June 17, 2025 • 56 mins
This week on The Equity Hour, Dr. Tami Dean sits down with filmmaker, educator, and community builder LeTerrian Officer-McIntosh (LT) for a conversation that spans Hollywood film sets, youth empowerment, and educational justice.
LT, whose film credits include Black Panther and Spider-Man: Homecoming, shares her incredible journey from navigating inequitable school systems as a student to becoming the founder of Outlast Arts & Education, a nonprofit bringing media literacy and filmmaking opportunities to Native youth on Pine Ridge Reservation and beyond.
🔍 In this episode, we discuss:
- How LT’s lived experiences shaped her equity lens and creative voice
- The transformational power of storytelling and representation in film and education
- Building Outlast from a spontaneous idea into a decade-long community-rooted initiative
- Why real equity work means showing up, making mistakes, staying accountable—and not quitting
- The lessons educators and leaders can learn from culturally responsive teaching and creative risk-taking
Whether you're an educator, artist, advocate, or parent, this episode is a reminder that everyone has a role in building more equitable futures—and that sometimes, all it takes is one “yes” to change everything.
Tune in for inspiration, practical wisdom, and a whole lot of heart.
 Support Outlast: https://www.outlastartsedu.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tami (00:08):
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of
the Equity Hour with your hostDr.
Tami.
And my guest this week isLeTerrian Officer-McIntosh.
I am so excited to have LT withus.
LT is a graduate of theUniversity of Southern
California School of CinematicArts, where she earned her BA in
(00:30):
film, in television production,and holds an MS in education
from Johns Hopkins University.
She has worked on several majorHollywood productions.
You know, wait for this, y'all.
Including Marvel's BlackPanther.
Woo woo.
Uh, HBO's True Detective.
Okay, that's one of my personalfaves, just so you know.
(00:50):
Um, Showtime's Kidding.
Season two and Promising YoungWoman.
She is the founder of OutlastArts and Education, a 5 0 1 C3
organization that celebrates,empowers and helps advance
native youth in South Dakotathrough media arts, education,
and community building.
Community building.
Through this work and beyond, LTfrequently collaborates with
(01:11):
Bipoc youth to create meaningfulpathways towards
self-determination, economicfreedom, and creative
expression.
Look, girl, you're doing all thethings.
When she's not working, she'sout.
Woman, after my own heart, sheloves to travel and spend time
with her.
Two dogs and a cat.
Y'all know I have three cats andtravel is the game.
(01:31):
So welcome to the show, lt.
LT (01:33):
Thank you! I'm so happy to be here..
Tami (01:36):
Yes.
Woo woo.
Okay.
Okay, so I'm sure people heardlike the, the, to me, like the
juxtaposition of like BlackPanther and South Dakota and,
and they're like, what ishappening?
So.
I can't wait to for you to tellthe story of how that happened.
(01:58):
I do wanna start and, and maybethis will help us get to how you
ended up in both of thosedifferent spaces that may seem
different but probably aren't asdifferent as we think.
Um, but as you know, I like eachof my guests to talk about their
equity journey, how you kind ofgot into this work.
I'm just gonna turn it over toyou, like tell us about
yourself.
LT (02:19):
Yeah, I guess to, um, really answer that question, I have to
take it way back.
So growing up I lived between mygrandparents' home, in a very
upper class, upper middle classarea.
With my mother who would know,would've been considered living
in a low income area.
And I can talk about later, Idon't like that term, but, Going
to school in both locations kindof just opened up a whole new
(02:41):
understanding, particularlyaround the fact that I wasn't
getting the same education inboth places.
Um, Yeah.
and so when I would be with mymother and going to school, I
just remember, you know,classroom would be over-crowded.
There'd be times where like, youknow, we may not all have a seat
or, you know, the, the otherseats were available were,
broken down.
We didn't have enough textbooks,so we're partnered up.
(03:04):
And the teachers were obviouslyoverwhelmed.
There's 32 of us in this room.
We're all dealing with a variousset of different life
circumstances.
Um.
That probably know, reallyimpacted just what we were able
to accomplish in school becausewe had all these other things
going on.
then my grandparents and theyhad orchestra and band and they
had restaurants within thecafeteria and you know,
(03:27):
everyone's parents are pickingthem up and these nice cars and
we've got all these clubs andopportunities.
And I was like, no, wait aminute.
Tami (03:35):
Like one of these things is not like the other.
LT (03:39):
You know, with my grandparents, it wasn't private
school.
It was just school and my mom,it was just school.
And so.
Around sixth grade, and that'swhen I, um, started going to
school over at my grandparents'house is when I realized that
there was a major difference andthe difference.
And, and you know, when you're,when you're your child, you're
not, you don't understand all ofthese big historical things all
(04:02):
different factors.
I said, this is the black schooland over here where all the kids
look like me.
We're not actually learningvery, very much.
And the, the lunch is actuallynot very good.
Teachers are overwhelmed and wedon't have books.
And over here I have the time ofmy life in the sense of like all
the resources are there, butthen I also felt like I didn't
belong right.
(04:23):
Oh I was supposed to be in thisspace.
Um, I.
And so I didn't know, know howto make very much meaning out of
that at the time in that, again,like I didn't understand all the
context.
I just knew as a child, I said,well then I need to be over here
at the white school, right?
Because that's school that willgive me the opportunities.
I knew I wanted to go tocollege.
(04:44):
Um, I didn't know what for, butI, you know, I said, it seems
like the only way I'm going toget to where I wanna be in life
is this proximity to these whitekids, right?
I spent a lot of time, Iremember when I moved back to my
mom's house and I went to, aschool in the neighborhood, my
that, and it was my freshmanyear of high school.
I was like, absolutely not.
You know, I need to find anotherschool.
(05:04):
I called the district and IGoogled something online and I
said, I'm, I have a right to agood education.
That's what I told him.
I didn't know what that meantor.
I love this.
You're like, even sure what I'msaying, but I know.
You know, we all have a right toeducation.
And I said, and I'm not gettingthe one that I'm supposed to get
over here.
Um, and so I kept calling.
(05:26):
I kept calling and I houndedthem and they said, okay, we'll
put you in this busing program.
And, uh, or not a busingprogram, they said they, they
had some program where, youknow, if your school that you
were assigned to was failing orbelow a certain level, you could
go to another school
Tami (05:40):
Like a school of choice or something like that.
LT (05:43):
yeah, like you can pick, they have like a few options and
you could.
One.
Um, but you had to get yourselfthere.
So I started, I was living in,we were in Atlanta at the time
and they would, I'd have to takethe MARTA from where we were and
it took me about two and a halfhours to get to school every
day.
And then at some point, youknow, we moved again and I ended
(06:04):
up at this school and they hadthis program called the, the IB
program.
I had no idea what it meant.
But you know, it, it registeredto me that this was an advanced
program.
And so I, I showed up in the IBoffice and I said, I'm supposed
to be in this program, so youneed to enroll me.
But I didn't have any testscores.
They didn't, my, it hadn'ttransferred over yet.
(06:25):
And they're like, oh, I don'tknow if you're supposed, and I'm
like, no, I'm supposed to be inthis program.
You need to put me in IB.
They had me take this test andthey said, okay, you can be an
iv.
Um, and through that, I alwaysthought I was smart, but I knew
I was not taking anybody's AP orIB chemistry.
Okay.
I did know I did know that.
Tami (06:46):
Me either girl.
Me you know, No biology, noChemistry.
LT (06:50):
They did put me in IB bio.
I had to say one of'em.
That was a journey we gotthrough it, but, um, I ended up,
and, and it ties back into BlackPanther and those other things.
I was avoiding IB chemistry whenI was picking my class schedule
and there was this option for IBfilm.
And so I said, okay, you know,put me, put me in IB film.
And, um, I remember the firstday in class, I honestly thought
(07:12):
we were gonna be watchingmovies.
Okay.
Just watching movies.
And I was like, it's gonna be aneasy ai.
Remember I walked in, I droppedmy bag on the floor, I sat back
and the IB film teacher, who wasalso the IB English teacher, Mr.
Aronson, was like, what are youdoing?
And I'm like, waiting for themovie to start, you know, I'm
like a teenager.
for the movie part.
Tami (07:31):
Duh.
LT (07:32):
he's like, your notebook in your pen out now.
And I was like, oh.
Okay.
And so the class was really likea deep dive into like.
Cinema's literature, you know,as an art form.
Um, understanding the themes andthe nuances and just breaking
down this film language and thenmy whole world just changed.
(07:54):
That is what ended up leading meto pursuing a career in film.
But that whole journey, um,which was all necessary to bring
me to that moment of evenadvocating for myself to be put
in, you know, put into the, theprogram, is kind of what set
that pathway.
Um, towards film and thenbrought me back to education
because, once I went started atUSCI was really thinking about,
(08:17):
you know, media and the way itimpacts how at, at the time I
was really focused on how itimpacts how people view, view
black people.
Just having that experience ofbeing the only, I remember when
I was with my grandparents.
My sister and I were the onlytwo black kids in the school up
until that moment.
I had never experienced racism.
Right.
And it took me a little bit toget it.
(08:38):
I remember I had a classmate askme, is your dad in jail?
And I was confused.
I was like, oh no.
Is is your dad in jail?
Because I didn't, I was like,no, girl, you okay?
Tami (08:48):
like do, do, do.
A lot of people in this schoolhave dad's in jail
LT (08:51):
I was like, are y'all good over here?
And I went home to my grandpaand I was like, grandpa.
Why did she add if my daddy wasin jail and he was like, oh, you
know, let's have that talk.
And then I started noticing justthe ways I was treated
differently.
And then as I, later on when Istarted studying film, I started
recognizing the way media was,putting out these very specific
(09:12):
narratives about the community.
Like I remember watching thehelp with my grandmother, and I
remember I was feelinguncomfortable, right?
In the sense of like.
That just didn't reflect thereality that I was living when I
was with my grandparents, right?
Like my grandfather, worked forthe government.
A really good job for a longtime.
(09:33):
My grandmother was the headnurse, in the, uh, the, the
neonatal unit, like all of thesethings, in a lot of ways, very
cookie cutter.
There was a dog and a big yard,and, someone read to me every
night and I wasn't allowed to gooutside and play until, um, you
know, I, I, you know, read xamount of pages and wrote about
it.
And that's how a lot of my, myfamily operated.
(09:53):
When you looked on tv, youcouldn't find that right.
When I watched, you would thinkthat we were just relegated to
this very specific experienceand not saying that any other
experience that didn't matchthat was not valid.
It absolutely was, but it justdidn't make sense to me that
those were the only experiences.
You know,
Tami (10:11):
The diversity of the experience was missing from the
story.
And the narrative and the, whatpeople could see or have like a
window into.
Right.
Yeah.
LT (10:24):
I felt like that just had such an impact on just how
people reacted to me and, and,and, and honestly how I reacted
to myself Sometimes I just feltlike an alien.
You know, I struggled with somejust, um, internalized hatred of
just not ever feeling likeenough, you know, navigating,
navigating these spaces.
And so when I got to USC, I, Iwas just really, really looking
(10:47):
at media and, and wanting tocreate, you know, in my
storytelling and, and my own,journey as a, as a filmmaker and
a creative, wanting to tellstories that broadened the
perspective and the, you know,and, and the view of what it
meant to exist in, in thiswonderful community that I, that
I come from.
Um, and so I don't know if Ishould pause there,'cause then
(11:08):
that'll take me next until.
Tami (11:10):
Let's pause for a second I, I have of course.
A couple questions because a fewthings you said.
Number one, I am just soimpressed with the amount of
self-advocacy you were able toexercise as a young person that
(11:30):
put you on the path to where youare today.
Um, so kudos to you right, for,for advocating for yourself in
that way.
Is that something that you feltwas just like an inherently part
of your person?
Do you think that was modeledfrom other adults around you?
Or where did that like tenacityto say, no, I'm supposed to be
(11:54):
here and you need to open a spotfor me?
LT (11:58):
Um, I felt like, I think some of.
A, a significant portion of thatcame from, um, seeing how
difficult, the difficultexperiences my mom go through
sometimes of just, you know,being a single mother, um,
raising, raising myself and, andmy sister, and I knew that I, I
(12:27):
wanted.
Life to look different.
I, I knew that there would, bethese roadblocks and I kind of
set, you know, learned or pickedup or, or kind of rationalized
that I, if I, if I knew that Iwanted life to, I.
Ultimately be easier at somepoint that I, I have to go
around the roadblocks and thatwhatever that roadblock was,
(12:49):
whether I interpreted as peopleor, you know, you know, this,
this district that I was in, I,I just had to go around them or
through them or whatever.
Um, and then also with mygrandparents, they just from a
young age.
You know, success wasn't a maybelike in their, in the way they
spoke to me, it wasn't, Iremember, when it, okay, so, uh,
(13:13):
my granddad is a musician.
He plays saxophone and clarinetand, all these things.
And so when, when fifth gradecame, he goes, what instrument
are you gonna play?
Not if you're going to play aninstrument.
And so it never even occurred tome as like.
If there was an option to nottry to acquire this new skill,
it was, um, you know, what, whatskill are you going to acquire?
(13:37):
Um, and so I think that's, youknow, kind of really set it.
And then they would ask methings like, what college are
you going to go to?
Not, and it could have beencommunity college, but you were
gonna do something, you know?
And then I think.
You know, school there, I, Iwent to a lot of schools that I
really felt were failing me andI've always had a very strong
sense of like, justice.
(13:58):
And once I figured out that thiswasn't fair, I said, well,
because it's not fair.
I.
That, you know, told me that I'mgoing to have to work beyond
that and move beyond that.
And you know, the systems andwhen you're a kid, you're saying
these people are not fair.
But know, it's broader thanthat.
(14:18):
It's much larger than that.
But at the time I'm like, y'allare not fair.
Therefore I don't even, I'm noteven taking what you're telling
me.
not realizing it because youdon't know what you're talking
about, so I'm gonna go figure itout.
So I think it's a combinationof, of things.
I'm also the oldest daughter.
I feel like that's gotta havesomething
Tami (14:34):
Oh, it definitely, I'm an oldest daughter, so 100%.
LT (14:38):
I, and I was actually thinking about the other day,
when did that set in?
And I, I would have to sayaround sixth grade when I
started realizing that schoolscould be different.
There was no reason because Igot to this other school that
was more resource and thingslike that.
Um, and, and I didn't choose togo there.
I was, you know, moved to mygrandparents' house.
The therefore, I said if Ididn't do anything to not be
(15:01):
here, then there's no reasonthat I shouldn't be here in
these spaces.
And that just kind of stuck withme.
I, I, the, the world should beavailable to me.
And, and that is, and that was adriving force to, to get me
through school.
Tami (15:15):
Yeah.
Oh, that's so amazing.
I've heard a couple themes thatI think in the things you're
sharing that are reallyimportant.
Um, one of course is.
Like representation matters andis important.
And I've been, you know, we'veseen a lot more of that probably
in the last decade of trying tomake sure that that happens and
(15:37):
that diversity of story that'sbeen historically missing and
also the, the power of how weuse.
Words and speak truth orpossibility into young people.
And whether that is your child,your grandchild, you know,
(15:57):
you're a teacher, whomever youare like.
Your words are powerful to setthe tone for what they may see
as possible.
I, I mean, I have heard so manystories of people talking about
my teacher told me I was afailure, or I was never gonna
make anything in my life, orwhatever, things like that,
right?
And that is detrimental to thepsyche of a young person.
(16:20):
Um, so.
I, I don't know where I wasgonna go with that, but I just
think those two pieces are huge.
Like they work really well intandem.
So not only are we hearing andsaying that these things are
possible diverse.
Persons get to see it and thepotential of it.
(16:44):
You know, whether that'sthrough, fictionalized story or
truth in who's sitting and doingwhat and having a voice in
what's happening in the world.
I don't know.
What do you think about that?
Take on what you've said.
LT (16:59):
There, you know, you hear all the time like teachers
saying, um, you know, you're notgonna make it.
Or these, these comments thatreally sit with a young person
and it kind of takes me back.
I was towards the end of my timeat USC and I had three jobs.
I was taking 18 credits, likeWoo girl.
stressed out trying to pay forlife in California and film
(17:21):
school.
And I remember I had this like,one of the final projects and I,
I made a mistake, in coverage.
And so I like broke this rule towhere when you flip the camera,
if you don't do it the rightway, it, it changes where the
character is on screen and it'sa continuity error.
And I just, I felt I was justmortified.
I was just so down on my myselfand I was already like really
(17:42):
like, you know, sitting withthese thoughts of like, you're
never gonna be good enough.
You're not gonna make it.
And one of my professors told methat I wasn't gonna make it,
that I should really maybe startconsidering something else.
And, you know, it really hurt myfeeling.
I was embarrassed in front of mypeers and Yeah.
but.
Um, again, I was like, you knowwhat, that's a, that's a
(18:03):
roadblock and what do we do withroadblocks, and so I ended up
getting, I ended up emailingthat semester, probably 200
cinematographers, and I justasked them all to please meet me
for coffee.
I just wanted to talk and learnabout what I needed to do to,
get in the industry and make anindustry.
And I met a man named SalvatoreTotino, who I absolutely adore.
For coffee.
And I said, what advice do youhave for, for a young person who
(18:25):
really wants to get in a camera?
So we talked and a couple weekslater he called and he was like,
you know, I really like you.
I really, I really think that,you know, you can, you can do
this.
Do you wanna come work onSpider-Man Homecoming?
Right.
And so I say this because it'ssuch like a, a juxtaposition,
you know, I one, um, figurewho's like, just.
(18:48):
Just throwing a towel and thisother one who is like, you know,
you're, you're still green,you're still learning.
Come on, I'll, I'll, I'll teachyou, you know, I'll help you.
And I got that job onSpider-Man.
I emailed that professor and Isaid, Hey, remember when you
told me that I should just goahead and hang it up in two
weeks?
I start my first job onSpider-Man homecoming.
Tami (19:09):
Boom, mic drop.
Okay.
LT (19:11):
And I, and I say that because I.
That was such a pivotal momentfor me because that was before I
got into into education, butSal's reaction to me and
supported me completely.
Re like reconfigured my brainon, on what is possible when you
support young people, right?
(19:31):
We're, you know, young peopleare going to make mistakes.
They're new, they're learning,they have to, they're, they're
acquiring this skill and thisknowledge.
So like, even if the mistake ismade, something happens.
You don't tell'em that they'renever gonna be anything.
You know, I wasn't even, Iwasn't even 21.
I might have been just 21.
My brain wasn't even done.
Tami (19:49):
yes.
LT (19:50):
Sal's approach, we're gonna learn this stuff together,
right?
And so that moment where eventhough, you know, despite my
best effort, I didn't hit, thisstandard, there was still
someone who said, I see you.
I see your passion.
I see how much you love this.
Come on, you're with me.
And that is, you know, just howI approach working with young
(20:12):
people.
I tell'em, look, this might behard.
You know, it might challengeyou, it might frustrate you.
You might not get it right.
But you're not by yourself.
You know there's someone,there's someone here, and I
don't even know if I answeredthe question'cause I've gone off
on a.
Tami (20:27):
Look, I don't know.
You did.
You did, but you know what?
I was feeling that so much.
I had a high school, uh, Englishteacher.
I was in honors English, andshe, I was not the best speller,
and this was before, okay, I'mgonna date myself.
We had to write our essays byhand, with pen every other,
skipping every line.
Like we didn't always type them.
(20:48):
Okay.
That's how old I am.
had to that too.
So she was like, I just rememberthat.
She was like, do you even read?
Oh, Your spelling is atrocious.
no.
Okay.
Mind you, I'm a pro prolificreader.
So lemme tell you, when I got mydoctorate in literacy learning
and instruction, I was like,where you at?
(21:10):
Where you at Mrs.
Morgan?
Where you at?
Like, I was like, oh, I feel youso much.
did.
But yes, I, you did answer thequestion and I, and.
Um, oh my God, I just lost mytrain of thought.
But what I think is also keythere, oh, I remember what it
was.
Hmm.
This idea of perfection one partof my career, I was a teacher
(21:30):
educator, so I was preparingfuture teachers or working with
practicing teachers.
And one of the things that Ialways want people to be mindful
of is sometimes as educators weare asking our students or
children or youth to do thingsthat we don't want even do as
adults.
Right.
And the, the collectivehumanity.
(21:53):
Of the learners around you,right?
There is no such thing as aperfect person or a perfect
execution of anything.
So where is the space for thelearning to take place?
That is actually why you'rethere.
Like and hello, mistakes.
The mistakes are what lead tonew learning and understanding
(22:14):
and developing, right?
Like anybody and I'll, I willgo.
To my grave of saying this,anybody can regurgitate and, and
make it seem like they knowsomething, like on a multiple
choice test or something likethat.
Like, you're not actuallyassessing knowledge.
You're assessing memorization.
But when you're like creating afilm, when you're making or
developing something, we'remeant to be creative as humans.
(22:39):
And so tapping into thatcreative piece and sharing a
little part of our person with.
The world and the universe iswhat we're supposed to do.
Like that's why podcasting, Ilove it.
It's storytelling like we'vehistorically connected as humans
around story and narrative andpassed them down.
This is just another type ofstory.
(23:01):
In our current day and age.
And so I think I wanna like,woo, take that to film, right?
Because that's the ultimateYeah.
story.
Um,'cause I know you kind ofended like, okay, this is where
Spider-Man homecoming, this iswhere you got into.
Film and I know that connectedyou to the work you're doing
(23:22):
with the youth, which I wannamake sure we do get to talk
about too.
'cause that is so just Oh, soempowering and heartwarming.
LT (23:32):
So I have to backtrack them a little bit Per- Spiderman.
Um, I.
So I'm into media literacy.
Just really curious about it,you know, how media impacts our
worldviews.
at the time I, in my junior yearat USC, I was working at the
on-campus gym.
One of my three jobs, 5:00 AMI'm the opener.
(23:53):
There's not too many people atthe gym.
At five in the morning.
We're on a college
Tami (23:57):
I was like, not in college.
Right.
You're like, I get to study.
LT (24:01):
Right.
I would watch these, I wouldwatch these Ted talks.
I would just put'em on randomly.
And they just kind of helped mestay awake.
'cause I, at that point in mylife, I was definitely not
sleeping very much.
And so I would just hit play andthen the next one would come on,
the next one would come on.
And so I, this Ted Talk came on.
Again, I wasn't, I wasn'tlooking for it.
And it was about Pine RidgeReservation in South Dakota.
(24:22):
And up until this moment, I hadnever, ever, ever heard of Pine
Ridge.
Um, I'd never, I'd never thoughtabout South Dakota, well, when
you first think about SouthDakota, I find a lot of people
go, there's no black people inSouth Dakota.
You know, so, you know, I, itjust wasn't on my radar.
And so this Ted Talk came on andit was done by a man who was not
from South Dakota, who was notfrom the reservation, who was
(24:43):
not native, and.
He was the, the, the, the, thecore of the presentation was,
was everyone here is poor,they're sad, they're unhappy,
they neglect their children.
Everyone's on drugs and everyonejust drinks a bunch of alcohol.
And I, I watched this wholepresentation and I was just
disgusted you I like sittinghere like I know.
(25:05):
And I'm sitting there like, andlike my mind was just, just just
blown right open because.
Immediately, I was like, youcan't go into somebody else's
community and do your best tohighlight all these negative
things that you can find.
Um, but then I'm like, I knowthere are plenty of people in
the community who are, who areworking hard to right wrongs
(25:28):
that they didn't even cause,right.
This is, this is centuries ofintentional,
Tami (25:33):
They were placed in this space, right?
LT (25:36):
like just that lack of nuance.
And so I was sitting there and Iwas like.
This is happening to othercommunities too.
And I thought about, you know,just my, my journey and just
being a kid and, and watchingthese films where black people
are just portrayed as drugdealers, you know, broken homes,
lack of community, just like,just not showing any resilience
(25:58):
or anything.
And I was like, oh, this ishappening to other, other
communities as well.
I started thinking or on, on andon that same day I watched this
TED talk and this is when, thisis how you know, I was only 20,
22.
I was like, we should start afilm camp.
You know what, we should start afilm camp and we should teach
the kids how to make their ownfilms.
And then they'll tell their ownstories.
(26:20):
Boom, problem solved.
Solved does not exactly happenthat way, but, um, I a text, a
good friend of mine, fellow filmstudent.
Nicks and I text them and Isaid, Hey, do you wanna go to
Pinewood reservation with me inSouth Dakota and, and start a
film camp for kids?
And they text back and it, andit literally just said, sure.
Period.
(26:40):
And I was like, oh, we're reallydoing this.
And so we gathered a coupleother friends and we had a, a
meeting and we were like, weshould just make a Indiegogo and
just see how much money we couldraise to go to South Dakota.
Um, and.
Have like, first of all, none ofus had ever run a kids camp.
None of us had taught in any,like, you know, like we, you
know, volunteered and you had todo your out high school.
(27:02):
Um, and none of us had ever beento South Dakota.
We made this Indiegogo and we'relike, where are USC film
students and we're gonna goteach film.
Then I got on Facebook and Ityped in Pine Ridge Reservation
and a Boys and Girls Club cameup and I emailed them and I
said, Hey, me and my friendsfrom USC.
Um, you know, want to, you know,if, if y'all would like to
(27:25):
partner, we could do a film campfor the kids.
And somebody from the Boys andGirls Club wrote back and was
like, sure, do you wanna visit?
And I was like, yeah, I'll hopon a plane and just go to South
Dakota and like, stay withpeople, you know.
So I got on a plane, I went toSouth Dakota for the first time,
hung out with the family.
They showed me around.
I was like, great, we're gonnado a film camp here.
So I, I came back and I, I toldmy friends.
(27:46):
We raised$7,000 throughIndiegogo, packed up avan of
like little juice boxes.
Not even in like cardboard.
They were just in littlebaggies.
Okay.
Because we were just emailingpeople like, can you donate some
juice boxes?
You know, or like, from snacksand like pancake mix'cause you
know, you know all of that.
And, um, we packed up this, thislittle SUV and drove from Los
(28:07):
Angeles to, to South Dakota andwe, we ran this film camp and it
was really the idea.
There were a couple of things.
Um.
As I got, from the process andlike figuring out, first of all
why like I was really pulled todo this.
I was like, I did not stumbleupon this TED Talk no reason.
I really think there's supposedto be greater collaborations,
(28:30):
um, between black and indigenouscommunities.
I really think if we go pourinto young people and
essentially just teach themthese skills, our whole thing
has always been.
I'm, we're never gonna tell youwhat story to tell, right.
But what I, what I have, youknow, acquired is this technical
knowledge and this storytellingknowledge through going to this
university, which I will say isextremely inaccessible, right?
(28:54):
I$60,000 a year in tuition,right?
I, I couldn't afford to bethere, which is why I had three
jobs.
There was no Right,
Tami (29:02):
it just keeps getting worse.
LT (29:04):
Getting worse.
The school wasn't paying for ourfilms.
And so you are a passionatestoryteller, a passionate
filmmaker that that access tothat knowledge and that
equipment, is not going to beavailable to you.
So our idea was, well we, we goto the best film school in the
world.
What if we just.
Take all the knowledge thatwe've learned, just give it away
to the kids for free.
And so that, so we, we did thatcamp for the first week, with
(29:28):
Native youth from from PineRidge Reservation.
And I'll be honest, I wasn'tthinking long term.
I had literally no plans doanything, you outside of that
week.
Tami (29:38):
Your I need to do this.
Let's do it.
Let's go.
Yes.
LT (29:42):
And I, and because at that time I was like, I'm going to be
the first black woman to win anOscar cinematography.
That's it.
Like, that is my, and I waslike, that is my goal.
Which is why I was like, I gottaget on somebody who's big film
set and like, you know, learnall this stuff.
Um, and at the end of that firstcamp when I tell you we were, we
were tired.
So part of the camp was, we toldall the, we picked them all up
(30:04):
because we wanted to get rid ofall barriers to success.
So the reservation is the sizeof Connecticut.
Now I don't, I don't think Iinternalized what that meant
when I made this offer, but Isaid, all you have to do is
wanna come.
We'll pick you up.
We had one SUV, so I'm doingloops Okay.
For hours every morning andevery day after camp to make
(30:27):
sure all the kids could getthere, you know?
And then we're teaching thesefilm lessons
Tami (30:31):
Connecticut.
Doesn't sound that big, so yougotta drive it.
LT (30:35):
Right.
And like we're teaching thesefilm lessons, but we're also
like trying to figure out how,how we're gonna feed all the
kids.
So like, we're break like, solike one of us will go make
lunch for everybody and none ofus could cook.
It was really, it was reallylike the children are so,
children are so graceful, likethey are so,'cause none of us
could cook, but.
They were like, everyone wasjust happy to be there together.
(30:56):
And then we didn't plan out theweek, right.
We ran outta stuff to teach andwe're like, y'all wanna go get
ice cream?
So you see us and like, justlike a bunch of little kids
following us, like up this likeLong street to get to the gas
station, we can go get icecream.
Like, it was just, it was likeridiculous and fun.
And, but at the end of the weekeveryone's just really tired,
like all the adults.
I was like.
We, we screen their final films,and actually some really cool
(31:18):
films came out of this.
One group made a, um,documentary, um, with just like
native youth from the skatepark.
And they were just talking abouttheir experience and the, the
resources that they wish theyhad.
And they were talking aboutbeing in the skate park.
You know, this is what we have.
And so we make, like we, we comehere and we kick it and we
skate.
And it just keeps us from like,doing other things that teens
(31:38):
could get into.
Because if you don't give teensanything to do,
Tami (31:41):
they find stuff to do.
LT (31:42):
You know, so they're gonna go outside and do stuff and, and
they're, they recognize that wewanna be here at the skate park.
You know, it's what we can do.
So anyway, um, one of the groupsmade a film about that I had the
littles.
I've always been a, I just lovelittles.
You know, I had like the eightyear olds and they made a, a, a
little documentary about whatfriendship means to them.
And so, we screened their filmsand at the end of it, my team
we're getting ready to head backto LA and I go, okay, does
(32:05):
anyone have anything they wannasay before we go back to la?
You know, we've had so much funwith y'all.
We're so excited.
And this little girl, Malik, whohas now graduated high school
and is off into college, shegoes.
You know, Ms.
Terry, which is what they calledme at the time, I'm really sad,
I'm never gonna see you again.
And I was like, oh, oh no, I've,this is something you know, and
(32:29):
I like stepped out and I waslike really moved.
And I was like crying and I waslike, get it together, LT.
And I went back in.
I'm like, we talking about we'llbe back next summer.
And all my friends are like, wewill be where.
did and that is how Outlast Artsand Education formally outlast
film camp was, was born.
It was like a kind of a not verywell conceived one time project
(32:53):
because I didn't understand atthe time the responsibility we
have to community.
You don't just show up and dothis thing with these kids and
you make these films and youtalk to them about, you know,
their story and they never comeback.
Tami (33:06):
Yeah.
LT (33:07):
Don't, you don't plant that seed and not water it.
And so from that moment, I knewthat I would always be like, I
told him that I'd always be backand we'd keep making films
together.
Then I felt just really in aweand like very fortunate that
like this is something that Iget to, I get to do.
Um, and so that was in 2015 andhere we are.
Tami (33:32):
Wow.
10 years later from a random TEDTalk.
LT (33:37):
Yeah.
Tami (33:37):
You know, I mean, well, I'm gonna say random, but I
don't believe the universe israndom, which is sort of what
you Alluded to.
Um, and I think one of thereally important things is the
power of community, right?
And.
Investing in communities and thelongevity of any of this kind of
(34:00):
work and honoring, you know,people's story and lived life
and their opportunities withinthis life requires time and
effort.
And one thing I hope people takeaway from this.
sometimes you have a passion oridea and everybody else gonna
think you're crazy.
(34:22):
Crazy.
LT (34:23):
I'm crazy.
Tami (34:24):
Yeah.
But, right.
I don't know about, well, I meanclearly this is one example like
it, it turned out for the best.
Like I've done some things wherepeople are like, girl, you're
gonna do what?
And I was like, yep, that's whatI'm doing.
And then amazing.
Like no regrets.
And I think that's one of thethings maybe modern society has.
(34:46):
Pushed out of us is the abilityto trust our inner passion or
calling, or like this knowledgethat this is what I need to do,
and taking the risk on yourselfMm-hmm.
and the trust in yourself to goexecute it or try it
LT (35:05):
Yeah, Yeah.
Tami (35:08):
and see what happens.
LT (35:10):
And, and it, it kinda, but we can all do something, right?
There is place for all of us toparticipate in this kind of
work.
Um, you know, not, not everyonehas to go start a whole program,
I, I tell people sometimesbecause I, I, I, I feel like a
lot of times we get caught up inlike, it's, the problem is so
big.
What do we, what do we do?
(35:30):
And sometimes, you know, justtalking to people, I go, do you
go to school board meetings?
Tami (35:35):
Mm.
LT (35:36):
You can start right there.
You know, you don't necessarilyhave to have an answer.
I'm not, I don't have an answer,I, I respond what's in front of
me.
I do what I can.
Um, I know what I'm good at,right?
I'm good at youth programming,right?
So I do that.
I don't go try to organize allthese other things because I
might not be very helpful there,but I do do, and so I tell
people.
Just, just do something, show upat your local school board
(35:59):
meeting so that people know thatthere's people watching that
people care.
It's huge thing, just thatpresence.
And so, um, know, we, like, wecan literally all do something
and it does not have to be thesame thing that the next person
does.
We all have our strengths, and Ithink if we really lean into the
things that we're good at, bigand small, I think that's where
(36:19):
that difference is, is made.
And for me, I remember at onepoint in my life when I was
doing, I'm like, I wanna be thenext Secretary of Education.
Now I'm gonna redo the whole,you know what I mean?
Um,
Tami (36:27):
yes.
LT (36:28):
but the, the.
The community like that, we'vebeen able to build outlast and I
mean it, it's such a beautifulcommunity.
We partner and work with so manyorganizations on the res, right?
Like, I mean, even trying tomake the program work, it's an
expensive program.
We're doing a popup film schoolin rural South Dakota it is not
like we're just hopping over,you know, next street over.
(36:50):
So how do we make this work?
Well, it is because we have thesupport of the local community,
right?
So like one of our student'smoms, she caters the lunches,
right?
Like, that's such a
Tami (37:01):
Oh
LT (37:01):
thing.
You know, we have our UĹ‹ÄŤĂ whenshe, um, which means
grandmother.
She comes and she works with thestudents and just like.
Learning about, Lakota cultureand history and, and telling
those stories and pouring intothem and that like, it's a
whole, it's a whole community ofpeople bringing the strength
that we have.
And that's what makes it work.
It's not just myself and my, myfellow, filmmaker friends.
(37:25):
In the sense of like, like wereally lean into like the, it
takes a village, right?
There's so many people allbringing their strengths and
their skills and their ideas andtheir resources, and that's why
the program has been able togrow.
That's why, our students havenow, MTV commercials, right?
Independent films.
We've traveled with young peoplefrom New York to Los Angeles to
(37:46):
Chicago.
Now we're implementingintergenerational wellness
groups.
That's not like a few people whohad an idea.
That's an entire community.
Both hopefully and beyond that,coming together and saying,
here's what we got.
Now let's do something with itto support the young people.
And so I truly believe that whenit comes to work, there really
is a place for, for everyone toget involved.
Tami (38:09):
Yeah, I absolutely agree with that.
I, I, I, uh, tend to say alltime, like, how are you using
your voice today?
Right?
And your voice can look.
A lot of different ways.
It can be like actually usingyour voice.
Your voice could be your vote,and making sure you're voting in
all elections, not just thequote unquote big elections.
Right.
like going to your school boardmeeting, like there are so many
(38:30):
ways or, um, I'm sure people canfinancially support your
nonprofit if they would like to,right?
Yes.
LT (38:39):
Absolutely Uhhuh.
Tami (38:41):
we'll make sure we put that link in the show notes,
friends, so you can help supportall of amazing work.
But there's like a voice canlook so many different ways,
right?
And I a hundred percent agree.
There is this misconception thatthis work, you have to be doing
something big.
(39:03):
I really think that changehappens in the small moments, in
the every day in theconversation you choose to have,
right?
To speak up.
If you're seeing or hearingsomeone only telling one version
of a community, and you knowthat that's not right or don't
agree with it late.
(39:23):
Open a conversation, right?
Not to be combative, it's tohave a conversation to build a
new or different or changed oryou know, sort of metamorphosis
of understanding.
As you know, sometimes we justdon't know what we don't know.
(39:49):
And not every, I'm say thislike, not every ignorance is
malicious,
LT (39:56):
Yeah, of course.
Tami (39:57):
Um, so how are we helping each other as just a community
of humans.
LT (40:06):
And that also like, brings me to this idea that I've just
been reflecting on the lastyear, especially, community is
messy, right?
Like, and, and I was, and I, I,I was thinking, um, because,
coming up and as a young leader,there was a lot of mistakes that
I made.
I didn't know what I was doing,you know,
Tami (40:23):
Oh yeah.
LT (40:23):
Learn that, especially like when you're working within
another community and supportingyou from other community, you
have to learn these culturalnuances and things like that.
And so I was thinking not toolong ago, just like community is
not built just in those momentswhere it's like, oh my God, I
love all of you.
We're having so much fun.
Look at this like, cute film.
It's when you're, I'm, I'mreally annoyed with you right
(40:44):
now.
Or, like, hurt my feelings, or Ihurt your feelings.
The community is, is reallybuilt when.
We draw each other back in andsay, Uhuh, how are we gonna get
through this?
We're gonna talk about this.
There's clearly amiscommunication or harm was
done, or something misguided, orwe, or we just don't know,
right?
(41:04):
Because it's not maliciouscommunity is built.
When we said, okay, but we'regonna figure it out.
We're come together, we're gonnareflect on this.
And I think a lot of times, um,that can get lost because
that's, that's, that's the,that's the not fun part.
You know what I mean?
Oh.
Fun.
But that's where community isbuilt.
Um, you know, I, I try to, tryto hang on to that, right?
(41:28):
Especially like, you know,leading an organization and
you're, you're constantlyworking with and meeting with
new people.
If my goal is to really helpcreate this world where, youth
can thrive and self determineand, build lives for themselves
and their communities that, thatthey want.
Then that means I have to do itmyself, right?
(41:49):
So every time I get mad atsomebody or something doesn't go
my way, you know, you can't justgo kick people outta community,
you know what I
Tami (41:57):
No.
Cancel culture for you.
No.
No.
LT (41:59):
No.
Like, you know, like I thinkaccountability needs to be
there.
But to build this better world,we've got to be committed to
remaining in community.
Tami (42:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
I, and I think if we think aboutcommunity, like any, like any
relationship really, thestrength of the community, the
strength of the relationshiphappens in the vulnerability
right, with each other.
And that means, right.
Sometimes I get it wrong, andeven if I'm the leader, it.
(42:31):
I'm admitting, you know what, Igot that really wrong.
LT (42:34):
Mm-hmm.
Tami (42:36):
'Cause that's being vulnerable, but that's, that's
where the strength comes inbecause now I say this too,
like, when I share myvulnerability or share part of
my story, I'm not just sharingmy story.
I'm ho you know, hoping andsharing with the idea that
people will start to feelcomfortable to share their
story.
(42:58):
Because they, they need thatsafe space.
If you're never sharing and likekinda like this idea about the
rests, if you guys would've gonein.
To become voyeurs in thereservation like people have
done for hundreds of years,right?
The results wouldn't havehappened in the way that they
did for you, but those resultshappened because you were
(43:20):
vulnerable, you were open, youwere partnering, you were
collaborating.
All of those things builds thisamazing community that you have
now.
LT (43:32):
Absolutely.
And just working with youngpeople, that vulnerability, I
honestly think it just changesthe whole experience because now
we're actually able to likelearn from one another and just
like.
An example, eventually I didleave film and I was still
working, working on working onoutlast and going outlast.
So I went into education,officially, and then I started
teaching.
Eventually I started teaching ona, the, a reservation next door
(43:54):
to the one I program, calledExist And just my, my classroom
functions so differently thanlike.
All the other classrooms in thebuilding.
Um, because like if you walkedin that room, you would not be
able to tell that I actuallywasn't related to all these kids
because like I, I spoke to themlike that.
I was their auntie.
They spoke to me like that.
(44:15):
Um, and I remember like, it wasa couple times, like one day I
was having a bad day.
I didn't sleep the night beforeI'd been sick and I came in, I
was like, y'all, miss LT is nothaving a good day.
Like, I need some grace fromy'all.
And.
I guess I'd been a little crankythat day.
I remember the end of the day,and we always, we did the Chacha
slide at the end of every day.
Like, we love to dance and likethey, you know, we kind of play
(44:35):
at the end of the day, but like,I let them play and I just like
wasn't in the mood.
I was like sitting at the frontof the room and I was kind of
like, sitting with my, my handon my cheek and this little girl
comes up and she takes this,marker and she's drawing on the
whiteboard and the whole classstarts snickering.
And I'm just like, what in theworld?
So I look back and it's like anarrow and it just says cranky
Miss Lt.
(44:56):
I just like, and that was, thatwas one of the many moments that
just, um, illuminated howcomfortable we are with each
other, right?
This idea that I was this figurewho came in to just boss them
around and not actually like,see them.
I, I played every day at recess.
I was raised, I was racing thekids and I was beating the kids.
Okay.
Tami (45:17):
Yeah.
LT (45:18):
Um, and, and, but here's the thing.
So I wasn't, I wasn't, I wasn'ta particularly strict teacher
because I didn't need to be inthe sense like, we had a lot of
conversations.
How do we want this classroom tofeel?
Right?
What are the things we want toachieve, you know, and, and
really built in this idea that,they could do hard things and
I'd be able there to supportthem.
Um, but I didn't follow thecurriculum because I didn't like
(45:39):
it.
I didn't feel like it wasculturally responsive.
I actually thought it was prettyracist.
So like, I just wouldn't do it.
I just wouldn't read the books
Tami (45:44):
Ooh, we are kindred spirits.
LT (45:48):
And I would like come with all these like, crazy projects.
And like for example, I waslike, you know, after we got to
a certain point, I was like, I'mgonna teach'em how to write an
essay, like a, a proper, like anormal essay with like headings
and indentation and like, Istarted them on like citing and
like in a very third grade wayand things like that.
And then they had to, turn thatessay into, uh, a PowerPoint and
(46:10):
that PowerPoint into like anoral presentation.
And every, a lot of mycolleagues were like, what are
you doing?
They can't do that.
You just need to get like testtaking skills, things like that.
And if you approach with thedeficit mindset, yeah, they
can't because you're not gonnahelp them, know?
And if you don't believe inthem, like they're looking to
you to kind of get an idea ofwhat can I do?
(46:32):
You know?
And I also thought if I go,okay, y'all we're writing an
essay today, they don't knowthat that's not in the
curriculum.
We write an essay today.
I had this group of kids whoeveryone thought they were not
gonna get anywhere near thirdgrade level.
They weren't gonna pass thestate test, all of these things.
And then I come in and they'relike, you're definitely not
helping'cause you're justcompletely off the rails here.
Tami (46:54):
Oh my God.
You're teaching them criticalthinking and no, life skills.
That's so wild.
So wild.
LT (47:00):
really lean in like the curiosity of it right.
We did puzzles and I let thempick their books and we talked
about like world history and,um, you know, like how, and I, I
would ask them, how did we allend up here in this space today?
Because now they're little.
They're like, are you not?
Are you not Lakota?
And I'm like, I'm not.
Let's talk about it.
You know, things like.
(47:21):
And I, and I think a lot of thatapproach was one, I wasn't
afraid to like, just really meetthem where they were as
children, right?
Like I didn't expect them.
Because it's such a colonial wayto to, to look at them, sit
down, be quiet, walk in astraight line.
That's not what education is.
Education is about curiosity, soI want.
Help them learn how to think forthemselves.
(47:44):
What interests you and what canyou do with that?
So, I mean, my, my classroom waspuzzled in the games and things
like that.
And what ended up happening wasmy students scored the highest
in the district
Tami (47:55):
Of course they did.
I could have told, I knew thatwhen you I,
LT (47:59):
highest oh, I offered.
I said, do y'all wanna know whatI'm doing in this room?
No, I got penalized because Ididn't follow, I didn't follow
the script.
Tami (48:10):
oh my gosh,
LT (48:12):
I don't even know how it got here.
I'm so sorry, but going
Tami (48:14):
Oh, do not apologize.
Like I'm like, oh my God.
We're kindred spirits.
Like this is like same story,different location, different
kid, but exactly that like thisis what you're supposed to be
doing.
Test prep, not dah.
Oh, okay.
Okay.
So now my, all my students areyoung grade level, some of them,
this is sixth grade.
Some of'em came in in secondgrade.
(48:34):
So what were you, you all wereokay saying they're not gonna do
this.
I'm like, they are totallycapable.
What are y'all doing?
LT (48:47):
absolutely capable.
Tami (48:49):
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
I got a whole story.
I think I've probably talkedabout it on one of my podcasts.
I got a whole story about thiswhole situation, but I love the
advocacy.
Right.
Also for the kids, like, oh, andI know it's scary for educators
to try to do things outside thebox.
It just.
Scares me.
It's not even outside the box.
(49:10):
It's what school should be.
'cause I'm like, learning isabout what you said.
Exactly.
Learning is about curiosity andit seems that we've made school
the place where we drivecuriosity and critical thinking
out of kids, especially certaintypes of kids.
LT (49:25):
Absolutely.
I taught in Memphis too, and Ihad, I thought they were gonna
fire me because they told me Icouldn't teach.
Black students from Memphis,Memphis, Martin, and the
mountaintop, because it wasn'ton the test.
There's no reason I'm in thisroom and these kids don't know
who, who Rosa Parks or MartinLuther.
And this is third grade.
That's what they, how did theynot know any of this?
(49:46):
And I said, okay, we gonna learnabout this.
And like, they would come in myclassroom to make sure I wasn't
teaching it.
I just taught it.
Anyway, you have to fire me.
Um, we went over the Memphissan, uh, sanitation
Tami (49:56):
You making some good trouble?
LT (49:58):
You know what, you know, I.
Tami (50:01):
I'm here for it.
LT (50:01):
Not afraid.
Like, because in, in the, inthe, and parents know, right?
Like, um, I, I, we have a, aprogram, on Rosebud coming up
this summer and a lot of myformer students are, are gonna,
come to the program.
And when I told their parentsI'd be back, they're like, yes,
go.
You let Miss LT's programbecause it is a space where
(50:24):
students will.
Learn in the sense that theywill get to explore, they'll be
curious, they'll be challengedin a healthy and supportive way.
Um, and that is what educationis supposed to be.
So the fact that the fact thatwe even have to fight with
people to, to do these things,it that blows my mind
Tami (50:45):
Oh, mine too.
Every day, every day.
LT (50:48):
I'm not gonna come into this classroom.
And here's the thing, Iunderstand that I have a
privilege in the sense of, ofnavigating that and that I don't
have kids, right?
In the sense of like, so ifsomeone does fire me, I'm not
also responsible to, you know,my child when I get home and
it's like, yo, I'm gonna lostyour her job, because she was in
there cutting up.
And so I was talking to a fewpeople not long ago and it was
(51:09):
like, not everyone can do that,of course, but I can.
And that's what I mean by that'swhat I can do.
Right.
And so it doesn't need to lookthe same.
And I do, and that's why I thinkthat community support is so
important because there'll bepeople who are, might have to go
ahead and risk losing that job,right?
So if that happens, can I counton somebody to bring me a meal?
Tami (51:32):
Yes,
LT (51:33):
I, I just think these conversations are so important
so that we can all figure outhow we, how we can get in where
we fit in.
Tami (51:38):
I agree.
I agree.
Oh my gosh, LT, I feel like Ikeep talking to you for like,
for like hours.
Um, which I love.
I love, I so appreciate youcoming on today.
I want to get, I think this is agood point where we can wrap up,
but I do like to wrap up withlike, what is your, like one and
you, you've dropped so many goodlittle gems for people, but like
(51:59):
what is your one sort of tip forpeople that you want them to
take away from this on how toengage with equity work if
they're not sure what to do.
LT (52:14):
You know, I, I live.
By this in like every area of mylife, and I think it applies.
Um, it's a game of not quitting.
I think that no matter like whatit is there for me, there's no
such thing as like a final No,there's always a way and it may
not look the way you thought itwas gonna look, and it may not
be supported by who you thoughtit was gonna support, and it
(52:36):
might have even had the outcomethat you thought it was gonna
have.
But if you keep trying and youkeep doing what you can, you
will see that positive outcomeor you will get closer to
achieving this goal, or you mayrecognize a goal that you didn't
even know.
And so in everything that I do,whether it's with Outlast,
whether it was with film,whether it was like going to
(52:57):
school myself, um, it's a gameof not quitting.
And I, and I tell my studentsthat.
You know, it might, you know,today might suck.
It might not be fun.
Maybe you didn't master thisthing you wanted to master.
Maybe you just didn't have agood day.
Get up and try again.
It's a game of not quitting.
And I, I think that's it.
It's a game of not quitting.
Tami (53:18):
Awesome.
Oh, I love that.
And I agree 100%.
Well, thank you everyone forjoining us for another episode
of the Equity Hour.
Um, LT, it has been such apleasure.
And if you are looking tosupport Outlast in her
nonprofit, go to the link in theshow notes so we can keep doing
(53:38):
all the great things.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of
the Equity Hour with your hostDr.
Tami.
And my guest this week isLeTerrian Officer-McIntosh.
I am so excited to have LT withus.
LT is a graduate of theUniversity of Southern
California School of CinematicArts, where she earned her BA in
(00:30):
film, in television production,and holds an MS in education
from Johns Hopkins University.
She has worked on several majorHollywood productions.
You know, wait for this, y'all.
Including Marvel's BlackPanther.
Woo woo.
Uh, HBO's True Detective.
Okay, that's one of my personalfaves, just so you know.
(00:50):
Um, Showtime's Kidding.
Season two and Promising YoungWoman.
She is the founder of OutlastArts and Education, a 5 0 1 C3
organization that celebrates,empowers and helps advance
native youth in South Dakotathrough media arts, education,
and community building.
Community building.
Through this work and beyond, LTfrequently collaborates with
(01:11):
Bipoc youth to create meaningfulpathways towards
self-determination, economicfreedom, and creative
expression.
Look, girl, you're doing all thethings.
When she's not working, she'sout.
Woman, after my own heart, sheloves to travel and spend time
with her.
Two dogs and a cat.
Y'all know I have three cats andtravel is the game.
(01:31):
So welcome to the show, lt.
LT (01:33):
Thank you! I'm so happy to be here..
Tami (01:36):
Yes.
Woo woo.
Okay.
Okay, so I'm sure people heardlike the, the, to me, like the
juxtaposition of like BlackPanther and South Dakota and,
and they're like, what ishappening?
So.
I can't wait to for you to tellthe story of how that happened.
(01:58):
I do wanna start and, and maybethis will help us get to how you
ended up in both of thosedifferent spaces that may seem
different but probably aren't asdifferent as we think.
Um, but as you know, I like eachof my guests to talk about their
equity journey, how you kind ofgot into this work.
I'm just gonna turn it over toyou, like tell us about
yourself.
LT (02:19):
Yeah, I guess to, um, really answer that question, I have to
take it way back.
So growing up I lived between mygrandparents' home, in a very
upper class, upper middle classarea.
With my mother who would know,would've been considered living
in a low income area.
And I can talk about later, Idon't like that term, but, Going
to school in both locations kindof just opened up a whole new
(02:41):
understanding, particularlyaround the fact that I wasn't
getting the same education inboth places.
Um, Yeah.
and so when I would be with mymother and going to school, I
just remember, you know,classroom would be over-crowded.
There'd be times where like, youknow, we may not all have a seat
or, you know, the, the otherseats were available were,
broken down.
We didn't have enough textbooks,so we're partnered up.
(03:04):
And the teachers were obviouslyoverwhelmed.
There's 32 of us in this room.
We're all dealing with a variousset of different life
circumstances.
Um.
That probably know, reallyimpacted just what we were able
to accomplish in school becausewe had all these other things
going on.
then my grandparents and theyhad orchestra and band and they
had restaurants within thecafeteria and you know,
(03:27):
everyone's parents are pickingthem up and these nice cars and
we've got all these clubs andopportunities.
And I was like, no, wait aminute.
Tami (03:35):
Like one of these things is not like the other.
LT (03:39):
You know, with my grandparents, it wasn't private
school.
It was just school and my mom,it was just school.
And so.
Around sixth grade, and that'swhen I, um, started going to
school over at my grandparents'house is when I realized that
there was a major difference andthe difference.
And, and you know, when you're,when you're your child, you're
not, you don't understand all ofthese big historical things all
(04:02):
different factors.
I said, this is the black schooland over here where all the kids
look like me.
We're not actually learningvery, very much.
And the, the lunch is actuallynot very good.
Teachers are overwhelmed and wedon't have books.
And over here I have the time ofmy life in the sense of like all
the resources are there, butthen I also felt like I didn't
belong right.
(04:23):
Oh I was supposed to be in thisspace.
Um, I.
And so I didn't know, know howto make very much meaning out of
that at the time in that, again,like I didn't understand all the
context.
I just knew as a child, I said,well then I need to be over here
at the white school, right?
Because that's school that willgive me the opportunities.
I knew I wanted to go tocollege.
(04:44):
Um, I didn't know what for, butI, you know, I said, it seems
like the only way I'm going toget to where I wanna be in life
is this proximity to these whitekids, right?
I spent a lot of time, Iremember when I moved back to my
mom's house and I went to, aschool in the neighborhood, my
that, and it was my freshmanyear of high school.
I was like, absolutely not.
You know, I need to find anotherschool.
(05:04):
I called the district and IGoogled something online and I
said, I'm, I have a right to agood education.
That's what I told him.
I didn't know what that meantor.
I love this.
You're like, even sure what I'msaying, but I know.
You know, we all have a right toeducation.
And I said, and I'm not gettingthe one that I'm supposed to get
over here.
Um, and so I kept calling.
(05:26):
I kept calling and I houndedthem and they said, okay, we'll
put you in this busing program.
And, uh, or not a busingprogram, they said they, they
had some program where, youknow, if your school that you
were assigned to was failing orbelow a certain level, you could
go to another school
Tami (05:40):
Like a school of choice or something like that.
LT (05:43):
yeah, like you can pick, they have like a few options and
you could.
One.
Um, but you had to get yourselfthere.
So I started, I was living in,we were in Atlanta at the time
and they would, I'd have to takethe MARTA from where we were and
it took me about two and a halfhours to get to school every
day.
And then at some point, youknow, we moved again and I ended
(06:04):
up at this school and they hadthis program called the, the IB
program.
I had no idea what it meant.
But you know, it, it registeredto me that this was an advanced
program.
And so I, I showed up in the IBoffice and I said, I'm supposed
to be in this program, so youneed to enroll me.
But I didn't have any testscores.
They didn't, my, it hadn'ttransferred over yet.
(06:25):
And they're like, oh, I don'tknow if you're supposed, and I'm
like, no, I'm supposed to be inthis program.
You need to put me in IB.
They had me take this test andthey said, okay, you can be an
iv.
Um, and through that, I alwaysthought I was smart, but I knew
I was not taking anybody's AP orIB chemistry.
Okay.
I did know I did know that.
Tami (06:46):
Me either girl.
Me you know, No biology, noChemistry.
LT (06:50):
They did put me in IB bio.
I had to say one of'em.
That was a journey we gotthrough it, but, um, I ended up,
and, and it ties back into BlackPanther and those other things.
I was avoiding IB chemistry whenI was picking my class schedule
and there was this option for IBfilm.
And so I said, okay, you know,put me, put me in IB film.
And, um, I remember the firstday in class, I honestly thought
(07:12):
we were gonna be watchingmovies.
Okay.
Just watching movies.
And I was like, it's gonna be aneasy ai.
Remember I walked in, I droppedmy bag on the floor, I sat back
and the IB film teacher, who wasalso the IB English teacher, Mr.
Aronson, was like, what are youdoing?
And I'm like, waiting for themovie to start, you know, I'm
like a teenager.
for the movie part.
Tami (07:31):
Duh.
LT (07:32):
he's like, your notebook in your pen out now.
And I was like, oh.
Okay.
And so the class was really likea deep dive into like.
Cinema's literature, you know,as an art form.
Um, understanding the themes andthe nuances and just breaking
down this film language and thenmy whole world just changed.
(07:54):
That is what ended up leading meto pursuing a career in film.
But that whole journey, um,which was all necessary to bring
me to that moment of evenadvocating for myself to be put
in, you know, put into the, theprogram, is kind of what set
that pathway.
Um, towards film and thenbrought me back to education
because, once I went started atUSCI was really thinking about,
(08:17):
you know, media and the way itimpacts how at, at the time I
was really focused on how itimpacts how people view, view
black people.
Just having that experience ofbeing the only, I remember when
I was with my grandparents.
My sister and I were the onlytwo black kids in the school up
until that moment.
I had never experienced racism.
Right.
And it took me a little bit toget it.
(08:38):
I remember I had a classmate askme, is your dad in jail?
And I was confused.
I was like, oh no.
Is is your dad in jail?
Because I didn't, I was like,no, girl, you okay?
Tami (08:48):
like do, do, do.
A lot of people in this schoolhave dad's in jail
LT (08:51):
I was like, are y'all good over here?
And I went home to my grandpaand I was like, grandpa.
Why did she add if my daddy wasin jail and he was like, oh, you
know, let's have that talk.
And then I started noticing justthe ways I was treated
differently.
And then as I, later on when Istarted studying film, I started
recognizing the way media was,putting out these very specific
(09:12):
narratives about the community.
Like I remember watching thehelp with my grandmother, and I
remember I was feelinguncomfortable, right?
In the sense of like.
That just didn't reflect thereality that I was living when I
was with my grandparents, right?
Like my grandfather, worked forthe government.
A really good job for a longtime.
(09:33):
My grandmother was the headnurse, in the, uh, the, the
neonatal unit, like all of thesethings, in a lot of ways, very
cookie cutter.
There was a dog and a big yard,and, someone read to me every
night and I wasn't allowed to gooutside and play until, um, you
know, I, I, you know, read xamount of pages and wrote about
it.
And that's how a lot of my, myfamily operated.
(09:53):
When you looked on tv, youcouldn't find that right.
When I watched, you would thinkthat we were just relegated to
this very specific experienceand not saying that any other
experience that didn't matchthat was not valid.
It absolutely was, but it justdidn't make sense to me that
those were the only experiences.
You know,
Tami (10:11):
The diversity of the experience was missing from the
story.
And the narrative and the, whatpeople could see or have like a
window into.
Right.
Yeah.
LT (10:24):
I felt like that just had such an impact on just how
people reacted to me and, and,and, and honestly how I reacted
to myself Sometimes I just feltlike an alien.
You know, I struggled with somejust, um, internalized hatred of
just not ever feeling likeenough, you know, navigating,
navigating these spaces.
And so when I got to USC, I, Iwas just really, really looking
(10:47):
at media and, and wanting tocreate, you know, in my
storytelling and, and my own,journey as a, as a filmmaker and
a creative, wanting to tellstories that broadened the
perspective and the, you know,and, and the view of what it
meant to exist in, in thiswonderful community that I, that
I come from.
Um, and so I don't know if Ishould pause there,'cause then
(11:08):
that'll take me next until.
Tami (11:10):
Let's pause for a second I, I have of course.
A couple questions because a fewthings you said.
Number one, I am just soimpressed with the amount of
self-advocacy you were able toexercise as a young person that
(11:30):
put you on the path to where youare today.
Um, so kudos to you right, for,for advocating for yourself in
that way.
Is that something that you feltwas just like an inherently part
of your person?
Do you think that was modeledfrom other adults around you?
Or where did that like tenacityto say, no, I'm supposed to be
(11:54):
here and you need to open a spotfor me?
LT (11:58):
Um, I felt like, I think some of.
A, a significant portion of thatcame from, um, seeing how
difficult, the difficultexperiences my mom go through
sometimes of just, you know,being a single mother, um,
raising, raising myself and, andmy sister, and I knew that I, I
(12:27):
wanted.
Life to look different.
I, I knew that there would, bethese roadblocks and I kind of
set, you know, learned or pickedup or, or kind of rationalized
that I, if I, if I knew that Iwanted life to, I.
Ultimately be easier at somepoint that I, I have to go
around the roadblocks and thatwhatever that roadblock was,
(12:49):
whether I interpreted as peopleor, you know, you know, this,
this district that I was in, I,I just had to go around them or
through them or whatever.
Um, and then also with mygrandparents, they just from a
young age.
You know, success wasn't a maybelike in their, in the way they
spoke to me, it wasn't, Iremember, when it, okay, so, uh,
(13:13):
my granddad is a musician.
He plays saxophone and clarinetand, all these things.
And so when, when fifth gradecame, he goes, what instrument
are you gonna play?
Not if you're going to play aninstrument.
And so it never even occurred tome as like.
If there was an option to nottry to acquire this new skill,
it was, um, you know, what, whatskill are you going to acquire?
(13:37):
Um, and so I think that's, youknow, kind of really set it.
And then they would ask methings like, what college are
you going to go to?
Not, and it could have beencommunity college, but you were
gonna do something, you know?
And then I think.
You know, school there, I, Iwent to a lot of schools that I
really felt were failing me andI've always had a very strong
sense of like, justice.
(13:58):
And once I figured out that thiswasn't fair, I said, well,
because it's not fair.
I.
That, you know, told me that I'mgoing to have to work beyond
that and move beyond that.
And you know, the systems andwhen you're a kid, you're saying
these people are not fair.
But know, it's broader thanthat.
(14:18):
It's much larger than that.
But at the time I'm like, y'allare not fair.
Therefore I don't even, I'm noteven taking what you're telling
me.
not realizing it because youdon't know what you're talking
about, so I'm gonna go figure itout.
So I think it's a combinationof, of things.
I'm also the oldest daughter.
I feel like that's gotta havesomething
Tami (14:34):
Oh, it definitely, I'm an oldest daughter, so 100%.
LT (14:38):
I, and I was actually thinking about the other day,
when did that set in?
And I, I would have to sayaround sixth grade when I
started realizing that schoolscould be different.
There was no reason because Igot to this other school that
was more resource and thingslike that.
Um, and, and I didn't choose togo there.
I was, you know, moved to mygrandparents' house.
The therefore, I said if Ididn't do anything to not be
(15:01):
here, then there's no reasonthat I shouldn't be here in
these spaces.
And that just kind of stuck withme.
I, I, the, the world should beavailable to me.
And, and that is, and that was adriving force to, to get me
through school.
Tami (15:15):
Yeah.
Oh, that's so amazing.
I've heard a couple themes thatI think in the things you're
sharing that are reallyimportant.
Um, one of course is.
Like representation matters andis important.
And I've been, you know, we'veseen a lot more of that probably
in the last decade of trying tomake sure that that happens and
(15:37):
that diversity of story that'sbeen historically missing and
also the, the power of how weuse.
Words and speak truth orpossibility into young people.
And whether that is your child,your grandchild, you know,
(15:57):
you're a teacher, whomever youare like.
Your words are powerful to setthe tone for what they may see
as possible.
I, I mean, I have heard so manystories of people talking about
my teacher told me I was afailure, or I was never gonna
make anything in my life, orwhatever, things like that,
right?
And that is detrimental to thepsyche of a young person.
(16:20):
Um, so.
I, I don't know where I wasgonna go with that, but I just
think those two pieces are huge.
Like they work really well intandem.
So not only are we hearing andsaying that these things are
possible diverse.
Persons get to see it and thepotential of it.
(16:44):
You know, whether that'sthrough, fictionalized story or
truth in who's sitting and doingwhat and having a voice in
what's happening in the world.
I don't know.
What do you think about that?
Take on what you've said.
LT (16:59):
There, you know, you hear all the time like teachers
saying, um, you know, you're notgonna make it.
Or these, these comments thatreally sit with a young person
and it kind of takes me back.
I was towards the end of my timeat USC and I had three jobs.
I was taking 18 credits, likeWoo girl.
stressed out trying to pay forlife in California and film
(17:21):
school.
And I remember I had this like,one of the final projects and I,
I made a mistake, in coverage.
And so I like broke this rule towhere when you flip the camera,
if you don't do it the rightway, it, it changes where the
character is on screen and it'sa continuity error.
And I just, I felt I was justmortified.
I was just so down on my myselfand I was already like really
(17:42):
like, you know, sitting withthese thoughts of like, you're
never gonna be good enough.
You're not gonna make it.
And one of my professors told methat I wasn't gonna make it,
that I should really maybe startconsidering something else.
And, you know, it really hurt myfeeling.
I was embarrassed in front of mypeers and Yeah.
but.
Um, again, I was like, you knowwhat, that's a, that's a
(18:03):
roadblock and what do we do withroadblocks, and so I ended up
getting, I ended up emailingthat semester, probably 200
cinematographers, and I justasked them all to please meet me
for coffee.
I just wanted to talk and learnabout what I needed to do to,
get in the industry and make anindustry.
And I met a man named SalvatoreTotino, who I absolutely adore.
For coffee.
And I said, what advice do youhave for, for a young person who
(18:25):
really wants to get in a camera?
So we talked and a couple weekslater he called and he was like,
you know, I really like you.
I really, I really think that,you know, you can, you can do
this.
Do you wanna come work onSpider-Man Homecoming?
Right.
And so I say this because it'ssuch like a, a juxtaposition,
you know, I one, um, figurewho's like, just.
(18:48):
Just throwing a towel and thisother one who is like, you know,
you're, you're still green,you're still learning.
Come on, I'll, I'll, I'll teachyou, you know, I'll help you.
And I got that job onSpider-Man.
I emailed that professor and Isaid, Hey, remember when you
told me that I should just goahead and hang it up in two
weeks?
I start my first job onSpider-Man homecoming.
Tami (19:09):
Boom, mic drop.
Okay.
LT (19:11):
And I, and I say that because I.
That was such a pivotal momentfor me because that was before I
got into into education, butSal's reaction to me and
supported me completely.
Re like reconfigured my brainon, on what is possible when you
support young people, right?
(19:31):
We're, you know, young peopleare going to make mistakes.
They're new, they're learning,they have to, they're, they're
acquiring this skill and thisknowledge.
So like, even if the mistake ismade, something happens.
You don't tell'em that they'renever gonna be anything.
You know, I wasn't even, Iwasn't even 21.
I might have been just 21.
My brain wasn't even done.
Tami (19:49):
yes.
LT (19:50):
Sal's approach, we're gonna learn this stuff together,
right?
And so that moment where eventhough, you know, despite my
best effort, I didn't hit, thisstandard, there was still
someone who said, I see you.
I see your passion.
I see how much you love this.
Come on, you're with me.
And that is, you know, just howI approach working with young
(20:12):
people.
I tell'em, look, this might behard.
You know, it might challengeyou, it might frustrate you.
You might not get it right.
But you're not by yourself.
You know there's someone,there's someone here, and I
don't even know if I answeredthe question'cause I've gone off
on a.
Tami (20:27):
Look, I don't know.
You did.
You did, but you know what?
I was feeling that so much.
I had a high school, uh, Englishteacher.
I was in honors English, andshe, I was not the best speller,
and this was before, okay, I'mgonna date myself.
We had to write our essays byhand, with pen every other,
skipping every line.
Like we didn't always type them.
(20:48):
Okay.
That's how old I am.
had to that too.
So she was like, I just rememberthat.
She was like, do you even read?
Oh, Your spelling is atrocious.
no.
Okay.
Mind you, I'm a pro prolificreader.
So lemme tell you, when I got mydoctorate in literacy learning
and instruction, I was like,where you at?
(21:10):
Where you at Mrs.
Morgan?
Where you at?
Like, I was like, oh, I feel youso much.
did.
But yes, I, you did answer thequestion and I, and.
Um, oh my God, I just lost mytrain of thought.
But what I think is also keythere, oh, I remember what it
was.
Hmm.
This idea of perfection one partof my career, I was a teacher
(21:30):
educator, so I was preparingfuture teachers or working with
practicing teachers.
And one of the things that Ialways want people to be mindful
of is sometimes as educators weare asking our students or
children or youth to do thingsthat we don't want even do as
adults.
Right.
And the, the collectivehumanity.
(21:53):
Of the learners around you,right?
There is no such thing as aperfect person or a perfect
execution of anything.
So where is the space for thelearning to take place?
That is actually why you'rethere.
Like and hello, mistakes.
The mistakes are what lead tonew learning and understanding
(22:14):
and developing, right?
Like anybody and I'll, I willgo.
To my grave of saying this,anybody can regurgitate and, and
make it seem like they knowsomething, like on a multiple
choice test or something likethat.
Like, you're not actuallyassessing knowledge.
You're assessing memorization.
But when you're like creating afilm, when you're making or
developing something, we'remeant to be creative as humans.
(22:39):
And so tapping into thatcreative piece and sharing a
little part of our person with.
The world and the universe iswhat we're supposed to do.
Like that's why podcasting, Ilove it.
It's storytelling like we'vehistorically connected as humans
around story and narrative andpassed them down.
This is just another type ofstory.
(23:01):
In our current day and age.
And so I think I wanna like,woo, take that to film, right?
Because that's the ultimateYeah.
story.
Um,'cause I know you kind ofended like, okay, this is where
Spider-Man homecoming, this iswhere you got into.
Film and I know that connectedyou to the work you're doing
(23:22):
with the youth, which I wannamake sure we do get to talk
about too.
'cause that is so just Oh, soempowering and heartwarming.
LT (23:32):
So I have to backtrack them a little bit Per- Spiderman.
Um, I.
So I'm into media literacy.
Just really curious about it,you know, how media impacts our
worldviews.
at the time I, in my junior yearat USC, I was working at the
on-campus gym.
One of my three jobs, 5:00 AMI'm the opener.
(23:53):
There's not too many people atthe gym.
At five in the morning.
We're on a college
Tami (23:57):
I was like, not in college.
Right.
You're like, I get to study.
LT (24:01):
Right.
I would watch these, I wouldwatch these Ted talks.
I would just put'em on randomly.
And they just kind of helped mestay awake.
'cause I, at that point in mylife, I was definitely not
sleeping very much.
And so I would just hit play andthen the next one would come on,
the next one would come on.
And so I, this Ted Talk came on.
Again, I wasn't, I wasn'tlooking for it.
And it was about Pine RidgeReservation in South Dakota.
(24:22):
And up until this moment, I hadnever, ever, ever heard of Pine
Ridge.
Um, I'd never, I'd never thoughtabout South Dakota, well, when
you first think about SouthDakota, I find a lot of people
go, there's no black people inSouth Dakota.
You know, so, you know, I, itjust wasn't on my radar.
And so this Ted Talk came on andit was done by a man who was not
from South Dakota, who was notfrom the reservation, who was
(24:43):
not native, and.
He was the, the, the, the, thecore of the presentation was,
was everyone here is poor,they're sad, they're unhappy,
they neglect their children.
Everyone's on drugs and everyonejust drinks a bunch of alcohol.
And I, I watched this wholepresentation and I was just
disgusted you I like sittinghere like I know.
(25:05):
And I'm sitting there like, andlike my mind was just, just just
blown right open because.
Immediately, I was like, youcan't go into somebody else's
community and do your best tohighlight all these negative
things that you can find.
Um, but then I'm like, I knowthere are plenty of people in
the community who are, who areworking hard to right wrongs
(25:28):
that they didn't even cause,right.
This is, this is centuries ofintentional,
Tami (25:33):
They were placed in this space, right?
LT (25:36):
like just that lack of nuance.
And so I was sitting there and Iwas like.
This is happening to othercommunities too.
And I thought about, you know,just my, my journey and just
being a kid and, and watchingthese films where black people
are just portrayed as drugdealers, you know, broken homes,
lack of community, just like,just not showing any resilience
(25:58):
or anything.
And I was like, oh, this ishappening to other, other
communities as well.
I started thinking or on, on andon that same day I watched this
TED talk and this is when, thisis how you know, I was only 20,
22.
I was like, we should start afilm camp.
You know what, we should start afilm camp and we should teach
the kids how to make their ownfilms.
And then they'll tell their ownstories.
(26:20):
Boom, problem solved.
Solved does not exactly happenthat way, but, um, I a text, a
good friend of mine, fellow filmstudent.
Nicks and I text them and Isaid, Hey, do you wanna go to
Pinewood reservation with me inSouth Dakota and, and start a
film camp for kids?
And they text back and it, andit literally just said, sure.
Period.
(26:40):
And I was like, oh, we're reallydoing this.
And so we gathered a coupleother friends and we had a, a
meeting and we were like, weshould just make a Indiegogo and
just see how much money we couldraise to go to South Dakota.
Um, and.
Have like, first of all, none ofus had ever run a kids camp.
None of us had taught in any,like, you know, like we, you
know, volunteered and you had todo your out high school.
(27:02):
Um, and none of us had ever beento South Dakota.
We made this Indiegogo and we'relike, where are USC film
students and we're gonna goteach film.
Then I got on Facebook and Ityped in Pine Ridge Reservation
and a Boys and Girls Club cameup and I emailed them and I
said, Hey, me and my friendsfrom USC.
Um, you know, want to, you know,if, if y'all would like to
(27:25):
partner, we could do a film campfor the kids.
And somebody from the Boys andGirls Club wrote back and was
like, sure, do you wanna visit?
And I was like, yeah, I'll hopon a plane and just go to South
Dakota and like, stay withpeople, you know.
So I got on a plane, I went toSouth Dakota for the first time,
hung out with the family.
They showed me around.
I was like, great, we're gonnado a film camp here.
So I, I came back and I, I toldmy friends.
(27:46):
We raised$7,000 throughIndiegogo, packed up avan of
like little juice boxes.
Not even in like cardboard.
They were just in littlebaggies.
Okay.
Because we were just emailingpeople like, can you donate some
juice boxes?
You know, or like, from snacksand like pancake mix'cause you
know, you know all of that.
And, um, we packed up this, thislittle SUV and drove from Los
(28:07):
Angeles to, to South Dakota andwe, we ran this film camp and it
was really the idea.
There were a couple of things.
Um.
As I got, from the process andlike figuring out, first of all
why like I was really pulled todo this.
I was like, I did not stumbleupon this TED Talk no reason.
I really think there's supposedto be greater collaborations,
(28:30):
um, between black and indigenouscommunities.
I really think if we go pourinto young people and
essentially just teach themthese skills, our whole thing
has always been.
I'm, we're never gonna tell youwhat story to tell, right.
But what I, what I have, youknow, acquired is this technical
knowledge and this storytellingknowledge through going to this
university, which I will say isextremely inaccessible, right?
(28:54):
I$60,000 a year in tuition,right?
I, I couldn't afford to bethere, which is why I had three
jobs.
There was no Right,
Tami (29:02):
it just keeps getting worse.
LT (29:04):
Getting worse.
The school wasn't paying for ourfilms.
And so you are a passionatestoryteller, a passionate
filmmaker that that access tothat knowledge and that
equipment, is not going to beavailable to you.
So our idea was, well we, we goto the best film school in the
world.
What if we just.
Take all the knowledge thatwe've learned, just give it away
to the kids for free.
And so that, so we, we did thatcamp for the first week, with
(29:28):
Native youth from from PineRidge Reservation.
And I'll be honest, I wasn'tthinking long term.
I had literally no plans doanything, you outside of that
week.
Tami (29:38):
Your I need to do this.
Let's do it.
Let's go.
Yes.
LT (29:42):
And I, and because at that time I was like, I'm going to be
the first black woman to win anOscar cinematography.
That's it.
Like, that is my, and I waslike, that is my goal.
Which is why I was like, I gottaget on somebody who's big film
set and like, you know, learnall this stuff.
Um, and at the end of that firstcamp when I tell you we were, we
were tired.
So part of the camp was, we toldall the, we picked them all up
(30:04):
because we wanted to get rid ofall barriers to success.
So the reservation is the sizeof Connecticut.
Now I don't, I don't think Iinternalized what that meant
when I made this offer, but Isaid, all you have to do is
wanna come.
We'll pick you up.
We had one SUV, so I'm doingloops Okay.
For hours every morning andevery day after camp to make
(30:27):
sure all the kids could getthere, you know?
And then we're teaching thesefilm lessons
Tami (30:31):
Connecticut.
Doesn't sound that big, so yougotta drive it.
LT (30:35):
Right.
And like we're teaching thesefilm lessons, but we're also
like trying to figure out how,how we're gonna feed all the
kids.
So like, we're break like, solike one of us will go make
lunch for everybody and none ofus could cook.
It was really, it was reallylike the children are so,
children are so graceful, likethey are so,'cause none of us
could cook, but.
They were like, everyone wasjust happy to be there together.
(30:56):
And then we didn't plan out theweek, right.
We ran outta stuff to teach andwe're like, y'all wanna go get
ice cream?
So you see us and like, justlike a bunch of little kids
following us, like up this likeLong street to get to the gas
station, we can go get icecream.
Like, it was just, it was likeridiculous and fun.
And, but at the end of the weekeveryone's just really tired,
like all the adults.
I was like.
We, we screen their final films,and actually some really cool
(31:18):
films came out of this.
One group made a, um,documentary, um, with just like
native youth from the skatepark.
And they were just talking abouttheir experience and the, the
resources that they wish theyhad.
And they were talking aboutbeing in the skate park.
You know, this is what we have.
And so we make, like we, we comehere and we kick it and we
skate.
And it just keeps us from like,doing other things that teens
(31:38):
could get into.
Because if you don't give teensanything to do,
Tami (31:41):
they find stuff to do.
LT (31:42):
You know, so they're gonna go outside and do stuff and, and
they're, they recognize that wewanna be here at the skate park.
You know, it's what we can do.
So anyway, um, one of the groupsmade a film about that I had the
littles.
I've always been a, I just lovelittles.
You know, I had like the eightyear olds and they made a, a, a
little documentary about whatfriendship means to them.
And so, we screened their filmsand at the end of it, my team
we're getting ready to head backto LA and I go, okay, does
(32:05):
anyone have anything they wannasay before we go back to la?
You know, we've had so much funwith y'all.
We're so excited.
And this little girl, Malik, whohas now graduated high school
and is off into college, shegoes.
You know, Ms.
Terry, which is what they calledme at the time, I'm really sad,
I'm never gonna see you again.
And I was like, oh, oh no, I've,this is something you know, and
(32:29):
I like stepped out and I waslike really moved.
And I was like crying and I waslike, get it together, LT.
And I went back in.
I'm like, we talking about we'llbe back next summer.
And all my friends are like, wewill be where.
did and that is how Outlast Artsand Education formally outlast
film camp was, was born.
It was like a kind of a not verywell conceived one time project
(32:53):
because I didn't understand atthe time the responsibility we
have to community.
You don't just show up and dothis thing with these kids and
you make these films and youtalk to them about, you know,
their story and they never comeback.
Tami (33:06):
Yeah.
LT (33:07):
Don't, you don't plant that seed and not water it.
And so from that moment, I knewthat I would always be like, I
told him that I'd always be backand we'd keep making films
together.
Then I felt just really in aweand like very fortunate that
like this is something that Iget to, I get to do.
Um, and so that was in 2015 andhere we are.
Tami (33:32):
Wow.
10 years later from a random TEDTalk.
LT (33:37):
Yeah.
Tami (33:37):
You know, I mean, well, I'm gonna say random, but I
don't believe the universe israndom, which is sort of what
you Alluded to.
Um, and I think one of thereally important things is the
power of community, right?
And.
Investing in communities and thelongevity of any of this kind of
(34:00):
work and honoring, you know,people's story and lived life
and their opportunities withinthis life requires time and
effort.
And one thing I hope people takeaway from this.
sometimes you have a passion oridea and everybody else gonna
think you're crazy.
(34:22):
Crazy.
LT (34:23):
I'm crazy.
Tami (34:24):
Yeah.
But, right.
I don't know about, well, I meanclearly this is one example like
it, it turned out for the best.
Like I've done some things wherepeople are like, girl, you're
gonna do what?
And I was like, yep, that's whatI'm doing.
And then amazing.
Like no regrets.
And I think that's one of thethings maybe modern society has.
(34:46):
Pushed out of us is the abilityto trust our inner passion or
calling, or like this knowledgethat this is what I need to do,
and taking the risk on yourselfMm-hmm.
and the trust in yourself to goexecute it or try it
LT (35:05):
Yeah, Yeah.
Tami (35:08):
and see what happens.
LT (35:10):
And, and it, it kinda, but we can all do something, right?
There is place for all of us toparticipate in this kind of
work.
Um, you know, not, not everyonehas to go start a whole program,
I, I tell people sometimesbecause I, I, I, I feel like a
lot of times we get caught up inlike, it's, the problem is so
big.
What do we, what do we do?
(35:30):
And sometimes, you know, justtalking to people, I go, do you
go to school board meetings?
Tami (35:35):
Mm.
LT (35:36):
You can start right there.
You know, you don't necessarilyhave to have an answer.
I'm not, I don't have an answer,I, I respond what's in front of
me.
I do what I can.
Um, I know what I'm good at,right?
I'm good at youth programming,right?
So I do that.
I don't go try to organize allthese other things because I
might not be very helpful there,but I do do, and so I tell
people.
Just, just do something, show upat your local school board
(35:59):
meeting so that people know thatthere's people watching that
people care.
It's huge thing, just thatpresence.
And so, um, know, we, like, wecan literally all do something
and it does not have to be thesame thing that the next person
does.
We all have our strengths, and Ithink if we really lean into the
things that we're good at, bigand small, I think that's where
(36:19):
that difference is, is made.
And for me, I remember at onepoint in my life when I was
doing, I'm like, I wanna be thenext Secretary of Education.
Now I'm gonna redo the whole,you know what I mean?
Um,
Tami (36:27):
yes.
LT (36:28):
but the, the.
The community like that, we'vebeen able to build outlast and I
mean it, it's such a beautifulcommunity.
We partner and work with so manyorganizations on the res, right?
Like, I mean, even trying tomake the program work, it's an
expensive program.
We're doing a popup film schoolin rural South Dakota it is not
like we're just hopping over,you know, next street over.
(36:50):
So how do we make this work?
Well, it is because we have thesupport of the local community,
right?
So like one of our student'smoms, she caters the lunches,
right?
Like, that's such a
Tami (37:01):
Oh
LT (37:01):
thing.
You know, we have our UĹ‹ÄŤĂ whenshe, um, which means
grandmother.
She comes and she works with thestudents and just like.
Learning about, Lakota cultureand history and, and telling
those stories and pouring intothem and that like, it's a
whole, it's a whole community ofpeople bringing the strength
that we have.
And that's what makes it work.
It's not just myself and my, myfellow, filmmaker friends.
(37:25):
In the sense of like, like wereally lean into like the, it
takes a village, right?
There's so many people allbringing their strengths and
their skills and their ideas andtheir resources, and that's why
the program has been able togrow.
That's why, our students havenow, MTV commercials, right?
Independent films.
We've traveled with young peoplefrom New York to Los Angeles to
(37:46):
Chicago.
Now we're implementingintergenerational wellness
groups.
That's not like a few people whohad an idea.
That's an entire community.
Both hopefully and beyond that,coming together and saying,
here's what we got.
Now let's do something with itto support the young people.
And so I truly believe that whenit comes to work, there really
is a place for, for everyone toget involved.
Tami (38:09):
Yeah, I absolutely agree with that.
I, I, I, uh, tend to say alltime, like, how are you using
your voice today?
Right?
And your voice can look.
A lot of different ways.
It can be like actually usingyour voice.
Your voice could be your vote,and making sure you're voting in
all elections, not just thequote unquote big elections.
Right.
like going to your school boardmeeting, like there are so many
(38:30):
ways or, um, I'm sure people canfinancially support your
nonprofit if they would like to,right?
Yes.
LT (38:39):
Absolutely Uhhuh.
Tami (38:41):
we'll make sure we put that link in the show notes,
friends, so you can help supportall of amazing work.
But there's like a voice canlook so many different ways,
right?
And I a hundred percent agree.
There is this misconception thatthis work, you have to be doing
something big.
(39:03):
I really think that changehappens in the small moments, in
the every day in theconversation you choose to have,
right?
To speak up.
If you're seeing or hearingsomeone only telling one version
of a community, and you knowthat that's not right or don't
agree with it late.
(39:23):
Open a conversation, right?
Not to be combative, it's tohave a conversation to build a
new or different or changed oryou know, sort of metamorphosis
of understanding.
As you know, sometimes we justdon't know what we don't know.
(39:49):
And not every, I'm say thislike, not every ignorance is
malicious,
LT (39:56):
Yeah, of course.
Tami (39:57):
Um, so how are we helping each other as just a community
of humans.
LT (40:06):
And that also like, brings me to this idea that I've just
been reflecting on the lastyear, especially, community is
messy, right?
Like, and, and I was, and I, I,I was thinking, um, because,
coming up and as a young leader,there was a lot of mistakes that
I made.
I didn't know what I was doing,you know,
Tami (40:23):
Oh yeah.
LT (40:23):
Learn that, especially like when you're working within
another community and supportingyou from other community, you
have to learn these culturalnuances and things like that.
And so I was thinking not toolong ago, just like community is
not built just in those momentswhere it's like, oh my God, I
love all of you.
We're having so much fun.
Look at this like, cute film.
It's when you're, I'm, I'mreally annoyed with you right
(40:44):
now.
Or, like, hurt my feelings, or Ihurt your feelings.
The community is, is reallybuilt when.
We draw each other back in andsay, Uhuh, how are we gonna get
through this?
We're gonna talk about this.
There's clearly amiscommunication or harm was
done, or something misguided, orwe, or we just don't know,
right?
(41:04):
Because it's not maliciouscommunity is built.
When we said, okay, but we'regonna figure it out.
We're come together, we're gonnareflect on this.
And I think a lot of times, um,that can get lost because
that's, that's, that's the,that's the not fun part.
You know what I mean?
Oh.
Fun.
But that's where community isbuilt.
Um, you know, I, I try to, tryto hang on to that, right?
(41:28):
Especially like, you know,leading an organization and
you're, you're constantlyworking with and meeting with
new people.
If my goal is to really helpcreate this world where, youth
can thrive and self determineand, build lives for themselves
and their communities that, thatthey want.
Then that means I have to do itmyself, right?
(41:49):
So every time I get mad atsomebody or something doesn't go
my way, you know, you can't justgo kick people outta community,
you know what I
Tami (41:57):
No.
Cancel culture for you.
No.
No.
LT (41:59):
No.
Like, you know, like I thinkaccountability needs to be
there.
But to build this better world,we've got to be committed to
remaining in community.
Tami (42:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
I, and I think if we think aboutcommunity, like any, like any
relationship really, thestrength of the community, the
strength of the relationshiphappens in the vulnerability
right, with each other.
And that means, right.
Sometimes I get it wrong, andeven if I'm the leader, it.
(42:31):
I'm admitting, you know what, Igot that really wrong.
LT (42:34):
Mm-hmm.
Tami (42:36):
'Cause that's being vulnerable, but that's, that's
where the strength comes inbecause now I say this too,
like, when I share myvulnerability or share part of
my story, I'm not just sharingmy story.
I'm ho you know, hoping andsharing with the idea that
people will start to feelcomfortable to share their
story.
(42:58):
Because they, they need thatsafe space.
If you're never sharing and likekinda like this idea about the
rests, if you guys would've gonein.
To become voyeurs in thereservation like people have
done for hundreds of years,right?
The results wouldn't havehappened in the way that they
did for you, but those resultshappened because you were
(43:20):
vulnerable, you were open, youwere partnering, you were
collaborating.
All of those things builds thisamazing community that you have
now.
LT (43:32):
Absolutely.
And just working with youngpeople, that vulnerability, I
honestly think it just changesthe whole experience because now
we're actually able to likelearn from one another and just
like.
An example, eventually I didleave film and I was still
working, working on working onoutlast and going outlast.
So I went into education,officially, and then I started
teaching.
Eventually I started teaching ona, the, a reservation next door
(43:54):
to the one I program, calledExist And just my, my classroom
functions so differently thanlike.
All the other classrooms in thebuilding.
Um, because like if you walkedin that room, you would not be
able to tell that I actuallywasn't related to all these kids
because like I, I spoke to themlike that.
I was their auntie.
They spoke to me like that.
(44:15):
Um, and I remember like, it wasa couple times, like one day I
was having a bad day.
I didn't sleep the night beforeI'd been sick and I came in, I
was like, y'all, miss LT is nothaving a good day.
Like, I need some grace fromy'all.
And.
I guess I'd been a little crankythat day.
I remember the end of the day,and we always, we did the Chacha
slide at the end of every day.
Like, we love to dance and likethey, you know, we kind of play
(44:35):
at the end of the day, but like,I let them play and I just like
wasn't in the mood.
I was like sitting at the frontof the room and I was kind of
like, sitting with my, my handon my cheek and this little girl
comes up and she takes this,marker and she's drawing on the
whiteboard and the whole classstarts snickering.
And I'm just like, what in theworld?
So I look back and it's like anarrow and it just says cranky
Miss Lt.
(44:56):
I just like, and that was, thatwas one of the many moments that
just, um, illuminated howcomfortable we are with each
other, right?
This idea that I was this figurewho came in to just boss them
around and not actually like,see them.
I, I played every day at recess.
I was raised, I was racing thekids and I was beating the kids.
Okay.
Tami (45:17):
Yeah.
LT (45:18):
Um, and, and, but here's the thing.
So I wasn't, I wasn't, I wasn'ta particularly strict teacher
because I didn't need to be inthe sense like, we had a lot of
conversations.
How do we want this classroom tofeel?
Right?
What are the things we want toachieve, you know, and, and
really built in this idea that,they could do hard things and
I'd be able there to supportthem.
Um, but I didn't follow thecurriculum because I didn't like
(45:39):
it.
I didn't feel like it wasculturally responsive.
I actually thought it was prettyracist.
So like, I just wouldn't do it.
I just wouldn't read the books
Tami (45:44):
Ooh, we are kindred spirits.
LT (45:48):
And I would like come with all these like, crazy projects.
And like for example, I waslike, you know, after we got to
a certain point, I was like, I'mgonna teach'em how to write an
essay, like a, a proper, like anormal essay with like headings
and indentation and like, Istarted them on like citing and
like in a very third grade wayand things like that.
And then they had to, turn thatessay into, uh, a PowerPoint and
(46:10):
that PowerPoint into like anoral presentation.
And every, a lot of mycolleagues were like, what are
you doing?
They can't do that.
You just need to get like testtaking skills, things like that.
And if you approach with thedeficit mindset, yeah, they
can't because you're not gonnahelp them, know?
And if you don't believe inthem, like they're looking to
you to kind of get an idea ofwhat can I do?
(46:32):
You know?
And I also thought if I go,okay, y'all we're writing an
essay today, they don't knowthat that's not in the
curriculum.
We write an essay today.
I had this group of kids whoeveryone thought they were not
gonna get anywhere near thirdgrade level.
They weren't gonna pass thestate test, all of these things.
And then I come in and they'relike, you're definitely not
helping'cause you're justcompletely off the rails here.
Tami (46:54):
Oh my God.
You're teaching them criticalthinking and no, life skills.
That's so wild.
So wild.
LT (47:00):
really lean in like the curiosity of it right.
We did puzzles and I let thempick their books and we talked
about like world history and,um, you know, like how, and I, I
would ask them, how did we allend up here in this space today?
Because now they're little.
They're like, are you not?
Are you not Lakota?
And I'm like, I'm not.
Let's talk about it.
You know, things like.
(47:21):
And I, and I think a lot of thatapproach was one, I wasn't
afraid to like, just really meetthem where they were as
children, right?
Like I didn't expect them.
Because it's such a colonial wayto to, to look at them, sit
down, be quiet, walk in astraight line.
That's not what education is.
Education is about curiosity, soI want.
Help them learn how to think forthemselves.
(47:44):
What interests you and what canyou do with that?
So, I mean, my, my classroom waspuzzled in the games and things
like that.
And what ended up happening wasmy students scored the highest
in the district
Tami (47:55):
Of course they did.
I could have told, I knew thatwhen you I,
LT (47:59):
highest oh, I offered.
I said, do y'all wanna know whatI'm doing in this room?
No, I got penalized because Ididn't follow, I didn't follow
the script.
Tami (48:10):
oh my gosh,
LT (48:12):
I don't even know how it got here.
I'm so sorry, but going
Tami (48:14):
Oh, do not apologize.
Like I'm like, oh my God.
We're kindred spirits.
Like this is like same story,different location, different
kid, but exactly that like thisis what you're supposed to be
doing.
Test prep, not dah.
Oh, okay.
Okay.
So now my, all my students areyoung grade level, some of them,
this is sixth grade.
Some of'em came in in secondgrade.
(48:34):
So what were you, you all wereokay saying they're not gonna do
this.
I'm like, they are totallycapable.
What are y'all doing?
LT (48:47):
absolutely capable.
Tami (48:49):
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
I got a whole story.
I think I've probably talkedabout it on one of my podcasts.
I got a whole story about thiswhole situation, but I love the
advocacy.
Right.
Also for the kids, like, oh, andI know it's scary for educators
to try to do things outside thebox.
It just.
Scares me.
It's not even outside the box.
(49:10):
It's what school should be.
'cause I'm like, learning isabout what you said.
Exactly.
Learning is about curiosity andit seems that we've made school
the place where we drivecuriosity and critical thinking
out of kids, especially certaintypes of kids.
LT (49:25):
Absolutely.
I taught in Memphis too, and Ihad, I thought they were gonna
fire me because they told me Icouldn't teach.
Black students from Memphis,Memphis, Martin, and the
mountaintop, because it wasn'ton the test.
There's no reason I'm in thisroom and these kids don't know
who, who Rosa Parks or MartinLuther.
And this is third grade.
That's what they, how did theynot know any of this?
(49:46):
And I said, okay, we gonna learnabout this.
And like, they would come in myclassroom to make sure I wasn't
teaching it.
I just taught it.
Anyway, you have to fire me.
Um, we went over the Memphissan, uh, sanitation
Tami (49:56):
You making some good trouble?
LT (49:58):
You know what, you know, I.
Tami (50:01):
I'm here for it.
LT (50:01):
Not afraid.
Like, because in, in the, inthe, and parents know, right?
Like, um, I, I, we have a, aprogram, on Rosebud coming up
this summer and a lot of myformer students are, are gonna,
come to the program.
And when I told their parentsI'd be back, they're like, yes,
go.
You let Miss LT's programbecause it is a space where
(50:24):
students will.
Learn in the sense that theywill get to explore, they'll be
curious, they'll be challengedin a healthy and supportive way.
Um, and that is what educationis supposed to be.
So the fact that the fact thatwe even have to fight with
people to, to do these things,it that blows my mind
Tami (50:45):
Oh, mine too.
Every day, every day.
LT (50:48):
I'm not gonna come into this classroom.
And here's the thing, Iunderstand that I have a
privilege in the sense of, ofnavigating that and that I don't
have kids, right?
In the sense of like, so ifsomeone does fire me, I'm not
also responsible to, you know,my child when I get home and
it's like, yo, I'm gonna lostyour her job, because she was in
there cutting up.
And so I was talking to a fewpeople not long ago and it was
(51:09):
like, not everyone can do that,of course, but I can.
And that's what I mean by that'swhat I can do.
Right.
And so it doesn't need to lookthe same.
And I do, and that's why I thinkthat community support is so
important because there'll bepeople who are, might have to go
ahead and risk losing that job,right?
So if that happens, can I counton somebody to bring me a meal?
Tami (51:32):
Yes,
LT (51:33):
I, I just think these conversations are so important
so that we can all figure outhow we, how we can get in where
we fit in.
Tami (51:38):
I agree.
I agree.
Oh my gosh, LT, I feel like Ikeep talking to you for like,
for like hours.
Um, which I love.
I love, I so appreciate youcoming on today.
I want to get, I think this is agood point where we can wrap up,
but I do like to wrap up withlike, what is your, like one and
you, you've dropped so many goodlittle gems for people, but like
(51:59):
what is your one sort of tip forpeople that you want them to
take away from this on how toengage with equity work if
they're not sure what to do.
LT (52:14):
You know, I, I live.
By this in like every area of mylife, and I think it applies.
Um, it's a game of not quitting.
I think that no matter like whatit is there for me, there's no
such thing as like a final No,there's always a way and it may
not look the way you thought itwas gonna look, and it may not
be supported by who you thoughtit was gonna support, and it
(52:36):
might have even had the outcomethat you thought it was gonna
have.
But if you keep trying and youkeep doing what you can, you
will see that positive outcomeor you will get closer to
achieving this goal, or you mayrecognize a goal that you didn't
even know.
And so in everything that I do,whether it's with Outlast,
whether it was with film,whether it was like going to
(52:57):
school myself, um, it's a gameof not quitting.
And I, and I tell my studentsthat.
You know, it might, you know,today might suck.
It might not be fun.
Maybe you didn't master thisthing you wanted to master.
Maybe you just didn't have agood day.
Get up and try again.
It's a game of not quitting.
And I, I think that's it.
It's a game of not quitting.
Tami (53:18):
Awesome.
Oh, I love that.
And I agree 100%.
Well, thank you everyone forjoining us for another episode
of the Equity Hour.
Um, LT, it has been such apleasure.
And if you are looking tosupport Outlast in her
nonprofit, go to the link in theshow notes so we can keep doing
(53:38):
all the great things.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
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