I spent the last three days filming one of the most resilient and amazing people I've ever met,
@lezleymcspadden . Mike Brown was her son.
This weekend with the help of
@campaignzero , the Michael O.D. Brown Foundation gave away 15 scholarships in his name and on Monday Lezley celebrated her son's birthday for the first time in the 10 years since he was killed. The birthday party was made even more special with the help of
@1800happybirthday who drove Mike's memorial phone booth to St. Louis for Lezley to see in person for the first time.
Needless to say, it was one of the most emotional, beautiful and impactful weekends of my life. I can't imagine the pain of losing a child and to see so much strength in one woman up close was truly transcendent. I'm so grateful to Lezley for opening up in the way she did, to
@iamderay for trusting us to capture what is only the beginning of what will be an amazing film, and to the incomparable
@gummysharks for answering a last minute call to action and manning the camera on an intense and exhausting shoot.
A cherry on top was also getting the spend time with Keith Davis (pictured holding the photo of Mike) who survived being shot at by police over 40 times, multiple attempts by the Baltimore DA at pinning a murder on him that he didn't commit, and who is a great man and a real life super hero. If you aren't familiar with his story, you should definitely get familiar.
It's weekends/shoots like this that remind me not only why I do this work, but what really matters. This is only the beginning...✊🏾
