Having recently graduated from Ithaca College earlier this year, this Harlem native storyteller made it as one of the top five finalists in The Cigna Foundation and Ghetto Film School (GFS) filmmaking competition.
The Cigna Foundation and GFS teamed up to host this competition amongst GFS’s young filmmakers to cultivate the next generation of American storytellers and to support local communities while shining a light on health disparities within New York City.
Of the five finalists, three were chosen to use video storytelling to highlight how a selection of Cigna Foundation grantee organizations create a positive impact in their community by working to eliminate health disparities.
Finishing off the competition in second place, Romiel created the film “Bridging the Gap,” which highlighted both Dr. Ina Vanderbroek and New York Botanical Garden’s research to work towards improving health care for New York’s immigrant Latino and Caribbean communities with the use of medicinal plants as part of traditional remedies along with modern medicine.
WATCH: Kecia Romiel’s Short Film, “Bridging The Gap”
BlackDoctor.org had the opportunity to speak with Romiel to discuss her work for the competition and how she always knew she wanted to be a storyteller.
BlackDoctor.org (BDO): How did your passion for storytelling develop?
Kecia Romiel (KR): My passion for storytelling developed at a young age. Every week my mom would bring home movies and we’d watch them as a family. I remember being so absorbed in each and every movie she’d bring home, especially the documentaries. I remember being really attached to the documentary films because they’d be so rich in truth but still had the strength of a narrative film. I wanted to save the world through stories.
I also remember wanting to be a doctor or a veterinarian when I was little and then I wrote this poem in the fourth grade. Our teacher assigned us to write about two opposite things. I wrote about the sun and the moon, weaving it into this grand love story of how they met. My teacher loved it. After that, I wanted to be a writer – the kind of writer that tells heartening stories that bring their teacher to tears. I think that was when my love for storytelling began.
BDO: The Cigna Foundation grantee organizations are working to eliminate health disparities. Is this what inspired you to enter the contest?
KR: Oh, yes. I was really struck by what the Cigna Foundation grantee organizations were doing in my own backyard. I studied environmental science in high school and wanted to be an environmental documentarian. Being the kind of student who loved taking care of plants and learning how to save our waterways in New York City, I grew increasingly curious about my family’s relationship and attributions to plant science.
My family is from Dominica, a small island in the Caribbean. For as long as I could remember my parents used plants for medicinal practices, whether it was cooking ginger to heal tummy aches or boiling cinnamon in a pot to help us sleep at night. What the New York Botanical Garden represents is what drew them to me. In a way they’re connected to my family’s history.
KR: It was important to let the judges know how much of a connection I had to the research that the New York Botanical Garden was doing with plant sciences. In my pitch I highlighted how important medicinal plants were to my family and the country where most of them were raised. I wanted to project the idea of how influential Caribbean traditions were. All throughout my (young) life I noticed how big of a gap there was in education when it came to doctors and health– especially concerning my mom.
My mom died of breast cancer in 2012. Throughout her treatments she took plant research and the medical properties of plants very seriously. Along with the prescription drugs she took during chemotherapy, she was self-medicating with natural plants – brewing teas in the morning, eating specific fruits and vegetables based on how she felt that day, and garnishing her foods with spices only found in Caribbean grocery stores. When pitching my idea of telling a story through the voices of young, Caribbean medical students, I was thinking of my mom. When I heard that I was chosen as a finalist I was stunned but ready and filled to the brim with excitement. I needed to get this story out there. I needed to let the world know what the New York Botanical Garden was doing for folks who felt underrepresented in the medical field.
BDO: What is it that you want your work to say about the organization you’re working with? About you?
KR: I want my work to highlight the progress that the New York Botanical Garden and the Cigna Foundation are making in these communities – communities that I grew up in and communities that sometimes go unnoticed in the medical field. I want my work to let people know that New York City, our home, and the Cigna Foundation, are taking strides to make healthcare a fundamental part of our lives.
Considering the political climate around healthcare these days, I wanted these messages to come across clear and strong. My work was more about the voices in my community and the doctors who are our allies and who fight for equal healthcare regardless of a person’s background. I wanted people to know that while our voices are being heard we need to keep shouting. It is such an amazing honor to have worked with the Cigna Foundation – a foundation focused on helping underrepresented communities all throughout our city. I’m so happy that I made this story.
BDO: Being the only female to make it as a finalist in the Ghetto Film School contest, how did that inspire or affect you?
KR: I had so much love and support from the folks at Ghetto Film School’s Roster community. The Roster is such a dope program and I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to tell my story without them. They have helped young filmmakers, like myself, step foot into an industry that’s hard to break into, especially if you don’t have the right kind of support behind you.
It’s interesting because when I heard I was a finalist, my first thought was that I would be able to show women from all walks of life that they too can have these types of opportunities. I wanted to inspire more women to engage in their community and create spaces for creativity and passion. It was a monumental experience for me to be a female and one of the finalists. It definitely put some fire under my seat for sure.
BDO: Who or what inspires you and your passion to be an artist?
KR: I am a storyteller – a storyteller who couldn’t decide who or what inspired her most. I get a lot of inspiration from books, music, movies, TV shows, podcasts and photography. Lately, I’ve been reading James Baldwin and studying the photography of Carrie Mae Weems while re-visiting the works of Langston Hughes. Reading about the life of Claudia Jones, a British Caribbean woman who fought for the rights of people of color, has been exceptionally inspiring.
To check out Romiel’s film, as well as the other finalists, click here.