Generation Justice (GJ) is a multimedia based project, aiding high school and college students in learning journalistic skills, while being committed to social transformation.
UNM Chapter President Christina Rodriguez said the organization provides a safe space for students and faculty to think critically.
Within GJ, students take an activist’s approach to their work and, in turn, become more educated on community issues - local ones as well as national and international. Students engage in the community and are specifically trained in “radio broadcasting, blogging, video blogging and digital storytelling,” as a way to bring awareness to local issues and better learn social justice, she said.
“It gives us a platform to speak about issues on campus that would otherwise be overlooked,” Rodriguez said.
GJ’s set of core values - youth leadership and empowerment, community, action, equity, multiculturalism and love - work cohesively to aid students in understanding why this particular caliber of work is necessary on campus and in the journalism field as a whole, she said.
GJ explains the reasoning behind each of their core values on its website, emphasizing unity and the everyone's potential to create change.
“We reject the idea that one person or community must be put down in order for another to be raised up," the site states. "Instead, we conduct our work from a place of love and we commit ourselves to interacting with all people in a respectful way that exemplifies our love for humanity.”
Students at GJ learn to be sensitive to topics and consider all sides. Many central issues on campus have been covered by GJ students.
“We have gotten to cover everything from the UNM seal (controversy), to the DOJ report on sexual assault on campus,” Rodriguez said. “We get to speak with UNM student organizations who are making a change, be inspired by them and uplift their stories. GJ is the only space on campus for students to get hands-on radio experience.”
Students use the skills they’ve learned and the blogs, video productions and interviews they've created and compiled for their program on KUNM, which airs Sundays at 7 p.m.
GJ Director Roberta Rael said media literacy and justice are just a couple of topics students have worked on and embraced during their time with the organization.
“Early childhood development has been an important issue that the students learn about,” Rael said. “Each year there are several topic areas that GJ will focus on to create educational media on. Last year the focus was on the behavioral health crisis.”
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GJ can provide valuable knowledge for students entering college and/or graduating, which can be utilized in furthering career opportunities, she said.
“Generation Justice works from an inter-generational framework and is a career pathway for journalism, communications and other fields,” Rael said. “Students are empowered to decide which aspects of the larger Generation Justice projects they want to work on.”
UNM student members of GJ have the opportunity to decide on radio topics, conduct necessary research, and discuss who would be best to interview for that topic, she said.
The chance for students to work with other students of various ages provides not only valuable insight, but irreplaceable and significant communication skills, Rael said. Members at GJ - young and old - are continuously learning from each other.
“GJ of UNM members also have the opportunity to work along side of middle (and) high school (students) and professionals,” she said. “There are times that the student is the teacher and mentor and they are challenged to learn greater leadership, producing, and positive youth development skills.”
Networking is more powerful now than ever and students at GJ are exposed to many professionals in whichever topics they choose to cover.
“Professional journalists, activists and experts are regularly brought in to GJ so that students can build their own career networks,” Rael said. “It gives students of all majors, backgrounds and cultures a place to collaborate and learn from one another. Generation Justice is making a difference because it doesn't tokenize us as youth.”
