A Journey Through Moncrief with Dana Michelle: Art, History, and Community

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What if your neighborhood had a story that could change perceptions and bridge cultural divides? On this episode of the Artist Within Podcast, we are honored to host indie filmmaker Dana Michelle, a two-time Audience Choice Award winner at the Jacksonville 48-Hour Film Project. Dana takes us on an enlightening journey through her latest documentary, "Moncrief Springs," which captures the essence of Jacksonville's Moncrief area. Hear firsthand how community storytelling through art can foster understanding and connection, transforming local heritage into a vibrant, shared tapestry of history and culture.

Dana and I explore the beauty and significance of community collaboration, emphasizing the power of spontaneous artistic gatherings to dismantle racial and cultural barriers. Dana shares the origins of "Moncrief Springs," bringing to light the rich history, sustainable agriculture, and cultural landmarks that define the Northside. Highlights include iconic spots like Holly's Barbecue and JP Smalls Stadium, as well as the Newtown Success Zone Farm. Our conversation reveals the necessity of preserving local heritage and offers a heartfelt reflection on the dignity and pride embedded in the Black culture and history of Jacksonville.

Education emerges as a crucial theme, underscoring the importance of teaching local Black history to foster a more inclusive understanding of the past. Dana discusses the legacy of figures like Alton Yates and the broader implications of their contributions. We wrap up with a call to action, encouraging listeners to support Dana's documentary and other local cultural initiatives. Join us as we celebrate diversity, community engagement, and the power of individual contributions in crafting inclusive, compassionate environments that honor the stories shaping Jacksonville's Northside.

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Episode Transcript

Adela (00:05):
hello, my friends, it's been a minute, oh my goodness,
thank you, thank you, thank you,thank you, thank you.
I'm not even starting off withtelling you who I am right now
or anything, but all I'm doingis telling you, thank you.
Thank you for the support,thank you for the follows, thank
you for downloading the podcast.
Thank you for we're almost at200 downloads.
This is for little old me andwhat we're doing, thank you.

(00:26):
Thank you to the subscribers toour YouTube channel.
You've been fantastic and theshares just your support and
what we're doing and sharingwith the community right now is
so immensely and greatlyappreciated.
So let's get into the intro andget this episode going, because
I'm so excited for this nextguest that I have with me to
share with you and welcome.

(00:47):
Welcome to the Artist WithinPodcast.
My name is Adela Hitel, I amyour host and producer of this
podcast, and this podcast isproduced also by Project Human
Think a new way to think aboutmental and emotional health.
It is my nonprofit organization.
I founded it in 2017 because Ineeded a space and place to
express my own self.
I needed a way to communicatein which words I didn't have,

(01:08):
and so I used art.
Art became my saving force andit turned into a way of
discussions, communications, andthis is how we have the artist
within.
So let me introduce you to ournext guest and her name is Dana
Michelle.
She is fantastic, she isphenomenal.
Let me tell you about herresume that I just had the

(01:28):
opportunity to look at.
Okay, I have her screen righthere because I do not want to
mess this up in any shape orform.
She is just that great, so letme give you her bio first.
Her bio is this Again, you guys, I met her at a event party.
Oh, sorry, I'm going to mess itup right now She'll correct me

(01:49):
when she gets on but I met herat a event party up in Collab
Cafe.
I believe that was the andagain, I'm wrong, my brain is
losing and moving too fast thismorning, but all for good
reasons.
So I met her and we just hadthis instant connection and then
I got to read her bio, I got toread her experience, I got to
really look into her and I justfeel so inadequate in so many

(02:12):
ways and shapes and forms.
But I feel like that with manyplaces I go into, because I look
at humans who've accomplishedand who've overcome so many
things and I'm like, oh, andwhat am I doing with my life?
Right?
And so let's introduce DanaMichelle.
Dana Michelle is a two-timeAudience Choice Award winner in
the Jacksonville 48-Hour FilmProject In 2021 and 2023, her

(02:32):
short films Entanglements andChosen Road both garnered
recognition for their artisticand technical merit.
Her soap opera-inspired film,entanglements also received an
award for Best Graphics.
Dana produced and directed herfirst documentary short film,
black lock, in 2014.
With a ba degree in mediaproductions and africana studies
minor.
The university of houstongraduate has already established

(02:55):
herself as a competitive andcrowd-pleasing indie filmmaker
and she's on her way withproducing her new documentary
called the monkrieve monkrieiefSprings the documentary.
She's the executive producer ofit and I'm so excited to share
with you guys that, because andI can't wait to tell her the
story of this too, and she'swith that but if you guys

(03:15):
remember, one of the reasons whyI started Project Human was
because I was and I'll say thisin the best way and please don't
cancel me in the way, whateveryou want to do but, um, I was
the white girl that survivedMoncrief, if you will, the
narrative of Moncrief was.
So I moved to Jacksonville.
I did all you know in that wayand it was such a negative
narrative that it was and I hadfriends there and so I went and

(03:39):
it is not the story that's beentold.
So when I looked at thecommunity centers and when I
looked at the parks centers andwhen I looked at the parks and
the schools that they have inthe areas and the community
that's there and theunderdevelopment that is there,
but two blocks over it isbeautiful and built up it was
just such a shock for me, and soone of the missions was to be
able to create and createplatforms and opportunities and

(04:02):
bridge the gaps.
Well, through conversations andthrough educating ourselves,
right, and so I'm so excited forthis because I can't wait to
share.
So let me just get into thisnow, because I'm talking to way
too much.
So our guest is Dana Michelle,and let me introduce her, and
she's on screen right now.
Dana, welcome my love.
How are you?

Dana Michelle (04:23):
Good morning, Adela.
Thank you for that lovely intro.

Adela (04:27):
I feel like I just rambled on too much, but I'm
just so excited.
Like I said, I get nervous andwho would think Adela?
Gets intimidated.
But when I look at humanswho've accomplished so much,
have come through so manydifferent ways and backgrounds,
and the service that they'veprovided to community, I get
told, hey, you're doing so much,you're doing great.
But when you really look atpeople's resumes and you look at

(04:48):
where they're at, you know itmakes you go like man.
They're even willing to haveconversations with me, willing
to even give this opportunity tome.
Little me like what.
So thank you for really beinghere and helping me again with
one of my missions, which is tobridge that gap that we have.
Human humanity is so importantand who we are as humans is just

(05:10):
to be here together is, youknow, is like our primary goal.
So why don't you introduceyourself to our community better
than I just did and give usyour little background about who
you are and how you came to bean executive producer now of a
documentary called MoncriefSprings, which is going to bring
awareness to so much beauty andculture in that area, and I
cannot wait to see that.

Dana Michelle (05:33):
Yeah, so my name is Dana Michelle and I am your
North side neighbor living righthere in Jacksonville, do, and
I'm really excited to be on yourshow.
Adela, thank you for theinvitation.
As it relates to my work, I'mthe executive producer of
Moncrief Springs, and it's atravel documentary about

(05:56):
historic landmarks and culturalsites on Jacksonville's north
side which are part of theGullah Geechee corridor, and so
I've been researching andworking on this particular
project for a year now.
It's been exciting, it's been aheavy load, but I have a great
team that's working with me onthis, and so that's been great.

(06:19):
I'm also a member of theNortheast Florida Sierra Club.
It's an environmental justicegroup, and I'm a community
organizer.
I love bringing people toJacksonville's North Side for
them to see the beauty and toexperience the culture, because
ain't no better side than theNorth Side?
So I'm always repping the NorthSide.

(06:40):
I grew up out here.
I grew up off of Dunn Avenue inBiscayne Estates.
I went to Garden CityElementary.
I grew up out here, grew up offof Dunn Avenue in Biscayne
Estates.
I went to Garden CityElementary, from there Kirby
Smith Middle School, which isnow Springfield Middle, and then
I graduated from Paxton HighSchool Class of 2004.
So that's me, that's my story,and I'm sticking to it.

Adela (06:58):
Oh, my goodness, I love it.
Graduate of Class of 2004.
I was an 06 graduate, so we'renot far.
I was an 06 graduate, so we'renot far.
I was at white.
I'm west side, you know, for meit's west side, the best side,
because that's what you know,what I said, right, so?
But that doesn't mean that, hey, you know, hey, um, before they
block me from for my signs, um,that was what we did in our old
days.
Okay, when we are millennialdays, in our club days, leave us

(07:22):
alone.
So, uh, so I had the.
So let's talk just first aboutour first meeting before we get
into some stuff.

Dana Michelle (07:31):
You and I, um, can you correct me what the
event was that we met, becausemy brain spasmed in in the name
of it yeah, so we met at thepitch party in june at the lab
cafe and you were a little burstof sunshine when I saw you and
your personality is soinfectious because you're like
me, you're a talker and so youknow.

(07:53):
There was no shyness, we justmagnetized to each other and we
went from inside the venuetalking to the parking lot
talking and you're my kind ofgirl and it was a beautiful
first encounter a parking lottalking, and you're my kind of
girl and it was.

Adela (08:07):
It was a beautiful first encounter.
Oh, I love that too.
I felt the energy and I and Ididn't when I had come in.
I was just coming in because Iknew a couple of people there,
um, like Monique and Adam, andthey had mentioned it and I
found out late about it and Ialways find out late, like
literally last minute aboutstuff.
But I have found that if it's alast minute thing I find out
about and I can do it, it'sGod's way of saying go to and be
there, like I'm giving you anopportunity.

(08:28):
It's short notice, but it's anopportunity.
It's a window.
Take it or don't.
And so when they sent me theinvite, I was like, oh heck,
yeah, like I'm going to be thereand then everything that you've
been doing, the way you set upand then your family and how you
have everybody involved.
It was just so beautiful to bethere and to be in that

(08:49):
environment and then to alsoagain, as a community of artists
and filmmakers, recognize thepower that we share and the
talent that we have in one roomand what we can do when we're
inspired and when we collaborateand when we put our minds
together, it really was such anopportunity for me to again look
into a different view and, tobe honest, there I think I was
like maybe one of a very fewwhite girls.

(09:13):
I'm going to say that waybecause I'm just going to be
honest, we're not introducedinto the culture in that way,
we're not bought into that way.
Or we don't see, oh, we're notrelated, and it's just like go
to opportunity to have a sharewith humans.
See, oh, we're not related, or,and it's just like go an
opportunity to have a share withhumans.
But I did look at the dynamic ofthat um, because I read your,
you know one of your uh on ourum questionnaires.
You know we talked about thatrace and religion and
sexualities, and so part of thatconversation is how do we

(09:35):
bridge and meld us into thatlike we're humans, how?
I mean that was ourconversation.
That's literally what you and Iconnected on.
We were like I see a human, Isee a human, I see somebody with
passion, I see someone withdetermination, with, with, with
goals and so much, so much faithin her community, just as I
have in like Jacksonville as awhole.
That I was like okay, the energy, the magnetism.

(09:58):
We have to connect, we have totalk.
I have to hear her story andthen you shared some of it with
me and what you're trying to dowith Moncrief Springs, which is
just fantastic.
So let me just get into thatreally quick and then we'll talk
more a bit of that, because Ithink it's so important to bring
that awareness, especiallybecause it's something you're
working on right now.
And if anybody's willing to orwants to be a part of that or
need to, please reach out toDana Michelle, because she'll.

(10:18):
She'll put your work and you me.
I'm always about putting peopleto work for the good stuff, so,
you know, please reach out toher.
So tell us a little bit abouthow Moncrief Springs the
documentary came about and whyyou're so passionate about that.

Dana Michelle (10:31):
Yeah, so I was working for an organization
called the Clara White Missionand in that organization my job
was to market, promote and bethe community liaison for the
farm that they were relaunching.
The farm is Earth, is Farm andMarket and it's on Moncrete and
I felt like as we were doingthese various activities having

(10:56):
events, doing volunteer drivesand raising awareness about our
sustainable agriculturalprograms and food desert
initiatives I felt like weneeded something stronger,
something that was more of anemotional tie to get people to
come and support our programsand really take advantage of

(11:18):
this farm, this oasis being OmanCreek, literally a food desert.
And I pitched to the CEO at thattime to do a documentary about
the farm and I said we need todo like some film marketing.
That's like the new wave ofmarketing right now, where you
know you do like a film and tellpeople the story of your

(11:42):
organization and how you wantthem to get involved in support.
They couldn't afford it.
They liked the idea but theycould not get on board and so
some things happened and Itransitioned away from that
organization.
But some of the relationshipsthat I made in that role kept

(12:03):
asking me about the film becauseI was just planting seeds here
and there, like would you beinterested in a documentary or a
film about this farm?
And so when I left theorganization, people said, well,
what about that?

Adela (12:12):
documentary about the farm and.

Dana Michelle (12:13):
I said you know what, if I do it, would you
support me?
And I got more yeses than I gotno's.
And so, instead of being inthis box to do the documentary
about the farm, I said let metell the story about the whole
neighborhood.
And I started learning moreabout Moncrief Park, which was

(12:38):
what the neighborhood was calledin the early 1900s, and I
started learning abouteverything that happened
historically on the MoncriefMyrtle Avenue corridor and that
turned into this documentary,moncrief Springs.
And I got support from VisitJacksonville, the tourism bureau
for the city.
I got support from St John'sRiverkeeper, which is an

(12:59):
environmental justice group herein Jacksonville.
I had some private donors whosaid you know, michelle, I
believe in you.
Let me write a check.
And that was a year ago.
And so far, each time we cometogether my cast and my crew we
discover something new aboutthat neighborhood, and it's

(13:20):
going even beyond what I thought.
Telling a story about Moncrief,we're learning about the Gullah
Geechee culture.
We're learning about La Villaand how the slaves that were on
the plantation La Villa, oncethey got free, started forming
these smaller communities comingmore northwest in Jacksonville.

(13:42):
Why you have Durkeyville, whyyou have Newtown, why you have
out east, and so it's reallymorphing into something even
more beautiful than I intendedand it's been really exciting.
I do have to give a shout outto my friend and producer on
this documentary with me.
Trey Ford Black Films Matterhas been a supporter of this
project.
He's producing the documentarywith me and that's how we had

(14:02):
the.
Matter has been a supporter ofthis project.
He's producing the documentarywith me and that's how we had
the pitch party.
That's what we were doing theparty was supposed to bring us
all together to talk aboutMontcrie Springs and to
fundraise, and when we did that,it was an opportunity to bring
Black filmmakers together tosynergize and to network.
But when I saw you in the room,we were like hey, anybody who's

(14:25):
willing to have theconversation, to be an ally to
black filmmakers, black writers,black actors?
You know we want you to be inthe conversation too, so I'm
really glad that you came in andthat you were able to make it
out.

Adela (14:37):
Yeah, I would, I have.
So I'm going to be honest.
My background is completelydifferent than you know most
people that meet me.
I come from Europe, I'm fromBosnia, I'm an immigrant, I was
a prisoner of war as a child, soI just I grew up for a good
decade of my life over a decadeof my life a little bit, you
know in a whole different world,whole, whole, completely

(14:59):
different world.
So when I came to the UnitedStates, if I'm being completely
honest, like I had never seensomebody, I had never seen a
black person before.
I've never seen, I had neverseen one.
So I was curious, I was like, ohmy gosh, there's people that
don't look like me, you know,that don't look like me.
It really was such a, and I was, I think, 11 or 12 when I came
here and when we landed in JFK,it in JFK, and again, it's a

(15:25):
different cult, it's completelydifferent, it's a melting pot,
you know.
And then I saw Asians and I waslike there's different people
that look different than me, youknow, and I'm a curious
creature and I'm very.
I don't have a filter and so ifI have a question I ask it and
it's with no ill intention, I'mjust curious in, in trying to
understand what my mind isprocessing and not, you know, in
this reality, this reality.
And so when I came I was like,oh my gosh, there's different,

(15:47):
there's different humans, likewhat?
Well, let me learn more.
So I became really ingrained inPuerto Rican culture and in the
black culture with my friendsin high school and just in the
Asian culture, and learn and notingrained like, oh, I'm the,
you know, I'm the white, likewhite, like white girl there,
like I just wanted to know.
So I would go into clubs or Iwould go into different rooms
and just talk to people here andthere, and that's how I got

(16:11):
into, you know, talking topeople from Iraq or from
different places that I just Iwouldn't even have known existed
had I not been.
Like, oh, there's differenthumans here for me.
So when I moved to JacksonvilleI had heard we moved here.
I was not.
I was forced to move here.
I'm going to be honest, I was16 parents forced.

(16:32):
They were like you're moving,what am I going to do?
And of course you're mad for awhile and then you find, you
know, your clicks, and that waskind of the experience of that
and I was at Ed White and it wasjust the experience there was
was great too.
Because again I, I so naivelyI'm like I'm just gonna go into
places that I not necessarilydidn't belong, but it wasn't

(16:53):
like I was not necessarily justwelcomed, right, because I
didn't know how, how thingsworked, but I'm just gonna go
and not that it wasn't welcomed,but again it's.
It's that like what, what isshe doing here?
Why, what's going on?
Because there's a lot of, again, bias and prejudgment from both
sides of everything.
And so I I learned one thingabout Jacksonville that just

(17:13):
made me fall so deeply in lovewith it that the thing that we
are so divided on our nationalstate or even on just like big
national things, just even inour like florida state level,
right in our jackson and this Imay have the only one with this
opinion, but in our jacksonvillecommunity we are so segregated

(17:36):
in so many different spots butat the same time we're so melted
together as a human I like it.
We not that we don't see thecolor, or we don't see the race,
or we don't see the, the, thegenders, or we don't see sexual,
not that we don't see thesethings that we have, but I think
the one thing that makes us sodifferent in Jacksonville and

(17:58):
the surrounding areas that wehave is that we actually do want
to understand about humanityand how that comes off or where
we come off and the way we maybecommunicate may detract us from
our same goals and missions,but I think what I found there
was that and that's why I fellin love with Moncrief, because
that was like I said, I was thewhite girl that went into

(18:20):
Moncrief.
I was like I've got friendsthere, I'm going to go say hi.
And you know, I did get thelooks, because people of my tone
don't come apparently there, ordidn't, and you know.
And I'm like what do you mean?
And so the more I exposedmyself, the more I understood
that there really was adifferent treatment of humans in

(18:40):
different geographies, indifferent sectors.
There really was aprioritization of one group
versus another type of human.
And so for me became how do wehave a human conversation?
That we're not sitting here andtalking about groups and all
these labels and varieties, that, yes, we all are, but at the

(19:03):
end of the day, we're human andhumans deserve equal treatment.
Humans deserve equalopportunities.
Humans deserve equal space andplace to breathe and raise their
children.
And I didn't understand how,again how we in America, or
especially here, are just notthere yet in that conversation.
But Jacksonville does have thatspirit right, like I feel, like

(19:25):
it really does have that spiritand potential for that.

Dana Michelle (19:30):
Yeah, jacksonville is often talked
about under these sentiments thetale of two cities and when you
look at Jacksonville's historyprior to consolidation and after
consolidation, you can seewhere there is what I'll

(19:51):
probably refer to as like areckoning.
I think that people who havebeen marginalized in
Jacksonville are trying to fightfor a stake in this city, to be
seen, to be heard and to feelvaluable.
Um, you know, you say you was awhite girl trying to survive

(20:12):
Moncrief you know, that's whatthey said as a black girl on
Moncrief.
It was a unique experience forme too because, you know, you
experience like classism andwhile my mom was, you know,
raising us in a middle-classBlack household on Dunn Avenue,

(20:37):
I have friends and classmateswho lived Moncrief, soutail,
edgewood, and my mom would warnme about my safety, warn me
about, you know, not being acrowd when it came to those
particular neighborhoods.
And so, although mygrandparents lived in the area,

(20:57):
it wasn't my hangout spot.
Like my mom, my mom graduatedfrom Reigns, my dad graduated
from Rebar.
My mom was class of 83, my dadclass of 82.
And they were not encouragingor interested in me going to
Rebought and these are likepremier schools for Blacks when
it comes to culture and when itcomes to sports.

(21:17):
But my mom was like no, you'regoing to the college prep school
and I ended up going to Paxton.
And I couldn't understand whenI was in school why my mom had
so much pride and so much lovefor Reigns but didn't want me to
go to Reigns.
Right, and it was because theneighborhood had changed.
And that stigma that we nowknow is the reputation the media

(21:39):
has given the North side aboutcrime and poverty and things
like that that was happening inthe 90s and my mom was like,
nope, not, you not going um.
And so when I hear you talkabout your own story, being an
immigrant and coming from ahomogenized society where you
did not see a lot of blackpeople and and it's a shock, I

(22:02):
think that you know we asAmericans, underestimate what it
, what it means to be a meltingpot.
Yes, and we're still trying tofigure it out, because in
America, you have had theexperiences from enslavement,
the experiences from Jim Crow,the experiences from the civil

(22:24):
rights era, and while it is amelting pot, and you as an
immigrant, coming here andsaying, oh wow, there's so many
people, the people who were bornand raised and go back
generations in this country, weoften feel homogenized too.
You could be Black in Americaand never go to a white
neighborhood or never go to adiverse school or never be in a
place where you're, in, a placewhere there's people who are

(22:48):
different from you, some people.
They live in their littlecommunities and they never leave
, they never really interactwith white people, asian people,
hispanic people, and so I thinkthat you know as a community of
folks who are interested inmaking our neighborhoods better,
making our city better.
We have to really understandthat people are coming from all
different walks of life and whatyou see on face value.

(23:10):
You got to go beyond thesurface, you got to really ask
them.
What is your experience?
You know what makes you feelvaluable, what makes you feel
seen and how do you imagine yourquality of life being.
And that's what MoncriefSprings documentary is about.
There's places that we go.
We were able to secureMartinique Lewis.
She's the host of Black TravelAcross America.

(23:30):
It's a documentary on DisneyPlus and we show her.
She's a Black travel advocate.
We show her all the historicallandmarks on the North side.
We take her to Holly's Barbecue, where Mr Holly engineered the
curlicue machine for the frenchfries to be curlicues.
We take her to the JP SmallsStadium where Hank Aaron played.

(23:51):
We take her to Newtown SuccessZone Farm, which is on the
campus of Florida's oldest HBCU,at Rewarders University.
And we're showing her thesehistorical landmarks to show
people through this documentarythat there are so many different
walks of life on the north sideand that the black culture is
rich, that the black history isrich and that the north side has

(24:14):
nice things and that there is amagic and a beauty in this
neighborhood that people havediscarded and written off, as
you know, the zip code with thehighest rate of crime, or the
zip code with the most poverty,or the zip code with the highest
rate of crime, or the zip codewith the most poverty or the zip
code with the most healthissues.
No, beyond that, there's beauty, there's culture and there's
people who are living withdignity.

Adela (24:34):
And that, right there, what you just said, the last
word, dignity.
That was the part where itreally hit me hard because, like
I said, two blocks over you cansee the white neighborhood
that's living with the dignitythat it needs.
And this is when, before, againin the early 2000s, when I
would just be going through intoany in the you know the teens
of thousands when we weren'treally putting the attention and

(24:56):
the value in some of thesecommunities and we have since
then, at least attempted to, atleast I'd like to believe so and
and the one defining moment forme was that there was a and I'm
not and I'm going to get itwrong, but there's a community
center or a hospice center, I'mnot sure.

(25:17):
It was a long time.
I've driven a couple of timespast it, but there was a elderly
gentleman sitting in front of abig tree and I could try it out
, but I can't remember the namesof any of the places but he sat
in front of a tree in hiswheelchair and it just there was
nothing else, like everything.
It just looked so torn down,you know, right, like just
everything.
And then he just sat there andI just pictured, imagine his

(25:39):
life Like he grew up in thatneighborhood.
He's seen it from itty bittyboy time to you know, to be
there and I, I and we, we didn't.
There was no dignity or valuelike to me, just didn't feel
like we.
It should have been a prettiertree, you know, or should have
been a mowed lawn.

(26:00):
It should have been thesemoments where the human who has
spent his life in the world andI think this isn't just for like
one community or that, but infor any human really who've
spent their life or who've gonethrough so much in their life
and come to an age, especiallyour elderly, come to an age
where they do get this dignityof of from us, right and service

(26:22):
from us, because we, we'recapable of that.
And that just hit me so hardbecause it made me think of my
grandfather or my grandmotherand humans in my life who again
are overseas or in places thatthey don't have what we have or
the opportunities we have here.
And it just really brought meto a place where, again, the
questions of and when we talkabout God and faith and again I

(26:44):
always talk about to each hisown, whatever you believe, but
to me when we talk about God andfaith.
It's those questions of whatservice are you as a human to
this planet?
Um, and for me, again, whatyou're doing and what we're
doing in these, just theseconversations, are huge service
starters in a huge way to bridgegaps of going like, hey, here's

(27:04):
these human beings and thedifferences of them, don't sure.
Yes, there's all these.
She's white, she's black, she'sfrom this, she's from that, but
there's two humans right nowhaving conversations who are
both on the same mission, sameon that.
How can we get humans involvedin that?
And I think art is that way ofwhat we're doing.
So I wanted to ask you how hasart influenced you, in your

(27:27):
perspective, in your way ofliving, in your and the way
you're making your decisionstoday?

Dana Michelle (27:34):
Yeah, I say this, that artists are the prophets
of our day.
I think that artists have aconnection to the divine, that
when they speak, when theyperform, when they make music,
when they write poetry, whenthey write books, when they
whatever it is when they createsomething divine, it's
translated from them to us, andI think that's why art is a

(27:58):
universal language.
Whether you're Bosnian, whetheryou're African American, no
matter where you come from, whenwe come before an art piece,
it's impacting both of us and wecan both understand it in our
own unique way.
And for me, as a filmmaker,that's my art form.
I feel like I'm able to usethis platform to have

(28:25):
conversations and to deliver amessage that will otherwise be
unheard.
And I think that filmmaking isthe most emotionally triggering
art form because it combines allthe art forms.
You have music, you have acting, you have lighting, you have
all these different aspects ofwhat make a movie so

(28:46):
entertaining, and then you canalso inspire people, people.
You can also educate and informpeople through film making.
Movies ain't cheap now you knowit's girl high level of
technical skill.
Um, and, definitely it requiresa lot of financial investment.
But I feel like, if you can doit right and and for me as an

(29:07):
independent filmmaker, you youknow, I'm imagining those days
when you know my prayer will beanswered and I'll get a bigger
budget to do that next levelproject.
But I feel like everybody hastheir lane and I'm trying to
walk my path and deliver themessage that I feel like God

(29:28):
gave me.
And deliver the message that Ifeel like God gave me.
And while this particularproject, montcrie Springs, came
to me because I wanted to talkabout a neighborhood and talk
about what I love about my partof town, the Northside, what I
love about my city, jacksonville, I think that the message is
deeper than this neighborhood,montcrie Springs.
It's really about culturalpride.

(29:50):
It's really about giving peopledignity.
I think that so many of theresidents on the north side have
had such bad labels slapped onthem.

Adela (30:03):
I'm here to take those labels off.
I'm here to take those labelsoff.
Any way I can help girl.

Dana Michelle (30:08):
I still have a grandmother who lives on Soutail
.
I remember when my othergrandmother grandmother my mom's
side lived in Magnolia Gardens,and the things that they say
about a neighborhood I neverexperienced.
I remember my grandmother hadeaster egg hunts in her front
yard.
I remember playing with the dogin the backyard, climbing trees
.
Um, so many happy memories, um,on the north side growing up,

(30:31):
and so my mission is to exposepeople to the beauty that I know
about and to raise awarenessabout all the what I call these,
these wonderful assets, theparks, the historical landmarks.
Like a lot of people don't evenknow, mount Eric Baptist Church
is on Myrtle Avenue.
That's the only location whereDr King gave a speech in

(30:51):
Jacksonville.
Wow, a lot of people talk aboutthe work he did when he went to
St Augustine and gave a speechand the demonstrations that they
did in St Augustine.
But he was in Jacksonville too.
I didn't know that.

Adela (31:03):
You know what?
Can I request a tour beforethis documentary comes out, so I
get to experience it too, andthen a tour before this
documentary comes out, so I getto experience it too.
And then, because there is, Ithink it would be I'm so again,
I'm so intrigued, I'm sointrigued, especially, we have a
lunch date we do.

Dana Michelle (31:21):
I will give you a tour and that's that's my,
that's my heart, girl, I wouldlove to show you around.
Went to Mount Eric BaptistChurch and I believe Reverend
Dallas Graham was pastoring thenand he was hosted by our former
city councilwoman, marySingleton and her husband.
Mary Singleton was one of thefirst black female city council

(31:43):
persons for Jacksonville.
They hosted Dr King and hedelivered a speech called A
Great Time to Be Alive.
That was in the 60s, right herein Jacksonville on Myrtle
Avenue.
So when you think about civilrights history, you got to make
sure you add Jacksonville to theconversation.
The Negro Leagues first of all.
When you think about baseball,nothing says American culture

(32:05):
like baseball.
People think apple pie and theythink baseball.
Right, jacksonville has a richhistory when it comes to
baseball.
So black history Hank Aaron,the top performing baseball
player of our time, started inJacksonville.
He played at the JP SmallsStadium back when it was called

(32:27):
the Durkee Stadium.
But in addition to that the MLBwould have training camps and
Babe Ruth came and played atthat same stadium.
Jackie Robinson played at thatstadium.
Satchel Paige played at thatstadium.
So when you think aboutbaseball and you think about all
the top MLB players in ourcountry.
Jacksonville got to be a partof the conversation, and so I'm

(32:51):
working with-.

Adela (32:52):
What a bad rep do we get man for not Girl?

Dana Michelle (32:56):
I Somebody got to tell the story.
I'm working with our tourismbureau and I'm also working with
Parks and Rec and I'm shoutingabout and calling about it at
the same time, because thishistory is very obvious, it's
documented, there's photographs,there's museums and our city
has to do better aboutamplifying those stories.
For some reason, whenJacksonville, when our city

(33:19):
talks about its historicneighborhoods, it talks about
San Marco, it talks aboutRiverside, avondale, ortega, as
these historic, rich culturalcenters Some of Jacksonville's
oldest communities are, as thesehistoric, rich cultural centers
Some of Jacksonville's oldestcommunities are the black
community.

Adela (33:34):
And they're in the north side.
Yes, they're in the north side.

Dana Michelle (33:38):
Moncrief predates Jacksonville.
When the great fire in 1901 washappening, moncrief was thriving
.
There was a horse racing trackout here, there was this club
and this especially Vinsvilleyou call it the two spot.
All of that was thriving.
When Jacksonville was burning,eartha White had a land that she

(33:58):
was leasing out to blackfarmers so that they could have
a life and have a business.
Abraham Lincoln, lewis had agolf course out on the north
side.
So all these communities thatweren't properly a part of the
city limits, they were a part ofJacksonville, but when the city
was burning down in 1901,montcrieff Park was thriving.
And so we have to identify andacknowledge the contributions of

(34:23):
Black people who were startingcommunities on the north side,
even the porters, the Black menwho worked on the train that
started Newtown durkyville,which was like the black middle
class, where you had pastors,doctors, teachers living there.
Um, ducote bank was the firstblack credit union on myrtle
avenue, because black folks weregetting discriminated against,

(34:44):
that banks couldn't get loans,couldn't get banking accounts
because it was Jim Crow, and soMr Kirkland opened up Dakota
Bank, him and his wife, so thatblack folks can have bank
accounts and get financialservices.
So this is all documented.
This is a very well-knownhistory, but our city has to do

(35:08):
a better job about amplifyingthat and showing both sides of
Jacksonville.
They show the white side.
They show the beaches.
City has to do a better jobabout amplifying that and
showing both sides ofJacksonville.
They show the white side.

Adela (35:11):
They show the beaches.

Dana Michelle (35:12):
Yes, they show downtown, but they need to come
to the north side and reallyunderstand what makes
Jacksonville unique and that'sthe black history.

Adela (35:20):
It is because the, it is because the and here's what just
hit me the lack of education,the lack of proper education in
our system.
Uh, that includes black, thetrue black history, right, not
what, what we decided was forthat, but the true black history
and and it just hit me thatwe've had so much representation

(35:41):
of all of our accomplishmentsis our, you know, white folks,
light folks, whatever you wantto call it.
We've had our Neil Armstrong'sand all these big old names,
right, but when you just talkabout what you just said, well,
and again, I'm not from here,you guys, I'm learning about
everything.
So this is me taking a historylesson and coming to conclusions
.
So, if you know more than me,educate me and educate yourself.

(36:03):
But this is part of theconversation.
It made me realize that, again,when I came here, I didn't have
the education, I didn't havethe knowledge right, and so
everything that was given to meand my perception was that these
were the parts of that.
That's why you know, you don'tgo to Northside.
But again, I'm a curious being,I go, and so me, having the
experience that I've already hadin life, like a human, has

(36:24):
already tried to take my lifeand try to paint my perception
of what I should be, shouldthink and how I should live and
what I should do, and all thatstuff for anybody else to do
that for me, even here inAmerica.
This is the part of our freewill and thinking and the
privilege we truly have inAmerica is to have these
conversations and to have thislevel of ability to change our
mind.
However, if we don't give theequal, when we're talking about

(36:47):
equity, true equity it comes ineducational form, because the
lack of education and the lackof knowledge like even for me
again, the lack of what you justsaid, the, the how Moncrief was
thriving, how in, while we'reburning, right while
Jacksonville things we're nothaving, but yet no, again, I'm
not saying no one knows aboutthat, don't you know?

(37:09):
Correct me if I'm wrong, but noone knows about that.
Like we're not amplifying thatin the conversation to say hey,
because then it also doesn'tgive our young children an
opportunity to have someone tolook up to.
We take away that opportunityfrom having someone to look up
to.
It's not hand me out anything,it's let me show you also while
all this was happening, while wewere pitted against everything,

(37:32):
there were people and humanswho were thriving, you know, so
that the people, young blackchildren, had somebody to look
up to, right Like.
This is just really the truthof what was.
When we talk about educationand again correct me if I'm
completely wrong in my thinking,but I think when we talk about
what, the equity part of life,it's the education mostly that

(37:53):
we're lacking and we don't getthat.

Dana Michelle (37:56):
They don't get the fair play of knowing who the
true humans were, who made whenit comes to education, the
material and the textbook is notwhere it stops, right, you have
, you have to give children, andI'm a mom of three.
I have three boys 15, eight andfour.
You have to give them somethingthat they can relate to and

(38:17):
that they can connect with, andI always say you have to give
them.
You know, real world history,what's happening in their
backyards, and so, while wecould sit our kids down and talk
to them about American history,talk to them about the founding
fathers talk to them about allthe things that happened in
America.
we have to make a connection tosay how was that influenced by

(38:41):
what's happening in your owncity?
Yes, a minute ago you justmentioned that part of American
history is Neil Armstrong.
We think about NASA.
We have history about space andNASA right here in Jacksonville
.
Yes, alton Yates lives on thenorth side in the Rewald Scenic

(39:01):
Area.
He was in the Air Force and hewas a part of a study in the 50s
to test out G-Force.
Now you can learn about thishistory by visiting the
durkyville historical society onmoncrieff road.
But I'm gonna give you a littlesnippet of this black history
right here.
So the, the small group of airforce volunteers, were um in a

(39:25):
test to determine the effects ofhigh speeds on the body, and
there's a picture at theDurkheville Museum where Mr
Yates is in what looks like asled and he's strapped in and
his hands across his chest likethis and what he's doing is
different trials at 600 milesper hour to test G-force.

(39:46):
And he does that like hundredsof times, testing the G-force on
his body to determine if spacetravel was safe for humans.
Alton Yates from Jacksonville,florida, still living here today
and he was also featured onStoryCorps.
His daughter submitted thisstory to StoryCorps.
But he's from Jacksonville andhis wife, gwendolyn Yates, was a

(40:08):
part of city council.
From Jacksonville and his wife,gwendolyn Yates, was a part of
city council.
And so when you think aboutagain, yes, what kind of
education we're giving ourchildren, yes, you gotta tell
them the history that's in theirown backyard.
So when you think about NASA,when you think about space
science and space travel, Ithink Kirby Smith, formerly
Kirby Smith of SpringfieldMiddle School, now had the Space

(40:30):
Center Alton Yates.
That's the connection to thehistory.
Alton Yates tested, uh,volunteered for nasa to test
g-force.

Adela (40:42):
there you go that's beautiful and see, those are the
things that we don't know, likewe really don't know those
things.
Those are not part of oureducation.
Part of that because, again,either we're not willing to
which is really part of thetruth we're not, on an
independent, individual level,willing to go out of our own
comfort zones to haveconversations that may make us
uncomfortable or may we may notunderstand, because we don't
want to be perceived as comingoff in some type of way.

(41:04):
But if you're coming in withgenuine curiosity, me girl
that's me too.
I'm like you can.
I said.
That's why I was like perceivedI don't know, I'm I.
I would rather say I don't know.
And and then to think I knowand think again who am I not
judge, jury executioner?
There's only one, and it's notme.
And who am I to question?

Dana Michelle (41:25):
that's why I'm really impressed by your
platform and what you createdhere.
And since we met in June, I'vebeen watching you and and
looking, you know, at your, your, your social account, and I'm
just really impressed thatyou're you're sharing this space
with people like myself,because I think you have the
bravery and the courageousnessto go out and tell the story

(41:48):
unapologetically.
And when I think of you, Ithink of Congressman John Lewis.
He says you know, it's okay toget into good trouble.
The good trouble is what we'relooking for.
And if somebody you know wantto hate on us, don't like us,
want to, you know, don't give usa seat at the table, that's all
right, because we make our owntable and bring a folding chair
and number two, when you thinkabout who's not doing these

(42:12):
things, that's the wrong mindsetto have.
We can't wait on somebody tosave us.
We can't wait on somebody tofeed us.
We can't wait on somebody toteach us.
We can't wait on somebody togive us a job.
We have wait on somebody toteach us.
We can't wait on somebody togive us a job.
We have to create the spaceourselves.
And I think that's what you'redoing on this platform, because
there are people who know, thereare people who are telling the
story.
I think about Rodney Hurst.

(42:32):
He's a local author, civilrights activist, former city
councilman, and he has severalbooks that talks about
Jacksonville's Black history andone quote that I love from him.
He said if we don't tell it,nobody will.
And so he has empowered me, andI think he's empowered a lot of
black folks, a lot of whitefolks, to say, hey, we cannot

(42:53):
wait for somebody to give uspermission to tell our story,
because I'm not telling my story, I'm telling the story of a
whole city, of a wholeneighborhood, of a whole
community of people.
And when we speak together, ourvoices are louder, and so we
have to have one over here, oneover here in unison, telling

(43:13):
these stories, spreading thesemessages about how great
contributions Black folks havegiven in Jacksonville.

Adela (43:22):
I look at it as I tell people all the time.
I still use the word peoplebecause I'm redefining my
narrative, just because it'seasier for the whole social
construct.
My goal is to redefine it intohuman.
If we're not having a humanconversation, I don't want to
have the conversation.
That's literally my motto.
That's literally the rule.
If it's not a humanconversation, I don't want to

(43:45):
have it.
Because the moment the attacksstart coming on anything other
than the human, which the humanstruggles, the human feels, the
human lives, the human loves,the human makes mistakes.
The human is here to learn, thehuman is all.
The human is that.
And the moment you start sayingthis one particular group or

(44:06):
this one particular type or thisone typical thing, you start
judging and becoming somethingholier-than-thou than you are
and you're not.
And once I realized that that'show we were judging ourselves,
like the, the dysfunctions thatwe were creating, I was like no,
I literally on my resumes, puthumans.
I work with humans and you know, people around me will tell me,

(44:26):
even my husband people, becausethey're still in this character
and I love them dearly.
But they're still in thischaracter.
And people is derived frompersona, from characters, and
it's for us to be able to put onthis mask and say, well, hello,
I'm going to be good.
So you perceive me good, notthat I'm actually good and I
don't want that my whole life isabout.

(44:48):
I want to challenge thenarrative because where I come
from, we aren't allowed to havea narrative of conversation in
any shape or form, and me beingin America gives me that
privilege.
It's not my white privilege,it's not the black privilege,
it's not the Hispanic Asian,it's the privilege to have a

(45:08):
conversation and not get shotfor it.
It's the privilege to come intothis and say I'm going to host
something that we all disagreewith or we all agree with or we
all like or dislike, whatever itis that you want to do as an
individual here in the UnitedStates of America, and we're
going to fight about what welook like and what we wear.

(45:29):
And you know I don't, and to methat concept is so I don't
understand it.
So I think I'm trying to figurethat out, because what I know,
you know the deeper levels ofhumans, actions and what they're
trying to do, and how, howmalicious people can actually be
, you know, versus also how goodand kind humans can be.

(45:49):
I mean, I look at it this waywho am I to judge a human period
, whether they're malicious orgood or not?
Because the same man who put agun to my head, the same man who
put me in prison, the same manwho tortured me, is the same man
who saved my life, literally.
So who am I to judge who theyare in their soul and conscious?
But I'm also here to have theseconversations of truth, which
is what saved my life, right?

(46:10):
So how can we not like what isso afraid of us to come sit and
have these conversations and tolearn about each other and to
understand where we come fromand to go wow, you've had a
rough, like holy shit.
Maybe we should have aconversation.
How about?
Maybe we can make it easier forour kids, because we know it's
not going to change overnight.
We know we can't, but we can atleast have a conversation.

(46:32):
How we can start?
Well, it starts with actingright every day.
It starts with with takingresponsibility and
accountability of the self everyday.
And are you acting right?
You know, when you go out today, are you and this isn't about
checking yourself in some formor way for biases, for anything,
it's just are you being a goodhuman being?
Are you being in service tohumanity?
Are you treating people?
You know and not.

(46:53):
Again, I'm working on my people, but are you treating humans?
If you're a human, you won'tsee people.
You will see a human and you'retreating human as a human and
seeing them for all they are andwhat all they could be, and
what are you doing to help right?
Um and so for me, I've had thoseconversations with myself and
with god plenty of times andit's just always comes back into
you are here to serve mychildren and my children are

(47:16):
humans and that's it, period.
And so if you're not serving mychildren, you're not serving me
.
And to me again, when we havethis disconnection of,
especially with race, which Ithink is just, I understand
again, I understand the historyof why and where and all that,
but here now we need to have aconversation of it's part of our

(47:38):
history.
We're part of this conversationand Black people need to be a
part of the conversation intheir culture on the same scale
as all of the other history, andwe shouldn't be, we shouldn't
be devaluing the accomplishmentsagain of humans.
We've had to like face against,like jim, again, I wasn't here.

(48:01):
I don't know.
All I know is the stories.
So I can't personally evenspeak on any experience.
But how could again the storieswhen I hear them, how can you
still, even with that, be goingI'm going to succeed and I'm
going to make my family say, andI'm going to do this, and I'm
going to be that like thesehumans put that in, just like
those who were in prison goinglike I'm going to fight for your

(48:21):
life.

Dana Michelle (48:22):
So well you.
You are bringing up a reallyinteresting concept, because, as
a black woman, there's thisdichotomy that you know you show
up in the world and you want tobe embraced and embrace others,
but I can't mute my blacknessfor the sake of achieving that

(48:47):
right.
And I wasn't here during JimCrow either, but my grandparents
were yeah, they're 86, 87, andmy other grandmother 77, and so
those stories have been passeddown, just like, I'm sure, in
your family.
They have passed down theirlived experiences to you and
while you didn't live them inreal time, when you're in your

(49:08):
household and they warn youabout you know certain places,
or they tell you to behave acertain kind of way, that
instruction is informed by theirlived experiences.
Right, and so I think about youknow, my mom raised me and
always taught me that you know,when you go into a room you have
to be two times better, becausepeople will see your blackness

(49:30):
before they see how smart youare.
They will see your blacknessbefore they hear how creative
you are and how well youarticulate and communicate with
others.
They see a black face first.
And so, while I learned thatlesson, I also have to know when
and when, not to kind of disarmthat, because it's not always

(49:51):
about my blackness, right, and Ialso use principles from my
faith.
I grew up in anon-denominational evangelical
church and it teaches that youwant to live harmonious with
people.
You want to, you know, takecare of the orphan, take care of
the widow, visit the prison.
It don't say visit a blackprison.
It don't say take care of theblack widow, take care of the

(50:13):
black orphan.
It say take care of the widow,take care of the orphan.
And so there are.
It's a duality for me that whenI engage people that I do show
up with my blackness and I'malways gonna go anything black,
I'm trying to support it.
Anything that's going to elevateand and improve the black

(50:35):
community I'm here for.
But at the same time, look atalliances for people who are
outside of the black communityHispanic, latino, latino, asian,
whatever because we arestronger together than we are
apart.
And even in our uniqueexperiences.
I really struggle whensometimes people want me to
abandon my race for the sake ofcommonality, when my race allows

(51:01):
me to bring unique perspectiveright and so my unique
perspective as a Black womanactually adds to the
conversation and so I try tomake sure that I balance that
and it can be challenging when Icome into a conversation, when
I come into an organization,when I come into a project that

(51:22):
I don't mute my blackness, thatI do understand that, hey, we
could come and form an alliance,we could come and form a
coalition of a diverse group ofpeople, but we don't have to
mute our unique experiences.
To work together, you bringeverything that makes you
whether you gay, straight, black, white, jew, muslim, christian,
female, male, trans, whateverbring all that to the table,

(51:45):
because that unique perspectiveyou have is what's going to help
us achieve harmony and help usmake our communities better.

Adela (51:53):
I was going to say you just reminded me of another
lesson I learned.
I know we only have a few moreminutes left, but I wanted to
share it with you because Ithink what you just said is so
important it leads back intoagain.
Go back to all of those uniquethings you just listed and
adjectives you've listed forhumans.
That's what makes you unique asa human being.
But, as you said, when we cometo the table, we come to the

(52:14):
table as humans first, and,coming in and going, let's see
each other as humans and thenlet's see each other as these
diverse humans who have theseamazing skills and different
perspectives and differentexperiences, because every
single human being is differentin their experience.
Because and I say this, this umI'm going to talk about this on

(52:37):
another podcast, but I uh, youmay not be able to see it here,
but I had a tattoo and I think Ishowed it to you a little bit
when we were there.
It's an, it's an eye, and when Istarted the nonprofit, it was I
.
Again, I said I didn't havewords to speak, I was so
confused, I was so lost abouteverything and I just, I really
just wanted people to see theworld through my eyes.

(52:57):
That's what it started as right.
So I got the eye tattoo,started the whole eye project,
everything.
And two years later, what mademe really really again going
into experiences, going intoexperience different places and
different spaces, what made merealize is that, again, no one
will ever experience the worldthrough your eyes.
No one can ever experience itthrough my eyes.

(53:18):
But what makes it even moreunique is when we come into
where we really have to have thehonest conversation is that,
like you mentioned, you can'ttake away who you are and what
your skin color is.
You are a black human being andyou are a beautiful human being
.
Um, part of that is that I, asa human being who's white, who's

(53:38):
lived in that life and who'sunderstood just that part of her
culture, her whole way through,whatever that is, from one end
of the sea to another, it's thatblanket of that, whether that's
different experience, it's justthat blanket.
I'll never, ever, ever, ever,ever, ever be able to understand
.
No matter how much I can sayI'm a female and I support

(53:58):
everything female, I will neverunderstand what it's like to be
a woman of color and to seethrough her eyes of any color
shades.
I will never, because theexperiences and the
conversations would have neverbeen the same, and I think
that's good to understand andacknowledge for yourself.

Dana Michelle (54:18):
It is Because I don't think any particular
individual is asking you tounderstand them, right, they
need knowledge.
Thank you, and that's it.
Sometimes it gets complicatedwhen you're trying to understand
me.
I can't and I can't keepsending energy trying to explain
it to you Trying to make meRight.

(54:38):
Just support, that's right.
That's what and I'm thinkingabout in my devotion time this
morning I was reading and justkind of meditating within myself
and God was like stop lookingat your neighbor when I'm trying
to give you greater, because ifyou look at your neighbor and
say, oh, I want what they got,they may be the cap on what God

(54:58):
trying to give you.
That's more than that.
And so I always look at youknow the work I do, you know is
many different ways to do it.
I'm talking about, you know,community organizing and
coordinating events anddifferent programs, and there's
a lot of ways to do it.
And I think about some people Ireally admire, like Yaya and I

(55:19):
saw a post of her kicking offHispanic Heritage Month and I
love what she's doing.

Adela (55:25):
I've met her a couple of times and I can't wait to have a
conversation with her either.

Dana Michelle (55:29):
She's good she got to be next on your podcast,
but she shows up and she givesyou both.
She gives you all the Latinoflavor.
She's a proud Puerto Rican mama.
She's giving you all the Latinoflavor and I've never seen in
Jackson where somebody will comeat you in dos idiomas give you
both languages and when sheposts and when she's out in the

(55:49):
community, she's giving it toyou in Spanish and she's giving
it to you in English.
And I was admiring that.
I was like, oh my God, I justlove her and I'm clapping for
her.
But then I saw in my own heart,like don't do that comparison
thing.
No, yeah, and it's like godgives you your lane, your unique
quality, your unique ability,your assignment and so clap for
people in their uniqueassignment and then embrace and

(56:12):
clap for yourself for your ownunique assignment.
It's not gonna look the same,nope, it's not gonna get the
same results, but just know thatit was uniquely and divinely
given to you by god to do it inyour own way.
And as you were preparing methis morning and you started
your podcast, you was like it'sjust me.
I'm producing, I'm hosting, I'mdoing sound, I'm doing all this
.
I'm like that's your uniqueassignment.
Nobody else can do it like you.

(56:32):
And so I'm just clapping foryou too, because I'm like look
at what this girl got going onwith this whole platform, with
this whole nonprofit, with thiswhole.
You know creative expressionwith you know how you speak
about others and speak aboutyour own journey and I'm like
that's awesome and I'm so gladthat you own it as it is for you
, it can't be like nobody elseand in the season that you're in

(56:54):
, it's going to continue toserve the way it's serving.
And then, when God bless, andyou level up and you get that
second, third and fourth teammember girl, who's going to be
able to stop you?
Who's going to?

Adela (57:04):
stop you, boo.
And to me you just pointed outand that's where I go.
That was the lesson that Ilearned.
It was like when I had thatconversation with another human
that told me that and I reallywas trying to understand and I
looked her dead in the face.
I was like I'll neverunderstand it.
That in the face, I was likeI'll never understand it.
And it made me just realize thatthat's okay, because then I'm

(57:28):
not me, I'm not forcing you totry to convince me of something
and I'm not trying to convincemyself of something.
All I'm doing is askingquestions and getting
information and then processingit and then putting it into
where it needs to be.
And it doesn't feel souncomfortable then or feel so
forced or feel so like just tohave conversation.
I'm like I don't know and Iwill never know, and that's okay
.
I'm not supposed to know.
That's not where I'm here for,that's not what we were made for

(57:48):
.
But that's literally the point.
But you're creating space, butthat's literally the point that
we get to.
What are we doing?
Right, and it's, but what arewe doing for?
Again, it goes back to mymission is to create space for
all humans of all types ofshapes and forms.
And but again, what interests memore are the stories of humans
that touch me personally and theway that they see and the way
that they expand their energiesand and the way that they love

(58:12):
and have compassion and kindnessand are willing to stand for
what they believe, regardless ofwhat anybody else says.
And then that gives me courageagain to do this and to share
and to stand on what I believeand to push forward and to
support again and create theseplatforms where we support and
have.
These conversations are soimportant.
And I look at again I have gotchildren who are black, I have

(58:33):
family members and nieces andall of this, and so when I go to
places and I wonder I don'thave to have these conversations
or thoughts, and then yet theydo, or I don't have, or
Hispanics, you know, or evenAsian, like if you don't look
like me, you have differentconversations that you're having
to think about in yourconferences, and so for me it
was just like, well, if I didn'thave to, I might as well learn
about it and I might as wellcreate platforms where we learn

(58:55):
about different humans indifferent ways and you know what
really pressed about connectingwith you.

Dana Michelle (59:00):
Sometimes you don't have to say a word, it's
just your presence, and when youshowed up at my event, your
presence spoke before you everopened your mouth, and I think
that that allows us to tap intoour divine abilities to connect
with people Before you even saya word.
They feel you, they sense you,they discern that you're there

(59:22):
for a good intention, and that'swhat I think kind of magnetized
us and drew us to each other.
Your presence alone was verypowerful.
And so I think, for people whodo the work that you do
connecting people, being abridge that just showing up is
supporting, just showing up isadvocating for people, and while

(59:46):
you may not have the words toarticulate why you support, how
you support your presence, yesis a support, and that's what
again, when we talk aboutgetting into these conversations
of just that humanity level,the presence of human beings, we
need to understand, we need tosupport each other, period and a
discussion, and we need to bethere for that.
Um, we could go on forever, butI know I'm gonna need you to be

(01:00:08):
there for the montcree springspremiere.

Adela (01:00:09):
Of course, just give me girl give me the, give me the
details as soon as possible.
You, as soon as you find themout, I will be there and now and
then we're gonna have to doanother one after that too,
after the premiere, and eventhrough this process.

Dana Michelle (01:00:21):
Like I said, after we'll do a couple of them,
because you want to do a liveremote girl, we're gonna do a
live girl, we're already.

Adela (01:00:30):
I'm already.
I've already been planningstuff.
I'm like my whole next step,like my whole episode, has been
planned on when we do our thingtogether.
I'm already on it yes, ma'am,because we're gonna make it.
This bit again, we're gonnamake it.
I'm learning, and to me, asadela is going through this
process of learning, just how tobe human.
It's, that's what it is for me,and we can't uh, we can't.

(01:00:51):
We can't do anything unless weshow up, like you said, and 99%
of the the actual effort isshowing up is actually showing
up for anything.
Um, so let's end this off,because I know you have to go.
So please let everybody knowwhere they can find you, where
they can find information amonggreen spritz, the documentary,
and what they can do to supportyou in creating this.

(01:01:12):
And and then, if there's amessage of inspiration or
motivation, I hope you want toleave our listeners with.
That would be great.

Dana Michelle (01:01:21):
So I want y'all to help me reach a thousand
followers on Facebook andInstagram.
That is my mission right now.
You could find Moncrief Springsunderscore the movie on
Instagram and you could findMoncrief Springs on Facebook,
just like that.
Moncrief Springs underscore themovie on Instagram.

(01:01:41):
Moncrief Springs on FacebookLike, follow, share.
We are still fundraising tohelp us finish the film.
So if you can give $20, $50,those of y'all who got rich
uncles or work for these bigcorporations $5,000, $10,000,
$20,000.
We want to get this money sothat we can finish the film.

(01:02:03):
And when you give to MoncriefSprings, you're supporting local
artists.
Everybody on my crew is local.
Shout out to Jack's Film Lab,moncrief Springs Production
Company, kyle and Marquita Doral.
Shout out to Trey Ford withBlack Films Matter.
Shout out to Travel LightTravel Light Productions.
He is our composer.

(01:02:23):
This is the first time Iannounced that.
I didn't announce yet that hewas going to be the composer for
the film.
Travelite is working on it andI'm just really thankful for our
host, martinique Lewis, who isthe creator of ABC Travel Green
Book, and Yoli of Explore Jack'sCore, the only black tourism
company in Jacksonville, and soI want you to help us tell this

(01:02:47):
story.
It's an incredible, beautifulstory about the Kigalagichi
culture in Jacksonville and allthe wonderful historical
cultural landmarks on the Northside.
I will be at Art Walk in October, so if you are going to come
find my table and get you aMontcrie Springs t-shirt, I'm

(01:03:08):
also going to be dropping theNorthside Pride t-shirts, and so
I want y'all, whether you liveon the Northside or not, I need
y'all to help me raise awarenessabout all the things we love
about the Northside by gettingthe Northside Pride t-shirt.
And then I am also going to besupporting the Simon Johnson
Community Association, and sothey will be having an event as

(01:03:31):
well.
So you can find me on socialmedia to connect at any of those
events and come find me acrossthe city, but specifically on
the Northside.
And the last thing I'll say isI did a hike in Durkeyville.
It was an urban hike, and Ipartnered with the Northeast
Florida Sierra Club, and I'mgoing to continue to do

(01:03:52):
activations on North side parksand in Durkeyville, and so I
would love y'all just ask mequestions about what can we do
on the North side.
Things to do, places to eat,places to explore, eat shop,
explore the North side everyweekend, every day, anytime you
have a spare moment.
There's amazing destinationsand places where you can really

(01:04:14):
find some interesting hangoutspots in Jacksonville, on the
North side, so that's where youcan find me.
That's what I'm doing.
Thank you, adela, for giving mespace to share that, and I hope
that we can reach that 1000followers.

Adela (01:04:34):
I'm relying on y'all to help us get to our goal.
Awesome, and what would youlike to leave our listeners with
?
What kind of message ofinspiration?

Dana Michelle (01:04:43):
or hope, or motivation, or just a Dana
saying motivation, or just adana saying north side pride
baby north side pride all day.

Adela (01:04:50):
Yes, ma'am, do well, west side, north side, all day long,
let's go see collaborating,bridging the gaps, putting it
together.
We're neighbors, girl, we'reneighbors like.
Yeah right, we're literally,we're neighbors.

Dana Michelle (01:05:02):
Yes, right, we're literally next door.
Yes, and we're going to do atour.
I'm going to give you a VIPtour, okay.

Adela (01:05:08):
I can't wait, I can't wait and I can't wait to share
it Experience.
I can't wait to share it andwe're going to go eat at Holly's
.

Dana Michelle (01:05:15):
I don't know if you're vegan or something like
that, but we got to get wingsthat.

Adela (01:05:25):
But we got to get wings and I like food.
I like food.
Okay, I mean, I am picky, butlike I like food.

Dana Michelle (01:05:28):
I am picky but I like food.
So you know it's good for thebody, but I'm not right, I'm not
, I'm not.

Adela (01:05:31):
You know, to each his own , but I'm not so you'll be fine.

Dana Michelle (01:05:35):
It's good for the body.
Oh yeah, oh, I will and then,yes, we probably uh stop into
cafe resistance and go check outsome band books and just have a
good time.
Just a good time on the North.

Adela (01:05:45):
Side.
I can't wait.
I can't wait.
Thank you so much, dana.
I so appreciate you.
I appreciate your time, Iappreciate your energy, I
appreciate your education and Iappreciate your sincerity in
just accepting this conversation.
And again, we're here to bridgethe gap conversation.
And again we're here to bridgethe gap.
We're here to communicate andeducate and inform and advocate

(01:06:07):
for human beings and for theirindependent living and for their
dignity as well, because Ithink that's an extremely
important I'm going to use thatword quite a bit now because it
really reminded me of that andthat's part of something we've
lost is the dignity of ourselvesand the dignity for others, and
so, and so let's work on that.
Let's enjoy that.
Please follow us all, pleasefollow Project Human, follow

(01:06:28):
Dana, michelle and all of herendeavors, and we'll have
everything linked under ourdescription on our YouTube
channel.
If you're not a subscriber,please hit that subscribe button
.
We would love to have you.
We're reaching over 120 now.
We're getting there.
I'm so excited.
So please subscribe to thechannel, please like and follow

(01:06:49):
the podcast, and you can listento this on any of your streaming
platforms.
We appreciate you and untilnext time, my loves.
We will see you later.