Special Episode - “The Gambler”
Toni Bell, Jennifer Crystal Chien, & Ranell Shubert
“BIPOC & Co-conspirator Liberation within the Doc Industry - An Informal Conversation”
Usually, after recording a podcast episode, Ranell and I would quickly say goodbye to our guests so we could get on with Saturday afternoon activities. After we wrapped up the official interview with Jennifer, we stayed in the Zoom room for over an hour. When listening back, I realized the richness of the conversation. Jennifer has a unique theory of change regarding correcting systemic wrongs and harms that BIPOCs and true coconspirators in the documentary community experience. While Ranell and I loved our work at the IDA, it was consistently hampered by a work culture rooted in white supremacy, patriarchy, and anti-blackness. The demands of white male filmmakers and white female co-workers were centered in the areas of policy implementation and day-to-day operations. Post-traumatic Non-Profit Syndrome is real, and I, like many in similar organizations, became “the problematic Woman of Color.” For more on this, check out the graphic on the Centre for Community Organizations’ website created by Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence.
The following discussion between myself, Jennifer, and Ranell also planted the seed for the panel Ranell planned and moderated at the International Documentary Association’s Getting Real 2022, entitled Collateral Damage and Institutional Repair which featured Sarah-Tai Black (Critic, Programmer, and Curator), Jemma Desai (Creator of “This Work Isn't For Us”), Cintia Gil (Programmer), Lalita Krishna (Producer/Director), and Rachel Pronger (Curator and Producer).
Thembe Bhebe of the European Film Mart and the Carribean Fim Academy introduced me to Jemma Desai’s work “This Work isn’t for Us” in 2020. It was her writing, along with the list of demands from the former and current BIPOC employees of the Columbia Film Society, BIPOC theatre artists, as well as the mentorship and community support of ArtEquity, Somatic Abolition practices, and my therapist, that helped me to come to terms with my experiences, find my voice and create the change I needed for physical and emotional health and wellbeing. I hope this episode will give BIPOCs and white coconspirators committed to anti-racism the strength to advocate for themselves and the filmmakers they serve. In the spirit of discernment and mental health, the song for this episode is Kenny Rogers' “The Gambler.” In the documentary non-profit space, you need to know when to hold them, when to fold them, when to walk away, and when to run. If you liked this special episode, please share it with a friend dealing with Post Traumatic Non-Profit Syndrome. If you have any resources you’d like me to add to this page, please send an email with the link.
Websites & Social Media
Therapeutic Resources for BIPOCs
The American Society of Hispanic Psychiatry
Asian Mental Health Collective
For White People
Cultural Competency vs. Cultural Humility: A Lifetime Journey
The Differences Between Allyship, Accomplices, and Coconspirators May Surprise You
For White Women
Fleur Larson Facilitation - White Women in Non-Profits Series
Institutional Harm
COco’s The “Problem” Woman of Colour in the Workplace
Jemma Desai’s This Work Isn’t For Us
Ranell’s Panel at Getting Real 2022 “Collateral Damage in Institutional Harm”
BIPOC Artists Demands
An Open Letter: Deconstructing System Racism at Columbia Film Society
Dear White American Theater, Our Demands Are In
Anti-Racism Resources
Finding the Keys: Antiracist Approaches to Radical Recruitment in the Arts
National Board Training: Antiracism Training for Board Members
Kenneth V. Hardy’s How to Talk Effectively About Race
Resmaa Menekam’s Foundations of Somatic Abolition: Embodied Anti-Racism Practices and Culture Building
Tema Okun’s White Supremacist Work Culture