Desiree Williams was recently honored as a "Rising Star Honor Roll" recipient, a new recognition by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.
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Families, friends and participants gathered at FSM News South and West, Real Chi Youth and Flash Forward's Presentations of Learning and Summer Banquets
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The Urban Communication Foundation awarded Jeff McCarter and Free Spirit Media the Gene Burd Urban Journalism Award for high quality urban media reporting
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NYTVF (www.nytvf.com) today announced the official selections for its flagship Independent Pilot Competition (IPC), including Drive Slow, created by Terrence Thompson and produced by Free Spirit Media.
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I was recently given the opportunity through Free Spirit Media and Media Process Group to travel abroad to Spain and assist in the creation of a reenactment documentary based on the Baha’i faith and the story of the “BAB”.
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Free Spirit Media is wrapping up another year of powerful, youth-focused media production.
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Last week, Free Spirit Media, Young Chicago Authors, and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events celebrated 3 years of The Chicago Track at the Chicago Cultural Center.
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Real Chi Youth's Jhordan Ruiz recently participated in Youth FX's NeXt Doc 2017 in Upstate New York, and took to FSM's blog to share his experience.
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The McCormick Foundation generously extended a challenge grant to Free Spirit Media to tell authentic stories about Chicago's youth, including court involved youth.
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Free Spirit Media's annual fundraiser was truly a night to remember. We'd like to thank all of our sponsors, The Ivy Room, staff, volunteers, and you our community of supporters for showing up, sharing our work, and investing in our vision so that we can continue transforming media and society.
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Free Spirit Media is honored to be selected, along with 7 other youth serving organizations across the country, as a program partner and grantee of the SCE Digital Learning Challenge.
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Free Spirit Media's Real Chi Youth reporters have just completed another round of pivotal documentaries analyzing key issues in our communities. We are excited to see the conversations that emerge from these pieces!
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On a cold January weekend, seven student reporters from Free Spirit Media's journalism programs traveled to Iowa to cover the presidential campaign. The group worked alongside nearly 200 young people from Mikva Challenge to find out what issues young people in America care about and how youth can be politically engaged even before they are eligible to vote.
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Free Spirit Media's summer programs wrapped up with a series of inspiring banquets last week. At the celebrations, participants presented the compelling works of media they produced this summer.
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Free Spirit PRO traveled to South Africa this summer with six Chicago students in The Peace Exchange. The crew was on a journey to study how people across the world practice peace in their communities.
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Free Spirit Media is proud to announce Voqal renewed its $50,000 grant to support FSM's youth media advocacy programming. For a second year, Voqal is investing in the civic journalism conducted by Free Spirit Media's FSM News and Real Chi Youth program participants.
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Thanks to the Chicago Tribune for featuring our South Side FSM News program at the Gary Comer Youth Center.
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Free Spirit Media thanks Bank of America for renewing its support of our Pathways Portfolio. Bank of America's recent $12,000 grant to Free Spirit Media will help us enhance Real Chi Youth, Flash Forward, The Chicago Track and Free Spirit PRO over the next year.
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Last night, Chicago's WTTW Channel 11 aired The Peace Exchange documentary by Free Spirit PRO. Nielsen reports 15,000 people tuned in to see the film, which follows 11 young Chicagoans who traveled the world to study how people and communities recover from violence.
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It’s been a few weeks getting back to normal since I had another amazing opportunity to film abroad with Free Spirit PRO, for The Peace Exchange. This is the 2nd documentary for The Peace Exchange crew, which this time took place in the beautiful Central American country of Nicaragua, with a new group of very much engaged, creative, and compassionate young people leading the way, traveling the world for the sole cause of peace.
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