Please don’t feed the beast

Reggie Beasley, known as “Reggie Beas” to listeners of the popular rap radio station Hot97, was less concerned about his ratings and more concedrned about what’s getting into the heads of today’s youth when he told them they should turn him off and tune into talk radio instead.

That was the message Beasley promoted to approximately 150 Boston Pilot secondary school students at the inaugural Youth Conference held April 2 at the Boston Community Leadership Academy (BCLA) on Arlington Street.

“Teens Break the Silence: the Media and the Messages, and Students’ Perspectives” was the focus of the conference. The big question of the day was whether media really reflect black teens, or whether the media are a manipulative force helping to keep kids from succeeding in life.

There was animated disagreement.

Beasley was the first panelist introduced by Dania Vazquez, conference organizer and co-director of the Pilot Schools Network, housed at the Center for Collaborative Education. Adding to his opening statements, Beasley objected to the way some songs portray women as sex objects. He hoped the students would see beyond such lyrics.

“If you write music that turns women into sex objects, it doesn't make you more ‘ghetto’ or ‘cool.’ It makes you look dumb,” Beasley said. He believes that popular radio stations are especially guilty of pandering and promoting a degrading image of people of color, because many are owned by white people who can “make a lot of money promoting the negative images that sell.”

Panelist Susan McDonald, Program Director at the YWCA’s Youth VOICE Collaborative, agreed. McDonald told students that when they hear degrading hip-hop images of “gangstas and slutty women,” to ask themselves, “Who made this image?” The answer, she said, is “non-Black owners of media - white men.”

Not everyone was ready to see themselves as being victimized by a white power structure. Hawa Traore, a black senior from New Mission High School, challenged the panel. “Do you really think it would be different if minorities owned media outlets? I think it’s just about money. It would be just as bad whoever owned the media,” she said. Panelists also acknowledged that racism can come from any race.

Beasley urged the students to change stations and listen to the news and “be informed.” Susan McDonald added a caveat: “When you see or hear the news in the media, ask yourself, ‘What is left out?’ Your community is only on the news when police cars are there.”

The adults on the panel also emphasized getting an education and taking charge of one’s life. BCLA principal and host Nicole Bahnam urged, “Please go to college. Your education has weight.”

The third panelist, Darius McCroey, is a managing partner of Elevated Media Group, creator of downtimeonline.net, self-described “premier culture and lifestyle resource for New England’s urban community.” McCroey urged students to get involved with the Web. “Anyone can have impact using the Web. It doesn’t take a lot of money.” In response to Beasley and McDonald’s statements about white control of the media, McCroey said, “The Internet has made it easy for us to take some of that power and control back.”

The morning concluded with a moving, unaccompanied rap, by BCLA student “Sheik,” about a friend who was killed in the street.

After lunch, students moved to student-led break-out sessions on media impact.

The most popular session for girls was about the media’s impact on women’s fashion and body image. Students agreed that they are strongly influenced by the skinny look promoted in print and broadcast media. Discussion leaders pointed out that stores “go by Caucasian sizes, not the larger sizes that correspond to average African-American shapes.”

In “If It Bleeds It Leads: The Hidden Messages Creating Fear and Bias in Our Society,” leaders asked participants how local television and radio news presents their neighborhoods. One student answered, “People think you can’t go out in my neighborhood in Dorchester ’cause you’ll get killed. I go out all the time. It’s not like that.”

The largest turnout was for “The Power of Music: The Negative and Positive Effects of Music on Youth.” There was lively disagreement around the message of the morning panelists who had regretted the negative image of blacks portrayed in hip-hop. Some students bemoaned the images promulgated by such hip-hop performers as 50 Cent. Others wanted nothing to do with forcing a favorable image. They said hip-hop performers tell the truth from their own lives.

Other break-out sessions covered the “reality” of reality television, the negative impact of video games, and the corruption of sports.

Students reconvened at the end of the day to share what had happened in the break-out sessions. BCLA student Eric “Chief” Scott volunteered a closing thought that seemed to capture the day for many: “If we know what our values are, then we can deal with the media and what they show.”

Robert Frank, a freelance writer and photographer, lives in the South End and works at the Center for Collaborative Education in Lower Roxbury.

Youth Conference panelists Darius McCroey, Susan McDonald, and Reggie “Beas.”

“When you see or hear the news in the media, ask yourself, ‘What is left out?’ Your community is only on the news when police cars are there.”

Hawa Traore, a senior at New Mission High, challenged panelists’ claims that whites are the only exploiters.

Darius McCroey urged students to build web sites where they can control the message at little cost.

At the end of the morning session, “Sheik” rapped sadly about the loss of a friend who was killed in the street.

BCLA seniors Katrina Williams (left) and Zena Toppin lead a fashion media discussion on “Body Image and Beauty.”

Kowsar Haji co-led a break-out session, “If it Bleeds, It Leads,” that looked at how urban neighborhoods are portrayed by the media.

Quin Smith discusses “the negative and positive effects of music on youth.”

Eric “Chief” Scott said knowing one’s values is insurance against corruption by the media.

In the print version of this article in the South End News, the Katrina Williams/Zena Toppin photo was the only illustration.