Neighbourhood must-seeTV
Andrew Chin, National Post Published: Saturday, February 09, 2008
For most Torontonians, day-to-day life in Regent Park is a mystery. It was designed that way. Walking by, on a trip to Cabbagetown or River-dale, one only sees the brown blocky exteriors of its buildings. But plans for a Regent Park TV station, RPTV, may give Torontonians a realistic glimpse of daily life in the area.
The station is part of Regent Park Focus, a drug-awareness program that provides media training to youth in the area. Participants produce a quarterly magazine and broadcast a 30-minute radio show on Tuesday evenings on CKLN. The group offers free youth programs on video production, photography, music production and Web design.
"Our hope with RPTV is that it becomes a fully engaged community process," says Adonis Huggins, program director for Regent Park Focus. "It would have a significant impact on the community."
Throughout its 17-year history, Regent Park Focus has already made an impact. Its facilities are accessible to interested youth even if they aren't enrolled in a program.
Three afternoons a week, participants from the O'Connor Focus group in Victoria Park travel to Regent Park. To them, the experience has been nothing but positive.
"Instead of [getting into trouble]," says Jessica Simpson, 18, "we can learn something."
In a recent three-hour session, participants were introduced to storyboarding and script writing and then asked to storyboard, shoot and edit a public service announcement on a topic of their choice.
"It's really about the youth who come in," says Huggins. "[For the O'Connor participants] it's really trying to encourage them to produce videos about their community. For the youth that come after school, it tends to be about reporting and covering different events."
For some of the participants, the program is providing them with the training and access to contacts that will assist in their pursuit of a media job. "I used to come here all the time two years ago," says Web site technician and Regent Park resident Fahim Mohammed, 19. Originally a participant, Mohammed will slip into an instructor role when Regent Park Focus's new Web design pro-gram launches.
The program's success is being replicated in other parts of Toronto. The Rexdale Protech Media Arts Centre opened last July and Regent Park Focus works in partnership with many community groups within the province.
With promising negotiations underway with Toronto Community Housing to move into a new 5,000-square-foot space that's above ground, Regent Park Focus's future looks bright. However, that doesn't mean Huggins can't see other avenues for growth.
"One of the things we haven't been able to do is attract the corporate support that a program like this needs," he admits.
2007
- Regent Park TV wins the 2007 Mayor's Community Safety Award
2006
- Insync Video in partnership with OMNI creates documentary about Regent Park Focus Youth Media Arts Centre, entitled, "Shooting for Change".
- Bike Man airs on CBC The Oulet
- Toronto Star interviews some of the youth who worked on Bike Man
- Fuse Magazine
August 26th, 2006
The Toronto Star
A message to youth: It pays to be creative
Art Reach Toronto will spend $1.2M on youth projects Hard-to-reach kids in troubled areas first priority
SUSAN WALKER
ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER
For the past 15 or 20 years, artists, arts organizations and the agencies that fund them have been trying to prove — in the face of government cutbacks — the value of supporting the arts.
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"I did quit crystal meth, because I wanted to make this video." Participant in Edmonton arts project |
Tamil Canadian Services
Filming Regent Park's heart - Festival offers new perspective
"This is a lot different from any other film festival. We put a lot of heart into it. Our stuff is full of feelings and emotions," said Vinh Duong, 21, who has lived in Regent Park since his family moved to Canada from Vietnam 15 years ago.
"We want to tell our stories and express the hardships that we go through here. People (outside) think that we are a violent, drug-filled community, but we are not. We are like (people in) Rosedale, we have a strong community here."
Adonis Huggins, a youth worker at Regent Park Focus, said the community centre's media program started in 1995 out of a local desire to find a voice in the media. From there, participants started their own quarterly paper, weekly radio show, photography and video production workshops.
Huggins was hesitant when... (click below for the full story)
Article Taken From Tamil Eelam
the eyeopener online
Campus becomes forum for hope
"Media is a powerful tool and it does control the way we think," says Vinh Duong of Regent Park Focus. He recognizes that mainstream society often sees these youth in a negative light and that a change needs to occur.
"The news is filled with propaganda and the alternative media need to grow somehow so it can allow people to see both perspectives [the good and the bad]."
These groups are challenging the status quo in hopes of proving that there are young people in "at-risk" areas who care about their communities and futures.
Their enthusiasm for the improvement of their neighborhoods was evident in all of the days' discussions.This was especially true when asked if they would stay with the programs after the novelty wore off.Several of the students responded by saying... (click below for the full story)
Article Taken From the eyeopener
As Regent Park falls, a hopeful vision endures
It's interesting how a few extra facts and a shift in perspective can turn a symbol of decay into a sign of hope, but that's pretty much what Adonis Huggins has been helping young residents to do here for more than a decade.
Mr. Huggins, 45, runs Regent Park Focus, a program that lets young people dabble in print and radio journalism, photography, filmmaking and music production. His work has just been recognized by "face the arts," a campaign by the city and Toronto Life magazine to acknowledge people who enrich Toronto's cultural life.
Mr. Huggins's program engages young people in... (click below for the full story)
Article Taken From The Globe and Mail
Rabble News
Guns and gangs: Looking for solutions
Politicians need to open their ears and do some thinking about Black youth in Toronto rather than reacting to a year of intense gun violence with racist notions about crime, say leaders in Toronto's Black community.
In late January, a panel discussion called Racialization of Crime: Anti-racist Responses to the Guns and “Gangs” Debate, was held at the Toronto Reference Library surprising organizers with a huge turnout.
Speaking to the overcrowded audience, M. Nourbese Philip, Rinaldo Walcott, Dalton Higgins and Kike Roach, a civil rights lawyer, weighed in on Canada's response to the much-publicized gun violence in Toronto.
Their message was clear: stop... (click below for the full story)
Article Taken From Rabble.ca
The Toronto Star
Getting an education on race and crime
She was unused to public speaking and the auditorium was packed. She said she was a teacher at a west-end high school where a student there had been arrested after a recent and notorious shooting. We craned our necks to look at her.
We had come, some 200 of us, to listen to a panel discussion and to talk about race and guns and crime. The panel had just wrapped up and now was the time for questions. The woman's voice grew stronger.
"I came here because our schools are turning kids into criminals. Students aren't respected. They are held back. We turn them into animals. We suspend them. We kick them out. We're not teaching kids to read and write."
She confirmed a widely held suspicion in that room: Too many kids leave school — or are thrown... (click below for the full story)
Article Taken From The Star
The Toronto Star
Busting myths behind race and crime
One evening, said the librarian, there were young people in the teen room of her branch, doing what teens do. An older patron grew more and more upset until she couldn't contain herself — she came to the desk, got all hissy, and complained about "those youth."
I don't think it was the phrase, "those youth." I think it was the way the woman is reported to have said it.
But if you can guess the colour of the teens, and the colour of the patron, then you have an intuitive understanding of the problem of race in this town.
The meeting, held recently at the downtown branch of the public library, was organized by a youth-media group called Regent Park Focus. It was meant to be a public discussion of the racialization of crime in Toronto; it featured a panel, a couple of short films, and questions afterwards.
On the panel: NourbeSe Philip, a writer; Rinaldo Walcott, a teacher; Dalton Higgins, a music journalist; and Kiké Roach, a civil rights lawyer.
In the crowd: the usual suspects from the woolly left, plus various teachers, activists... (click below for the full story)
Article Taken From The Star
TVO
Regent Park Focus on the VOX
CBC
1997 Television Coverage of Regent Park Focus
City TV Pulse24
Community Groups Vie For Stop The Violence Money
Meanwhile, the Regent Park Focus centre, where area youths in the city’s largest housing projects come together to learn photography, film, television and music production are also hoping to get some of the Stop The Violence money, as they’ve got a lot of equipment needed to make their dream a reality. The group is hoping to produce a documentary in the coming year, about the violence that has plagued... (click below for the full story)
Article Taken From Pulse24.com
The Toronto Star
These are people I know
Over in Regent Park, Angela Musceo is doing her part to build bridges. She sits on a police youth advisory committee that meets once a month.
Musceo, 20, is the outreach co-ordinator at Focus, a drop-in centre where 13- to 20-year-olds can get involved in filmmaking, photography and music. They've got their own show on campus radio station CKLN on Tuesday nights. Police Chief Bill Blair was a recent guest.
Musceo sympathizes with the challenges Blair and his officers face but insists the police need to get more involved in communities affected by violence.
"People feel like they only show up when something happens. There's no relationship. If a cop was in an area all the time, you'd feel more inclined to talk to them if you knew their name and who they were. Otherwise, people aren't going to trust or confide in them. There's always going to be that hostility if they're not part of the community. Things are not going to improve until... (click below for the full story)
Article Taken From The Star
Now Magazine
Regent Park Focus keeps budding media mavens on track
In its inaugural year, Mpenzi makes black history personal with a slate of 10 films from North America, Africa and Europe about individual memories. The BBC film Reunion documents the small contingent of upper-class Caribbean women recruited by the British army to work as nurses and secretaries during the second.... (click below for the full story)
Article Taken From Now Magazine Online
CrossCurrents
Regent Park Focus keeps budding media mavens on track
It’s a common fault adults make – judging teens by the clothes they wear. And certainly Justin Walters, 17, looks every inch the hip hop dee-jay, his slight frame lost somewhere inside a slouchy white tracksuit.
It’s just two minutes until airtime at Catch da Flava Radio, located in an apartment building in Toronto’s Regent Park, Canada’s largest and oldest community housing project. Yet Walters is as smooth as any media veteran, sliding one palm along the table and cradling the mike in the other... (click below for the full story)
Article Taken From CrossCurrents
The Dish
THE REEL DEAL
By Mey Mey Fung 18 / West Toronto Collegiate
MAKING THE MOST OF AN OPPORTUNITY
During the summer of 2004 I became a part of the Regent Park Focus Media Arts Program, where I somehow found myself in the position of Media Arts Production Assistant. Suddenly, windows of opportunity opened for me!
... (click below for the full story)
Article Taken From The Dish
Suface and Symbol
Bringing flava to the community
By Andrea Raymond
Upon entering Regent Park Focus, I was greeted by an exhibition of photos documnting the people of the community. Led into the building by Adonis Huggins, Program Director of Regent Park Focus, I was surprised to find such a hub of artistic and media production in the basement of one of the many buildings of Regent Park, Canada’s largest and oldest public housing community.
... (click below for the full story)
Article Taken From Surface and Symbol
The Toronto Star
Filming Regent Park's heart
"This is a lot different from any other film festival. We put a lot of heart into it. Our stuff is full of feelings and emotions," said Vinh Duong, 21, who has lived in Regent Park since his family moved to Canada from Vietnam 15 years ago.
"We want to tell our stories and express the hardships that we go through here. People (outside) think that we are a violent, drug-filled community, but we are not. We are like (people in) Rosedale, we have a strong community here."
Adonis Huggins, a youth worker at Regent Park Focus, said the community centre's media program started in 1995 out of a local desire to find a voice in the media. From there, participants started their own quarterly paper, weekly radio show, photography and video production workshops.
Huggins was hesitant when Siddan brought the idea to the agency because he wasn't sure if the community would support it.
"But we know the community would like to see themselves reflected through the media because all the (other) media only mirror what their reality is not (about)."
Thaseepan Mariyanayagam, 14, will have his 10-minute documentary Moving Out (about youth leaving Regent Park) screened at the film festival. "The whole thing about the festival is exciting," said the teen, who came to Canada from Sri Lanka seven years ago. "I'm so proud of it." ... (click below for the full story)
Article Taken From The Star
Metro News
Creativity shines in arts course
Participants of the Regent Park arts program learn practical aspects of radio production.
A unique program that helps young Regent Park residents get a leg up is hitting a milestone this summer.
The Regent Park multimedia arts program begins its 10th year on Aug. 2.
Offered to students up to 24 years of age, the program helps prepare people pursuing post-secondary education or careers...(click below for the whole article)
Article Taken From Metro News
Share Newspaper
G-G impressed with Regent Park youth
Governor General Adrienne Clarkson toured Regent Park in downtown Toronto recently, where she met with students and observed the positive changes they are making in the community.
During her visit she officially opened the Regent Park Focus, a new photography gallery displaying the works of area youths.
Established in 1991, the program was created as part of a provincial government strategy promoting health to people living in vulnerable communities in Ontario. The gallery is dedicated to exhibiting the photographic works of young people and emerging Canadian photographers in the Regent Park neighbourhood.
“Coming here and meeting all of you from different cultural backgrounds, means I get a view of this community from the inside out, and I am very impressed with what I saw, including the plan for future development,” said the Governor General.
Adonis Huggins, program co-coordinator of the Regent Park program, said he was thankful that Clarkson was visiting and seeing the positive impact the students are having on their community. As a part of her visit the Governor General was interviewed on Catch Da Flava, a radio program operated by students from the area.
While in Toronto, the Governor General swore in a number of new Canadians at a citizenship ceremony.
Article Taken From Share Newspaper
The Toronto Star
Regent Park hosts Clarkson
"It's very special, very important," said Justin Goldenthal, an on-air volunteer at Catch Da Flava. Clarkson and Ralston Saul seemed to enjoy the sights and sounds of the community east of the downtown, stopping to look at scores of tulips coming up in a garden on Dundas St. E.
... (click below for the full story)
Article Taken From The Star
Now Magazine
Best influence on budding filmmakers
Regent Park Focus
416-863-1074 Who needs drugs when you can make movies? Home to a newspaper, radio station, photography studio and video production workshop, Regent Park Focus helps teens tell their own stories. Check out the results at Krank It Up! , their ninth annual film, video, photo and multimedia exhibition, Sunday (November 2) at Innis Town Hall .
Splice This Annual Film Festivals
Regent Park Focus
Sunday June 22, 2003 8:00 PM
A co-presentation with EYE video programLast summer EYE video conducted a super 8 workshop for youth in Regent Park. The kids were encouraged to make urban-inspired films so they went ahead and made a bunch of smart, funny and brutally honest movies.
-All filmmakers are wise beyond their years and will be in attendance
Article Taken From Splice This Programs
City of Toronto
Youth Violence Prevention
Regent Park Focus Community Coalition Against Substance AbuseThrough the use of media technology, Regent Park Focus provides a supportive environment where youth share decision-making, feel a sense of belonging, meet professionals in the field and engage with other youth in positive activities. They also learn about issues of relevance and express their creative talents and points of view. The program includes the "Catch Da Flava" newspaper and Web site, the "Catch Da Flava" radio show (broadcast live from Regent Park to CKLN 88.1), and e.y.e. video, production studio and photography.
Members of e.y.e. video are currently engaged in anti-violence workshops involving the screening of Last Witness, a 10-minute video that examines the socio-economic factors that perpetuate violence in the Black community. Last Witness was produced by e.y.e. this past summer, and vividly describes the murder of two young people. The video is accompanied by a workshop that explores the issues identified in the film. e.y.e. has also produced a video on globalization called Rock Against FTA, a video on billboard advertising entitled A Brand New World Order, and a video called Let's Talk about it: Khat and other Drugs.
Article Taken From City.Toronto Mayor’s Community Safety Award winners 2003
University of Toronto
CATCH DA FLAVA!
Matt Capper
For most of us, Regent Park is not an area you want to visit. When traveling downtown, most of us will probably stay clear of it altogether. The general conception of this area is this: Low income housing, crime-infested and dangerous. I decided to risk my life and wonder beyond the ever-so-classy district of Toronto’s Yonge-and-Dundas-area. It failed to surprise me that I was not shot at or mugged. The fact of the matter is that Regent Park only seemed as dangerous as the walk to the Fossil every Tuesday night. After all, it is Scarborough that had the highest murder rate in 2002.
My objective was not to see if Regent Park was really as bad as it is said to be. Instead, I was invited to watch a group of young Regent Park residents, who refuse to conform to the media stereotype that has been placed on them, put on a live radio show, which discusses the issues of Regent Park and the surrounding area. The organization is called Catch Da Flava and it is the brainchild of a very enthusiastic Adonis Huggins.
... (click below for the whole article)
Article Taken From The Underground Online
ICED IN BLACK
REGENT PARK FOCUS: Super 8 Film Festival Entries 35 minutes 2000, English
Various young filmmakers create their own unique short films through the
Regent Park Media Project for the Super 8 Film Festival. Hip hop inspired
videos that give you the taste of the neighbourhood, conquering fears, the
end of the world, superheroes, mysteries, and horrors are some of the themes
that these teens have caught...(click below for the whole article)
Article Taken From Iced In Black Films
Canadian Dimension
Regent Park Focus
The Regent Park Family Drop-In Centre is located just east of downtown in the heart of one of Toronto's low-income communities. Here, in a windowless basement lit by flourescent bulbs and decorated with black-and-white photos and secondhand furniture, Adonis Huggins works to co-ordinate the Regent Park Focus Media Arts Program. The program has been running for more than ten years, in which time it has grown from a substance-abuse prevention program incorporating video into a multi-media resource that gives youth the chance to create Super-8 films, video documentaries, broadcast radio, audio art, a website and a community newspaper. Under the mandate of the Regent Park Focus Community Coalition against Substance Abuse, the program is supported by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the Ontario Ministry of Health.
"Basically, the original idea was to do grassroots community prevention work," Huggins explains. "We were trying to figure out how to engage youth. We decided, instead of us coming to them with information, to give them the tools they need to find that information for themselves. So, in 1993, after stumbling for a few years, we started these... (click below for the whole article)
Article Taken From Canadian Dimension Jamming Out on Pop Culture
Centre For Addiction & Mental Health
Catch da Flava is a newspaper produced by young people involved in the Regent Park Focus Media Arts Program -- a substance abuse prevention program that seeks to use media technology as a tool for change-stimulating discussion, information sharing, awareness and action on substance abuse and other issues of concern relevant to youth. The program operates under the mandate of the Regent Park Focus Community Coalition Against Substance Abuse, a program of the Centre. Youth are involved in all aspects of production including writing, editing, design layout, advertising and distribution. Catch da Flava is accessible on-line at www.catchdaflava.com.
Community Arts Biannale
Outreach 2000
For the past year, youth from five different communitiy organizations in Toronto have been working with photography instructors at Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography to learn creative photography skills. The resulting projects – ranging from soundscape photographs to slide projections – will be displayed at Gallery 44 as part of CAB 2000.
The Students Commission
The Regent Park Community Project
Background
Who Am I?
I'm Dianah or D! I work at The Students Commission in the Toronto Office. As most of you know I am involved with the Sharing Resources 2000 project.
What Am I Doing?
This page is my community project. Although I work with The Students Commission supporting delegates with their community projects, I wanted to get involved with a youth group in my own community. I grew up in a low-income community and missed out on a lot of things because we were poor. We were recent immigrants to Canada from Jamaica. Among other things, we were learning a new culture; we were dealing with racism, and we did not have a lot of money. Although both my parents worked full time they were in low paying jobs. I am interested in helping other poor youth and youth of colour to get involved with The Students Commission.
The Project
I am volunteering weekly with a local youth group: the Regent Park Focus Community Coalition. Regent Park is one of oldest low-income housing projects in North America. A lot of assumptions are made about low- income neighbourhoods: including... (click below for the whole article)
Article Taken From TG Magazine
