Month: May 2024

When thinkingn of a non-profit organization deserving of $25k, it’s honestly a no brainer for me that Coyote Central would be the most deserving in my eyes.

I’m a little biased considering I spent s good chunk of my childhood in that building and taking the classes they had to offer- but I think within that perspective, I’m able to truly speak to how important a safe space like that can be for kids to learn and grow and adapt.

I have always been heavily interested in the arts, so even then I was taking classes expanding on those interest and dedicating time and energy to really think about what I could see myself doing as I got older.

And even though their classes cost money, they offered fairly generous expense waivers that allowed children from lower income families to try their hand at something they otherwise would have never been able to try before.

Every instructor, administrator, just adult active in the organization always put the children first. And even the kids could tell. Since I had attended so many classes and taken up many leadership roles, the president herself offered me the chance to be more active in the organization, and be a kid other kids could talk to and know their voices were being heard by someone who understands them and will actually help make any changes they want to see.

To show the understanding that kids are more likely and comfortable talking to each other about what’s on their minds and more heavy topics like what they like and don’t like about the class their taking, even at a young age showed me how much Coyote Central valued children expressing initiative and the freedom to explore and learn and not be afraid to speak their minds.

This kind of environment was also imperative to have in the central district. Shooting in that area have increased and overall having a safe space where children can take refuge and feel safe should always be imbursed.

In short, overall, Coyote Central is a safe space for children that allows them to explore their creativity, passions, and themselves all while maintaining a healthy balance of the children feeling comfortable push themselves and adults/ staff members making sure they don’t push themselves too hard.

In all honesty I couldn’t have asked for a better group. In the current time of the project, I was under a lot of family stress that was at the time something I didn’t feel comfortable talking about, but even if I wasn’t able to make it to every meeting, they still kept me in the loop and were attentive of the work load we all split.

I was the cinematographer, Jordan was the editor, and Elanore was the creative director.

Not even going to lie- on the first day, I was very nervous about this group project turning out like previous ones have where I felt simultaneously overworked and unseen by the graphic designers, but Elanore genuinely surprised me in how much of her cadence and attitude towards filming mirrored that of a Visual media student. She really has a tremendous natural eye for being able to see things cinematically and direct in a way that both me and Jordan were able to understand.

There were minor instances where we both voiced conflicting opinions about shots and that experience gave me more clarity on how to better express my perspective as the person responsible for making sure the shot looks good.

It also opened up a bigger burden that had been lingering on my chest since the start of this program of how to make sure I as a black woman in a fairly white male dominated field am able to feel comfortable voicing my professional opinion.

And thankfully, at no point did I feel like my voice/ perspectives were being unheard or unseen. So, this experience really helped ease some of my anxieties I had towards that matter.

Both Jordan and Elanore were such great people to have on set too- especially Jordan, who is kind of known for always just being a joy to be around; if I needed anything or wanted any help/ another perspective touching base with him would always have a positive effect.

Which really just put in perspective what a lot of instructors and guest speakers have been saying- It doesn’t matter if you’re the best at what you do, if you’re not nice to be around on set, no one’s going to want to work with you.

Overall, working with those two was delightful, and getting to make a hilarious video we can all be proud of in the end was definitely a great way to start of the third quarter.