Project Crossroads: The Youth Summit

KERA · May 15, 1990

"'Project Crossroads: The Youth Summit' is the last in a series of programs produced by KERA in an effort to reduce racial tension in Dallas, Texas. The purpose of the program was to let Dallas high school students express their views on racism and to foster honest and open discussions among these youths. "'The Youth Summit' is an unusual program. In it, we wanted to hear what today's youth believe and feel about racial conflicts. It was our intent to listen to them and for them to set the agenda for the program. The program's success resulted from these high school students' openness and frankness in talking about race. "What is seen on camera is only the most visible part of the project which, for weeks, brought young people from all over Dallas to focus group meetings at KERA's studios. Based on their discussions about racial conflict students from the Dallas Arts Magnet Improve Troupe created radically charged scenes. 'The Youth Summit' captures these scenes, which were performed in our studios before an audience of high school students from different racial and ethnic groups. After the dramatizations, students in the audience responded to the scenes. Their discussions were remarkably direct and often heated. "Most important, 'The Youth Summit' is not merely about today's youth talking about race. The high school students themselves were the ones who decided the scenes they wanted to depict and the issues they wanted to raise. The success of the program is a direct result of their unflinching directness and honesty. The young men and women on the is program say some brave and provocative things, expressing opinions their elders have, for the most part, been afraid to discuss. "Viewer and media reaction to 'The Youth Summit' was uniformly favorable. Phone calls and letters to the station praised the program for its honesty. The program has also been honored with a 1990 Regional Emmy Award."--1990 Peabody Awards entry form.