Walk through Philadelphia and you won’t miss Isaiah Zagar’s prodigious mosaics. They’re all over the city, with many on South Street (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, check this out: http://www.philadelphiasmagicgardens.org/). Look closely at one of Zagar’s pieces and see a rusted bicycle wheel, a shard of mirror, a blown glass bottle. Take a step back, and see the whole picture: an almost overwhelming gathering of color and texture.

Turn on MiND TV, and find stories as different as Zagar’s materials. MiND members represent myriad perspectives and subjects. MiND members tell stories about history, the economy, the culinary world, human rights issues, hip hop dancing, filmmaking, karate, politics, etc.. Take a step back, and start to see an image of our community: what is important to us, what we like to watch, and what excites us. 

Check out some of the diverse member programs on MiND now!

The Jazzy Vegetarian: Festive Zucchini Lasagna

MiND Member: Virtual Media Productions

There are two kinds of vegetarians: those with jazz and those without it—those who embrace the wonderful flavors of meatless ingredients and those who accept blandness. Join Laura Theodore, the Jazzy Vegetarian, as she prepares her delicious and nutritious ‘Festive Zucchini Lasagna.’ Her recipe features fresh basil from her garden, mock meat, and tofu. As a vegetarian, I wanted to dig in, but both vores (herbi- and omni-) could enjoy. Golden Empire, a Chinese restaurant off South Street, called claims to serve two types of food: “vegetarian” and “regular.” This lasagna reminds us that vegetarian food is regular food, and it can exceed greater-than-regular levels of deliciousness. 

Defense of Marriage – By Any Means Necessary?

MiND Member: First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia

In this personal video-letter, Reverend Nate Walker responds to Michael Geer, John Guest, and Alberta Wilson, who all created videos supporting an amendment to the PA constitution to deny marriage equality. This piece relates Christian scripture that says that homosexuals should be “condemned to death” to the motivations of the man who recently open fired during a children’s show held at a Unitarian Universalist church in Knoxville, TN. With respect and eloquence, the Reverend unpacks the term “defense.” “When I hear the word defense,” Reverend Walker says, “I perceive it as if you are defending something and will do so by any means necessary. How would you respond to your constituents about the hate crime that occurred in Knoxville, TN? Would you teach them that such a violence is justified by God?”

Philadelphia’s Illadelph Legends Festival Part II

MiND Member: Rennie Harris Puremovement

Celebrate Philadelphia’s past and present of Hip Hop dancing in this visually-impressive piece. Each year Guggenheim Fellowship recipient Rennie Harris holds the Illadelph Legends Festival at the University of the Arts. The festival remains the longest continually run Hip Hop dance festival dedicated to the preservation and evolution of Hip Hop dance and features the most electrifying innovators and pioneers of the Hip Hop dance movement. Hear from local and international dancers and watch them perform.

What Kind of Person was Bernie Madoff?

MiND Member: The American College

Next to Voldemort, Dick Cheney, and Joseph Stalin, the worst person to switch brains with à la Freaky Friday might be Bernie Madoff.  Luckily, to get the inside scoop on the psychology of this record-setting embezzler, all you have to do is tune into MiND TV. In this piece, author Erin Arvedlund discusses her book, Too Good to Be True, which examines the life of Bernie Madoff, revealing the pathological liar behind the upright public façade. Who was kept in the dark, and who was responsible?

Tony Lankford’s DOWNTOWN The Actor’s Lounge: Rel Dowdell

MiND Member: Anthony Lankford

Take a seat next to up-and-coming director Rel Dowdell as he discusses his current film project, Changing the Game, a feature film about a talented boy who must escape the physically difficult world of North Philadelphia to confront the mentally challenging world of Wall Street and business. Dowdell has been compared to filmmakers Spike Lee and John Singleton. He stresses the study of film as an art and a science.

Be sure to tune in!

Hannah Levy

MiND TV Intern

As LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Pride Month comes to a close, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone for getting involved, and to reflect on the incredible programs, community effort and energy that made this month on MiND an incredible success.

For starters, our little non-profit TV station presented more than 10 hours of feature-length, LGBT documentaries on MiND TV and on globalMiND. These documentaries are important. They tell the diverse and wide-ranging stories of people in the LGBT community - from rural Pennsylvanians to the out and proud in the streets of the Castro in San Francisco.

On MiND, we also presented more than 11 new programs from our staff - and from YOU in the community! Six of these programs, “Mazzoni Center: 30 Years Later,” “LGBT Peer Counseling,” “The Attic Youth Center,” “Giovanni’s Room: Making Gay a Career,” “Knoxville Reflections,” and “My Right Self,” premiered at our “LGBT Stories” event on June 16^th! Thank you to our partners at the Mazzoni Center and at the William Way LGBT Community Center for co-presenting this event with us.

Supporting and being part of the LGBT Community in our region is important to us here at MiND for many reasons. For some of us here - it’s personal; the LGBT community is our community. Simply stated, we care, and we want to do our part. For our organization, it’s important for us to support people and communities who are traditionally marginalized.

MiND is a media outlet for all voices to be heard, and we are especially passionate about providing a forum for voices who don’t usually find representation (or who find misrepresentation) in mainstream media. Our local LGBT community is strong and growing stronger, and here at MiND, we hope we help move that forward.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people often confront homophobia, discrimination, gender hostility, and even hate speech and hate crimes. Did you know that 40% of all homeless youth identify as LGBT? And, according to the non-profit organization, Parents and Friends of Lesbian and Gays, 50% of all gay and lesbian youth report that their parents reject them due to their sexual orientation. These are just a few of the realities that we need to overcome and improve.

At MiND, we hope that by airing the programs we air, and by bringing the community together at events to create public dialogue, that we are, in some small way, helping to increase tolerance among different kinds of people, thereby making the community-at-large a little kinder, a little more understanding and a whole lot more supportive. Even if one parent sees our programs, and can understand a little more of where their child is coming from - we think that’s a success.

We can make progress - but we have to do it together. Please share the MiND programs above, and your own programs with others. By sharing our stories, we can make an impact.

Thank you to everyone who submitted videos for LGBT Pride month - your voices help shape the world we live in, and thank you to everyone who is working on the ground level at LGBT organizations in our community.  Your work is appreciated, respected and celebrated.

Thank you,

Kim Kunda

Next Up: Piazza at Schmidts Screening of “LGBT Stories” 

Join us on June 30th for the final screening of “LGBT Stories” on the big screen at The Piazza at Schmidts! See you there, 6-7pm! Email for more info: kkunda@mindtv.org.

Coming Soon: July’s Theme of the Month is “Violence Prevention.”

When I started my job at MiND (then, WYBE) five years ago this month, I asked around for a definition of “independent media.” Mostly, the term was defined as the opposite of commercial media, with no clear definition of its own.

Five years later, I’m now very clear on the meaning of independent media.

For one thing, independent media is built not upon profits, but upon a clear mission. Just about all of our work at MiND: Media Independence is built on two ideas: serve the underserved, and make the world a better place. These are not idle claims; they are represented in every new program we produce, every themed month, every community event. We’re very proud of the programs we’ve produced, and continue to produce, about social issues such as poverty, volunteering, LGBT concerns, the environment, and much, much more.

Independent media tends to be very connected to specific community issues. Last month, we helped to paint a school building in a challenged neighborhood. MiND’s boot camps have inspired new filmmakers to tell stories about children who age out of foster care. We’re proud of the hundreds of programs we’ve created by, with, and for our community–and all of that has happened within the past three years.

Also, independent media is about getting the message out-not about filling a time slot or counting viewers. That’s why MiND has been on television and on the internet from day one, and it’s why we are currently focused on expanding our distribution so that more people can learn from one another. It’s why all of our programs are available for free to anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Independent media is not commercial media, so it does not benefit from advertising revenues or other rich sources. Instead, people who invest in independent media are people like you, who take the time to read this blog, to watch MiND, to think critically about the foods we eat, the beliefs we carry, the policy issues, the diversity of our neighborhoods, and so on. Independent media is identified by extremely efficient use of every available dollar–and a constant push toward new projects that will provide the necessary funding to keep the doors open and the mission alive.

Finally, independent media attracts people for whom work must involve a meaningful contribution to making the world a better place. We believe in what we do, and we provide both passion and expertise to promote ideas that are so rarely encountered on television.

As public television struggles to maintain relevance in an increasingly competitive media landscape, independent media provides much of the answer to the unanswered question. The next phase of American public television must take its cue from independent media. It must be built upon a significant local mission, not just an old-style brand; it must serve the underserved; it must be connected to the community at a very personal level and it must focus on getting the message out in every possible way.

I’m thrilled because MiND does all of this, and more, every day. Sure, we can do it better. Sure, we can use more help, more money, more viewers, and more fuel to keep it all growing. But after two years on the air (and on the web) with MiND, five years leading the organization through remarkable changes, and twenty years of WYBE serving the community, there’s a lot to love.

-Howard Blumenthal, CEO of MiND