Will The Real Zemira Please Stand Up?

By now, many of you out there who've been following me and Curtis' progress in making this film and are familiar with the story of ZEMIRA, know that it's loosely based on real-life experiences that I've had growing up in the South Bronx. By now, you should also know our mission in making this film in the first place: to give a voice to the other Zemira Black's of the world, the thousands of girls across the country who share her experience, to tell their collective story.

Keeping this mission in mind, Curtis and I thought how inspiring it would be to hear and share stories from some of the young women who make up this collective--the real-life Zemiras. We want to hear from these young women (like some of you who may be reading this right now) about what they are doing or have done to overcome the challenges of poverty, racism, sexism, and other adversity. We want to hear these stories, tape these stories, read these stories, and post them right here on this blog for all the world to see. We want to applaud these women for beating the odds.

To submit your story or suggest someone we should interview, please write to us at zeetalk@zemirathefilm.com.

On that same note, we also want to add that we are still accepting entries for our "I Love the Bronx" contest. The winner will get 2 VIP tickets to our film premiere as well as a DVD of ZEMIRA (once completed)! We may even throw in a surprise or two.

Thus far, we've been getting some really cool and heartfelt entries and look forward to sharing them with you all in the coming weeks. Still, keep sending in your words, poems, songs or videos and remember - it can be about growing up there, it can be about the culture, the music – whatever it is, we just want you to share with the world at large your affection for why the Bronx is important to you and should be to us all.

Entries will soon be displayed weekly on our website, blog and Facebook and the best will be displayed at future fundraisers.All entries can be submitted by email to: ILoveTheBronx@zemirathefilm.com.

Audio, video, written and or multimedia entries will maintain the author’s copyright but your submission to this series gives the officers of Zemira Film Inc the right to display your work for social, entertainment and fundraising purposes.

--Mecca