We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Judah Agbonkhina a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Judah, thanks for joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
Yes, there is, and it’s our filming style, which we call, Guerilla Journalism. This type of journalism is unedited and full of people’s truths. In Guerilla Journalism, we can truly engage with the people of our community and capture their authenticity. We don’t give you clips of an event, we cover the entire event, including interviewing the members of the community as well as the vendors. Of course, we had our naysayers because it was a “phone camera”, but these phones are thousands of dollars and just as expensive as the bigger cameras. We are not a big budget entity, so we empowered ourselves by utilizing the tools that were readily accessible to us, which was our Galaxy phones. Our filming style has opened doors to real change from the industry standard, and now more people are doing it and they take us very seriously. Our style and body of work got us awarded the Not My Son Community Humanitarian Award 2021 because of our coverage and assistance with the Texas Winter Storm, and we currently have 2 documentaries on ROKU, FireStick TV, Apple & Android devices via the DTR TV channel entitled: Sandbranch: The Texas Town With No Running Water, and The Most Revolutionary Interview Ever w/Chairman Fred Hampton, Jr and Akua Njeri. We love capturing the people and allowing them to be heard.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a Father, Mentor, Activist, Actor, Filmmaker, and Business Owner. I have been in the entertainment world since I was a child, and after being in front of the camera I became intrigued with the work behind the camera which is how I got into filmmaking. As an actor, I have an Emmy nominated show on Amazon Prime, a movie on Tubi, and 2 documentaries on Roku.
I am also the Founder of Suits For Judah, my 501(C)(3) Nonprofit Charity Organization dedicated to changing the mindsets and lives of young urban Americans through Mentorship, Exposure, Entrepreneurship and Empowerment. We work with other nonprofits and community organizations to help create networking opportunities and provide Community exposure through our media platform, Word On Da Street W/Judah, a Guerilla Journalistic information outlet connecting our communities to the people and events of the under represented streets. Who better to report on the issues in a Concrete Jungle than Guerillas, and this is what set us apart from anyone else.
Due to the nature of our constant evolution as a business, and as individuals’, especially once the pandemic hit and Texas Winter Storm we still had to find a way to keep connected to our community. So, instead of seeing an obstacle, we saw an opportunity to stay engaged and connected with our community. Through hosting virtual events, it empowered us to build a virtual audience and network, which led to the birth of Guerilla God Marketing. This is my marketing firm where we create, promote, and distribute marketing materials about our events or any other event that we are hired to create promotional ads for.
Suits For Judah is most proud of our philosophy, ME3 (Mentorship, Exposure, Entrepreneurship, and Empowerment) aka The Batman Theory, which has helped us affect our community through a reach of over 10,000 people. These are people who have shared or received valuable information through Suits For Judah’s various programs. This has subsequently created a valuable network with our communities as well as with other community organizations who share our values and commitment.
How did you build your audience on social media?
We built our audience by remaining consistent, and always being truthful in what we report and post on our page. We also took the initiative to go to as many of these community events as possible because we wanted to bring this information to the people the best way we knew how, and that was through social media. In doing so, people continued to speak our name in the streets, and it went from going to the event to being invited to cover the event by the event organizers. Thus, expanding our network and introducing us to new circles of people.
In building your social media presence, Consistency is Key!! You have to post, you have to market your brand, and you have to be sure that YOU believe in your brand and what you are doing because no one else will believe if you don’t, and that will come across on social media.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
My professionalism, consistency, and networking skills with other community leaders and organizers in the city. I also believe 100% in what I am doing, and I show it every time I am needed by my community. This, I feel, is what got people talking about our body of work, thus leading to the growth of my reputation as well as the organization.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @guerillagod, @wodswj, @suitsforjudah,
- Facebook: Suits For Judah, Judah the Actor, Word On Da Street W/Judah
- Youtube: Word On Da Street W/Judah
- Other: Our Documentaries can be found on DTR TV! DTR provides a wide variety of Black entertainment. From movies to music to documentaries, you will definitely be entertained. It’s FREE to download and watch. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details… Android Devices https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dtr-tv/id1608651057 for Apple Devices (iPhone) https://channelstore.roku.com/…/8f2630395a2ccbf9bc0…/dtr Roku https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09NPSS45G Amazon FireStick / Fire TV
Image Credits
N’kole Bryant-Melanin Knicknackz Photos & Thangz Word On Da Street W/Judah