically engaged leaders.

Our tools are the digital media arts, committed long-term leadership development, and a media literacy curriculum developed over nine years. Rootz youth  become equipped to critically analyze media; create news and stories in their own voices; share their knowledge with their peers; and make positive change in their lives and communities.

 

ROOTZ YOUTH CHAMPION THE SLOGAN
"OUR WORLD OUR MIC!"

Through our programs youth participants learn, understand, challenge, and create media.

Rootz youth have created documentaries on access to higher education for undocumented students; have reported on their fears about their parents' potential deportation and youth opinions on immigration reform; and have provided extensive youth coverage of the spring immigration rights rallies. The kind of high-level media training that Radio Rootz provides is rare; it is rarer still in immigrant communities and low income communities of color.

Rootz employs an “each one, teach one” model –in other words, we are all teachers and learners: as youth are trained in radio production or how to critically analyze the media, they become trainers themselves. This is done through tiers of individual and group leadership development, meaningful mentoring, and professional development.

We do this work in New York City and Washington D.C. through four main programs:

Radio Rootz 'n Schoolz

Summer Media Organizing Project

Leadership Training Institute

Digital Expansion Fellowship