Regent Park Focus

It was about mid-November when I sat down to plan out a one-hour program for Radio Regent, the topic of which was to involve religion in some capacity. With the sensory rush of the holidays just gearing up and the airwaves (and internet) beginning to buzz with the annual "war on Christmas" debate, it seemed appropriate to consider just what "Christmas" means in today's Canada.   Although North American Christmas has been an ostensibly Christian holiday, many Canadians - even those who have been in Canada for generations - are not devout Christians, or Christians at all. So what do we do with a holiday that has "Christ" in its very name, and supposedly celebrates the birth of Jesus? Specifically, what do young Canadians who don't identify as Christians do when Christmas rolls around?        I sent out a couple of feelers to religious leaders in the local community, hoping for a response. Only two peop...

Today at Regent Park Focus we shot another episode of Interfaith Dialogue with special guest Patricia, a representative and healer from the Toronto Counsel Fire Native Cultural Centre in Regent Park. On the show, we discussed issues of residential schools, how it has affected the Native community and how they are currently healing. Patricia works at the Native Culture Centre as a counselor/healer to help Natives who were pulled into residential school reconnect and learn about their culture and traditions, she often helps rebuilds relationships between them and families. We had a full crew for production –  it was a good learning and informative experience for everyone. -Vina

Thursday December 16 th our animation programming has continued into the New Year and continues to bring the high level of creativity we have come to expect from this program. Today youths were given the freedom to create their own animation in addition with their own story to go with it. One youth created a futuristic aircraft/ship that was both innovative and artistically inclined. Many of the youths that are involved in this program have expressed an interest in going into the animation field. The youths wish to be the future of cartoons, movies and gaming, and with companies such as Pixar, Ubisoft, and Cartoon Network Studios there are many viable options in this job field. We also engaged in conversation about jobs in the field and ideas of future games that the youths have. This was a fun and enlightening session allowing the youths to show the skills they have developed in this program. By Corrina Richard

This Tuesday Regent Park Focus Youth Media Arts Centre was very busy producing three TV shows for our Interfaith Dialogues series, and producing a radio show for Radio Regent. Originally, Tuesday’s radio show was going to be about current news and events in Toronto. However due to the sad passing of Nelson Mandela, Regent Park Focus decided to focus on the life and legacy of Mandela. The show was co-hosted by Omar and Oscar, with special guests Murphy Browne, Karen, and Adaku. We started the show off with an audio clip of how student’s from Nelson Mandela school felt about his passing. We then talked about Mandela’s life and the incredible legacy of fighting for justice that he leaves behind. The show also included music that reminded us of Mandela and ended with the reading of a quote by him. This Tuesday we were also in the process of planning and shooting three shows that will be part of the Interfaith Dialogues series on Regent Park TV. This series focuses on various religi...

Ever wanted to learn how to produce a radio show? Well that’s exactly what happened at this week’s Regent Park Focus TV and Radio Broadcasting meeting. The participants, made up of both volunteers and staff, got together to talk about producing a Catch da Flava Youth radio show on Radio Regent. The participants were lead into Regent Park Focus’s very own radio studio to learn the elements that go into creating and producing a radio show. Participants hosted a mock radio show, taking turns being the radio technician, which involves controlling the sound of the mics and music, and being the host of the show. Participants then held a discussion about what topics they wanted to talk about on the upcoming radio broadcast. The topics ranged from local issues, such as Rob Ford and upcoming Toronto music festivals, to national issues like the senate scandal, to international issues, such as the protests happening in Thailand and the Ukraine, homophobia at the Sochi Olympic Games, and the imp...