I met @Ava in 2010. I was Managing Director of a Black Arts Org in Philly and we partnered with other local orgs to promote #IWillFollow movie by getting people to the theater on opening weekend. I remember her laying out the plan in a small meeting and I thought it was brills.
I became an admirer. Loved the film and was STOKED when #MiddleofNowhere was released and she won Sundance. Bc of her Philly ties we knew a lot of the same folks so we saw each other at events locally.
In 2013 the Black Arts Org fell apart and our staff was laid off. That summer I heard that Ava was going to direct the ‘Selma’ film. I knew she didn’t know I had a history in Selma (did y’all?) so I reached out to see if I could help.
Side note: I lived and worked in Selma and worked in the National Voting Rights Museum for years. I curated several exhibits for the museum and helped coordinate the annual celebration of the right to vote which commemorates ‘Bloody Sunday’ and the March to Montgomery.
At the time I reached out to Ava she was in the midst of rewriting the script and doing the preliminary work on the movie. I told her I could intro her to folks in Selma - many from the movement and be a general help if needed. She accepted.
We exchanged emails about the folks in Selma from the movement and I shared some exhibit stuff I still had. Then we met in Selma during the commemoration (called Jubilee) Meanwhile, my unemployment ended while Congress was fighting Obama so it didn’t get extended.
My job always supplemented my work with #metoo and Just Be so without a job it was hard to justify the time I spent on that work. I was about to quit the program serving two HS and a middle school when Ava called and asked if I could come to Atlanta to the set of Selma.
Low and behold I was IN Atlanta and came by the church where they were filming the day David did the famous King speech and the storm knocked out the power. It was incredible! Before I left that day Ava’s partner Paul told me Ava wanted to *hire* me as a consultant on the film. 
This was in 2014. That same year bc I didn’t stop doing the work I was invited to speak at a rally in Philadelphia about my work with #metooMVMT
In 2017 when #metoo went viral it was this video that was shared thousands of times that showed people that I had been doing this work with this name already. The following weeks were a tizzy. Ava reached out to say she was proud and available to support.
In 2018, at the Golden Globes on the red carpet I was scared out of my mind, exhausted and a complete fish out of water - and my feet were on FIRE. I got to the end of the red carpet about to cry or die and ran, literally, into Ava. I swear fo’ God i felt like this:
She pulled me to the side and fixed my face, dress and hair. Gave a quick pep talk and joke (she’s mad funny) and stayed with me through the photographers row. I promise I wouldn’t have made it the rest of the way.
There have been a lot of well known sisters who have helped me in the last two years but I had to stop and give a shout to @ava after reading her post because she lifts as she climbs. There are more stories...too many to share. But these are the important ones.
We can talk about how she got me together about my coins, answered the call about #RK when so many others in her position would not and supported my baby at another time. 😏
In 2018 I got a chance to give her the flowers she deserves while presenting her award from the MS Foundation.
(I just threw this in bc this pic is cute)
(I just threw this in bc this pic is cute)
