A Mother’s Cry is nominated for an Emmy. Courtesy photo
Another lm directed by Travis Donald. Courtesy photo
Governor Edwards signs proclamation for national social work month. Courtesy photo
Travis Donald next to late hip-hop artist, Nipsey Hussle memorial in Los Angeles, CA. Courtesy photo
Travis Donald, a GSU almu, has been nominated for an Emmy for “A Mother’s Cry”, a documentary he produced.
Donald is a New Orleans native moved who now lives in California. After graduat- ing from GSU with a degree in mass communication Donald attended New York Film Academy.
“A Mother’s Cry” is fo- cused on the Travis’s mother Shilent Thompson dealing with the aftermath of his brother’s murder.
In the documentary Thompson details the murder of her son Donavin Deresha Donald who was gunned down in front of the family home after leaving a New Or- leans nightclub, Chalk Line.
Travis’s connection with the movie is deeper in that
he was the one who found Donavin in the family’s back- yard suffering from a gunshot wound that would provide to be fatal.
“I went to bed with vekids and woke up with four,” Thompson told Big Easy Magazine.
“That unexpected death hurts like hell. It’s a knot in your stomach and you want to throw up and can’t. You are out of space. You are not even here. You are walking
but oating. You hear peoplebut you don’t. You are gone. I prayed and prayed and prayed. I asked God to help me with this. It’s something that you are never ever pre-
pared for. It was my esh andblood.”
Thompson told Big Easy Magazine that Donavin’s murder was completely unex- pected.
“[I]f Donavin was out there robbing people, killing people, selling drugs… I would say ‘the way you live is the way you die.’ I used to always think that way – until he died,” Thompson told Big Easy Magazine.
The message of the documentary is to come
for people who have been through the storm and back. In addition to Donavin’s death, Thompson’s grand- daughter, Shantrell Parker, was also shot to death along with her boyfriend.
Thompson stays opti- mistic despite all that has happened to her family and in the face of failing health.
“Through all this,” she told Big Easy Magazine, “God has me here for a reason. I am here to raise my grandkids. I am still here two years later with stage four lung cancer.”
Thompson is active in the community, particularly when it comes to promoting anti-violence measures.
Thompson wants other young people growing up in impoverished circumstances and in culture that glorify violence to think before they act.
“Murder makes you a coward.” Thompson told told Big Easy Magazine.
“What I’d like to say to the people is put the guns down. Killing somebody is not the answer.”