Graduating Student Wins Scribe Mediamaker Award

Lakiysha "Kesha" Tilghman, a graduating Digital Video Production student, originally became interested in audio/visual management through her church. After realizing the church needed support in this area, she stepped up and took responsibility herself. Now, she’s working on her own original documentary project thanks to an award from the Scribe Video Center’s Philadelphia Student Mediamaker Fund which gives qualifying students $1,000 to support the production of a documentary.

“I came in with just a plan of getting the knowledge to be able to do audio and visual for the church without having any issues,” Kesha said. "Now, I actually want to do more with documentary video. So, it's giving me the knowledge that I need to, one, build up my resume so that I can do it, but also the knowledge of how to go about script-writing...work[ing] with different types of equipment, how to understand the concept of working with others [and more.]”

Kesha's project is called “Unmuted: Women in a Male-Dominated Pulpit,” and it most prominently follows Bishop Juanita Fletcher, a powerful woman of faith who’s spent decades preaching in spaces that weren’t built for her voice. Through her story, and interviews with others who’ve faced similar struggles, the film explores what it means to lead, to be silenced and to speak anyway. Other subjects in the documentary include Alexis Mercado, acting director of the Octavius Catto Scholarship at CCP and David McDowell, a photographer and ex-Jehovah Witness.

“Because women, when it comes to ministry, tend to be looked at in certain box, in certain categories,” Kesha said. “Where they're not looked at and put into leadership positions outside of being maybe the Sunday school teacher.” Through her documentary, Kesha hopes to show viewers how difficult it is for women to become successful in male-dominated fields by sharing personal accounts from her subjects. 

Kesha has applied to a handful of four-year colleges and is considering continuing her education. Whether she pursues more school or not, Kesha is certain she wants to pursue more video projects. “But now I do want to do more filming,” she said. “Which, with the job I have, it actually works out well with being my daughter's home health aide.”

In addition to being a Digital Video Production major, Kesha is also a Catto Scholar and a veteran student. She is looking forward to graduating and to completing her documentary project, which is currently in the editing stage.