Nuevas Novelas: Media Literacy to Prevent Violence

Dear Generous Donors,

We have wrapped our 2024 Nuevas Novelas cohort, and we feel inspired by the work our youth created during this very special program. This year we expanded our media literacy and leadership program by incorporating an environmental justice component, and it was a big hit! 

With this cohort of Nuevas Novelas, we were able to serve Latina, Chicana and Indigenous young women from immigrant and working-class families. Our participants reside in one of the lowest-income communities in San Fernando Valley, which struggles with pollution and flooding, while neighboring wealthy communities have sufficient resources, underscoring the stark disproportionate infrastructure gap based on historic redlining that still impacts our communities today. 

Through this program, participants were provided with tools to engage their communities in conversation around the challenges facing their neighborhoods and connect it to the larger context of environmental justice. The participants got to see themselves as leaders and learned how their choices affect their communities. In their documentaries, they investigated the history of the land in California and its original caretakers, Chumash and Tongva people, and their relationship to the native plants. They interviewed activists in farming, gardening and regenerative agriculture and ways to help water and create food security in their local communities. They gave voice to those who use public transportation in their communities and ways the city could provide a safer and more reliable resource for its inhabitants. 

These films depicted hope for a cleaner and healthier earth which is a powerful perspective coming from youth who are subject to the impacts of climate change. The participants shared with us how their perspective changed as a result of this program as they learned about people who care for the environment and how real change is still possible, despite feelings of despair. 

Here’s what some of the Nueva Novelas youth from the 2024 Cohort have said about their experience:

“In this program you get to make connections, You get to meet folks who are living eco-friendly and we get to learn about those possibilities. We get to meet folks who are passionate about their life which inspires me.”

“This is the only program I’ve participated in where I got to work with equipment that I only dream of. This was really cool and I enjoyed it a lot. Little me would have loved this. I wish this was offered to me as a child. Everyone should have access to this.”

Our youth want to change the world, and we want to continue to guide them and impart them with the creative tools necessary to do just that. We need your help to continue this work!

Please make a generous donation to our Nuevas Novelas program to continue to foster an environment of growth, artistic expression, community and change.