Boyle Heights Beat

For more than a decade, Boyle Heights Beat has been training high school youth as community journalists. Through mentorship by professional journalists and youth advocates, this program gives young people a special sense of purpose within their community. Boyle Heights Beat helps to equip young people to shed light on social and racial injustices in their communities through writing and storytelling, to acquire and apply valuable career skills, and to cultivate new relationships with community members, peers, and mentors.

For more than a decade, Boyle Heights Beat has provided training to local youth through its community journalism project. The project gives youth a unique sense of purpose in the community and provides a safe place to share ideas, learn new skills and connect with others. BHB provides youth the skills to uplift social and racial injustices in their neighborhoods through writing and storytelling, to learn and utilize marketable career skills and to also forge new relationships with community members, peers and professionals.

Voices is a story-sharing project which will encourage youth to engage with elders. The project, with both audio and visual elements, will help raise awareness around issues in the community, while building and strengthening intergenerational social networks. At the most basic level, storytelling is a way of keeping a community's stories alive. In this second installation of our Voices project, we will be expanding to focus on specific hard to reach elderly groups and communities within the neighborhood.

Voices is a story-sharing project with audio and photography elements which will encourage youth to engage with elders. The project will help raise awareness around issues in their neighborhood, while building and strengthening intergenerational social networks. At the most basic level, storytelling is a way of keeping a family’s or a community’s stories alive. Interview topics can be tailored to address specific themes or community issues. Stories will be collected and archived as a means to create further dialogues and grow networks