In 2017, a student in juvenile detention asked my friend Cole Williams a simple, yet profound question, "how do I become something I don't see?"
Cole's life work is to provide mentorship and guidance to incarcerated fathers and restore relationships between boys and men of color. He has experienced and seen a lot in his life, but still, this question caught him slightly off guard.
It was the right question to ask, at the absolute right time. It required reflection, and ultimately action. Cole came to me in late summer 2017 looking for guidance on how to deconstruct the question's meaning and context, and most importantly, how to act.
Shortly after Cole and I met, I reached out to Eric Johnson, a trusted creative collaborator from Gorilla, and posed the question to him.
A year and a half later that question became a north star for us with the launch of The Delta Project. At its core, it's a focused effort to help young men in the Kent County Juvenile Detention Center become something they don't see.
We developed a video storytelling process that uses a two-way mirrored camera device that lets two people look into each other's eyes and carry on a conversation. The result is a fascinating split-screen video dialogue, sort of like an Errol Morris approach, that allows the viewer to almost join the conversation.
But here's what's great about it. We teach the young men video production skills, and we train one of them to conduct an interview with a leader from the community who they wouldn't have the opportunity to see. And we let them lead the production.
We are just beginning to scratch the surface with this effort, there is so much work to do here in our community and in our world. Please take the time to visit our website and pay attention to the work we are doing.
Watch our interviews, and know that more are on the way. Give us your ideas. Help us make a difference.
Follow the Delta Project on social media and take action.