And The Winners Are...

Jesmyn Ward

We live in a media world. With each breath, we take in other people’s images, ideas, words, and sounds. So it’s vital that we push out into the media world the images, ideas, words and sounds that tell the honest story of young people’s lives, their resilience and courage, and what needs to be put in place so that they can connect by 25.

That’s why I love the National Council on Crime and Delinquency’s Media for a Just Society Award. They lift up for all of us some of the extraordinary efforts that have helped all of us understand social justice issues including juvenile justice, child welfare, and the forces that are shaping the lives of our young men of color.

The 2014 winners are:

Book: Men We Reaped: A Memoir, Jesmyn Ward, Bloomsbury USA

Film: Gideon’s Army, Dawn Porter, Trilogy Films

Magazine: “With 2.3 Million People Incarcerated in the US, Prisons Are Big Business,” Liliana Segura, The Nation

Newspaper: “Split the Baby: Two Sides of an Adoption Battle,” Olivia LaVecchia, City Pages

Radio: “Going to Rikers Island,” Maria Hinojosa, Latino USA (NPR)

TV/Video: “Our Turn to Dream,” Brittany Washington, Jordan Melograna, and Jesse Lava, Brave New Films

Web: “The Fight for Black Men,” Joshua DuBois, The Daily Beast/Newsweek

Youth Media: “Life Under Suspicion: Youth Perspectives on NYPD’s Stop-and-Frisk Policy,” Raelene Holmes-Andrews, Educational Video Center

Distinguished Achievement Award in Film: Fruitvale Station, written and directed by Ryan Coogler