Occupy provided us with fine tuned practices in content gathering and distribution. By the time #MikeBrown was gunned down in Ferguson, Missouri we had the ability to reach support from activist collectives worldwide. Police throughout the US harassed, jailed people, and committed murder with the most minimal accountability up until the age of modern activism.
The most powerful tool against police brutality is the camera. We first witnessed this with Rodney King. The pressure of filming the police has consequences as seen in LA, Ferguson, Baltimore and throughout the USA.
Our work in supporting Black Lives Matter and other causes by photographing and filming activist events was very different than most activist media because we needed to be extra sensitive to the fact that this wasn't our turf. Despite covering police brutality incidents in Baltimore for several years leading up to the death of #FreddieGray, the story had to be told by those effected. Gen Knoxx and I did everything we could to respect this boundary.
Our investigative journalism into the murder of Freddie Gray was groundbreaking and, in many ways, shattered the trust of the Baltimore Sun, the oldest news paper in the US, amongst the public. Time has proven that challenging the status quo can create conditions that lead to change.
The Activist Media Collectives workshops shall provide a unique perspective of how social justice forces from the genuine grassroots of Occupy flourished worldwide despite the mainstream waves of coordinated negative propaganda.
Robert Brune and Gen Knoxx will describe the inner workings of effective media techniques that influenced financial policy, environmental awareness, whistle blower support, and racial injustice activism. We spent countless hours observing, networking, and reporting which drew us to do more extensive reporting in DC, NYC, Baltimore, Ferguson and many other cities on the ground and online.
We hope our experience with Global Revolution Live, DC Media Group, and other social justice collectives can be passed along to help the next generation of social justice influencers.