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By Franklin Chilaka, PhD Student, Educational Foundations, Policy and Practice, CU ��«����Ƶ 

Kahlil Jacobs Fantauzzi is a documentary filmmaker with . He has been creating documentaries with his brother, Eli, for about 20 years. Kahlil was a middle school and high school teacher for 18 years. He did a lot of work on ethnic studies, the importance of identity and culture around multimedia, and storytelling. He is currently working on the impact campaign on We Still Here a participatory action documentary film that that he and his brother just finished recently and that is currently touring worldwide.The film discusses what happened in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and how the youth of Comerio, PR protested in Congress fo a just recovery. Kahlil is also writing a curriculum based on the film and the tour includes workshops and talk-backs.

What about your backgrounds, identities, and experiences have informed your community-engaged work?

Growing up multi-ethnic, Puerto Rican, and Jewish, California did not have a lot of Afro-Latino identity or Afro-Caribbean representation. So, I think it put me on a journey to self-discovery and learning about my history and culture. My mother got involved withStudent Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in high school in Chicago. She is an ally of Jewish ancestry but an ally to people of color and politically, having a foundation of understanding the importance of doing work amongst her community to make sure that you know that people are respectful and appreciative and learn about cultural diversity. I think her political foundation and my father's identity as a Boricua, born and raised in Spanish Harlem, are the cross sections where I find myself and do the work.

I got very politicized at an early age. And then, by the time I was in high school, I was organizing walkouts, and the walkouts were demanding more diversity of representation of teachers and administration. The walkouts were based in demanding ethnic studies in schools, different instances and situations where racism appeared in various forms, and our high school experience in Sacramento, California. These experiences showed me the power that young people have. When you look at the history of California, the Third World Liberation Front, the creation of San Francisco State and UC Berkeley, and the history of the power of the walkouts from the Chicano movement, it's one thing to do a protest and make some signs. But when you're walking out with 1000s of students, and the school district is losing money, they hear and listen to the demands differently. You are hitting them not just in terms of visibility but also financially. So that kind of sent me on a trajectory of organizing and learning about other communities doing political work.

Then I got into UC Berkeley, and many of the folks in school with me had also organized in different neighborhoods in Southern California and Central California. So, you know, it was like we had these skills and this interest. And then, by going to the university, we had more resources. And that's when we organized some statewide walkouts in the late 90s and early 2000s, building on the legacy of activism, building on the legacy of young people, not just creating what was, but creating what could be in terms of envisioning a more diverse and inclusive future.

What is your philosophy when it comes to designing and implementing inclusive communities?

I think my vision of inclusiveness continues to grow now that I'm no longer the youth organizer, and having taught for almost two decades, it's like, what does that look like now? And how can my understanding of inclusiveness be expanded, including communities I didn't think about, maybe 15-20 years ago? I think it's kind of listening to the community and learning from the community with the values in terms of knowing that representation matters, knowing that we need all voices at the table, you know, learning from those kinds of experiences and making sure that people feel accepted and welcome.

What do you see as the benefits of community engagement? 

 It’s kind of like, we must contextualize things, right? Growing up in the United States, a capitalist system, a system where white privilege and white values have been promoted, as what is American or what is everyday normal, I think that we must deconstruct some of that. And I think the first part is that, so many times, our differences, and when we look at culture, when we look at necessity, when we look at sexual preference, when we look at all these different things, have been used to divide us and use it as a negative thing. And I think that when you look at the multicultural movement, or the movement to include more of our people, it is not important to have numbers for diversity sake; if you valued the differences, whether that's the colors of the rainbow, or whether that's people's cultural backgrounds, it's like, you don't want to negate that. Like the idea that we're all human beings, we're all one family. Like, that's very true. And at the end of the day, that's something we could ride on. But if we don't understand and appreciate each community's value, then we really don't understand the beauty of diversity in terms of that type of representation. So, I think that the beauty is that when you have that diversity, though, you know, those diverse communities represented, it makes for much more engagement and involvement. It doesn't just help out the communities that may be historically underrepresented, but it helps the entire community in general.

What are your values, theories, and worldview? How do you put those elements into practice in your work with communities?

Yeah, I think I did talk to it a little bit. But I think they're like the idea of equality or equity. The concept of transformation, the idea of change, and the idea of creating a society that is more reflective of all of our communities, is something that I value very much at my core. I always make sure that transformation is a part of the foundation I establish regarding how people relate to each other and how people treat each other in our classroom. When we're doing community work or political activism work, it's holding on to those core values and allowing you to build off those core values. I turn to t people like Paulo Freire, who was revolutionary in critical thinking, and in showing how important it is not to treat education in the “banking approach”. where you memorize, or you try to and it’s a system where learners just regurgitate information. Instead we should work to allow folks to come up with their theories, ideologies, and critiques. That is part of the philosophy I feel has inspired me and given me some of the values I hold dear and close to my heart.

What have you found to be the most impactful or unexpected thing you've learned in this partnership work?

My brother and I have been making documentary films for 20 years about music, and art culture activism. This most recent film reminded me of the power of young people and the power of allowing young people to step up into positions that traditionally they have not had access to. The void of leadership and the void of government and support in Puerto Rico during the hurricane created space for folks that were 18-20 years old to have a vision, an idea, a voice, value, and the power to step in and make things happen for their community because the government is not there. Nonprofit organizations were not there in Puerto Rico. I think, for me right now, the most impactful things about the work have been through partnerships, the community, and engagement. It's been so powerful. It's such a powerful message, especially as we've screened the film across the country, to have young people see themselves in that way and to see themselves not in a position of power but in a part of being able to realize their dreams has been a beautiful process.

How do you go about relationships with community partners, and how do you maintain these relationships beyond that after collaboration?

So, I think it exists differently depending on what aspect of my life we're discussing. Whether it is my life as an educator, creating partnerships with community, folks, my political activism…whether it's the multimedia filmmaking stuff, I find ways to support each other as we move in different spaces, really learning; what does it mean to be an ally? How do we support each other in our struggles? How do we uplift each other's voices? Those are all kinds of critical pieces to long-lasting relationships. I think that if we're talking about solidarity, or coalition building, or maintaining relationships, in terms of building community, once you've gotten down and built with folks and struggled with them, you kind of can see each other in a different light, and you're able to appreciate each other. And there is a value to that. And so I think that the beauty is allowing those relationships to exist, allowing those relationships to grow, and finding ways to kind of empower each other. And I think that, when people respectfully come at things, when people arrive at things in a way in which you're valuing, you're showing up, that allows for a long lasting relationship. And it allows for an authentic one as well.

How have you navigated challenging relationships, critics of your work or repairing harm?

Well, that's a good one. I think I'm willing to do the work if it's a relationship that I value and if it's something I think we can grow from. I'm willing to sit down and have honest conversations and recognize the challenges and areas of growth I need to make. But in my professional life, as a teacher, there are certain core values that I'm not willing to negotiate. So as a teacher, I have  done, you know, things outside of the book and done things a little differently, such as home visits or, you know, having events where community and family are engaged and involved. I'm willing to put the students first and the needs of their families in the communities first, and that has created some conflict, specifically with the administration. I feel at the end of the day, I'm working for a system that I don't necessarily believe in entirely, I'm working for a school district, or I'm working for a university or community college. If I cannot live in my truth, to do the work I feel I was put here to do, it's not worth it. So I have been at many different schools, and I have decided to say “peace” at the end of the school year and be okay; it wasn't the right fit. Or if you're trying to micromanage my classroom and what's happening, then maybe the relationship is not that important. I would prefer to be in a place where I can focus on what I enjoy doing. So I think in those ways, I made decisions not necessarily to be the teacher that’s been at the school for 10-15 years, and I'm teaching the same subject, and the same grade. You know I've taught several years in Berkeley, a couple of years in Oakland, some years in San Francisco, and then I moved to New York and taught in Brooklyn and the Bronx. So it's created diverse experiences for me. Still, there have been times where I've made decisions because of differences of opinion, differences in understanding roles, or left schools because of conflict or disagreements with the administration.

How have you been able to nourish yourself while giving back to others?

I think that you know, growing up and doing political work at such a young age, we talk about burnout. And what does it feel like when you don't have the same energy or commitment? And I think that when I reflect on my own experiences, I appreciate and acknowledge the role of being a teacher, and doing that professionally as my discipline, but also my life as a photographer, filmmaker, and artist. And I think that because as a teacher, you have your summers off and those breaks, I could kind of do this balance, where I was teaching and doing my passion as a teacher and an educator. But I was also able to do my passion as an artist, filmmaker, and visual artist. So having balance, creativity, and artistic expression, along with that, you know, with the love of the passion of teaching, gave me a balance that I've been able to, I feel like it's been able to allow me to continue the work that I've been doing for so long. And the other thing I'd like to say is that travel is like being to the United States be able to live in; I lived in Tanzania for a couple of years, I traveled extensively through the Caribbean. As somebody who teaches social studies in history, I feel like travel allows me to engage with my spirit and to bring and capture some of the essences of what I'm teaching. I always brought photos, music, and videos back to my classroom, and I use that as a time to recharge my battery and be inspired. And I think that that has allowed me to continue doing the work that I do. And so, I think the balance of artists and educators and the ability to travel have been two things that I see that have helped allow me to continue doing the work for so long.