On December 4, the West Fresno community came out to celebrate the official unveiling of a new mural, created by youth artists from Fresno under the guidance of New America Media’s own resident muralist, Josué Rojas. The youth artists were assembled from Fresno youth organizations: The kNOw Youth Media, The Muralistics, and Youth for Christ.
The massive mural (150 feet long X 17 feet tall) is both an expression of the pride these young people feel about being from Fresno, and a vision of what a healthier Fresno will look like. A project of Pacific News Service/New America Media, this mural was made possible through support from The California Endowment, and is the first of what we hope will be many murals to positively transform the way residents in Fresno view their community.
Video by Jacob Simas, New America Media
In 2006, over 25 youth began participating in weekly after-school writing workshops where they congregated in the hallway of a two-story building in West Fresno and learned the essentials of creating media and telling their stories. The group evolved over the next five years and is now proudly recognized as The kNOw Youth Media.
Through our program, we create opportunities for our youth participants, who in turn create long-term positive change in their communities. Our approach weaves youth development and youth media innovation to produce our biannual youth publication, multimedia projects, and community forums.
The kNOw began as a project of New America Media, which was the country’s first and largest national collaboration and advocate of 2000 ethnic news organizations. In 2018 The kNOw became a project of Youth Leadership Institute.
