The 60s' generation was famous for refusing to communicate with anyone over 30. The new generation of young people is so hungry to connect with the larger civic life they are creating a communications revolution of their own. In this special report, YO! (Youth Outlook) reporters offer a sampling of the proliferation of new youth media -- from spoken word (poetry) and hip hop to cyberspace. YO! is a monthly journal of youth voices published by Pacific News Service.

TEENS' HUNGER TO TALK

By Andrea N. Jones

Be a fly on the wall in a high school classroom and you'll see that teens can talk, whether or not an adult is standing in front of them. What many adults forget is that young people have lessons of their own to pass on. Now, they are taking hold of whatever resources are at hand, and putting their messages out there for all to see.

Thousands of young adults around the country have taken on the power to communicate messages that inform, enlighten, and seep into the consciousness of thousands more. The field is a live wire shocking mainstream culture with a plethora of voices and forms. It doesn't only spark in print but flows from turntables and crackles from the lips of lyrical artists and truth tellers.

We make it plain. We concoct mazes. Either way we make ourselves known. If we had a motto it would be: We can't be marginalized -- we've got something to say!

SONGS OF EXPERIENCE

By Alexandra Moe

The man downstairs is banging his broom on the ceiling again -- his ceiling which is my floor, my stage, where I stand to sing out my songs late at night.

I hammer out songs from notebooks of prose and assembled rhythms. I sing to communicate. It is the fullest form of expression I know.

I first felt the power of music at an outdoor concert when singers communicated to me with shuddering clarity experiences and emotions I knew but could not articulate.

That began my tumultuous love affair with the human voice. I studied. I followed my song writing heroes in smoky bars up and down the East Coast and learned that music can convey enormous emotional truth. Now I seek it out every day in my own songs.

It's all in the feeling. You can read music and know music theory, memorize the script -- but if you don't feel what you're playing and saying, you're not communicating a thing.

LOCAL 1200 DJS SPIN FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

By Nishat Kurwa

"It's really about giving young people a safe place to come together," says DJ Namane Mohlabane. He is talking about Local 1200, a loose affiliation of DJs and activists who spin records, make tapes, do graphic design and music production, and put on community events as well as doing parties.

"When hip hop was starting in New York back in the seventies, that's what it was about -- hijacking power from the local light pole and playing music while people dance, rhyme, have a good time. We're trying to continue that."

One of their first efforts was "Rethinking Thanksgiving," a small arts and crafts fair meant to encourage reflection and giving thanks to one another. "Resurrection," held on Easter Sunday, was a memorial to people in the hip hop community who had died

"I think that DJs have a responsibility to push the envelope," Namane says. "I would like to be reaching people who are trying to make a change in their community."

In mixed tapes, where the DJ has most control, "You construct every song and how it goes together," he explains, "and you create a message. One way to do that is play a phat beat that gets people's heads bobbing, then play Malcolm X over it."

For all their flair, the group is still pretty loose. "We all have responsibility, and we sit around and talk about what exactly is our mission," Namane says. "I think ultimately, it's about bringing communities together and providing a soundtrack for social change."

HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE SPOKEN WORD?

By Kassy Kayiatos

Spoken word -- poetry intended to be read aloud and listened to -- has captured the imagination of young people raised on rap and hip hop. We are lifting poetry off the page, returning it to its original form.

Spoken word has jumped into the mainstream, so that "poetry slams" and other spoken word events can be found almost any night in a major city. Social issues, sexual and racial politics, personal experiences and American culture are popular topics.

Spoken word is powerful because it relies solely on the words and voice of one individual. To teens bred on rap, verbal expression signifies self-esteem and generational revolt.

Today, young poets are making poetry "hip" and accessible in a way it hasn't been since the Beat era. There has been a boom in spoken word CDs -- even MTV has a program called "Fightin' Wordz." Spoken word has pulled poetry out from the depths of dusty old books and onto center stage.

COMMUNICATING VIA COMPUTER: AN ONLINE DIALOGUE

By Nadia Baca and Cynthia Dwyer

Plug In! is the largest teen-produced forum anywhere on the Net with more than 50,000 teens visiting each month, using chats and message boards to connect with each other and speak their minds. Cynthia Dwyer and Nadia Baca, founding members of Plug In!, had the following e-mail conversation.

Cynthia: At first, I was nervous and didn't know what to expect from the online teen community. It actually turned out to be a great chat -- there are always people who love talking about the topic, some who like to just hang out, and the ones who want to take over the world.

Nadia: We can communicate with people across the country with e-mail, IMs (instant messages), and chat, but that can't replace a face-to-face conversation.

Cynthia: Grown-ups have a stereotype that teens or anyone who works with computers has no place in the social scene. In an interview, this lady asked me, "Do you have any friends?" and asked me if I went shopping. She thought I was some outcast just because I helped create the biggest teen forum on the Internet.

Our chats are hosted by teens from all over the United States. Unlike companies like MTV, we started out without much money. We still don't have much money, but we manage to get our stuff out there.

Nadia: This is a place where you can express your opinion without being judged. Well, you get judged -- but not on how you look.

POEM

By Josue Rojas