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Fiona Dornberger- The Roof is on Fire

1. CONTEXT: 

Voices of Inner city teenagers are never able to be heard, and with the media only portraying them badly, this was a chance for them to share their voices. 

2. CONTENT: 

Minorities are mostly addressed in media are as villains, or bad characters, and on the news, are usually associated with crime and murder, especially relating to black bodies.

3: FORM: 

 Students sat inside cars, and held discussions based on prompts, so that the audience could lean in and listen. 

4. STAKEHOLDERS: 

Oakland Teenagers were the primary focus of the groups, as well as teachers from their schools and Suzanne Lacy, the project curator. Money for the project was raised from donations.

5. AUDIENCE: 

The project was for all of the U.S., and they put in many hours of work to make sure it would be televised.

6. ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES: 

The audience was engaged because they really had to eves-drop on the conversations, sometimes needing to lean into the cars. 


7. GOAL: 
The objective was to help the voices and wishes of these teenagers be heard, so that the world could understand their predicaments and struggles. 

8. VALUES: 
The core beliefs of this program were that teenagers are not inherently bad at all. In fact, they have the potential to do great good for society. It is society and the media, which portrays them negatively, trying to keep them from trying to rise to their full potentials, and prevent them from achieving greatness.  

9. RESOURCES: 

Interviews with students, the students choosing which topics they felt resonated with them, and the fact that the only voices heard during the project were those of the teens.

10: OUTCOMES: 

The project was aired on live TV, and the teenagers were able to have their voices heard for the evening. As to the long-term impact of the project, it was left open ended, as were the lives of the teens who had participated in it. I wonder if the project went on to do more? 

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