The Dare to Dream Project and Voices of New York (VONY) present the 1st Annual Voices of New York Speak! Youth Media Conference and Concert, on June 27 at 92YTribeca. The conference, the first event of its kind in NYC, will gather educators, parents, creative professionals and experts to discuss the growing potential of media in the classroom and the community. According to Pew Internet & American Life: “Content creation by teenagers continues to grow, with 64% of online teenagers ages 12 to 17 engaging in at least one type of content creation, up from 57% of online teens in 2004.” The Dare to Dream Project and Voices of New York are helping to develop these skills amongst teens in ways that are valuable and important, in effect, helping to capture voices that might otherwise go unnoticed.

As an example, the video above documents Dare to Dream students talking about their parents’ reasons for immigrating to the U.S. You can see more videos on their YouTube page.

The concert at 92YTribeca will feature an eclectic mix of cutting edge indie music, poetry and theater performances with a special performance by Bilal, a member—along with Questlove, Common, D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, J Dilla, James Poyser, Mos Def, Q-Tip and Talib Kweli—of the loose neo soul/hip-hop loose collective the Soulquarians. We hope to see you there.

Upcoming Events at 92YTribeca: