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FROM MTV ACT: Voting for the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards is underway, and MTV has announced yet another reason to raise our glass to the year's best music videos with the first-ever "Best Video With a Message" category.

The special category, in conjunction with MTV Act (that's us!), celebrates the union between music and social activism, and highlights artists who created music videos that made us think about the world around us.  These artists could have just made party songs, but instead they also took a stand against bullying, fought for LGBT rights and reminded us why we're all special. You've watched the videos on repeat, sang the songs in the shower, and turned them into rally cries.

Without further ado, join us in honoring the years' top risk-taking, change-making videos. Take action, and vote for "Best Video with a Message" through Aug. 16, below.

The "Best Video With A Message" nominees are...

+ P!nk – "F****** Perfect" (Vote | Take Action)
P!nk lets out a rally cry of reassurance for anyone who's ever felt less than perfect.

+ Lady Gaga – "Born This Way" (Vote | Take Action)
Mother Monster gives birth to a world free from prejudice, judgment and self-doubt.

+ Katy Perry – "Firework" (Vote | Take Action)
The California Gurl celebrates the spark and originality in all of us.

+ Eminem feat. Rihanna – "Love The Way You Lie" (Vote | Take Action)
Em and Rih Rih illuminate the pain and peril of domestic violence.

+ Rise Against – "Make it Stop (September’s Children)" (Vote | Take Action)
Rise Against reminds LGBT teens pushed to the edge that “It Gets Better.”

+ Taylor Swift – "Mean" (Vote | Take Action)
Taylor Swift cautions negative naysayers that being mean gets you nowhere.

Tune in to the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards show and pre-show to find who wins, live from the Nokia Theater L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011.

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Tags 2011 MTV VMAs, Eminem, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Pink, Rihanna, Rise Against, Taylor Swift

What does Chicago punk band Rise Against have in common with Taylor Swift and Demi Lovato? No, they don't all use the same shampoo (although their locks are all quite lustrous). If you guessed "anti-bullying advocacy," you'd be right. All three have spoken out about this problem in an effort to let their young fans know they're not alone.

In collaboration with the It Gets Better Project, Rise Against recently returned to lead singer Tim McIlrath's old high school to film a video for their new single, "Make It Stop (September's Children)." Inspired by the tragic teen suicides of this past September, the band wanted to send a strong message to young people everywhere about how unacceptable homophobia and bullying are.

"I wanted to do a song that, first, lets fans know that we don't tolerate bigotry in our audience, and, second, empower fans who are coming to grips with their own sexuality," McIlrath said. "Empower them to be proud of who they are and that we accept them, and create a community that accepts them." Right on!

To accompany the video's premiere, we have an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at its creation. In it, the actors and band members open up about their own experiences being bullied in high school, as well as their ultimate realizations that the things that made them different were also the things that made them great.

+ Watch Rise Against in an exclusive, behind-the-scenes clip of "Make It Stop (September's Children)" below.

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Tags Rise Against, Videos

(Credit: FilmMagic)

Chicago punk outfit Rise Against has never shied away from being confrontational or tackling current events. For their video for "Help Is On The Way," off their new album, Endgame, Rise Against offers their take on Hurricane Katrina, putting aside politics and focusing on the human element of the natural disaster and government response.

Along with acclaimed director Alan Ferguson, Rise Against -- who took themselves out of the video to focus instead on the story -- traveled to New Orleans to re-create the onslaught and aftermath of the deadly hurricane and filmed, according to a message posted to their Facebook, "a dramatic and compelling narrative of Hurricane Katrina through the eyes of a family."

Natural disasters unfortunately have a tendency to fade in people's minds over time, especially if they weren't directly affected, so it's good to see bands like Rise Against remind us that there are still people dealing with the effects of Katrina to this day.

+ Watch Rise Against's "Help Is On The Way" video.

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Tags Rise Against, video

In preparation for what will no doubt be a sumptuous main course of a video, we humbly offer this appetizer to Rise Against's video for their third single from their Appeal To Reason album, "Savior." Little can be gathered from this brief glimpse. The video, directed by alt-rock auteur Kevin Kerslake (Stone Temple Pilots, Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins) is divided into two parts: a performance by Rise Against lit merely by flares, and sub-plot featuring someone dressed as a polar bear.

We can only hope that the video culminates with the polar bear man meeting up with the guy dressed as the disco mutt from Daft Punk's "Da Funk" video. The full video for "Savior" premieres Monday.

Tags Daft Punk, Green Day, Rise Against, Smashing Pumpkins, stone temple pilots, video

Does it mean I'm a real adult if the name "Rock The Deuce" has stopped making me giggle but continues to take my mind to the gutter, calmly and objectively? "Rock The Deuce," my inner monologue goes, "I guess that means 'Poop... Awesomely.' Okay." Am I a grown-up? Probably not. There's no way this tangent will make it past Tamar.

Something tells me that the humor in that title -- "Rock The Deuce" -- isn't lost on New Found Glory, who recently hosted the show. Among other things, the chronically self-deprecating smart-asses declare themselves superheroes, show off a customized Snuggie that Haley from Paramore sent them and go on about the hotness of her bandmate Josh (sound familiar?). How can a band so sarcastic not be thinking to themselves, "Hmmm... deuce...?"

But it's not all jokes. There comes a time in every episode of "Rock The Deuce" when a band gets down to business. In this edition, New Found Glory get serious about the literal physical pain of shooting their most recent video, "Listen To Your Friends." They also take a moment to show off their ringtones and list a few of their favorite new bands (e.g. Trapped Under Ice, Fireworks, Wolves In The Throne Room, Tombs and Matt & Kim).

Finally, New Found Glory get down to what "Rock The Deuce" is all about and play their favorite new videos. Among them: Rise Against, My Chemical Romance, Lil Wayne, Mastodon and -- don't judge -- New Found Glory! Stream the entire New Found Glory episode of "Rock The Deuce" below. And please, don't think too much about what it might mean.

Tags Fireworks, Lil Wayne, Mastodon, Matt And Kim, My-Chemical-Romance, New Found Glory, Paramore, Rise Against, Tombs, Trapped Under Ice, Wolves In The Throne Room

Windy City screamers Rise Against know that the abrupt end of that epic, two-year political season we just went through has left a lot of people high and dry. On top of that -- no matter what side you're on -- with Bush out of office, it seems that America's having a hard time finding anything to laugh at or be mad about. Have you seen Yes Man??? That movie is not funny!

Rise Against's new video, "Audience Of One," isn't funny either. At all. "Audience Of One" takes place in a military nightmare version of a kid's basement train set. The smoke from his blown-out birthday candles billows out over a scene of tank-lined streets, closed-down clinics, flooded suburbs and funerals on the White House lawn. The not-so-subtle implication here is that previous U.S. administrations have left children of the future the worst imaginable birthday present. War, depression, poverty... The list goes on. Watch it, and if you're still bummed out, try washing it down with a scoop of Yes Pecan!

Tags Rise Against