“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”—United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, December 10, 1948.
The Ancient Greek philosophers called for free speech as did the Founding Fathers and the Suffragettes. Oscar Wilde used his dramatist’s pen to challenge social norms. Billie Holiday shared her distinctive voice in the 1939 song, Strange Fruit, to protest lynchings. Lenny Bruce used the comic’s microphone to stretch the fabric of free speech—and was arrested, multiple times.
October 20, 2018 is Community Media Day, a global celebration dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of free speech and accessible media. Community Media Day debuted in 2017 to encourage access across diverse voices and platforms. The celebration serves as a prelude to Free Speech Week, which begins October 22.
The Media Factory is celebrating Community Media Day by sponsoring a “Home Movie Day” on Saturday, October 20th from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Feel free to bring your home movies for sharing and viewing. We will have projectors for 8 mm, Super 8, and 16 mm films and for VHS tapes. We will show digital movies, too, if you have already reformatted your home movies or if they are born digital. If you don’t have any home movies, you can still come and participate as an audience member.
“I think Community Media is a huge service to the community and a powerful asset to those of us who feel we have a message and a mission to share with the community,” says Morella Devost, host of Thrive with Morella on WBTV-LP, 99.3 FM.
Life is short. Leave your mark. Make media.
~By Katherine Stamper, Host of Present Time on WBTV-LP, 99.3 FM
