Quan Neloms
The ADAPT Narrative
The ADAPT Narrative (Awareness, Development, Achievement, Pride, & Triumph) is a documentary film that follows two seniors at Southeastern High School during the 2024–2025 academic year. The film explores how these young people navigate stereotype threat, internalized narratives, and systemic barriers, while also highlighting the educators, family members, and community partners who support their development. By documenting their real-life journeys, the project challenges harmful narratives and uplifts stories and systems of achievement in Detroit.
The ADAPT Narrative Project shines a spotlight on Detroit students whose everyday choices, perseverance, and support systems reveal a proving ground of genius often overlooked by dominant narratives and shows how students thrive when Detroit’s schools and communities invest in them.
The film reveals how systemic challenges, like stereotype threat created by media narratives, can impact students’ identities and opportunities. At the same time, it highlights the systems of support that exist within Detroit’s schools and communities, from counseling staff to family and peer networks. By following these students over time, the project paints a fuller picture of both the obstacles and the structures of care that can lead to educational success and overall growth.
This documentary was screened at the Detroit Education Narrative Collective exhibit on December 5, 2025 and in Lansing, Michigan on November 5, 2025. See post-screening reflections from the November 5th event below. This film is not publicly released and currently in submission to festivals. For information on how to screen the film please email Quan Neloms at qneloms@gmail.com.
Directors
- Jonathan Jewell-Chatten
- Quan Neloms
Producers
- Quan Neloms
- Kourtney Neloms
Special Thanks
- Detroit Public Schools Community District
- Southeastern High School
- Michigan College Access Network
- MCAN School Counselors Fellows Program
- San Diego State University Center for Equity and Post Secondary Attainment
- College, Career & Beyond
- Youth Policy Lab
About The Storyteller
Quan Neloms
Quan Neloms has 22 years of experience in education, working at both the K-12 and collegiate levels.
One of Neloms’ signature achievements is the creation of the “Lyricist Society”. Launched in 2010 as an after-school activity, the program’s purpose is to increase student involvement in creative arts while promoting cultural awareness, the value of achievement and improving literacy through the use of hip hop and digital media. The students’ work has been recognized by the executive and administrative branches of the Detroit Public Schools Community District, Detroit City Council, the Historical Society of Michigan, internationally known musical acts, news media outlets, colleges and universities.
Seeking to increase the involvement of Black men in the lives of Detroit’s youth, Neloms founded I Am In Demand, an initiative with the goal of attracting more Black men to education as teachers, mentors and volunteers. Neloms is also a children’s book author and a founding board member of Black Leaders Detroit, an organization that provides grant funding to Black-owned businesses in Detroit.
Neloms resides in Detroit where he is loved and supported by his wife and their two sons.