My biggest concern for the future is for our youth. I’m 35 years old, I remember being a struggling artist in my mid 20’s, living in New York during Occupy Wall Street. So many of my friends were out of work.
I look back at myself and realized that I was able to make through that darkness and produce films and generate my own support system.
In 2020, we live in a different world. The oppression for Black Americans in this country has been going on before my time. I have lived through that oppression, and continue to use my artistic vision to grow from it. Like the saying goes… Whatever hurts you makes you stronger. I continue to express myself through writing to helps me cope through the pain that we are experiences all around us in different ways. The only progress that I have seen this year is that White Americans are now enlightened, aware that racism is not and was never Ok to begin with and that it’s their responsibility to identify, acknowledge racism within their community and address it head on. They realized that they have to do better, and I think overall that’s a beautiful thing. That’s how we grow. Racism has not only been an issue globally but within the Film industry as well. My hope for the future is that we evolve from this and Black Americans continue to make Art.