Mission
The mission of Grassroots DC is two-fold:
- To teach media activism to individuals from those DC communities most impacted by white supremacy, patriarchy and the harmful extremes of capitalism.
- To use the media we create to support individuals, organizations and communities working to end white supremacy, patriarchy and the harmful extremes of capitalism.
Vision
Grassroots DC provides a space for media production and training to community members, individual activists and progressive nonprofits in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area. Through our training programs, Grassroots DC students learn marketable skills that help to sustain themselves and their families.
Through the distribution of news media, such as radio segments, short videos, public service announcements, digital stories, etc., Grassroots DC producers and contributors report on issues important to their communities, educate policy makers and the public at large, and advocate on behalf of public policies designed to improve their lives and the lives of their neighbors.
The production and distribution of high-quality media that tells authentic stories from underserved communities, how individuals are affected by public policy AND provides strategies for impacted residents to follow is Grassroots DC’s first priority. Our productions are distributed on the Internet, public radio, public access television and any distribution outlet willing to work with us. Our plan is to flood the market with so much community journalism that no politician or public official will make a move without consulting underserved community members directly for fear that they themselves will be portrayed negatively by an increasingly potent activist media.
Values
Grassroots DC believes that all people must have the opportunity to fully participate in the economic, social, and political life of metropolitan Washington, D.C. As advocates against oppression (in whatever form it takes) we align our actions with inclusive, anti-oppressive, and social & economic justice principles. We value the voices; experience, cultures, intellect and multi-dimensionality of members of traditionally oppressed communities. We interact with each other and the communities we serve in a way that is respectful, fully transparent and ethical. We encourage our organization’s members to be mindful of their intersecting positions of privilege and oppression. We will not produce nor support the production of media that violates these principles.
Grassroots DC will remain accountable to the communities within which we work not only by valuing and incorporating the needs, ideas and opinions of our participants but also by adhering to the following principles:
- Grassroots DC is in the business of poverty alleviation and elimination, not poverty maintenance.
- We believe that media production is a valuable skill that shouldn’t be given away.
- The more a participant puts into the organization, the more she or he should get out of it.
- Grassroots DC will be as transparent as possible with regard to funding, how the organization operates, member rights and responsibilities, etc.