In last month’s Community Cinema feature, The Revolutionary Optimists, the children of one of India’s most notorious slums are empowered to become leaders and improve their own community. At Community Cinema events around the country, adults and kids alike found inspiration in the film’s empowering message. Thirteen-year-old Chinyelu Mwaafrika and eleven-year-old Asli Mwaafrika, two youth activists from Indianapolis, Indiana, joined our Indianapolis Community Cinema event at the KI EcoCenter, where they served as panel members for a post-film discussion. These two youth leaders shared their thoughts on the film, as well as their experiences working to improve their community.
Chinyelu, Age 13: In my opinion, The Revolutionary Optimists is one of the more interesting documentary’s I’ve [seen]. I loved seeing the progress of the children over the years and how they broke the norms of society. Discussing the documentary with the audience was interesting, because some of the issues facing the community in the film — such as getting married at a young age — are different from the ones we face in our community.
I particularly enjoyed watching the families that lived in the brickfields. I enjoyed watching the children make bricks because, though by US standards they were too young to be working like that, they were very capable.
Finally, I really appreciate knowing that there are other young people around the world that are spending time educating and informing their neighbors about real life issues like water and gender equality. I believe that the type of work being done by the kids in the film, along with the work I do, lays the foundation for the next generation to know that with work we can have progress. The documentary was well written, well put together and highly informative.
Asli, Age: 11: I enjoyed The Revolutionary Optimists a lot. The kids in the documentary were doing their own social enterprises, just like us. The only part that we did not share, was that their problems — such as their water situation, were more urgent compared to the issues facing our community. In America, there are a lot of poor people, and a lot of money, but the money is not getting to the poor. In New Dehli, India, the people are living without resources. The people were given many promises for water which never came true.
The good thing about the children was that they were writing petitions, meeting with counselors, and taking action just like we do here at KI. It is inspiring to know that there are other children who want to make a change and are doing something about it. Hopefully, the work we do inspires other children to take action.
