Maine Civil Rights Team Project Recruitment Video

Back in 2015, I was asked to come back for a Diversity Day at my old High School. It seemed like an easy ask- but I didn't want to just bore a bunch of high schoolers with a talk- I just wanted to make a video and let that do the talking for me.

I didn't have a long time to make this, but I felt like it conveyed a lot.

I didn't realize I'd be chatting for 45 minutes- and how unprepared I'd be. But- the video was a hit! ...Amongst the staff. My Homeroom Teacher, Jeff Bailey- the one who had invited me to the event, sent it to the Maine Civil Rights Team Project.

They wound up showing it to teachers all across the state, to my surprise. I didn't think anything of it until Bailey hit me up. He was- and still is the Civil Rights Team facilitator at my old High School- and he helped me out a lot growing up. He told me the folks at the Attorney General's Office wanted to get in touch. They were looking to make a recruitment video for the 25th anniversary of the Project. They had discussed what they were looking for-and apparently my name and my video just kept popping up.

So- they decided, 'Why don't we just HIRE him?'

I'm incredibly proud of this work. They let me have quite a bit of wiggle room when it came time to write and decide what I wanted to do. I remember having great conversations with Brandon Baldwin and Stacie Bourassa, the Project Coordinators at the time, about how excited we were that new generations of kids would join Civil Rights Teams.

This video is shown to students all across the State of Maine- though there is an edited version shown to younger students in Elementary School.

Here's hoping that this inspires kids to pursue meaningful Social Justice movements in the future.