Meet the Spring 2020 Lede New Orleans Fellows
What a difference 30 days makes. A month ago our city was celebrating Mardi Gras largely unaware of the pandemic that lay coiled and waiting in our communities. Our team at Lede New Orleans had just finished reviewing applications for our Spring 2020 fellowship program, which supports young Black, Latinx, Asian and LGBTQ+ adults interested in exploring journalism and digital media. The young adults selected for the Spring 2020 cohort displayed the hope, hustle and resilience of our community well before we realized we would need those qualities in extra helpings.
The coronavirus pandemic hit swiftly and early in New Orleans relative to elsewhere in the United States. We’ll be confronting the long-term effects of the crisis for months (likely years) to come. The resulting stay-at-home orders have shown us how vital community building is to our being. How connection matters. It’s also underscored the importance of having access to reliable and relevant local information. These needs hit at the very core of why Lede New Orleans exists. The drive to build community, connect and share information help us press forward in uncertain times. New Orleans will get through this. And our communities will be stronger for it.
On that note we want to introduce you to our Spring 2020 Fellows. The past few weeks have been full of tough adjustments for this cohort: packing up dorm rooms, shifting to online studies and reckoning with a grinding halt in local hospitality work. Still, they push forward. This month they’ll be completing online sessions covering journalism concepts and skills as well as the basics of video shooting and editing. The video profile series we had planned is on hold until we can ensure the health and wellness of everyone involved in that work. Now we adapt and emerge.
Fellows are in the process of brainstorming how they can tell the story of COVID-19’s impact on their families and communities amid a stay-at-home order. Be on the lookout for their creative solutions.
Stay safe and be well!
— Team Lede
Victoria Clark
Victoria Clark is a junior at Xavier University of Louisiana. She hopes to become a print journalist with a focus on writing about people and stories from the Black community. She has an interest in poetry and writes a blog that examines the plight of Black women.
Follow Clark on Instagram @stiiickfigure
Candace Hasan
Candace Hasan is a soon-to-be graduate of Xavier University where she is studying political science with a minor in mass communications. She envisions herself working with brands to create content that has political and social impact. She has a passion for creating media that elevates women and their experiences on Instagram and YouTube.
Follow Hasan on Instagram @conceitedcan
Ariane McGuffey
Ariane McGuffey is a New Orleans native and a recent graduate of Café Reconcile who loves making music and directing her own music videos. She is interested in learning the fundamentals of interviewing and filmmaking among other skills.
Montero Morton
“I am who I am. No excuses.” That’s Montero Morton’s mantra. Morton is a 21-year-old African American man with a stutter and a magnetic personality. He wants to become a writer, actor and a filmmaker, and is determined to let nothing stand in his way to pursuing his goals. He is looking for a sense of footing and the training and exposure in order to start living his dream.
Follow Morton on Twitter @AManofIetters
Erron Thomas
Erron Thomas is a thinker who loves challenging his own thoughts and those of others. He attends the University of New Orleans where he studies sociology and is working toward a concentration in journalism. He is a 21-year-old investor who enjoys when trades go his way, running, video games and spending time with friends. He has a specific interest in investigative journalism.
Nikka Troy
Nikka Troy is a writer, director and performer, and a New Orleans native. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of New Orleans. She has worked as a freelance stagehand, film artist, writer and assistant for local theater and film productions. She is CEO and head producer of Girls in Color, her budding production company.
Follow Troy on Instagram @nikkatroy.gic
Lede New Orleans is a nonprofit news initiative that facilitates media education and brings local young adults, journalists and creatives together to produce equitable, community-driven media. Visit us at www.ledenola.org.
