Muhammad Ali Center Partners on its First National Teen Program

LOUISVILLE - NEW YORK - PHILADELPHIA (November 2002) … The Muhammad Ali Center and its official youth partner SHiNE (Seeking Harmony in Neighborhoods Everyday), a national non-profit organization that empowers young people to promote respect for diversity and end youth violence, hosted The SHiNE Network National Videoconference. Other partners included the Louisville Urban League and Kravco Company Malls. The videoconference connected teens in Kentucky, New York, and Pennsylvania and supported the national launch of The SHiNE Network-an innovative youth empowerment program that encourages today's youth to take the lead in improving their communities and schools by putting them in the driver's seat of social change. Club Network marks the first programmatic collaboration between the two organizations.

In support of the national launch, SHiNE hosted The SHiNE Network National Videoconference on November 6, 2002 from 4-6PM E.S.T. Through the generosity of Jewish Hospital of Louisville, sixteen teens from the Louisville Urban League, interacted live from their conferencing facility at the Rudd Heart and Lung Center. The videoconference provided the participants with an interactive forum to share ideas on how to affect change in their communities.

The SHiNE Network Videoconference, funded by Kravco, is a technology-based project that will open the hearts and minds of today's youth as they learn about themselves, each other and their communities. In preparation for the videoconference, the teens engaged in activities that challenged them to dissect the themes of "community", "hate speech" and "stereotyping". With the use of video cameras, these teens are also visually captured how they see cultural diversity in their communities. During the November 6th videoconference, they came together to reveal their findings and discuss potential solutions to issues pertaining to diversity, ending youth violence, and how to affect change in their communities

The videoconference was hosted by three popular, young entertainment figures that are well in touch with today's youth: MTV VJ Erickka Jones, the hot new Universal Records R&B artist Dani Stevenson, and Jin, an Asian teenage rapper newly signed to Ruff Ryders who is currently taking the hip hop world by storm. Each host brought their own unique set of experiences to the table and helped moderate the videoconference, interacted with the participating youth by sharing their own stories, and engaging in their discussions. Below is a statement from each host, describing why they've chosen to be involved with this project:

MTV VJ, Erickka Jones:
"Having been called racial slurs at various times while growing up in my small town, I know first-hand what it feels like to be a product of a community that is intolerant of ethnic diversity. Projects like these are necessary to create an environment that allows kids to discuss their differences and be a part of the solutions."

R&B Artist Dani Stevenson, (Universal Records):
"I'm concerned about young people and the many problems that affect them today. I think SHiNE's mission is crucial in these times. Helping young people to recognize and develop skills for preventing hate and violence, meanwhile promoting understanding, love and respect for themselves and others, is a necessity."

Rap Artist Jin, (Ruff Ryders)
"Being that I'm pretty young myself, I take advantage of any opportunity I get to speak with kids. I can relate to them 1st hand. SHiNE is giving these kids the opportunity to show what they are doing to help their individual communities. It's an opportunity for me to contribute about what's going on in mine. Everyone should be involved in bettering their communities. Whatever I can do I will."

This videoconference launched the pilot for the SHiNE Network in Fall 2002 in select cities throughout the country. The SHiNE Network is an internet-based curriculum that sets the stage for a nationwide youth empowerment movement and guides teens through activity and project planning, leading them to identify their own creative solutions to local social problems. This curriculum (called the Building Block Curriculum) will go live on www.shine.com.

About SHiNE
SHiNE (Seeking Harmony in Neighborhoods Everyday) is a national non-profit organization that empowers young people to promote respect for diversity and end youth violence. SHiNE works to improve teens' lives by providing an array of innovative programs and opportunities that build self-esteem, foster nonviolence and respect for diversity, and promote youth leadership. SHiNE specializes in inspiring teens to become actively involved with issues that they care about and then offering relevant opportunities to do so. By using pop culture, art, music, and technology as engagement and "outlet" vehicles, SHiNE successfully facilitates the positive development of young people and opens their minds to the roles that they play in solving important social issues. For more information, log onto www.shine.com

About The Louisville Urban League
The Youth Development and Education Department at the Louisville Urban League is dedicated to providing programs, services, and activities designed to empower students to achieve personally, academically, and socially so that they develop a sense of self-sufficiency that allows them to be confident about facing the challenges in their community and the world. Participation in the SHiNE Clubs provides youth with the tools that will help them to overcome those challenges, and promotes passion, involvement, and diversity in their own lives, as well as the lives of those around them. For more information on the Louisville Urban League, please go to www.lul.org

About Kravco Mall Company
Kravco Mall Company developed a relationship with SHiNE in response to the 1999 killings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. The partnership was formed to encourage youth through outreach at Kravco malls to "impact their worlds". SHiNE's advice led Kravco Company to pledge their support to underwrite the student-developed initiatives through the SHiNE Network. For more information on Kravco Mall Company, please log onto www.kravco.com

For more information on the videoconference, go to http://www.shine.com