The Reality of Death
By Jaida Dent
For most of my life, I’ve seen Death as the enemy. He stole the people that I love away from me. Most importantly, my father. I never knew what Death’s true intentions were until I dared to dive deeper. I realized that he wasn’t just out to get me and ruin my life. Death was never in charge of calling the shots on who’s next, he was just doing what he was asked to do. In the end, Death was always just a messenger who got a bad rep.
Process
Making this stop-motion animation was extremely difficult. Not only did I have limited supplies, including using a ladder as a tripod, I also had a hectic schedule and little time to film. I’ve never done something like this before, or anything multimedia for that matter, but I was willing to push myself. The video did not go exactly the way I liked, but I hope my message shines through even stronger. This video is about me telling my story through a poem that is very close to my heart.
Meet the Pair
MENTEE JAIDA DENT & MENTOR JALISA WRIGHT
Jaida’s Anecdote: When I first met Jalisa, it was shockingly scary how alike we were. We both have a love for poetry and had similar views and interests. As much as I loved the creativity she brought, she brought some practicality to my reality. I always knew I needed to get serious about my life and seeing someone with similar passions opened my eyes. Through spending time with Jalisa, I’ve realized that I have more options than I thought I had and I can express my writing in tons of different ways.
Jalisa’s Anecdote: I believe God has an interesting way of bringing two people together. This is too true for the mentee relationship I have with Jaida. Working with Jaida is like working with my fifteen-year-old self (only Jaida is a far better writer/human than I was at this age). Believe it or not, she has taught me a thing or two about being, and I hope I’ve taught her a thing or two about emerging.
Jaida Dent
Jaida Dent, born in Brooklyn, New York, is a student, poet, and writer. Coming out of East New York, Brooklyn, she has been writing since middle school and has performed her slam poetry in multiple spaces. She uses her creativity to develop pieces that she loves and hopes her audience does as well. She aspires to continue writing and hopes to develop her skills, even more in her future career.
