If youve noticed the big billboard at Hennepin and Sixth Street, you should get to know Jaida Grey Eagle – Sahan Journal

Usually when Im talking to Jaida Grey Eagle, our photojournalist and a Report for America corps member, its because I need her to photograph a source for a story or resize a photo for our website at the last minute.

Our readers see another side to this scene: photographs of protesters, Olympic champions, changemakers, and more. After working with her for a year, I can confidently say that Jaida isnt your typical photojournalist.

In fact, most of her work is informed by her fine arts photography background. And vice versa, her work for Sahan Journal has led her to pursue other interestingand bigprojects.

If youve driven past Hennepin Ave and Sixth Street in Minneapolis recently, you may have noticed a large billboard with five people dancing against a black background:

Gayatri Narayanan: Gayatri is a dancer with the Ananya Dance Theatre and organizer. She is committed to serving abolition and anti-caste movements.

Atquetzali Quiroz: Atquetzali was born and raised in Saint Paul, Mni Sota (Minnesota), homeland of the Dakota and Ojibwe peoples. She is a co-founder of Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli, a traditional Mexica dance group.

Malgaren Mekonen: Malgaren is an Oromo dancer. Jaida met Malgaren while reporting on a meal program that serves mostly Oromo, Somali, and Hmong children.

Nina Rose Berglund: Nina is a jingle dress dancer, Indigenous youth leader, public speaker, and climate activist. Born and raised in the Twin Cities, Nina believes in utilizing traditional values and methods to solve urgent world problems.

Lue Finisher Thao: Lue, also known as Bboy Finisher, is a professional dancer who teaches, travels and competes around the United States. In 2017, Lue founded Cypher Side Dance School and Studio. He is currently a member of Optimistic Crew.

One thing they have in commonbesides danceis their connection to Jaida. Jaida, who is Oglala Lakota, has known Atquetzali and Nina since they were teenagers. She met Gayatri through mutual friends, and Malgaren and Lue through her work at Sahan Journal.

I feel like in my role as a photojournalist that I should try to take up as much space as possible for the communities I cover, Jaida told me. I go between this world of being a fine arts photographer and photojournalist, and this was the perfect way I could tie those two together.

As part of the Its the People project, the Hennepin Theatre Trust put out a call for projects that answer the question: Whose stories belong here? As one of the selected photographers, Jaida got to feature her work on a billboard.

Hennepin Avenue is historically this theater avenue. It houses most of the theaters in the Twin Cities, Jaida said. Theres always stories being told here. But growing up, those stories Id seen were always The Nutcracker, A Christmas Carolvery white, eurocentric stories.

Jaida has been building relationships with people of different cultural and professional backgrounds for more than just this last year. Through those relationships, shes been able to tell stories in a more accurate and sensitive way. Jaidas coverage for Sahan Journal, as well as her other projects, have changed the way Ive looked at my own storytelling abilities.

For example, while reporting at protests and community events for the last year, Jaida noticed a pattern that I had mostly missed. Dancers have always shown up.

Rarely has there been a time where I had been covering an event where there hasnt been some form of dance, Jaida said. Its so representative of community. Being an Indigenous woman, one of our strongest representations of community coming together is powwows, and thats all centered around dance.

Im not sure if its typical for an immigration and politics reporter like myself to drive past a billboard and think, My coworker made that. But thats the sort of photojournalist Jaida is. When we go to assignments together, shes always telling me about her (multiple) other projects. Early on in our time working together, I asked her how shes able to find the time. She simply told me that if shes passionate about something, shell make time for it.

Im still trying to figure out what being a photojournalist means, and Im also kind of making it up for myself too, Jaida said. I dont think I fit into that traditional role of what a photojournalist is supposed to be. Im just doing what I find my passion in.

More:

If youve noticed the big billboard at Hennepin and Sixth Street, you should get to know Jaida Grey Eagle - Sahan Journal