Inaugural ‘Stories Invincible’ community ceremony showcases local storytelling
Nearly a year ago, as we laid the foundations for the project that would become Stories Invincible, the biggest question I had as its newly minted coordinator was, “What will this look like when it all comes together?”
I could not be prouder to report that Stories Invincible looks a lot like greetings, laughter, connection, and heartfelt, thoughtful discussion.
Stories Invincible hosted the community ceremony on the evening of February 23rd at Camden County College. We partnered with the college and presented this event as an installment of their ‘Hope & Healing’ series of community mental health initiatives.
The fellows’ work represented that cause through restorative narrative journalism, and they each shared a sample of their research and reporting with our full house of family, friends, and other esteemed guests.
Historian Yocontalie Jackson started us off with her project, ‘Camden 1960s & Beyond.’ You can read about her recent efforts to preserve pieces of Camden’s history once owned by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr here.
Next up was accountant Jamaal Na’im with his ongoing effort to ‘Combat Financial Illiteracy.’
Lemar Boone Jr., owner of the South Jersey dispensary, ‘Cuzzie’s,’ showcased a trailer for his upcoming documentary, ‘Cannabis in Camden.’ The documentary premiers later this spring with a debut screening to include a local expungement workshop focusing on cannabis-related felonies.
Next, we had Matt Skoufalos of NJ Pen break down the nuances of Camden’s ongoing food insecurity crisis.
Staying on the topic of food, Paige Bates followed up with a discussion of her findings about the people fighting for greater food culture in Camden.
Among those highlighted was the Asociación de Empresarios Unidos, who also provided the night’s catering.
Learn more about these groups in Stories Invincible’s ‘Camden Food’ publication coming soon.
Kayla McEady shared her research in an effort to preserve Camden’s historic mural art as well as the legacy of the mural’s creator. Kayla’s plan remains to generate Camden city funding for the renewal of the mural, led by Ms. Kimberly Camp and supported by local residents.
Arts remained the theme as Erik Montgomery took the stage to explain his project, ‘Camden Arts 411.’ Upon completion, the website will serve as a self-serve database of Camden’s diverse art scene.
The next fellow to join us was Stef Rodriguez, showing us a glimpse of what the future of Camden arts has in store. Through her project, ‘Beauty in the Brokenness,’ she empowered students Genesis & Luna with supplies and lessons to depict Camden’s spirit via visuals.
Lastly, we had David Goodman who touched on the matters of family structure and identity in Camden with a clip from his documentary, ‘Black Fatherhood: The Other Hood.’
Photographer Elliot Colon captured the ceremony’s events, and the full gallery is available here. The ceremony itself was made possible by the generous support of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities.
Stories Invincible greatly appreciates the support of project aides Myles Cream and Tennyson Donyea of Black in Jersey for helping bring these stories to life.
You can click here to view the full photo gallery from the event.
👋 Want to learn more about Stories Invincible? Visit the project homepage!
Reet Starwind is the Stories Invincible project coordinator for the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. He is an artist, educator, and organizer in the Camden area working with the Center to elevate restorative narratives about Camden’s residents and history. Contact Reet via email at reet@storiesinvincible.org or on Instagram at @mrstarwind.
About the Center for Cooperative Media: The Center is a grant-funded program of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. Its mission is to grow and strengthen local journalism, and in doing so serve New Jersey residents. The Center is supported with funding from Montclair State University, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Democracy Fund, the New Jersey Local News Lab (a partnership of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Democracy Fund, and Community Foundation of New Jersey), and the Abrams Foundation. For more information, visit centerforcooperativemedia.org.
