About us
Boston Globe culture columnist Jeneé Osterheldt created A Beautiful Resistance to carry on the tradition of Black artists and Black journalists in reclaiming the truth of Black folk. Like Frederick Douglass taught us, there is power in representation. Too often, we are measured by our suffering. Blackness must not be defined by our brutalization. We are more than death. When we are depicted by our extremes, the truth of us is lost. We live, fully. Our joy, our dreams, our everyday stories? That's a beautiful resistance.
Every season consists of a weekly mixtape: we deliver a short film, a longform story, a Q&A, and we invite the community to share their own beautiful resistance on Instagram. There is music, there is story, there is love. Joy lives here. Join us.
Jeneé Osterheldt / Founder
Paula Champagne
Paula Champagne, who created the logo and Jeneé’s portrait, is a visual storyteller specializing in video, documentary photography, illustration, and graphic design. Champagne’s multimedia work communicates authentic human experiences. Inspired by her own experiences in the outdoors— her most recent passion projects explore and honor the intersection of Blackness, nature, and the quiet resistance of rest. paulachampagne.com
Chaney Carlson-Bullock
Chaney Carlson-Bullock is a director and videographer based in Boston. Also known as ChaneyThaDirector, he and Mikayla Litevich, own CTD Productions LLC, a traveling video marketing business.
Throughout Chaney’s experience as a person of color, business professional, and mentor, he saw the need for visual representation especially for people who are in Black and brown communities. He found himself wondering why there weren’t stories representing the beautiful, positive, cultural, and intellectual experiences in the community and made it his mission to uplift his communities’ voices.
Chaney has had the pleasure of working with both for-profits and nonprofits creating docu-series, mini-documentaries, commercials, and event videos. CTD Productions LLC’s mission is to tell the human experience authentically by providing video, photo, and marketing services uplifting the voices less heard. It is a privilege to align with The Boston Globe’s “A Beautiful Resistance” values and help the vision come to life for others to listen, watch, learn, and empower the stories of the BIPOC community.
Learn more at ctdproductionsllc.com and on Instagram at @ChaneyThaDirector.
Kat Otuechere / Season 2
Kat Otuechere is a Boston-based director and cinematographer who specializes in documentary, music video and commercial work. She recently started a media production company –– Limitless Films LLC –– in hopes of bridging the gap between local underrepresented filmmakers and resources that support authentic storytelling.
Before becoming a full-time filmmaker, Kat worked in shelter operations for Boston’s homeless population and wishes to produce compelling films that highlight public health related issues. Kat’s work is inspired by the communities around her with an affinity for individuality.
“As a woman of color in this industry, I feel like it is paramount that I continue creating. This supersedes my own wants. I do it for the young, budding POC filmmakers that follow. To me, a beautiful resistance means going against the grain, facing your fears, it's claiming your identity. It’s exploration, it’s loving yourself, others and the things around you.”
Learn more at snapsbykat.com.
Daymian Mejia / Season 2
Daymian Mejia is a Dominican-American cinematographer, colorist, and director who produces an emotional image that brings a new breath to every frame captured. Daymian depicts not only what is in front of the lens but what should be felt by the viewer, cultivating a distinct sense of mood through his love of music videos.
Due to his work as a colorist, his style subtly introduces the right color at the right moment using RGB lighting, which not only expands what the camera can detect but also what the audience may feel. In love with the texture, Daymian uses his knowledge of fashion, camera technology, post-production, and music videos to create a new visual language.
Based in Greater Boston, Mejia not only tells the stories of the communities around him but also travels the country helping craft visual expressions of us.
Learn more at daymianmejia.com.
A Beautiful Newsletter
Join us in adding a little joy to your week. Sign up for A Beautiful Newsletter, written by Boston Globe columnist Jeneé Osterheldt, where we expand the A Beautiful Resistance community. Like Frederick Douglass taught us, there is power in representation. Each week we highlight events, arts, culture, business and the people who give us joy and remind us why freedom is always worth the fight.
ShareA Beautiful Resistance continues to celebrate the stories of
Black Joy, Black dreams, and Black living.
Season 2 doesn't just feature Black folk in front of the camera. We teamed up with three local visual storytellers to help direct and film every episode.
Jeneé Osterheldt and Globe director of editorial video Anush Elbakyan were looking for one videographer to work with Osterheldt to bring ABR's next season to life. In doing so, they fell in love with every candidate: Chaney Carlson-Bullock, Kat Otuechere, and Daymian Mejia.
Instead of hiring one, why not hire all three and create a residency? Osterheldt created ABR to fight the white gaze and to help create agency, light, and nuance in telling the stories of Blackness in America. But we cannot just do that with Black writers and Black subjects. We must have Black photographers, videographers, editors, and artists. We all play a role in how we tell the story of us.
As media organizations seek to diversify their newsrooms, they have to think beyond their writers. They also have to think about the communities they cover and ask themselves are they serving the community? Are they in community with the community? It is not our job to be the voice for the voiceless. Everyone has a voice. It is our responsibility to amplify, to pass the mic, to create space, and truth tell.
We chose three local visual storytellers to hire and grow with. We are helping connect them to other opportunities. We plan to showcase their other works in the coming months. We have learned a lot from them about new and creative ways to craft our short films. We hope this is a model other companies will follow as they shift how they tell the stories of their cities.
Meet the residents of A Beautiful Resistance:
CREDITS
Founder, Showrunner, commentary: Jeneé Osterheldt
Supervising Producer: Caitlin Healy
Video shot & edited by: ChaneyThaDirector, Kat Otuechere, and Daymian Mejia
Featuring: Kim Janey, Douglass Williams, Golden, Oompa, Tawny Chatmon, Kinesha Goldson, Mya Pol, Ebony Williams, Big Lux
Project editors:Jeneé Osterheldt, Jason Tuohey
Digital Design: Ryan Huddle
Project art: Paula Champagne
Strategies, audience, & marketing: Peggy Byrd, Jeneé Osterheldt, Michelle Micone, Devin Smith
Emotional Labor: Christopher Hunt, Heidi Flood, Ché, Peppermint Patty
Season 1 music curator: Dart Adams
Season 1 shot & edited by: Caitlin Healy
Season 1 producers: Jeneé Osterheldt & Caitlin Healy