#RobertBrooks should be alive.
This autumn, I collaborated with my friend, Mr. Robert Ricks, to co-direct this short video as part of a larger collaborative filmmaking project. I’m sharing it here today, on the one year anniversary of Robert Brooks Jr.’s killing.
I encourage you to support Mr. Ricks’ youth program, where his son Robert dreamed of working when he came home from prison. Donate or learn more at mibandg.org. Mentors Inspiring Boys and Girls is currently fundraising $12K to move into a new location.
ABOUT THE VIDEO: Mr. Robert Ricks is a Rochester father, artist, and community leader who founded Mentors Inspiring Boys & Girls (MIB&G), an academic and arts program for youth. In December 2024, he got the call no parent should ever receive: his son, Robert Brooks, was beaten to death by a swarm of prison staff at a prison in Marcy, New York. Unlike the countless brutal deaths of other New Yorkers at the hands of prison staff, Robert Brooks’ lynching was captured on bodycam footage and released to the public. Guided by his faith, his love for his son, and his hopes for young people, Mr. Ricks transformed his mourning into movement. Filmed in the days before the trials of three prison staff charged in his son’s killing, Mr. Ricks shares his journey into leadership, and why he fights for #CommunitiesNotCages.
CREDITS
This short film was made by a team of creatives and organizers who have been harmed by systems of incarceration, criminalization, community divestment, and/or violence.
Featuring Robert Ricks (Founder, mibandg.org) & Thomas Gant (
@communities_ny )
Co-Directed by Tanya Linn Albrigtsen-Frable (
@mensenxoxo ) & Robert Ricks
Executive Producer, Cinematographer, Editor + Designer: Tanya Linn Albrigtsen-Frable,
@mensenxoxo
Music Director: Jimir “Amorphous” Reece Davis — enteramorphous.com
@theofficialamorphous
Cinematographer & Production Assistant: Christopher Rush — IG:
@_rushunlimited
Production Assistant: Willie “Statis” Roots — IG:
@broken_rich_films
Production Assistant: Deja Holden
Production Assistant: Eliza McCurdy,
@bronxdefenders
Cinematographer: Seed Lynn
Principal Picture Editor & Finishing Producer: Tovah Leibowitz