About Me
The Backstory
I started my sojourn as a filmmaker in 2013 when I was asked to co-produce Vow of Silence a multiple award winning narrative short film by Be Steadwell. Leading up to that hands on experience, I felt a deep connection, as a child during the Civil Rights Era and the Black Power Movement, to "Race Films". Movies such as Nothing But A Man, A Raisin In The Sun, Watermelon Man, In The Heat of The Night, even the Pam Grier Blackploitation films caught my imagination at times. I knew the power of film to connect with its audience, to impact the heart, soul, mind. The possibility of reaching audiences through film with the intent of centering voices that often are unheard and marginalized, is why I chose this art form. My filmmaking is a continuation of the goal of giving a platform to artists activists when I produced and hosted a radio series, This Light: Sounds For Social Change. Today we find ourselves in a time where truth is sanctioned and history is cherry picked. As a filmmaker, I feel that I am charged to shine a light on stories that can stir conversation hopefully catalyzing progressive social change.
"If you are silent about your pain, they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it."
Zora Neale Hurston
BackBurner Dreams - A Dream Realized. BackBurner Dreams: A Women’s Passion Project, is the story of Carla, Stephanie, and Melanee 3 women of color I prompted to revisit, revive, and renew long held dreams and passions. This is a story told in two parts; part one introduces each woman to the audience, the reasons why their dreams have been waylaid, and how each one plans to revive and possibly realize their dreams. In part one, not only do we find out why their dreams were put on the "back burner", we get a glimpse of each woman’s dream; Carla performs one of her original songs while accompanying herself on the guitar, Stephanie dons her leotards and toe shoes and gets on pointe in the main hallway of the doctor’s office where she’s employed, and Melanee shares a monologue she wrote. The women are issued a challenge to bring their dreams to the “front burner” over a nine month period. At the end of the nine months, I visited them again to see if any progress was made.
Currently in post production - Go To News and Events
Ain't I A BlackWoman - Liberation, Lumpkin’s Legacy
This documentary gives us a more intimate view of Mary Lumpkin through the oral history shared with her great, great granddaughter Prof. Carolivia Herron. The connection between slavery and today's systemic racism and the Black women, not unlike Mary, who resist via community organizing, and more are featured. 01/25