Mosaic Lab: Young Men Explore What it Means to be a Man
Since its inception, Media and Communications have played a pivotal role at IWES. You may not notice our work, but we operate frequently in the background of the organization by creating films, podcasts, and other media pieces to tell the stories of our community through a compassionate lens; utilizing photography to bring programs, interventions and resources to life; devising social media strategies to share resources, knowledge and opportunities to the masses; and even creating these newsletters every quarter to keep you updated on what we’re doing and how you can get involved! Although varied, what unites our projects and campaigns is the desire to bring healing to communities of color (which in turn heals EVERYONE, trust us); deconstruct stigma, systemic “-isms”, and inequities; and effectively communicate important public health concepts, theories and principles. To get a broader picture of our media work, follow us on our many social media channels, or head over to our Mosaic website to watch our films and listen to our podcasts.
At times, our Media & COMMS department has the opportunity to leave the every day work of general communications and focus in on specific programs, campaigns and initiatives. This year, one of the projects that we’re excited to share with you is the Mosaic Lab, an initiative of the MORE Project designed to elevate young men’s voices on the topics of gender, masculinity, and healthy relationships. Funded by the Office on Women’s Health, the Mosaic Lab is an 8-month program for young men ages 14-21 to share their views on what it means to “be a man” with the ultimate goal of decreasing intimate partner violence (IPV), which we believe can decrease the transmission of HIV. To achieve this change, it’s important to discuss, question and challenge gender norms that contribute to IPV, and envision new paradigms that foster healthy relationships and healing. And who better to envision alternative futures with than our youth? At the end of 2021, we launched a city-wide recruitment process to identify young men open to speaking about what gender and masculinity means to them. With the help or our partners—such as the New Orleans Family Justice Center (shout out to Coach Jones!!)—and our staff and interns, we identified 10 Fellows to feature sharing their opinions. To apply, they were asked to either write out or submit a short video explaining their interest in participating, what masculinity means to them and their experience with storytelling and/or creating media. This January, Fellows were interviewed and photographed discussing their views on the topic in order to create special spotlights on social media, on billboards, and in short media pieces. The Fellows will also reconvene in the Spring to share their ideas on a short narrative film that we will create exploring the themes identified in their views. Keep up with our newsletter to chart the progress of the Mosaic Lab and find out when and where their billboards will go up, then find out how you can watch their films either online or in-person at our red carpet screening event!
TAKING IT BACK
Although we’re called the Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies, IWES has a history of working with men and boys, specifically through the arts, such as media and film. Back in 2016, we created Back Story, an intimate portrait of what being young and Black is like in the US. We worked with five young men from around New Orleans as they documented their lives for five months, grappling with different topics and issues affecting them and sharing their aspirations and dreams. Six years later, we’re excited to create a similar project—perhaps a Back Story 2.0—where we’re also equipping young men with cameras and sharing their direct messages to explore their versions of masculinity, through their own lenses.
As always, we are extremely excited to do this work, and we look forward to the community conversations that these pieces will catalyze.
