Season 2, Episode 5: Telling Our Own Stories: DocuCourse and the Power of Community Narrative

Podcast

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April 29, 2025

Featured Image Description: Avrell Stokes, president of BeGreat Together, shares insights from DocuCourse, an innovative educational initiative designed to empower communities through storytelling and digital media. (Photograph by BeGreat Together)

Oftentimes, what’s positive isn’t what’s promoted. And that’s been one of my biggest frustrations. They want the drama. They don’t want the uplifting story that our communities are yearning for.” — Avrell Stokes, president BeGreat Together

Who gets to tell the stories of Black and Brown communities? In Kansas City, BeGreat Together is shifting the narrative through DocuCourse, a grassroots media platform that amplifies the voices of local changemakers.

In this episode of the Convergence Partnership Podcast, we hear from Averell Stokes, the creator of DocuCourse, along with featured activists Justice Gatson of Real Justice Network and Hakima Tafunzi Payne of Uzazi Village. They discuss how documentary storytelling can be a tool for social change, providing communities with the power to define their own narratives and push back against the media’s focus on trauma over triumph.

DocuCourse isn’t just a platform—it’s a movement that challenges traditional media, highlights solutions created “for us, by us,” and strengthens grassroots organizing efforts. With national recognition at film festivals from Hollywood to Philly, these stories are reshaping the way Black and Brown communities are seen and supported.

This podcast series serves as a final grant report for Convergence Partnership’s most recent grantee cohort. Through the voices of our grantees and their partners, we explore how civic narrative, mutual aid, and economic power shape the fight for racial justice and health equity.

View full transcript for this podcast

Amanda Navarro: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Convergence Partnership Podcast. Today our grantees will share their stories on how they are working to improve community health and promote racial justice. The Convergence Partnership is a collaborative of local, statewide, and national funders working to transform policies, practices, and systems to advance racial justice and health equity. Strong democracies require truth and transparency, which relies on having diverse narratives in the public sphere. Important to this is bringing forth often unheard voices and promoting narratives that champion equity, justice, and democracy.

In this series, our grantees and their community partners bring us such stories from across the United States. This podcast introduces you to people and organizations who are building civic, narrative [00:01:00] and economic power to advance racial justice and health equity. This series acts as a final report for our most recent grantee cohort.

Ave Stokes: Oftentimes, what’s positive isn’t what’s promoted, and that’s honestly been one of my biggest frustrations. When it comes to narrative and storytelling, you know, they want the, they want the drama. They don’t want that positive, uplifting story that our communities are yearning for and yearning to see

Amanda Navarro: from the Gulf Coast to Chicago, to the San Joaquin Valley, to Buffalo and places in between. We are learning how our network is amplifying community power, shifting narratives and igniting transformation in philanthropy to create a just and inclusive society where all people, especially those most impacted by structural racism, are empowered to shape the policies and systems that impact their [00:02:00] lives, are healthy and can thrive.

I am your host, Amanda Navarro, and today we’re hearing from BeGreat Together in Kansas City, Missouri, a Convergence Partnership grantee. They’re using storytelling to reshape narratives and drive community solutions. By picking up cameras and sharing authentic stories from their community, they’re empowering residents to shift perspectives and inspire meaningful change.

This episode is produced and hosted by Sandra Thornhill

Sandra Thornhill: Ave Stokes launched DocuCourse in 2022.

Ave Stokes: So what is DocuCourse? DocuCourse is where we take community stories and combine it with community strategies to inspire community change.

Sandra Thornhill: It’s a series of documentaries that tell stories about building community power in Kansas City, Missouri.

Kansas City has a long and rich history of black and brown activism from the Civil [00:03:00] Rights Movement of the 1960s to the present day protests against police violence, black and brown Kansas Cityians have tenaciously fought for equity. DocuCourse is a platform that amplifies the voices of community leaders who push for change. These change makers tell their stories and teach others how to join their movements.

Ave Stokes: Um, it provides, uh, narrative and, and storytelling around black and Latino, uh, change makers and the impact that they’re looking to make

Sandra Thornhill: The seeds for what has blossomed into the DocuCourse platform were planted all along Ave’s life path. From Mississippi to Kansas City, whether working in the non-profit or for-profit world, Ave noticed a consistent theme of disinvestment in black and brown communities.

Ave Stokes: I’m seeing communities no matter where they are, if they’re made up of people that look like me, no matter where we are, we’re dealing with some of the same issues.

Sandra Thornhill: Ave’s veneration for equity fueled his desire to create a platform [00:04:00] that will amplify the experiences of the community to create change led by the community.

Ave Stokes: There are people all over this nation working every day to uplift black and Latino communities. So, if we found solutions to, uh, problems in our communities, how do we ensure that there’s a platform for us to share that with each other? So again, that’s where DocuCourse came in.

Sandra Thornhill: When there is alignment and values and a foundation of trust, the act of sharing stories becomes a powerful tool for building relationships, promoting change and transforming communities in Kansas City.

Justice Gatson: What gives me fulfillment in my community is seeing people not give up, seeing people come together,

Sandra Thornhill: Change Maker Justice Gatson is the founder of Real Justice Network. Real Justice Network is a BIPOC and survivor-led reproductive justice group.

Justice Gatson: Ave [00:05:00] knew exactly, you know where my values lie. How I move and how I work in the community, and honestly, um, it would, you know, have to take somebody that I gave a lot of trust to in order for me to participate in a documentary, especially one, uh, like this, that exposes, you know, my, my story.

Hakima Payne: I definitely need to have a degree of trust with those I work with.

Sandra Thornhill: Hakima Payne is another change maker highlighted in DocuCourse. Her organization, Uzazi Village, is dedicated to decreasing maternal and infant health inequity among black and brown communities.

Hakima Payne: I don’t partner with others easily, I feel like Uzazi Village has really high standards for who we partner with. Because a lot of people say they’re doing community work or doing work on behalf of the [00:06:00] community, when really that’s not what’s happening.

Sandra Thornhill: Ave envisioned DocuCourse as a way for black and brown community change makers like Justice and Hakima to tell their own stories and share practical ways for folks in the community to get involved.

He and his team identified change makers by doing what he calls a community assessment.

Ave Stokes: One thing that we have no control over is what people in the community are saying. And so our goal is going to them and saying, Hey, tell us who inspires you. What work is going on in your neighborhood that’s inspiring you, that’s making an impact.

Sandra Thornhill: Each DocuCourse episode combines documentary style storytelling with community organizing strategies to inspire people to take action.

Justice Gatson: I think it’s very telling of Ave and um, how he moves in relationship with community and community [00:07:00] leaders and really his heart, um, to want to share these important stories.

Sandra Thornhill: Ave saw DocuCourse as a way to highlight how black and brown communities have the answers for themselves. Each episode pushes back against mainstream media and center solutions created for us, by us.

Ave Stokes: Oftentimes what’s positive isn’t what’s promoted. And that’s honestly been one of my biggest frustrations, uh, when it comes to narrative and storytelling.

You know, they want the, they want the, the drama. They don’t want that positive, uplifting story that our communities are yearning for and yearning to see.

Sandra Thornhill: So, the series is not only a message of hope for communities of color in Kansas City. It’s also a resource that change makers can use to promote their work.

Justice Gatson: Being able to maybe have the opportunity to receive more funding or at least get more attention for our work. That’s huge for a grassroots [00:08:00] organization that’s just, you know, beating the streets every day.

Sandra Thornhill: And the production process itself was equally as important to Justice and Hakima.

Hakima Payne: I know when I was filming there was an an all black film crew. And I really, really appreciated that. I really appreciated spending those days with an all black film crew.

Sandra Thornhill: DocuCourse commits to people-centered solutions. It’s intentional in a way that strengthens our community.

Hakima Payne: I’m excited that, that there’s a format that centers our stories, our stories as BIPOC people who are, you know, working in the nonprofit realm. Uh, I think it’s about time. It’s about time. Our stories should be told,

Sandra Thornhill: and DocuCourse isn’t just relevant to Kansas City. The stories from DocuCourse have received national recognition within the last year. DocuCourse [00:09:00] received nominations and awards at film festivals from Hollywood to Chicago to Philly, and Ave plans to keep going, to keep working with change makers to tell their stories.

Ave Stokes: And if we can promote those stories, the more they’re painted in a positive light, the more people are able to see their impact, we can transform belief systems. Then we’ll start to reshape actions and we’ll see more positive actions.

Amanda Navarro: You’ve been listening to the Convergence Partnership Podcast, where we hear stories from our grantees across the country who are working to create racial justice and health equity broadcasting from the Gulf Coast of Chicago to the San Joaquin Valley, to Buffalo and places in between. Learning how our network is amplifying civic, narrative and economic power toward a healthy and [00:10:00] inclusive democracy.

To learn more about the Convergence Partnership, visit [email protected]. That is www convergence partnership.org.

Stay tuned as we continue telling the stories of our work. I’m Amanda Navarro, executive Director of Convergence Partnership.

Thanks for listening.

This transcript was auto generated and may contain errors. Please refer to the audio recording for accuracy.

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