Do You Dare Waste Your Time?

Inspired by a poem written in 2023, this film explores how the clock governs us, creating an ever-present anxiety. Coloniality sustains Western dominance through normative values, knowledge, and power structures—time itself being one such construct. It dictates every aspect of our existence, embedding control into daily life.

3:01

Explores hegemony as a cultural construct rather than a natural order, using memory to reveal the irrationality of Western dominance. It challenges perspectives, reconstructing mindsets and spaces by questioning how hegemonic ideals are threatened by the Black subconscious. Adella Rankine, named after poet and scholar Claudia Rankine, represents the tension between internalized colonial influence and self-awareness. Andy Kipling, inspired by Rudyard Kipling and The White Man’s Burden, embodies calculated control, using invasive methods disguised as understanding. Informed by The Whiteness Project by Whitney Dow, his character reflects how power rationalizes its own dominance. Currently in its seventh iteration, this work-in-progress seeks to interrogate how decolonization manifests—through rebellion or mere existence.

Be Yourself

Be Yourself explores Blackness, identity, and self-acceptance through a dialogue with Petey Greene’s How to Eat a Watermelon. Combining archival footage with reenactments, the film reclaims the watermelon—a symbol tied to complex histories—as a metaphor for authenticity and resilience

Relinquish

A 48 hour film.

Space-Tabula Rasa

Derived from philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, David Hume & Immanuel Kant, Tabula Rasa is a Latin term that in English translates to “clean slate.” With this clean slate, we can create anything. That’s where the idea of exploring “Biocentrism” grew from. Biocentrism is the way our consciousness relates to our physical body. It claims nothing exists until and unless it is viewed by a conscious observer. The universe is created by life. Because of this, we are unified in our thinking and existence. Explore the question: How does biocentrism unify our thinking and existence?

After the Tone

After the Tone explores memory, family, and time through voicemail recordings, baby photos, and archival footage. At its core, my mother’s voice echoes across time, asking what I want for Christmas as scenes of my toddler self and brother unfold. Kaleidoscopic visuals and layered effects transform these fleeting moments into a dreamlike meditation on personal history. Distorted and fragmented imagery mirrors the way memories blur and shift, capturing its beauty.

Now & Forever

Now & Forever is a Medical Film that displays the struggles individuals face after their loved one passes. This film is a product of the 2022 24-hour film competition at the Ampersand International Film Festival.

Honorable Mention

Featured Articles & Photographs

Explore a featured selection of my writing work and photographs below.

Teairrah Green Photo various - The Commonwealth Times

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The CT strives for accuracy. If you believe we have made...

East End arts organization receives six-figure grant

In Richmond’s East End, Oakwood Arts quietly reshapes the future for young creatives. Now, with a $123,500 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the nonprofit is set to expand its Job and Education Training (JET) program, giving underrepresented young adults hands-on experience in film production.OA is one of only two Virginia organizations, alongside Tidewater Arts Outreach, to receive the ArtsHERE grant, which was awarded to 112 other arts organizations nationwide.The JET program sta...

The Big Broadcast

This article has been edited since it first appeared online.

Some members of the Richmond City Council didn’t know they existed — “they” being the small team that broadcasts their Monday meetings for television and online through the commonwealth’s public media outfit, VPM. 

In my search for this particular council chamber backroom, I climb a different set of steps, instead finding the council’s private lavatories. 

My misdirection solves a mystery; I’ve wondered how council members dea...

A clean slate: Group art exhibition opens at The Anderson Gallery

Mackenzie Meleski, Contributing Writer
Tabula rasa translates from Latin to “an absence of preconceived ideas or predetermined goals; a clean slate.”
Fourteen VCUarts students presented “Tabula Rasa,” their interpretation of this Latin phrase through film, performance art and sculpture. Chynia Harris, Lareina Allred and Teairrah Green led the project after receiving a VCUarts Collaborative Research Grant during the fall of 2022, according to Allred and Harris. The exhibition opened on Sept. 1 at...

VCU purchases building containing Ipanema Cafe, among other businesses (Photo)

Jack Glagola, Contributing Writer
VCU’s Real Estate Foundation purchased the building that includes the vegan restaurant Ipanema Cafe, hair salon Presidential Cuts and recording studio Verify Sounds earlier this month, according to an email statement from the foundation. 
The foundation said it is in contact with the businesses at 917 W. Grace St and is assessing another building, 919 W. Grace St., for the university’s needs.
This property is one of many that the university has purchased along G...

Meditation: A Way To Be Present In Reality

Teairrah Green, Contributing Writer
Sometimes in class, the professor’s words seem to be background noise to my internal thoughts. When this happens, I tend to zone in and out of conversations. I pay more attention to small details and my unconscious thoughts.   
Daydreaming, zoning out or dissociation are all words to describe feeling disconnected from yourself and the world around you. When I fail to take time to re-adjust my mind to focus on myself and my surroundings, I am more likely to dis...

Who’s right? Who’s wrong?

Teairrah Green, Contributing Writer
After George Floyd’s tragic death, one of my teammates made a post on social media that alluded to her “not seeing color” and not believing she had unconscious biases. 
Her perspective left me wondering why she would subscribe to that belief, so I asked her to explain her perspective to me. To my surprise, she said she has never treated anyone differently because of their skin color. 
Unfortunately, the way in which she articulated her opinions failed to be co...