Telling The Orlando Together Story
OrlandoTogether is a progressive initiative that offers immersive, racially sensitive leadership training to influencers in the local community.
I was invited to the group as a documentarian and my role was to tell the story of the initiative, helping participants give voice to their own unique experiences.
The idea was simple enough, gather a diverse group of people to share experiences and perspectives that undermine racial division in our community - To make known realities that have been dismissed, discounted, and disbelieved. And in that knowingness we would come to know each other as people, as citizens of Orlando, and, hopefully, as friends.
Going into our first session I imagined I would stay on the periphery, training my eyes and ears for moments that would truly capture all we were trying to do together. That felt safer too, like an emotional buffer from hard conversations and hard realizations. But it became apparent and pretty quickly too, that in order to tell our story, I would have to sit in the circle, not outside of it.
So that’s where you’ll find me. Once a month, every month. Grappling with complex, systemic issues that don’t have any easy answers.
