At one of our Boot Camps for world changers in 2004, a young Turkish man realized he stood for social justice. He would go on to describe it as far more than an intellectual insight–it was a deeply emotional, physical and spiritual realization for him. Through his being, he felt called to stand for social justice, and a vision was born.

Within months after that event, he founded 20/20 MultiMedia and began sharing his vision for giving a voice to conscious hip hop artists, who could use their medium for positive change. A few years later, a feature-length documentary starring some of the biggest names in hip hop is about to be released internationally–it’s a visionary film with a powerful message and a call for hip hop artists to stand and own their power to bring about positive change.

This man’s name is Emjed Hammas, his company is 20/20 MultiMedia, and his film is Business As Usual: The Exploitation of Hip Hop. Check out his web site here: www.2020multimedia.net The trailer for the documentary can be found under ‘Projects.’

Positive revolutionaries, authors, musicians, change agents, educators, artists, activists, entrepreneurs, parents, students, CEOs–those who attend Boot Camp tend to become so deeply connected to their values, that they take a stand for what matters most. And a vision is born–a vision, which calls them into heroic action, a vision which demands their personal evolution. They become shaped by their stand and their vision, and their relationships, companies and communities are transformed.

The world needs visionaries now. VisionForce, through our One Million Visionaries campaign, is searching for the most impassioned, conscious agents of change we can find to attend our upcoming “boot camp for world changers” in Austin, TX, July 18-22. Those who are ready to face everything and avoid nothing to stand for humanity for 5 days should apply.

Scholarships are available through our portal on Zaadz.

Here is the first of several videos we’ll be sharing from the March 2007 VisionForce Boot Camp.

The application process for the July 18-22 VisionForce Boot Camp has just opened. Those whose complete applications are accepted by the Early Application Deadline of May 14 may save $300 on registration.

Another TEDtalks visionary presents his ideas.

Aubrey de Grey, British biogerontologist and founder of SENS, controversially claims to have created a roadmap to defeat biological aging. In this talk, he argues that aging – like other diseases – can be cured, and that humans can live for centuries, if only we approach the aging process as “an engineering problem.”

Watch the video. (Recorded July 2005 in Oxford, UK. Duration: 23:31)

What an incredible tribute to those who took a stand for peace.

Here at Vision Force, we also salute the soldiers who fought, and in doing so stood for peace. The more we can all see the stand even in our adversaries, the more we can call them to stand with us in a way that works.

‘Hurricane Katrina’ -Peace Takes Courage

A 15-year-young visionary woman is moving people to action with the powerful videos she creates such as this one. Visit http://www.PeaceTakesCourage.com

It is no surprise that she is home-schooled. Most of the public school system and authorities here in Austin rebuked public school children here last year, when they defied orders to stay in school and instead took a stand and walked for something they believed in. What were they trying to teach our youth? That it is more important to subvert your mind and conscience to the will of authority and majority? There exists today a grand illusion that training our youth to be “good” and fit within the system is the best we can do to create a world that really works. We train them to be good, rather than allow them to develop their natural greatness.

Visionary educators are now and shall soon be creating education systems that develop our youth to be conscious visionaries who stand for and create a world that works for all of us. Some such visionaries will be at our March Boot Camp, and I can hardly wait…

Yesterday, I attended this event here in Austin, where we watched the widely acclaimed documentary, Favela Rising, about a young social revolutionary who responds to his brother’s murder, gang warfare and police corruption by starting a drum group, called AfroReggae, for the purpose of uniting everyone in his favela.

FAVELA RISING documents a man and a movement, a city divided and a favela (Brazilian squatter settlement) united. Haunted by the murders of his family and many of his friends, Anderson Sá is a former drug-trafficker who turns social revolutionary in Rio de Janeiro’s most feared slum. Through hip-hop music, the rhythms of the street, and Afro-Brazilian dance he rallies his community to counteract the violent oppression enforced by teenage drug armies and sustained by corrupt police.
At the dawn of liberation, just as collective mobility is overcoming all odds and Anderson’s grassroots Afro Reggae movement is at the height of its success, a tragic accident threatens to silence the movement forever.

After the inspiring film, Anderson Sá answered questions about his life through a translator. Young Austin social revolutionaries listened to this man, and some asked how they might effect change the way Sá has. One was a local, conscious hip hop artist, named Gator, who I’d seen last summer performing at the National Hip Hop Political Convention. I spoke briefly with both Sá and Gator, and left inspired to find more such social revolutionaries. These are people who are working in the trenches to bring about positive change through non-violent, inspiring means. These are the kind of people we’re welcoming to attend our upcoming boot camp, which for the first time ever is a gift to such agents of change.