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Rapper-turned-director Keenan Bristol raises awareness of blood shortages through film, ‘Students Are Heroes’

Music Brings Life Blood Awareness Assembly
Keenan ‘Special’ Bristol engages with high school students during a Music Brings Life Blood awareness assembly, part of his efforts to inspire young people to donate blood and raise awareness about sickle cell disease through his film, ‘Students Are Heroes: A Sickle Cell Warrior’s Story.’
Photo courtesy of playbookmg

During National Blood Donor Month, Keenan “Special” Bristol is inspiring young people to donate blood for the first time through his independent film, “Students Are Heroes: A Sickle Cell Warrior’s Story.”

The film tells the story of Jordana Bristol, a teenage athlete diagnosed with sickle cell anemia. As she faces life-threatening complications and depends on blood transfusions, the story raises awareness of sickle cell disease and highlights the critical need for recurring blood donations.

A poster for ‘Students Are Heroes: A Sickle Cell Warrior’s
Story,’ an independent film highlighting the journey of a teenage athlete with sickle cell anemia and the critical need for blood donations.
Image courtesy of playbookmg.

Bristol, a Brooklyn native and founder of Music Brings Life, a blood donation awareness organization, hopes his directorial debut will inspire students — particularly those from Latino, Black and Caribbean communities — to become donors. Donations from BIPOC communities account for just 12.2% of the national total, a 35.4% drop since 2019, according to America’s Blood Centers.

The rapper, dancer, and now actor and director leverages his entertainment background to bring educational seminars to New York City high schools through his Heroes Donate Blood Program.

Joining him is his mother, the inspiration behind the project, who attends assemblies to share her experience of relying on blood donations. Now in her 60s and healthy, she recounts her near-death experience caused by a shortage of blood donations during her battle with cancer.

“ I share that story with students — this could have been their mother,” Bristol told Brooklyn Paper. “Or this could have been someone that they love that’s in need of blood. So when they hear these stories, they’re compelled. Their spirit is moved to [say], ‘Hey, let me contribute by donating my blood to give another person life.'”

Following a film screening at John Dewey High School in Gravesend, students donated 85 pints of blood, setting a record for the organization, according to Bristol. His next series of blood donation awareness assemblies will begin this April, with a goal of reaching 20 schools and collecting 10,000 pints of blood.

Rapper, dancer, actor and director Keenan ‘Special’ Bristol. Photo courtesy of playbookmg

This week’s film screening coincides with the New York Blood Center Enterprises’ announcement of a critical blood shortage. The organization reported a sharp 40% decline in blood donations, leaving the blood supply dangerously low, particularly for O- and B- blood types. To address this, NYBC is opening a new state-of-the-art donation center at 253 W. 35th St. in Midtown Manhattan this January.

The American Red Cross has also confirmed that low donation rates have become a persistent problem, with records showing the organization received the fewest donations in the last two decades.

The film will be screened at East New York Family Academy, 760 Van Siclen Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11207, on Jan. 16th at 5:30 p.m.

The film will be screened next on Jan. 16 at 5:30 p.m. at East New York Family Academy, located at 760 Van Siclen Ave. in East New York.

“Students Are Heroes: A Sickle Cell Warrior’s Story” is available for streaming on the Music Bring Life website. All proceeds from the film support the Heroes Donate Blood Program.

The film will also be showcased at African American Women In Cinema (AAWIC) on Jan. 25 in Utah, in conjunction with the Sundance Film Festival.