Russell Brooks (Part 1): We Lift Each Other Up

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Maybe a BONUS, maybe a second Trailer for the show, maybe a Trailer for next week's episode featuring Russell Brooks, or maybe Russell just gets two episodes. In Part 1, listen to Rhonda tell Russell all about the podcast name and where the idea came from, and get a solid introduction to Red Eagle Soaring.

Red Eagle Soaring Native Youth Theatre (RES) exists to empower American Indian and Alaska Native youth to express themselves with confidence and clarity through traditional and contemporary performing arts.

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Russell Brooks (Southern Cheyenne) has spent much of his life in Montana but has made the Greater Seattle area his home since 2011.  Russell attended Montana State University-Billings and received degrees in Organizational Communications and Native American Studies in 2000.  Russell is a filmmaker, co-founder and Board member of the award-winning Olympia Film Collective since 2012.  He serves Red Eagle Soaring in Seattle as Executive Director since 2017, and previously worked for the Quileute Tribe for a number of years, as well as Northern Cheyenne youth in Montana in Tribal Education and culturally based youth projects & workshops.  He is also a former radio DJ for a number of stations in Billings, Montana.  Russell was inspired at a young age to pursue filmmaking as long-standing Hollywood stereotypes he detested were being shattered by films such as ‘Powwow Highway’ & ‘War Party’, films shot in Montana during his early teens.  He is passionate about the cross section of the arts, youth empowerment, tribal historical & cultural preservation, and language revitalization.  Russell wishes to continue creating opportunities for Native artists and actors in the Northwest, as well as for Native storytellers to unleash their creativity across mediums - blending opportunities to tell their stories through film, theatre and music - and to find the necessary support to bring their vision and art to the greater public.