Participant Media presents entertainment that inspires and compels social change. Behind these films and issues, there are thousands of people nationwide who work tirelessly on campaigns that use the films as inspiration to make a difference. As a member of the company’s Social Action team, which develops initiatives that are inspired by the films, I’m excited to announce the first posting of a weekly blog of Sarah’s Social Action Snapshot, which will offer the latest updates on our campaigns and offer specific actions and tools, from our campaigns, for people to get involved in issues in the news.

Food, Inc.
Do you want to know about rGBH dairy, issues facing small farmers or organic yogurt? If so, check out our recent online chats with some of the leading food advocacy organizations from our campaign and Stonyfield Yogurt.

We learned this week that obesity rates continue to climb with an expected 103 million Americans to be obese by 2018. Scary? Yes. Preventable? Yes. Take action by supporting menu labeling and check out our campaign’s 10 tips for healthy eating.

Read the rest of this entry >>

Editor’s Note: This post is by Erich Rettstadt, a student at New York University who attended The People Speak College Tour event on his campus last week.

A rainy mid-November day in Manhattan did not deter the NYU masses from attending the latest stop on The People Speak college tour. Lines of students buzzing with anticipation wrapped around The Cooper Union’s historic Great Hall hours before the 2PM event began, braving the wet and windy weather to see the headlining mega-celebrity. Matt Damon, you ask? Oh no. None other than Mr. Howard Zinn himself. After Damon’s passionate reading of an excerpt from Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, the crowd’s cheers were overwhelmed by the standing ovation Mr. Zinn received upon entering the stage moments later. Handling himself with grace, dignity and unmatched wit, Mr. Zinn encouraged the largely college-aged audience to push and prod our government until we get the change that we wanted to see. And to never give up.

Read the rest of this entry >>

Slow Food NYC started a 10 day online auction yesterday with proceeds set to benefit Slow Food NYC’s Harvest Time in Schools Program. The auction is going to run from November 18 through November 28 and features some pretty awesome items if you’re into food. Check out some of my favorite selections below.  Read the rest of this entry >>

The list of films that might get nominated for Oscar’s Best Documentary prize have been announced and I have some very exciting news, both Food, Inc and The Cove are on it! The shortlist consists of 15 films and will eventually be whittled down to the five actual Oscar nominees.

I am so happy that both The Cove and Food, Inc are on the list. They are easily two of my favorite docs of the year and they have both helped to create major awareness in the arenas of food and dolphin slaughter.

Go below for the entire shortlist and my personal picks (and trailers for them) for the five nominees.

Read the rest of this entry >>

I have adored Tim Burton ever since I saw Edward Scissorhands at a sleepover party in third grade.  Since then he’s made many movies that I still love and written what remains one of my favorite books of all time, “The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories” Well now in some ways it seems my life is coming full circle as Tim Burton is about to get his own exhibit and screening series at MOMA in New York City. From the MOMA website:

This major career retrospective on Tim Burton (American, b. 1958), consisting of a gallery exhibition and a film series, considers Burton’s career as a director, producer, writer, and concept artist for live-action and animated films, along with his work as a fiction writer, photographer and illustrator.

Below is a video of Burton talking about his work and how he got to where he is today and his process.  Especially interesting is where he discusses his unique drawing style and how he had a teacher that encouraged his work despite the fact that others had told him his style wasn’t very good.  Also, I love his attitude towards his  non-traditional exhibit that includes all the different categories of his work and also how his socks seem to really encompass who he is.  Read the rest of this entry >>

The African Leadership Academy was founded in 2004 with a vision of bringing together Africa’s most promising 15-to-18-year olds and making them into the leaders that will transition Africa into peace and prosperity. Five years later, John Sakara, an ALA student, stood on a stage at ALA’s Leadership Symposium at UCLA’s Anderson School and told an auditorium about his dreams to be at the forefront of Africa’s industrial revolution. Sankara is not your average teenager. But as Fred Swanker, founder of ALA, put it, he’s got 179 more John Swanikers back at the Academy. Something is working. Read the rest of this entry >>

They’ve been called unlikely allies. Polar opposites. A political odd couple. And yet, at the request of President Obama, Newt Gingrich and Reverend Al Sharpton set aside their political differences to join U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on a national education tour.

Admittedly, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this unlikely trio when I first reported on the story three months ago. Then last Sunday morning, as I watched them sit down to be interviewed on Meet the Press by host David Gregory, I was pleasantly surprised, and dare I say, more than a little impressed.

Read the rest of this entry >>

Credit: Grown in Detroit

Principal G. Asenath Andrews at Catherine Ferguson Academy in Detroit asked her students to raise their hands if they had ever witnessed a drive-by shooting. Several hands went in the air.

She asked how many had seen a murder; how many had a loved one who had been incarcerated. More hands.

Then she asked how many knew a street farmer.

Crickets.

But for those students–all teenage mothers–agriculture is part of the curriculum at Catherine Ferguson. A red barn the students built houses sheep, horses and chickens, and the girls milk goats and collect honey from a beehive on site. Then they harvest and sell produce from the school’s farm at a makeshift market in the parking lot—a welcome food stand in a city where liquor stores outnumber groceries. Read the rest of this entry >>

Here at TakePart Ciara O’Rourke and I have both written about the film Precious and how much we like and appreciate it. Well now we another reason to be on Team Precious, the film is using Twitter to raise money for literacy.  The film’s distributor Lionsgate has teamed up with Everybody Wins!, a literacy and mentoring non-profit, and TwitCause to raise money to help get kids excited about reading.

Through tomorrow, whenever any Twitter user uses the hashtag #Read2Kids in a tweet Lionsgate will match one dollar per tweet, up to $1,000 to be donated to Everybody Wins!.

So get yourself over to Twitter and tweet for literacy!

And when your done get yourself to the movies and see Precious! You can watch the trailer HERE.

Editor’s Note: This post is by Simon Han, a Communication Studies Major at Northwestern University who attended The People Speak College tour event on his campus last week.

I had the opportunity last Wednesday to see hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco, actor Michael Ealy, and writer Anthony Arnove when they came to Northwestern University to promote an upcoming History Channel documentary called The People Speak. Like the documentary, the event included dramatic performances of works from a range of Americans focusing especially on those left out of mainstream history books. In addition, the audience got a chance to see some clips from the movie and to participate in a Q&A session with the three guests.

I have to admit, I attended this event with mixed feelings. One word spoke to me, and it wasn’t “democracy” or “history” or “activism.” It was Lupe. A huge fan of his music, I jumped at the chance to see him in person and maybe even meet him. But I knew Lupe Fiasco wasn’t here to belt out “Superstar” to a throng of screaming, adoring fans. He was here to shine a light on the voices of everyday Americans. As he said before the event, “It’s learning about the other side of the story—the people’s side of the story.” And I didn’t know how to feel about that. These guys are celebrities. What’s really important here?

Read the rest of this entry >>