Decade of Fire
As the Impact Producer for Decade of Fire, I organized the “Stay, Fight, Build” National Tour. Partnering with housing, economic and racial justice organizations across the country (including Puerto Rico), I offered the film as an organizing tool for today’s housing justice movement. The tour kicked off in NYC in Feb. 2019, screening over the course of 6 weeks across 12 neighborhoods with 20 housing justice organizations. Each neighborhood had been historically disinvested in during the same period of the film and are now being aggressively developed and gentrified, facing an affordability and displacement crisis. The screenings were followed by robust community conversations featuring local residents and leaders, and the film’s Co-director, Vivian Vazquez Irizarry.
This was the same model I used to organize the tour across the country. Raising money to cover the cost of the events so financial resources would not be taken from direct organizing work, and wherever possible, we actually offered additional infrastructure (sound systems, etc) which could remain with our partners to serve their work moving forward. I had many conversations over months (and years, in some cases!) with event organizers to support their work and build a strong foundation for the event’s success, with the goal of it being as strategic as possible for their organization and campaign/s.
In addition to the tour I was responsible for co-coordinating the film’s accompanying high school curriculum (written by Bronx high school educators!), the creation of our community screening guide (visual design by high school students from the Bronx!), overall outreach and communications for the project, as well as audience building, managing external events and requests. I also co-produced short film modules that are an extension of the Decade of Fire story.
