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Geri Alumit Zeldes
East Lansing
Hero Story
I nominate my wife, Dr. Geri Alumit Zeldes, for a Michigan Hero Award because she is tireless in her mission to tell stories and bring to light the narratives of those marginalized in Michigan who live in the shadows because of institutional and individual racism. Geri is a professor, documentary filmmaker, wife, and mother.
I know how hard Geri works as she labors into the night writing grant proposals while I am sleeping and our four children are dreaming. She wakes up a few hours later to drive our children and our neighbors to school. The grant writing is a worthwhile effort because it enables her to hire students who are highly skilled and who identify as BIPOC.
Since 2009 with the debut of her first documentary, “Arabs, Jews & the News,” she has since directed or produced 20 films that engage “The Other.” Her film, “The Death of an Imam,” about the shooting death of a religious leader in Detroit received national attention. She and her team faced death threats in the production process. As a Filipino American and Asian American, Geri thought it important to direct two films that captured racial discrimination toward Asians, particularly women. “Imported from China” followed Chinese students on MSU’s campus to expose the targeting of hate crimes. The film also captured the most significant demographic shift in Big Ten universities: the dramatic increase of Chinese nationals on college campuses.
Another film, “That Strange Summer,” features interviews with journalists and FBI agents on the investigation in the summer of 1975 of two Filipino nurses for poisoning patients at the VA Hospital in Ann Arbor. After an international campaign to free the nurses, the federal judge declared a mistrial because of prosecutorial misconduct.
Her recent film, “Breed & Bootleg: Legends of Flint Rap Music,” had its theatrical premiere in September 2021 at the Flint Institute of Arts. B&B excavates the role of two rappers in pioneering the Midwest Rap subgenre. She places Flint–not Chicago or Detroit–as the birthplace of hip-hop in our region.
Her latest project, a film titled “Brenda’s Story,” is about an MSU student who navigates her citizenship status from undocumented to DACA to U.S. citizen. Brenda was one of 427,000 undocumented students on college campuses in the U.S. Her story needs to be told.
Geri is my hero because she champions social justice through her films, is a full professor at one of the best universities in the world, and is also an outstanding partner and mom.
Geri Alumit Zeldes
East Lansing
Hero Story
I nominate my wife, Dr. Geri Alumit Zeldes, for a Michigan Hero Award because she is tireless in her mission to tell stories and bring to light the narratives of those marginalized in Michigan who live in the shadows because of institutional and individual racism. Geri is a professor, documentary filmmaker, wife, and mother.
I know how hard Geri works as she labors into the night writing grant proposals while I am sleeping and our four children are dreaming. She wakes up a few hours later to drive our children and our neighbors to school. The grant writing is a worthwhile effort because it enables her to hire students who are highly skilled and who identify as BIPOC.
Since 2009 with the debut of her first documentary, “Arabs, Jews & the News,” she has since directed or produced 20 films that engage “The Other.” Her film, “The Death of an Imam,” about the shooting death of a religious leader in Detroit received national attention. She and her team faced death threats in the production process. As a Filipino American and Asian American, Geri thought it important to direct two films that captured racial discrimination toward Asians, particularly women. “Imported from China” followed Chinese students on MSU’s campus to expose the targeting of hate crimes. The film also captured the most significant demographic shift in Big Ten universities: the dramatic increase of Chinese nationals on college campuses.
Another film, “That Strange Summer,” features interviews with journalists and FBI agents on the investigation in the summer of 1975 of two Filipino nurses for poisoning patients at the VA Hospital in Ann Arbor. After an international campaign to free the nurses, the federal judge declared a mistrial because of prosecutorial misconduct.
Her recent film, “Breed & Bootleg: Legends of Flint Rap Music,” had its theatrical premiere in September 2021 at the Flint Institute of Arts. B&B excavates the role of two rappers in pioneering the Midwest Rap subgenre. She places Flint--not Chicago or Detroit--as the birthplace of hip-hop in our region.
Her latest project, a film titled “Brenda’s Story,” is about an MSU student who navigates her citizenship status from undocumented to DACA to U.S. citizen. Brenda was one of 427,000 undocumented students on college campuses in the U.S. Her story needs to be told.
Geri is my hero because she champions social justice through her films, is a full professor at one of the best universities in the world, and is also an outstanding partner and mom.