Monticello youth show what really 'makes a village'

By ELIZABETH LEPRO
Posted 8/21/19

MONTICELLO, NY — At the “What Makes a Village” presentation on Broadway Street Wednesday, August 14, Thomas Bosket said the mission of the years-long project is “giving kids …

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Monticello youth show what really 'makes a village'

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MONTICELLO, NY — At the “What Makes a Village” presentation on Broadway Street Wednesday, August 14, Thomas Bosket said the mission of the years-long project is “giving kids the freedom to learn… and to be the adults we want to see.”

It was clear the youth in the room took that freedom earnestly.

This summer, a group of Monticello teens learned to use Adobe Premiere Pro video-editing software to cut together films on topics including suicide, drug addiction, racism, growth, art and history. Guided by the civic creative center ENGN’s Thomas Bosket and Isaac Green Diebboll, teenagers created short films to debut to an audience of mostly adults on Wednesday.

No subject matter was deemed inappropriate for young minds.

Indeed, the “What Makes a Village” project, launched by ENGN and the Center for Workforce Development, is about engaging young people in change and allowing them to connect their personal problems—the death of a loved one, for instance—to larger societal problems. Past iterations of the project have included writing stories, creating murals, making maps and envisioning an ideal village.

The project has engaged 22 youth over three years, encouraging them to “explore their creative roles as citizens.” ENGN’s statement on the project said the resulting art shows adults, including elected officials, how their decisions are impacting future generations.

Ashanti Johnson, whose video included depictions of self harm, said she decided to include the images because she wanted people to know that “this is what kids do to ourselves—it shouldn’t be hidden.”

Messiah Kelly offered a moving speech before playing his video, which focused on systemic racism and police brutality against people of color; it included clips of Eric Garner’s death and a black teenager being thrown to the ground by police.

“This video has some parts that are going to be hard to see,” Kelly said. “But it’s important to show the worst parts of what’s happening… No matter how much they belittle and dehumanize us, we will never stop fighting for our rights and our very lives, because it’s on us to better the world for future generations.”

Given the opportunity to comment and ask questions about the videos, an audience member told Kelly that she was “honored to know him” after hearing him speak about fighting for justice.

Fifteen-year-old Reannon Matulewich, who said she and her five siblings had been in the foster care system for six years, created a video about her youngest brother’s struggle in the system.

“There are many kids that experience bad homes and foster care,” Matulewich said. “We need to open people’s eyes to the kids’ perspective.”

Her video described her brother’s experience moving from home to home—some of which she said were abusive—and how he learned to act out as a method of escape from a bad foster-home situation.

This story had a happy ending, off the screen.

In the audience, Matulewich’s little brother sat watching his sister’s video from the lap of the siblings’ current, and final, foster mother. “I did some bad stuff to see if she was good enough, and she was great!” Matulewich’s brother said in the video as his mother teared up in real time. She would finalize the adoption of Matulewich’s brother the next day.

“Coming here I never thought that someone this old was going to learn so much from so many young people,” one audience member commented at the close of the afternoon. “You’re all extraordinary.”

The films were made and presented by Ashanti D. Johnson, Madison Regina Fields, Jasmin Eliyah Dumas, Jadin A. Williams, Messiah Kelly, Reannon Matulewich and Honesty Treasure Bolden.

Monticello, village, youth, teens

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