Press

June 3, 2015

On April 27, the day the anger over Freddie Gray’s death in police custody reached fever pitch, the mainstream media zeroed in on the burned buildings, looting, and violent standoffs between police and the people of West Baltimore. Outlets like CNN and Fox News dubbed the protesters — many of whom were young students just released from school — thugs, as tension escalated.  

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July 3, 2015

Many students across the US must undergo security screening before entering their schools each day - including placing their bags in x-ray machines and walking through metal detectors.

Security guards, police officers or both are often working on the premises.

A Washington DC after-school programme called Critical Exposure brought a group of students together to discuss how this impacts their education. 

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May, 2015

Many students On May 20, 2015, PEPCO’s Edison Gallery was absolutely packed with people who had come to see Critical Exposure’s annual show.  According to Adam Levner, founder and executive director, over 400 people attended NO FILTER, the annual exhibit of youth photography for social change.

An intense security check, designed to share students’ every day experience entering school, did not deter attendance.  The students, trained by Critical Exposure in advocacy and activism, decided that they wanted others to know what it feels like to walk through a metal detector and have a security guard wave a wand over you.  People were abuzz, talking about this experience.

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November 5, 2014

In Washington, D.C.'s public schools, African-American students are almost six times as likely to be suspended or expelled as their white classmates. Students with disabilities are also disciplined at higher rates than their peers. But a group of local students is hoping to use their artwork to change that.

Students participating in a program with the nonprofit group Critical Exposure contend that disciplinary practices in the District's public schools contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline, which pushes minority and vulnerable students out of school and into the penal system.

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September 23rd, 2014

When most D.C. teens take photos—likely with their smartphones—images tend to go only as far as their social media networks. However, youth who participate in programming run by non-profit Critical Exposure learn documentary photography and have taken their photos as far as the D.C. Council.

Since 2004, Critical Exposure has partnered with D.C. public high schools and after-school programs to engage kids whose voices often go unheard. At the end of the program, CE says, participants become fully engaged civic leaders.

“We teach them how to use photography to document particular issues that impact them and then teach them how to use those photographs to advocate to get the problems fixed,” says Adam Levner, executive director of Critical Exposure.

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