Tuesday, May 30, 2017

We Love Detroit, by Charlotte, age 7

A few months ago, my daughter Charlotte said:  "Dada, I want to make a video about Detroit for the Table Setters."

My favorite part of this was that she started writing in her notebook about all the people she wanted to interview so there could be older and younger people, strangers, people who've lived in Detroit for a long time and people who are new, and she said, "I know, I know, I'll definitely talk to people who look like us and people who don't look like us."

She decided to ask people what they like about our new city, because even at 7, she's noticed that people tend to say many negative things about Detroit.  Marvin helped her think like a director and an editor, and of course, we helped her learn how to use the iMovie program.  She asked me to compose the music, and was very clear about how it should sound.  She chose the titles and imagery, and I helped her find some photos to enhance the stories people were sharing.

Obviously, I'm proud of her, but I also think it's important to note that our kids, (not just my kids, but all kids) can handle thinking about narratives and community and diversity even in grade school.  In fact, most of the divisive mindsets people carry around with them originate at early ages.

Without further ado:



Marvin loves to do behind the scenes kind of extra footage, so we did this as a little promo.  Of course, we did it on a Friday right after school, she was hungry, and you can see the weekend jubilation setting in.  :)



Thanks for watching, and any comments you leave for Charlotte will be shared with the producer!

If you're interested in supporting more work like this, please donate to our non-profit on GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/thetablesetters

Peace by peace,

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