In between bouts of disorientation and fatigue, a college professor continues to protest a system she works to dismantle.
Before COVID-19, Jennifer Wager wove filmmaking, teaching and activism into her daily practice of being good peoples. Known by many as Professor Wager, since she has taught thousands of attendees at the only community college in Newark. Often, you will see Wager with current or former students at red carpets or town halls armed with cameras or protest placards. Added to her commitment as an educator, she has served on a number of grassroots and city initiatives that work to empower local residents. But, she is more than work. On any day, she’ll be at her favorite bar cheering on a colleague performing a jazz set similar to the ones she sees when she films in Cuba.
When the pandemic shut down the city then hit Wager hard, she was stunned but never stopped. From her bed, she critiqued a system that left her and her partner with little resources to make it through the roughest part of the quarantine. Through it all, she unmercifully gave capitalism the proverbial eff you. This is why we love her.
ARK: How do you define your work?
ARK: What population does your work serve?
ARK: How do you do your work differently than others in your field?
ARK: How did you create an audience or community?
ARK: How did the pandemic or protests change or shift your life?
ARK: How did you find strength in some of the darkest hours this year?
ARK: Who or what gave you the courage to continue on?
ARK: Which of your accomplishments gives you joy?
ARK: What is a philosophy or idea that keeps you grounded?
ARK: 2021 and forward is about reimagining and repair. What is your great imagining or construction of what the world must look like and be?
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