For 2012-2013, a dedicated cadre of New York-based Game Changer Fellows will work in partnership with The Brotherhood-SisterSol, to produce a series of micro-documentary films that reveal the untold stories and unfair consequences of NYPD’s stop and frisk policy. We will introduce you to the everyday people on the front lines who are changing the game to create a new political will to end stop and frisk practices by NYPD. The new media produced by our fellows will provide an array digital media “weapons” for activists and organizations working to end unfair policing.Meet These Fellows
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Divad Durant
Divad Durant is a multi-media artist, community organizer, and educator. He is currently a digital media fellow at National Programming Consortium developing “Tweets to a Black Conscious Youth” a multi-platform media project intended to create a supportive community of Black Conscious Youth. When no one is looking, he sings songs, writes rhymes and reads comic books.
Divad Durant is a multi-media artist, community organizer, and educator. In 2012 he participated in an action called “Three Strikes You’re In”, in partnership with the Yes Men, to bring attention to the alarming numbers of people of color being stopped and frisked by the NYPD in NYC. He is also working on a feature length experimental documentary called “A Bronx Tale” which uses home video, found footage, performative ethnography, and filmic depictions of his home borough to cultivate the multiple imaginations of the Bronx. He is currently a digital media fellow at National Programming Consortium developing “Tweets to a Black Conscious Youth” a multi-platform media project intended to create a supportive community of Black Conscious Youth. When no one is looking, he sings songs, writes rhymes and reads comic books.
Here is my blog.
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Jemaray “Yara Mej” Pyatt
Jemaray “Yara Mej” Pyatt has always had a love and passion for entertainment, social issues and art. Born in the Bronx and raised there and in Harlem, Yara Mej loved TV, theatre and film and got involved with acting and working on television sets at a young age. He draws inspiration from issues surrounding him and his unique life experiences such as living in various places around the country (Nevada, Minnesota, California).
Jemaray “Yara Mej” Pyatt has always had a love and passion for entertainment, social issues and art. Born in the Bronx and raised there and in Harlem, Yara Mej loved TV, theatre and film and got involved with acting and working on television sets at a young age. He draws inspiration from issues surrounding him and his unique life experiences such as living in various places around the country (Nevada, Minnesota, California). He has been an active member in The Brotherhood/Sistersol, a youth empowerment program, since 1996. This organization is of great importance to him as a young adult and he has worked on projects that focus on improving community issues. Yara Mej continued to learn and develop his skills both as a director and actor while attending Feather River College. Jemaray excelled as a student athlete playing football and earning an Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts.
Throughout the years, Yara Mej has worked with experienced directors soaking up every ounce of information possible, helping him to further improve on his craft. He’s worked as a production assistant, grip, A.C and transcriber for numerous shows and networks, as well as taking on the role of videographer on numerous projects. His work as a director can be seen in independent music videos for Road Scholar, Afro Classics, Fame and recently the promotional clip for Mateo. Yara Mej has also written short films and directed network show pilots. He aspires for his work to leave an impact on the world by producing honest, ground breaking, clean artistic pieces that will be remembered for changing peoples perspectives and a joy to watch. Stay tuned.
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Divad Durant
Lyric R. Cabral is a photojournalist and emerging documentary filmmaker- she is currently in production on (T)ERROR, her first feature length documentary. Cabral’s photojournalism, which illumines stories underrepresented in mainstream media, has been recently published through National Geographic UK, The Nation, The Village Voice, The Huffington Post, and Colorlines.
Lyric R. Cabral is a photojournalist and emerging documentary filmmaker- she is currently in production on (T)ERROR, her first feature length documentary. Cabral’s photojournalism, which illumines stories underrepresented in mainstream media, has been recently published through National Geographic UK, The Nation, The Village Voice, The Huffington Post, and Colorlines. Her photography is held in collection at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery, the Studio Museum of Harlem, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among others. She has received artist grants from the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund, Chicken and Egg Pictures, and the Tribeca Film Institute- she was awarded a photojournalism fellowship to study at the International Center of Photography. Cabral currently works as a photojournalist at The Village Voice and as a documentary filmmaking instructor at the Maysles Institute. Her website is http://www.lyriccabral.com
Over 168,000 black men aged 14-24 were stopped in New York in 2011, while only 158,406 live there, according to a report from the New York Civil Liberties Union.
Become a GCP Film Fellow and Tell Stories that Change Lives
The seeds for the Game Changers Project were planted back in 1997 when as a reporter for Vibe Magazine I interviewed Gordon Parks, the famed black photographer for LIFE magazine who covered the Civil Rights Movement and who would become Hollywood’s first black director of a major Hollywood film (Shaft). I spent the day with Parks and learned many things about photography, film, art, and creative self-determination. One of the stories he told me that remains an inspiration for my work was about the time he spent covering the Black Panthers. Parks believed that the storyteller, if courageous enough, would face risks and obstacles that could be just as serious as the activist or revolutionary.
The following is an excerpt from an interview where Parks recounts that experience.– Cheo Tyehimba Taylor
Our Community Partners
The Brotherhood SisterSol
Communities United for Police Reform
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
Police Reform Organizing Project
Color of Change
