Crew
Daniel “danny” Kutnink
Director of photography
Danny’s Cinematography and Camera and Electrical Department credits span film, television, music videos, and commercials including “Chicago P.D.”
Cast
Dr. Catherine R. Squires
Professor Emerita, University of Minnesota
Former Associate Dean of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Minnesota, where I am now professor emerita. These days, I freelance as a writer, editor, yoga teacher, design workshops and facilitate events. Over the past two decades, I’ve engaged in multiple community partnerships to uplift and share local Black histories, support BIPOC writers, share accessible yoga practices, curate panels, host conferences and facilitate intergenerational story sharing. I have written multiple books and articles on media, race, gender, and politics, including Dispatches from the Color Line (2007) and The Post-Racial Mystique (2014), and the edited collection Dangerous Discourses: Feminism, Gun Violence & Civic Life (2016). I earned my PhD in Communication Studies from Northwestern University. Prior to finishing the PhD, I was a doctoral fellow in the Center for Black Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara (1998-99). In 1999, I began my first faculty position at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and in 2007 I moved to the University of Minnesota. I live in St. Paul, where I am pursuing advanced training in yoga therapy. I am always on the lookout for interesting birds.
Dr. Danielle K. Brown
Researcher, Professor, Advocate
Danielle K. Brown is the former John & Elizabeth Bates Cowles Professor of Journalism, Diversity and Equality in the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She is an award-winning, political communication researcher investigating the intersection of news media, underserved and historically excluded communities, and social justice efforts. Danielle has published dozens of articles in top-tier journals in mass communication, sociology, and political science, and her work also appears in popular media outlets like Salon, Yahoo News, and The Conversation. In 2022, she received the International Communication Association’s Journalism Studies Public Engagement Award and in 2020, she received the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Outstanding Junior Scholar Award. She also received prestigious recognition from Mass Communication and Society Division of AEJMC for her dissertation and was named an emerging scholar for AEJMC in 2018. Dani is an associate editor for the International Journal of Press/Politics, and serves on the editorial board for Digital Journalism and Journalism Practice. She currently teaches about race and gender diversity & mass communication. She previously served on the faculty at Indiana University & the University of Mary Hardin Baylor. Prior to joining the academy, she was a photojournalist, writer, and later a non-profit public relations professional.
Marquise “Brother” Bowie &
Bridgette Stewart
Co-Founders, Minnesota Agape Movement
The Minnesota Agape Movement’s vision is for the youth in the community to connect with adults working together creating a loving safe environment that brings unconditional love (AGAPE) for each man, woman and child in our community. A place where each one is responsible for the wellbeing of each other. The MN Agape Movment’s mission is to transform street energy into community energy by putting the neighborhood back into the hood. Through advocacy, empowerment, and education. We are here to help build a stronger, peaceful and safer community. Our focus is to be a reliable resource of housing, education, mental health, and job placement. People who have experienced violence directly understand the impact violence has on the community. While building strong relationships within the community; the Agape Movement can support , intervene in situations where we understand the issues and potential risks.
Cadex Herrera
Multi-disciplinary Artivist
I am a multi-disciplinary artist, I bring awareness to humanitarian, social and environmental injustices by championing my culture, history, people of color, immigrants and marginalized peoples. I aim to create art that empowers the viewer as well as elevate the subjects and themes that I explore through my work.
Christopher E. Harrison
Visual Artist, Educator
Christopher E. Harrison (1965) is an Ohio native who received his BFA from Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, OH. Harrison currently lives and works his studio practice in Minneapolis as a visual artist, illustrator and graphic designer where he creates paintings, drawings, sculpture and collage. He has exhibited his work in solo and group exhibitions including Obsidian Arts (MN), Nemeth Art Center (MN), Soo Visual Art Center (MN), MIAD (WI) and Smack Mellon in New York. He has also shown internationally as well, with group shows in Senegal, Ecuador and the United Kingdom. Harrison has created public art for North Minneapolis as well. His work has been supported with grant funding by Jerome Foundation, Minnesota State Arts Board, the City of Minneapolis and MRAC Next Step. He is currently a Museum Arts Educator at Walker Art Center.
Wanja Kuria
Community Organizer
Wanja joined the Longfellow Community Council after three years of experience organizing for racial justice in political and faith communities. She studied Literature and History in her undergraduate, both of which inspired a deep interest in racial and religious narratives and the political power they have to cement not only our thinking, but our lived realities. Wanja is excited to use her organizing experience and love of community to help further the LCC’s mission of engaging and empowering the diverse residents of Greater Longfellow.
KingDemetrius Pendleton
Photojournalist, Community Activist
Christopher E. Harrison (1965) is an Ohio native who received his BFA from Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, OH. Harrison currently lives and works his studio practice in Minneapolis as a visual artist, illustrator and graphic designer where he creates paintings, drawings, sculpture and collage. He has exhibited his work in solo and group exhibitions including Obsidian Arts (MN), Nemeth Art Center (MN), Soo Visual Art Center (MN), MIAD (WI) and Smack Mellon in New York. He has also shown internationally as well, with group shows in Senegal, Ecuador and the United Kingdom. Harrison has created public art for North Minneapolis as well. His work has been supported with grant funding by Jerome Foundation, Minnesota State Arts Board, the City of Minneapolis and MRAC Next Step. He is currently a Museum Arts Educator at Walker Art Center.
Dr. Christopher C. Odom, MFA, PhD
Filmmaker, Digital Media Scholar
Dr. Christopher C. Odom earned his PhD in Texts and Technology, Digital Media at the University of Central Florida; his MFA in Film and Television from the University of California, Los Angeles; and his BA in Film and Video Production from Georgia State University. Throughout Dr. Odom’s 30-year career in the entertainment industry, as a filmmaker, Dr. Odom has produced, directed, written, shot, and/or edited +500 short and longform creative projects. In addition, for over a decade as a Course Director at Full Sail University, Dr. Odom has supervised and developed an additional +500 student short scripts and films. A published author and domestic and international award-winning filmmaker and voiceover talent, Dr. Odom’s work has appeared in major cities worldwide, including Cannes, Berlin, Tel Aviv, New York, and Los Angeles.
