CASE STUDY
Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health
Griot Project: LA
Evoke change in the Los Angeles’ Black Queer Community
The Los Angeles Department of Mental Health, LGBTQIA2-S USCC Subcommittee’s quest was to educate and inform those in Los Angeles’ Black queer community of resources and mental health practices to better the community at heart by bringing awareness to the current resources available. Project Griot: LA needed to gather participants for an eight session group discussion, representing a broad range of voices from the Black queer community, with the objective of strengthening bonds and building mental well-being of the community through shared lived experiences.
Project Summary
Taking The Lead
We knew this project was special from the start. Project Griot: LA aligned with our core values and our passion of making the world a more just and equitable place. Like with any project, we knew that we needed to deliver a quality service, not only to our client, but to the community we were hired to reach.
Proudly, Blu Fable took on the role of being the prime vendor, recruiting two additional partners from within Los Angeles’ Black queer community. Throughout the course of the contract, we continued to hire additional support, and source services, directly from the community we were servicing.
Community Forum
Lived Experiences
Project Griot: LA examined several topics, such as faith, religion, identity, family dynamics, coming out, and mental well-being. We also gave special attention to understanding trans-specific challenges through lived experiences from the cohort members.
We instilled the authenticity of the eight sessions into a series of videos and a documentary short by letting the stories of our cohort members drive the creative process. By recording the group sessions, along with one-on-one interviews, we captured the voices of the participants who represented the Black queer community, successfully delivering lived experiences and wisdom that will open minds and hearts for future audiences.
“We need more of this”
The culmination of Project Griot: LA was a special event that was used to bring the community together, featuring panels of local luminaries, and the premier of the Project Griot: LA documentary. The event saw a tremendous turnout, with over 100+ attendees.
We also delivered a final report documenting the project learnings, with the objective of future development for the community and recommendations for the Department of Mental Health. As many cohort members stated “We need more of this,” and we are honored to have been a part of this project.
Project Griot: LA was a complete success, thanks to the help of so many cohort members, participants, and crew. We are honored to have captured their stories through the art of videography.
