‘New Orleans has what it needs to thrive’: A conversation on equitable media, community connection
We caught up with Lede New Orleans co-founder E’jaaz Mason to talk about storytelling, its role in this moment and his work as the organization’s newest board member.
By Nijah Narcisse
I first met Lede New Orleans’ co-founders E’jaaz Mason and Jen Larino back in August 2021 when I joined the Community Reporting Fellowship. At the time, the organization was still just a year old and I was lucky to have the co-founders as my cohort’s main instructors. Jen led writing and reporting instruction, and E’jaaz taught us everything he knew about film production, documentary interviews and film editing.
It didn’t take long for me to notice just how passionate and devoted E’jaaz is to New Orleans and to the work of storytelling. At each session, he made sure to not only teach us the skills to be great storytellers, but he took us into the community of New Orleans to build relationships with community members and local organizations. His energy was infectious, and made me feel supported and uplifted in my journey as a storyteller.
In the years since, Lede New Orleans has hired new staff, expanded programs and grown its funding. The vision of its co-founders lives in new stories, events and partnerships. This year marks another milestone: E’jaaz will be supporting Lede’s mission as a member of its Board of Directors.
E’jaaz stepped back from day-to-day operations at Lede in August 2023 to deepen his learning in storytelling and leadership as a JSK Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University. This year, he will serve on the board while working as a lecturer at Stanford University where he’s teaching students how to tell multimedia stories about environmental issues. (Larino remains executive director of the organization.)
As we kick off 2025, we thought it fitting to check in with E’jaaz to learn more about his work as a JSK Fellow, the role of storytelling in this moment, and how he is working to support Lede New Orleans in this new chapter.
Nijah Narcisse: E’jaaz, it feels so good to talk to you. The last time we saw you in person was at the Community Reporting Fellowship exhibit, “How Ya Mama Doing?” in July 2023. We were sending you off to complete your JSK Fellowship at Stanford University. Do you remember how you felt at that moment?
E’jaaz Mason: I remember that moment so vividly for real. There were a lot of moving parts and I felt like I really couldn’t focus on the future or leaving y’all. That big send-off at that event was so beautiful. I remember seeing you [Nijah] there, and seeing you really made me smile because I think that’s when you told me you were interested in supporting the work. Then [Executive Director Jen Larino] showed up with her new baby. That was wonderful. It was a lot of emotions, a lot of confusion, a lot of anxiety. Just all the emotions kind of happening all at the same time.
In terms of the JSK fellowship, the experience and opportunity came as a surprise. I had no plans on leaving New Orleans. I didn’t want to leave Lede; I was enjoying the work. While Jen was on maternity leave in Summer 2023 the fellowship was 100% in my control for the first time and that was really exciting, but nerve-wracking at the same time, you know? [Without team members like Operations Coordinator] Trevon Cole and [former Program Director] Alexis Reed, who just joined the organization, this transition could have been a lot harder to achieve. It was a wonderful sort of way to close out that period of my life.
NN: It was such a great way to send you off. You were literally surrounded by loved ones and the work that you’d been putting into the fellowship. What was it like to transition to California to begin your JSK fellowship? Were there any key moments that stuck out to you?
EM: I made it to Stanford at the end of August in 2023. The first thing I noticed was there ain’t no Black people. It really hit me like a ton of bricks almost immediately. I come from a “Chocolate City” where every ounce of my being and everybody who I’m connected with, for the most part, are Black, you know? My culture is Black. My understanding of the world is rooted in Blackness.
After meeting my cohort members, I couldn’t help but notice that the majority of them were not Black. But since everyone in the cohort was new to California, it sort of pulled all of us together. We formed a tight bond immediately, so that if anything goes wrong while we’re away from home we at least have each other to depend on. By the end of August we were having constant dinners, lunches, brunches, coffees and beers. By building those relationships, for the first time in my life, I got to witness the sacrifices people are willing to make to be storytellers and to be journalists.
That first month of the fellowship really helped me to understand why this work is important. So the following months, I began focusing on bringing the work of Lede New Orleans to Stanford and to the Bay Area. I started instructing cinematography workshops and connecting with more and more young people out here. This led to screening “Katrina Babies,” and other films about environmental injustices around the world. Hundreds of people showed up in support and it gave me the opportunity to share the work we’re doing at Lede New Orleans.
The response was so positive I knew I needed to stay in California to continue to build those connections. Slowly, but surely, I’m starting to unlock Black culture and Black communities that exist here. And that feels really good.
NN: It sounds like you managed to push through despite the obstacles at hand. What are some of the changes you’ve witnessed over the years while working with Lede?
EM: When Jen and I first met back in 2019 we were both in very, very different stages of transition. Jen just got laid off after The Times-Picayune buyout, but she understood that there were definitely a lot of injustices in newsrooms including a lack of community reflection in newsrooms. The majority of my experience came from film and education. There was a lot of injustice in terms of equality and access to opportunity in the film industry. And when I looked at the education landscape, and especially when it comes to film and storytelling and media, there just was nobody doing effective work. Even educators like myself were faced with overwhelming injustices in the Louisiana education system, so I was ready to leave the system.
When Jen and I teamed up, I thought that the organization would just be a way for us to effectively train the next generation of Black and brown journalists. That was my whole mission. That’s what I did when I was a teacher, and I was really committed to that. I’m still committed to that. I have seen Lede evolve from skills training and job preparedness to more community storytelling and community engagement. And I think the next evolution of the organization is training other communities around the country and maybe even around the world how to do what we do: downloading that “Lede style” of community engagement and instruction to communities around the world that desperately need it.
NN: I hear you. It feels so good to hear you say that you see Lede’s approach expanding beyond New Orleans. How has your view of the work changed? And how has being at Stanford impacted the work?
EM: Listen, when I got to Stanford, I completely thought that New Orleans was the only place suffering from community disconnect. But everywhere in the world, especially in America, is dealing with the same thing that New Orleans is dealing with. Issues like environmental, race and education issues. Crime, violence, ineffective government and politics that divide us instead of trying to lead us. Everybody, everywhere in the country, is dealing with the same problems that we’re dealing with. It may look different in Chicago or New York or L.A. than it does in New Orleans, but everybody’s pretty much dealing with the same things. And a common thread is that in all of these different cities, people are finding it very difficult to bring people together to communicate about popular issues. I got to thinking that maybe we can show people from around the world how to authentically engage with their community, to bring community people together. I think that’s how my mindset has shifted and I think that’s what Lede’s work has shifted towards. And I’m excited to keep pushing that mission forward.
NN: I couldn’t agree more. Lede has done an amazing job building community engagement through events like the fellowship exhibits. How do you plan to support this work moving forward, especially now that you’re out-of-state?
EM: Now that I have a full time opportunity to teach at Stanford, I plan on taking full advantage of the resources, connections, and the brilliant minds from all over the world that I now have access to.
To be honest, I didn’t feel 100% fulfilled in New Orleans. Now that I’m stationed in California, I’m shifting my role and responsibilities at Lede by joining the Board of Directors.
It’s something that I was nervous about, because I’ve never served on a board. This role doesn’t require me to be as involved in the day-to-day operations as I was before; instead I get to focus on fiscal responsibility. As a co-founder who is more tied to the mission, the organization and the work than pretty much any other board member, I want to shift what the board is capable of.
The board has a lot of impact on the vision of the organization and a lot of work is involved to help Lede achieve that vision. I don’t want to just be a board member who just shows up for the board meetings. The two big things that I’m really excited about are strategic partnerships and fundraising. I’m loving the person I’m becoming in terms of understanding how money works and what funders want to see from potential partners. I’m learning so much about that. Not to mention, I just happen to be living in the third wealthiest ZIP code in America. It’s super crucial to put pressure on these big companies to give back to the community and be a part of the solution, especially when these mega corporations are polluting the world with tech stuff. Since I’m in close proximity to all of this tech wealth, I definitely want to connect with a lot of those people who have that level of money and funding, and start funneling more and more of those resources back to Lede New Orleans.
NN: What is your hope for Lede New Orleans and its work?
EM: Lede has a strong foundation of support from our alumni base, powerful partnerships in the city and outside of the city, and funders who believe in us and continue to support us. We have a Board of Directors who is diverse and has a lot of experience in a lot of different areas and will support this work. So, when I say “help is on the way” I mean that we have a real place in New Orleans. I think Lede could be one of many foundational organizations that is known in New Orleans for its mission to bring accessible and equitable media to the city. I really see a world where Lede can show people around the world how to curate a well-connected society. I believe that we have that potential, but we’re gonna need help. We’re gonna need support. We’re gonna need more money. We’re gonna need more powerful partnerships.
NN: What’s your message to New Orleans and the Lede New Orleans community?
EM: New Orleans has everything we need inside of us to be healthy, happy and thriving. We don’t always utilize it, but the community has everything that it needs to thrive. We just have to be able to tap into it and support the things that make us happy, healthy and thriving.
Nijah Narcisse is a New Orleans born-and-bred creative writer and journalist, and an alumni of the Community Reporting Fellowship at Lede New Orleans.
This article is available to republish under a Creative Commons license. Read Lede New Orleans’ publishing guidelines here.
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