To be a Black person in this world is to face adversity every day, and figure out how to mentally, emotionally, and physically overcome it.
All over the world, we are suffering.
In the USA we are dealing with the racially disparaging social construct and police brutality. Cameroonians are being deprived of their rights, being murdered, and displaced due to the anglophone crises. Nigerians and Zimbabweans are being brutalized by government related police task forces. The Democratic Republic of Congo continues to be looted by corporations at the expense of innocent citizens. Liberians, Namibians, and South Africans, are fighting as rape cases continue to increase at alarming rates, to a point where they are being declared national emergencies. Ghana and Ivory Coast have also seen increases in child labor and child trafficking. Guinea is dealing with election fraud, and the cataclysms go on....
These are issues that have stemmed from the lasting effects of colonialism, neocolonialism, and dictatorship. These patterns also took root from systems where misinformation was rampant and misguidance is second nature to keeping power. These same patterns exist in the current administration. It's difficult not to see the effects of a broken society when people in power are left unchecked. What the last 4 years have confirmed for me is that democracy is a continuous work in progress. For those who are able, voting just doesn't stop at the top. It also matters at the local and state levels so that we can continue to create a better world and opportunities for everyone, especially those who may not have the ability to help themselves.
In October, we also hit two other major milestones at Djini Productions. The first is Happily Married After made it into its 7th film festival by being an official selection for the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. Like many other festivals this year, it was attended virtually and HMA was screened online. There are a few more festivals we are waiting to hear back from, all the way into 2021 - so for those who have been asking when we will have it available online, this will be around April of 2021. Stay tuned for more updates on our blog and social media as we inch towards our global release.
The second major milestone is, I finished the 2nd draft of my first feature film, which is still going by the working title E.I. (Emotional Intelligence). Though it has been a little bit of a release to have made it through, I feel like it probably needs a 3rd or 4th draft to get it to be the thriller that I need it to be. I still have plans for production in late 2021, so if you or anyone you know is interested in financing and Executive Producing a feature film for a future Oscar and Emmy winner, give us a shout.
With that, we only have 2 more months left in this year! I still intend on finishing this year strong. As a time stamp, the elections have been called for Joe Biden & Kamala Harris, but we'll talk about that next month when we do our rundown for November.
What are you looking forward to as we close out 2020?