Hello Plymouth! I am excited to share the news that Plymouth congregant and Council Member, Dr. Gilda Sheppard won Best Director of a Documentary Film at the NYC Independent Film Festival last month in New York for her film Since I Been Down.

Many of us had the good fortune to view and discuss the film with Dr. Sheppard and Kimonti Carter, a main subject/storyteller in the documentary, through Plymouth-sponsored events, but if you haven’t yet seen it, you can learn about the film here. The link includes information on how to access it and if you keep scrolling to the end of the site, you’ll see that Dr. Sheppard and her team have been honored for this work by dozens of film and arts groups, a clear testament to the powerful nature and importance of the story itself and how it was told.

I hope you will take a moment to congratulate Dr. Sheppard when you see her. She is one amongst us who unflinchingly shines light on things we collectively need to reckon with and she does so with great warmth and compassion for both her subjects and her viewers. I know I for one, have much to learn from her.

Peace and love to you all,

Tracy Simpson, Plymouth Moderator