In the 1990’s, social practice artist Suzanne Lacy recognized that Oakland teens were depicted negatively in the news and wanted to provide high school students with the opportunity to control the public dialogue about them. With Annice Jacoby and Chris Johnson, Lacy decided to organize The Roof is on Fire, a public event that was the culmination of two years’ worth of preparation. Lacy and Johnson worked with teachers and high school students in Oakland, CA to create a media literacy curriculum that spurred dialogue between the students about topics like family dynamics, sexuality, drugs, and the future of education. On the day of the event, media outlets were called about a fire on the roof of a parking garage, but when newscasters got there they found 220 public high school students sitting together in cars engaging in candid, unscripted discussions about topics they learned about in Lacy’s class. These conversations were broadcasted over local and national TV and later made into a documentary. By getting the media’s attention in this way, the students were able to counter their negative image created by the news and show that they are empowered, community-oriented students.