We aim to change the narrative in media of what's possible for women of color by exploring the life stories of three ordinary women who overcame abuse, poverty, and oppression. Our passion is in opening the hearts and minds of women to acknowledge their power and define life on their own terms.

 

Pearlette, Tammy and Terry are Three (Extra)Ordinary Women who have collectively overcome poverty, abuse, systemic racism, and political occupation. The film will explore their life stories and how the parallels between the Palestinian occupation and Jim Crow in the United States have equally disenfranchised people of color. By braving their biggest physical obstacle yet – climbing to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro– they will show that through sisterhood, women can accomplish anything.

THE STORY

 

The film begins as they embark on their hike up Mount Kilimanjaro, taking the Machame Route. This path has the highest chances of success on the mountain but these women were not given the same chances in life- they were born into systems of oppression that gave them the least chances of survival. They climb towards the highest peak of Africa as a reaffirmation of their triumph over life’s biggest mountains. As they muster all the strength they have to climb, the film will dive into their past using a mix of animation, personal photos, home videos, and archival footage to narrate the twists and turns of their life paths.

 

MEET PEARLETTE

Pearlette was born in poverty in a home riddled with dysfunction. She was raised in an abusive environment that was exacerbated by alcoholism, mental illness and domestic violence. She fled her parents’ home when she was 15 years old and within twelve months, she was married, pregnant, a high school dropout- and lost her newborn baby. After suffering continued trauma, through sheer desperation and determination, she got her G.E.D., graduated university- and as a single mom, worked several jobs to make ends meet and complete law school. She is passionate about motivating disenfranchised young women who are struggling to find their voice, claim their power and create a new social justice movement.

 

MEET TERRY

Terry was born in Ramallah, Palestine, where both sides of her family had lived in relative peace for hundreds of years- until the Israeli occupation. As a child, she and her family witnessed torture of family and friends, including her father. Because of her outspoken and rebellious nature, Terry’s parents feared for her life and at the age of 14 sent her to live with relatives in the United States to avoid imprisonment – or death. Upon arrival, instead of going to school she was forced to work to send money home. It was a long struggle but she eventually completed high school and college. For the past 40 years, she been an influential executive in county government and non-profit agencies located in metropolitan Detroit. Terry has devoted her life to telling the truth behind the struggle of the Palestinian people which she feels is told erroneously in mainstream media to this day.

 

MEET TAMMY

At age six Tammy witnessed the murder of her mother and was left on her own to cope with the trauma as she and her two sisters bounced from one family member to the next. Enduring confidence shattering verbal abuse from her father, she eventually put herself through college earning a master’s degree and has since worked with a long list of fortune 100 companies. She knows that successful black women are not the exception, she is not an anomaly. She knows that if you seek the truth behind oppression and systemic racism, you can climb your way out of it. Yet she still wonders, how much more could she have achieved if the systems weren't stacked against people like her.

 

WHY KILIMANJARO?

To find the mountain within them that still needs to be surmounted- because healing is a lifeling process.

Mount Kilimanjaro is fairly difficult to climb because it is an extreme altitude mountain trek. Measuring 19,341 feet, or 5,895 meters, approximately 50% of people suffer altitude sickness and just above 60% summit. Tapping into the warrior within, each woman has found a way to transcend adversity, find the wisdom in her own story, and achieve her dreams. On the mountain, each woman looks for their own answer to the question, “What is my personal Kilimanjaro?" In the end the revelations they takeway from the hike show that we are all extraordinary if we allow ourselves to be.

 

WHY WE NEED URGENT HELP NOW!

Our first priority is completing the film and that is what we are raising funds for today.

Once it is ready to premiere, we'll launch a global social impact campaign in order to help others use the power of personal narrative to open minds, expand hearts and create a movement of inspired action through courageous community conversations. The campaign will promote well-being among girls and women of color by helping them build resilience, increase well-being and make the outdoors more accessible. Our aim is for women and people of color to:

• Achieve physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health
• Control their own narrative in a self-affirming and healing way
• Experience community through the common bond of sisterhood
• Own their power, resilience and wisdom and use it to create social change
• Acknowledge racism, inequality and oppression as traumatic life events

We are here to ask for your support in getting us through the final stages of our film. We have filmed the hike and made it this far through the generous support of a handful of people and organizations, but we need a bigger push to get us into the final stage of our film- editing. That is where the magic happens and the 90 hours of footage becomes 90 minutes of inspirational, deeply touching and inspirational film. Your support will help us complete the second phase of editing which takes a minimum of 24 weeks! Plus it will help us hire animators. It is through inspired and artfully created animation where you’ll see the childhood stories of our protagonists come to life. They will be created by BIPOC artists, with each of our character's childhood stories coming to life in an artful way unique to each of their personalities and cultures!

Most importantly, the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can start using the film to support people who have suffered trauma. Won’t you join us today? The earlier we raise the funds, the better our chances of succeeding. Thank you!!

 

PLEASE HELP SPREAD THE WORD

In addition to any monetary support you can provide (no donation is too small, nor too big!), please share our campaign and follow Three (Extra)Ordinary Women online. Here are some example posts, feel free to copy and paste!

 

I can't wait to see more of the feature documentary film Three (Extra)Ordinary Women by @xionini and @Pearlette69, filmed on Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, but they need help to finish it! Support them on www.seedandspark.com/fund/three-extraordinary-women

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Thank you!