Occupy the Hood is the brainchild of Malik Rhasaan, a construction worker and father of three from South Jamaica, Queens and later brought on friend Ife Johari Uhuru, a black hairstylist from Detroit. At Liberty Square, Malik shared the story behind Occupy The Hood, their goals and what cities are involved. “The hood is the sleeping giant..if we wake the hood up, this is real..this never work without the blacks and lations..it will never work..we been screaming..we been hollering..we been yelling about police brutality..people getting mased is nothing..my hood’s been getting mased foreve..getting beat down forever..if we stand in solidarity w this movement if makes it real.”
MY SMALL STORY
Over the past 15 years I have traveled, filmed and and acquired a library of over 6,000 hours. From the recording studio in NYC to South African Safari’s, I have filmed my conversations and watched my library grow. On April 26, 2010, I launched www.MySmallStroy.com in NYC as a way to share insight. My Small Story contextualizes life through a collection of unscripted filmed conversations with small businesses, entrepreneurs, artists and everyday people filmed, edited & shared weekly by LaRon Batchelor – a videographer/ethnographer with 15 years experience filming conversations in 4 continents.