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buy Neurontin gabapentin Story of a young father who struggles to make a life for himself and his daughter while chasing his dream. Produced by GCP Fellow Rafael Flores.

Dibai As my first piece for The Game Changers Project I am tackling the issue of immigration raids on Latino families in the United States. I think this issue is not really focused on in mainstream media, and it is Latino filmmakers’ responsibility to address these topics and how it affects the Latino family unit.

I come from a family that was unconstitutionally deported in the 1920’s, despite my grandmother being born in Newport Beach, California. This experience has shaped my identity and I often use it to relate to my students who have experienced undocumented status in this country.

Keeping this in mind, I have developed a concept for a short experimental dance video with my students to explore the topic of immigration raids and the effects it has on Mexican families. I partnered with local non-profit United Roots and dance group TURF Inc. to create an interpretive dance video using the rich Turf Dance tradition that was homegrown by some of my students here in Oakland. For those of you who do not know, Turf Dancing is a form of Hip-Hop dance invented in East Oakland back in the early 2000’s, which continues today. It has become a staple form of expression in Oakland Hip-hop culture, and I thought it would be great to amplify that art form to be used as a vehicle to discuss political issues that affect the often-unrecognized Latino population in Oakland.

Currently the Department of Homeland Security has an “ERO Program” which is deporting thousands of people every year. This program is rarely mentioned in any journalism outlets in this country, yet they regularly lead large-scale raids on private residences and destroy thousands of families every year. Some of the statistics displayed in my film will speak to the commonality of this experience in the Latino community, and how it affects children with deported parents.

Aesthetically, I have adopted the Rasquache tradition in the Chicano community in the film. This is an art form that was popularized by Luis Valdez and El Teatro Campesino during the 1960’s, as they led an artistic revolution to support the United Farm Workers Movement in California. Rasquache refers to a state of impoverishment, or a working-class method of ingenuity that is comparable to the term “ghetto” or “imperfect”. It is a socio-political form of expression that describes a uniquely Chicano aesthetic that makes the most out of the littlest means. In adopting this artistic approach, I have chosen to use a film grain effect for the first part of the film, and shoot the second half of the film on my Iphone to highlight the Chicano filmmakers lack of resources. This decision not only allows me to match the form with content, but it allows me to further my own research in inspiring a “Rasquchista” Revolution in filmmaking. For more information on this movement and how my own media collective is advancing this movement, please click here to visit our Green Eyed Media Collective’s “Manifesto for the Modern Guerilla Filmmaker”

http://cinesourcemagazine.com/index.php?/site/comments/towards_a_rasquache_cinema_a_manifesto_for_the_modern_guerrilla_filmmaker/#.VYMLS2AQafQ

In my first discussion with the GCP Producers at the beginning of this fellowship we spoke about using one of my films to explore the connections between Africans living in America and African-Americans. As the daughter of a Gambian immigrant this topic hit very close to home. After talking a little about my dad’s experience in the States, we all agreed that looking at his life here could provide an interesting perspective into the subject.

My dad’s creativity is the backbone of this piece. As a batik artist and photographer it’s what has allowed him to build a career here in his adopted country. The images he paints reflect the scenes from home that have remained on his heart over the years. He puts everything into his work, it’s an integral part of who he is. As a result, everyone who comes into contact with my dad’s work gets a little piece of him, and a little piece of Gambia as well.

His creativity extends beyond his canvas and into the kitchen. When he came to the US food was one of the only physical ties he could maintain to home, so he taught himself to emulate the flavors he grew up tasting. When I reflect on my own life, my dad’s cooking was was the first and most consistent element of Gambian culture that I had growing up, and it remains one of the most memorable elements of my childhood and adolescence. Whether he was cooking for just our family or for a big crowd, his food has always been a very tangible way for him to share his culture with his loved ones and friends in America.

In terms of production, I wanted to connect the dots between his cooking and his painting to show that both are extensions of his creativity, his personality, and his world view. The dish he prepares in the piece is called Benachin, which is a Wolof word that translates to “one-pot” in English. It’s a staple dish in Gambia and Senegal, served as both a common meal and when people welcome others into their home. Though he only cooks on screen for a short time, this dish really embodies what I wanted to convey in the piece. In terms of my dad’s personality, it represents how he takes everything that life throws at him and uses it to make something positive. “One-pot” is also a metaphor for the idea of the American melting pot. Though we know that idea works far more in theory than in real life, it well reflects the optimism my dad had when he came to the US, and the hopes that many still carry as they make their way to this country.

Lastly, cooking Benachin serves as a virtual welcome for the viewer into my dad’s creative process, into our family, and into Gambian culture in general. In his own peaceful, methodical way my dad has used his creative gifts to show the world how connected we are as people across the diaspora. He will continue to advocate for us to build stronger connections as we collectively fight for our freedom, and it will continue to be a privilege for me to call him my dad. I hope you enjoy the piece and I hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about him.

-Njaimeh

Working on the “Unaccompanied Youth” film was and eye opening experience. First of all, I got to meet and interact with the actor Edwin Lee Gibson. He is a remarkable person who gives so much of his time. His ability to connect and interact with youth is really inspiring. He is a lesson in how opening up to kids about your issues helps them to understand their own predicament.

Obviously with a subject matter this sensitive every precaution had to be made to protect the kids. I knew this going in but got a real appreciation for putting these measures into place during this project. Filming at the shelter required very specific instruction and several layers of checks and balances.

The topic of unaccompanied and homeless youth is very detailed. What I wanted to convey with this piece is that they deserved to be heard. Edwin Lee Gibson provided the perfect manifestation of that message. Hopefully the viewers will walk away understanding that regardless of who we are and what are circumstances may be, we all have voice.

Every summer my little cousin from Arizona, now 10 years old, stays with family in Oakland, California. He spends 99.9% of his time in front of the computer. Okay, that is an exaggeration. He spends 1% of that time at the movies. This summer I put him on a daily 3-hour computer time limit. My cousin explained that was not possible because he was coding or something. Pretending to understand what he was saying, I increased the time limit to 5-hours and walked away from the conversation completely confused.

Then I meet Kalimah Priforce, co-founder of Qeyno Labs. With the support of over 60 community partners, Qeyno Labs hosted Oakland’s first Startup Weekend and Black Male Achievement hackathon. To my surprise this was not the first hackathon to happen in Oakland. However it was Oakland’s first Startup Weekend and first hackathon for Black Male Achievement. With over 150 participants, applications and websites were developed surrounding education, health, restorative justice, gaming, and sustainability, all attempting to answer the event’s theme question; “Could An App Have Saved Trayvon Martin?” I learned that at top tech companies, only 2% of employees identify as Black, and 80% of jobs in the next decade will require technology and coding skills (Sullivan, Gail. “Google statistics show Silicon Valley has a diversity problem.” Washington Post 29 May 2014). With statistics like these, my hope is that in the next 5 years coding is added to the high school foreign language graduation requirement.

After talking to Kalimah my eyes were open to a world I never bothered to understand. However, once I met the creators of the website Connect the Dots, my mind was blown! Desmond Castillo and George Hofstetter, both rising freshmen (and extremely articulate, may I add) with little no coding experience, along with their team were able to develop a full working website in just 2 and a half days. I also talked with Rachel Walker, whom is the first African-American female software developer I have ever met. She joined the Connect the Dots team at Startup Weekend and continues to work with them as they continue to improve the website throughout the summer.

Everyday you learn something new. I learned something new everyday while producing this micro documentary. Every person I interviewed said something that made me tilt my head and look at the world we live in just a little differently. I’d like to thank everyone who made time to be a part of this project and everyone who played a role in making Oakland’s first Startup Weekend and Black Male Achievement hackathon a successful and memorable event for our community.

My cousin has already returned to Arizona, but halfway through making this film I called him, or rather we video chatted through FaceTime. With my new found knowledge I was able to talk to him about coding and software development with a little bit of confidence. I told him the daily computer time limit would be lifted next summer. However, a 2-hour outside policy would be in effect.

In capturing Dominic Ware’s story, a story of resilience and solidarity, I was given the opportunity to connect with a young man that has both potential and ambition to spark change. Working with him, meeting his family, and seeing him really connect with his own past and where he wants to go in front of my lens was a honor and a blessing. All of the subjects I interviewed really believe in and are working towards changing the corporate game – and breaking down the “profit over people” model that has become so embraced by large companies, like Walmart, in our society.

The most challenging part of the process was having to tighten up and trim out much of the rich content I was fortunate to capture. There were so many facets to Dominic’s story and the struggle he is in to change the corporate mindset, while empowering the everyday, working person, that I had to go through multiple stages of letting go of certain elements to focus the short doc and keep the running time around 6 minutes.

Overall a great experience – I was able to work with some one who shared a love for our hometown, Oakland CA, and believed in the strength of our diverse and united community.

Filming the Omega Carter G. Woodson was such a pleasure and a learning experience more than anything. I was amazed by the program and its leaders. While filming I wanted to convey the level of commitment of these men to not only the kids but the material. After several interviews it was my opinion that the program was driven more by the need for teaching the this material more so than having black males teachers. Hopefully that comes across.

As with any video of this type, coordination of schedules and locations can be a challenge. However, the Omega men opened their fraternity house to me which made things much easier. Also, being from Pittsbugh and dealing with our weather turned out to be a blessing in disguise. When I was assigned this project the Academy was scheduled to only have closing exercise and no more classes. Thankfully, a snow storm pushed their schedule back a week and allowed me to get the footage of the classrooms that I needed.

We beat our drums and dance to them. Your beat is methodical; My rhythm is fluid; We connect to our cores. Our dances, though different, are proof that our drums lead us to the same place. I am interested in telling ethnically specific stories with universally resonating themes. Whether my subject is Muslim women, an African American lesbian or black men, I am working from the premise that we are not simply what others see: we are all that we can grasp and hold together; and, if we look closely, we will see that we are grasping at the same things. My work explores the process of seeing through superficial cultural barriers in search of the commonality between individuals of disparate cultures. I am presenting evidence proving that we may find ourselves in one another, demonstrating that all of us are beating our drums and doing our dances.

I am participating in The Game Changers Project because it is an opportunity to profile black men in Pittsburgh who have a global perspective. I believe that sharing the stories of men committed to rebuilding, revitalizing and reimagining the black community in Pittsburgh is an invaluable exercise in responsibility. For instance, William Generett Jr., Esq.’s story intrigues me: from Shady Side to Morehouse to Emory Law to Japan to D.C. and back to Pittsburgh with an unwavering commitment to help others reimagine their lives and reach their full potential. To often, young black men in Pittsburgh know everything about the latest rapper who made his fortune after dropping out of high school and narrowly escaping a life of self-destructive violence, but know nothing about the community leaders, educators, executives and business owners who used education as the path to their fortunes. I hope that in telling the stories of men like Bill Generett, I am able to help a few knuckleheads see the world beyond their hood and reimagine themselves moving through the world dancing to the beat of a different drummer.

Is a man’s character truly his destiny? Heraclitus was a Greek Philosopher who thought so. The statement could also be conveyed as a man’s character is his fate, and even further a man’s character is his god. I think a lot about this when you begin to meet and interact with someone. Asking myself why do they do what they do or think how they think? I suppose at the end of the day it is Character the drives us to make certain choices.

I saw a post on IG today that said “Character is what someone does when there is nothing they are hoping to get in return”. This makes sense to me as so many times we do things because of what we get in return. Let’s face it; most of us are at a job 40 plus hours a week, not because we are expressing our characters or our passions, but because we are getting something in return for our time and labor. I wonder what that says about our society as a whole. And if it’s not OUR character then whose is it.

“Who’s Your Brother” is a nonprofit organization in Pittsburgh that is definitely changing the game. Their mission and what they believe is a new way of thinking, is to have people helping people in any given community without the exchange of money. Nothing in return! At least that’s the mindset we must go in with. We all see communities riddled with violence, low income/single parent homes. Communities with people hurting and in need. But what about the next door neighbor, can they help out? Lend a hand. Or are they so focused on the varying aspects and issues (we all have them) in their life to see that someone needs them. Ask yourself this question, have you helped in some way at a minimum 5 people in your community? “Who’s Your Brother’s” goal is to help you think about that, and if you want to do something about, they can help. (www.whosyourbrother.com)

When was the last time that someone challenged you in regards to your character? I believe that someone’s character can shift at various times in someone life. I know it has for me. Does this mean I have entertained different destinies, fates, or gods throughout my life? I believe it does. I have seen these things play out in my life. But I think being tested to ask yourself who your brother is, is something that has helped me in that shift. A brother treats another brother with love and respect. A brother is family! And family is something that many people have sacrificed for and an idea we can all get behind/understand. That idea seems to fade away when it comes to the neighbor who needs help cutting their grass, could use a couple bags of groceries, or whose son benefit from being tutored in math.

What destiny do you are long for? And are you willing to recognize someone as a brother and serve them to achieve it?