I recently became casually acquainted with the outspoken and quite busy Ethan Scott Barnett, often found passionately chatting with a wide array of people around our city at night, and I suspected a great interview subject as well as interesting human had been found. Thank you to Ethan for taking time and agreeing to be this week’s Faces of Kingston subject.
Morgan Y. Evans: What draws you to engage with Kingston as a city in these current times? What is it that you find intriguing about the city as a populace or political environment to interact with?
Ethan Scott Barnett: The people in the city raised me, I have no choice.
So you had a pretty big thing happen this year, right? Your site said in 2019 you got a master of arts in History on the African Diaspora from the University of Delaware? What did it feel like to reach that goal and what would you care to say about the experience or subject?
Yeah, it’s been a wild year. I got engaged in January and then unengaged with in April. I started running for mayor in April, graduated with my MA in June. Left the race in August and now I’m working on a film set for Netflix. School is extremely hard for me. I read 175-200 books on race, gender, class, geography, and religion in two years. There are few things that compare to the master’s/Ph.D. experience, but it was much harder for me to complete my undergraduate degree in Human Rights and Social Justice. That took seven years because I refused to take out loans, only enrolled when I had the money and was still figuring out what I wanted to study.
Did you grow up in the Hudson Valley or move here? How has it changed in that time for better or worse, do you wager?
My mom was born in the U.K. and my dad was born in Baltimore, but I was born at Northern Dutchess and raised in Accord. I’m a graduate of Rondout Valley High School. I spent one and a half years at Dutchess Community College too. At 16, I was booking shows at BSP and writing for the Daily Freeman. I have mixed feelings about the changes. Kingston is officially an international city. That influx of money magnifies problems that have lied dormant in the city for years. Yet, the same circumstances have brought the best out of people, transforming them into radical and smart activists, educators and community members. They’re the people I wish were in The New York Times articles written about here.
What can you tell us about the film projects you are working on?
I’m inspired by the words and work of Nina Simone who said it best with, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times. As far as I’m concerned, it’s their choice, but I choose to reflect the times and situations in which I find myself. That, to me, is my duty. And at this crucial time in our lives, when everything is so desperate, when everyday is a matter of survival, I don’t think you can help but be involved. So I don’t think you have a choice. How can you be an artist and not reflect the times?”… I’m working on a script about two boys growing up in Kingston amongst a changing city. I’m editing two different documentaries that I shot over the past three years. One on a group of African-American women called Women of Consequence, who use dance to articulate black women’s activist contributions from the 17th century to the present and another on a group of older white and black activists who were shot and murdered by the KKK in the 1970s. You can read about those courageous folks in Through Survivors’ Eyes: From the Sixties to the Greensboro Massacre by Sally A. Bermanzohn.
What do you like to do for recreation in Kingston? Any place you particularly enjoy or for that matter don’t enjoy?
(laughing) Man. Hmm, I usually walk or bike around and talk to folks, see how they’re doing, see if I can help out with anything. David who’s an Uptown staple — known for his beautiful locks and bare chest — usually keeps me up to date on the goings about town. I’m a big fan of Kingston Point on Sunday afternoons in the summer. I love to see the jet skis go by.
Do you have long-term political or activism and advocacy goals for the area?
I don’t know. I’m just spending time with my family right now. What I do know is that I’m thankful for the courageous folks at Rise Up Kingston, Ronnette Parker, the triumphant force that is Radio Kingston, Anna-Stesia, John Murphy and his wonderful family. The O+ Festival, Kingston Tenants Union, BSP, Rebecca Peacock, Charlie Brodhead, the outdated café staff, Broadway Arts crew, Beyond the 4 Walls Outreach Program, Emily & Zoots at Tubby’s, the night staff at Dietz Dinner, Sassafras folks, freedom writer Jesse Smith, Facets of Earth family, Turn up the Beet, the relentless team at Kingston Citizens, and, of course, all of the children, staff and volunteers at the A.J. Williams-Myers African Roots Center and so many more!
Join the family! 
