Short Form video as a tool to amplify voices on the margins
How many people from the global majority regularly preach or lead worship in your congregation? How about people with disabilities? Women? Nonbinary people? People from different faiths? People who were once incarcerated? Homebound people?
Digital tools like short-form videos allow us to collaborate with people from groups that have historically been silenced by colonial systems of power. How might you collaborate with people from other social locations whose voices need amplifying?
Notes about Shawn and our choices in this collaboration are included below the video transcript.
production notes
This video is intersectional. It amplifies the voices of an African American man, but it also uses his male voice to affirm the value of women and LGBTQ+ individuals.
Note that we use different pronouns for God: I use "they/them" and Shawn uses "He/Him." This is a subtle but intentional indicator to the audience that even though people come from different social locations and theological traditions, they can still proclaim love and learn from one another.
Shawn also introduces the concept of "code-switching" as a variation of "speaking in tongues." This thought-provoking statement is meant to generate more conversation about the unique challenges of navigating white spaces as a Black man.
Shawn and I collaborate regularly, and it has not always been easy or comfortable. In addition to having to balance our different sound and lighting setups in the video editor, we also have to navigate the power dynamics that come with our different races, genders, ages, and educational backgrounds. We are consistently mindful of those dynamics and speak openly about them.