In 2008, with the election of Barack Obama many in the U.S. came together and were excited with all the growth, progress, and change. But unfortunately, there was still division. We wanted to launch a project where young people across the U.S. could have a platform to talk about all that's good in this country -- enter our contest, I AM THIS LAND. We asked young people to make a video on diversity using the phrase “I AM THIS LAND” to express their aspirations for a more positive and open-minded America.

We had an amazing panel of judges including: John Jackson, director of social responsibility at MTV Networks; Liz Friedlander, award winning music video director for U2, REM and feature films; Malcolm Campbell, publisher of SPIN magazine; Maria Hinojosa, award-winning PBS journalist and author; Julie Zeilinger, founder of teen feminist blog The Fbomb; and singer Sharon Jones of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. I AM THIS LAND partners -- for awesome prizes and promotion -- included Activision (makers of Guitar Hero and DJ Hero), SPIN Magazine, Change.org, WITNESS, Parlour Magazine, Hollaback, Mobilize.org, HeadCount, Women’s Media Center, The Fbomb, See3, Therapy, Latina Lista, 20,000 Dialogues and Vivir Latino.

We were blown away by all our entries including the winner by a stellar group of students from Flushing International High School, with their winning video "Role Call," made in response to an incident of bullying at the school. Watch the winning video! We have recently partnered with the school for a storytelling project where the students -- all recent immigrants -- are sharing their stories on www.iamthisland.org.