ImMEDIAte Justice: Not Your Mamma's Sex-Ed

What would happen if young women took sexual health education into their own hands with a peer-to-peer multimedia approach? When Tani Ikeda, young cinematographer and community organizer, was asked that question by her university's film department, part of her answer was the inception of ImMEDIAte Justice, a program that trains young women in media literacy and empowers them to spark their own dialogue about sexual health. After mobilizing her community and receiving a $25,000 grant from the Pepsi Refresh Project, Ikeda launched the second year of ImMEDIAte Justice.

Thirty high school students and mentors gathered in Los Angeles to write, direct, and edit a series of PSAs based on their experiences with sexuality, learning how to operate the latest film equipment. ImMEDIAte Justice has a growing reel of original and video content, like the My Body, My Message series, and Mariposa, a documentary made by 16 year-old Espie Hernandez about coming out to her very traditional parents right around the time of her Quinceañera.

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Tani Ikeda was recently named one of Utne’s 25 Visionaries who are Transforming the World, lauded for reorienting sex-ed from an awkward science class curriculum into an opportunity for empowerment and personal growth.

What parts of your education were in need of a serious makeover? How can you help shift the dialogue on sexual health so that future generations aren’t left just blushing in the back of the classroom?