The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation wanted to bring youth voices to TED 2015, to speak on this year’s theme: “Truth or Dare.” Since we’ve taught film, ourselves, throughout our careers, we already knew dozens of youth media organizations around the country. Partnering with nonprofits in New York City, Baltimore and the Bay Area, we worked with young people, ages 16 – 21, on first-person narratives, supporting them through the filmmaking process. The films were promoted in the TED blog “Further Reading on Ideas Worth Spreading.”
Ricardo Amparo, 17, a high school senior in Baltimore, is an aspiring filmmaker and a member of Wide Angle Youth Media’s Mentoring Video Project. Young men of color face more obstacles in education, employment and health than do their white peers. “As a young black man in Baltimore, I am trying to be a positive person,” says Amparo. “But I have often been trapped in a negative environment.”