Calling The Bronx Our Home

Image via www.nybg.org.

From our founding in August 2016, NYXT has always sought to scour the globe to bring you the best stories about justice, culture, education and humanism.  We have always believed in collaboration and connection to encourage everyone to participate, make a difference, and transform the world.

But of course, our heart is always in our home city of New York. After having launched in Manhattan and expanded to Brooklyn in 2019 We are very happy to announce that the NYXT cable channel will begin airing in The Bronx via BronxNet starting on February 1. We are excited to share our mission with a borough that brings so much culture, dynamism and joy to the city.

BronxNet is the media platform that provides programming and opportunities to inspire, educate, inform, engage and promote community voices for the Bronx and beyond. The organization creates original content and high school and college students can prepare for media careers behind and in front of the camera through BronxNet’s Training Program for Future Media Professionals.

In order to celebrate NYXT’s expansion into The Bronx, we wanted to highlight some Bronx-based organizations that NYXT has partnered with during the last five years. Please show some love to Acacia Network Housing, Fordham University, Green Bronx Machine International, Multicultural Music Group, New York Botanical Garden and Wildlife Conservation Society. You can view their videos each and every day on both the NYXT cable channel and the NYXT website.  We hope to bring you more news about the Bronx and more Bronx groups throughout this year!

You can watch NYXT everyday:

• In The Bronx: FiOS 2138, Optimum 952
• In Brooklyn: FiOS 45, RCN 85
• In Manhattan: FiOS 38, Spectrum 1992
• Online: nyxt.nyc/live
• On Demand: nyxt.nyc/partners

Acacia Network Housing

For over 50 years, Acacia Network and their affiliates have been committed to improving the life quality and wellbeing of underserved communities in New York City and beyond. The organization is one of the leading social services groups in New York City and the largest Hispanic-led nonprofit in the State, providing integrated, culturally-competent, and trauma-informed services to more than 150,000 individuals of all ages.  

Some of their services include addiction & substance use services, behavioral health, education, afterschool & day care, senior services, transitional housing and workforce development.

Dr. Rosa came back to his community to make a difference in the lives of his patients.

Fordham University

Founded in 1841, Fordham University strives for excellence in research and teaching, and guarantees the freedom of inquiry required by rigorous thinking and the quest for truth. Their main locations are the Rose Hill Campus in the Bronx and the Lincoln Center Campus in Manhattan.

Fordham affirms the value of a core curriculum rooted in the liberal arts and sciences. The University seeks to foster in all its students life-long habits of careful observation, critical thinking, creativity, moral reflection and articulate expression.

“As a Catholic University . . .

Fordham affirms the complementary roles of faith and reason in the pursuit of wisdom and learning. The University encourages the growth of a life of faith consonant with moral and intellectual development. Fordham encourages faculty to discuss and promote an understanding of the ethical dimension of what is being studied and what is being taught (...)”

Fordham University Board of Trustees

Green Bronx Machine International

Green Bronx Machine is dedicated to cultivating minds and harnessing hope through a school-based model using urban agriculture, which has demonstrated positive results on students’ health. 

NYXT recently spoke with Stephen Ritz, the organization’s founder, about GBM’s commitment to Black Lives Matter, how the group is adapting to the coronavirus pandemic, and how people can get involved with the work that they’re doing. Green Bronx Machine is located in the South Bronx and you can watch their videos at nyxt.nyc/greenbronxmachine.

“How is the Green Bronx Machine embracing the Black Lives Matter movement? 

GBM has always embraced the BLM movement in all that we do, from our leadership and staff to our Board of Directors, down to the people capturing and telling our narrative - on both sides of the camera. We hire local, shop local, support local, feed local, grow local, and remain local - we are equity warriors dedicated to creating systemic change, policies, procedures, and opportunities that foster equity and justice - while serving and empowering marginalized communities across America. Our students are keenly aware of issues that transcend our nation - realize this, we are in the poorest Congressional District in America, in the least healthy county in all of New York State, in one of the most perpetually under-performing school districts in NYC - this pandemic has become perpetual and intergenerational. One need not look far to understand the larger realities of our nation as they continue to play out in our front yard, backyard, and immediate community.” 

Stephen Ritz, Green Bronx Machine Founder.

Click here to read the article.

Multicultural Music Group

The Multicultural Music Group is a non-profit organization established in 1996 as a response to the need of multicultural music representation in the symphonic repertoire, the teacher training curricula and the instrumental music programs in the schools.

(...) In the educational aspect, the MMG supports the schools to comply with the national educational reform, which includes the application of multicultural music instruction. Unfortunately, this topic is not usually included in the teachers training curricula and consequently in the schools’ music programs, especially in instrumental music instruction for symphonic settings. Therefore, in order to improve the aforementioned situations, the MMG provides music instruction, professional development, and multicultural performances in the symphonic setting with a research component, which provides information about the origins and development of different musical genres.

Some of their main educational resources are the professional development workshops that provide information and training to students, artists and teachers on how to understand MMG’s “Playing History” curriculum. 

New York Botanical Garden

“250 acres. 1 million plants. And you.” is the New York Botanical Garden’s slogan, and it needs no presentation. Even though is hard to visit this museum of living plant collections nowadays due to the coronavirus pandemic, you can still connect with them virtually, through their videos, or dig deeper into their collection with mobile guides and audio tours.
 

Some of their upcoming activities include: 

• Darwin’s passion for plants
• For love and only for love: letters to New York
• Forest bathing: a meditation audio experience
• Black Botany: The Nature of Black Experience

Wildlife Conservation Society

WCS uses science to discover and understand the natural world. Over the past century, the organization has established long-term conservation presence in the last wild places across the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, built strong and trusting partnerships, and acquired a depth of knowledge that ensures effective conservation action.

WCS’ goal is protecting regions that are biologically outstanding and where the long-term conservation of species and ecological processes is viable. From whales and dolphins, to elephants and big cats, from apes to sharks, they emphasize conservation to save different species. The organization partners with indigenous and local people in achieving their vision for a more secure and resilient future, where wildlife remains a visible and culturally valued part of the wild places where they live.