Presented by Circle City Storytellers and Loving Light Productions, the season four premiere of Naptown Narratives will feature lights, cameras and action along a red carpet and more beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 28 at the Kan-Kan Cinema.
“The world might be talking about George Floyd, and the world still has yet to talk enough about Breonna Taylor and Sandra Bland and so many more Black folks’ names who needs to be said,” said Anthony Murdock, creator of Naptown Narratives. “But it’s the stories of people like Dreasjon Reed who matter on the street to us right now, and we need to be aware of so many stories here.”
Naptown Narratives was born in 2020 out of a need to highlight Indianapolis’ local heroes in the midst of the pandemic. There was a need in the education space as it pertained to Black history being taught from the Black perspective, and Murdock said he saw the way “the lack of awareness and knowledge was informing how people responded to the pandemonium.”
With this thought process and desire to figure out how to bring that Black history knowledge to the community — Murdock realized there simply was not space for it. It would have to be something they created.
“I knew in order to do it, it had to be written in content, content that was clearly good communicated (sic) that made a lot of sense, but then also was deeply proximal to Black folks in Naptown’s experience,” Murdock said.
So, Murdock reached out to LaKesha Lorene, CEO and director of Loving Life Productions.
“She had already told the story for the launch of Circle City storytellers, which is like the branding initiative that we partnered with Loving Life Productions to be able to bring this about,” Murdock said. “Then Naptown Narratives became like a more progressive iteration of what our mission looked like lived out here inside of the city.”
Lorene said the docuseries is based on celebrating everyday heroes, and season four is no different, inspired by the life and work of Natasha Cheatham, founder of Minority Recovery Collective, Inc. (MRCI).
“Tasha’s story just really, for this season, stuck out to us,” Lorene said. “It’s in such alignment with literally, what’s happening in the city right now that you see, we are deeply in the space of recovery. In many ways, we’re in a state of rebirth as a city, and that’s what this docuseries is about.”
READ MORE: Martindale Brightwood: Low incomes and high housing costs fuel crisis
Cheatham created MCRI in 2018 as a way to provide safe sober spaces and a place for Black and brown Hoosiers to find mental health resources. Her vision for this organization was inspired by her own recovery and the hope for her mother’s recovery as well.
“To have my story told in any way, shape or form just means the world to me because I believe that more and more the real meat of history of any place is in the more individual stories,” Cheatham said. “So, this is in my blood, genuinely to be not only in the community, but of it as well.”
Cheatham’s story is essential to the community, not just for preserving the history of her home on the southside, but for the work she does to end the stigma surrounding addiction and mental health and create an environment supportive of an improved quality of life.
Through the docuseries, Cheatham said she hopes people will see that no story is insignificant, and all stories deserve to be told, regardless of how action packed it may or may not be.
“I believe we all recover from something in life, whether it be a broken bone or a broken heart,” Cheatham said. “Let alone those of us who may struggle with active addiction or are in recovery and doing our best to make you know healthier choices.”
Lorene said she believes people will leave the documentary premiere feeling inspired to find out how they can support the community through MRCI and similar organizations.
“I feel like the work that Tasha does is so important to be highlighted and uplifted … I feel like, as a media person, we get a lot of credit for things, but there’s so many people that are really literally saving lives in a very practical sense,” Lorene said. “So, I’m very excited for people to learn about Tasha and MRCI and I’m also excited for people to learn more about the south side.”
This premiere also marks the exclusive launch of Naptown Narratives branded merch through a partnership between Circle City Storytellers and MELI, the high-end streetwear brand based out of Fountain Square.
The value in Black stories is leveraged by the world every day, and Black people don’t get a cut from that, Murdock said. He and Lorene started the company Naptown Narratives to legally and financially protect the value of these Black stories, but to also allow Circle City Storytellers, Loving Life Productions and the stars of each season — like Cheatham and MRCI — benefit financially.
“So, we only dropped this merch on the night of the premiere,” Murdock said. “A portion of those proceeds go right back to the organization we partnered with to be able to tell the story, because we had to keep circulating that dime in our community.”
The premiere of Naptown Narratives Season Four takes place at 7:30 p.m. at the Kan-Kan Cinema. Admission is free, but guests must RSVP. VIP tickets are $55 and include a reception beginning at 6:30 p.m. with a performance from Indianapolis’ Poet Laureate, Januarie York, catered food and behind the scenes into MRCI.
For more information, visit circlecitystorytellers.org/naptown-narratives or lovinglifeproductions.com/docuseries
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.
