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Paulette Donna Gates

@missgates54

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Hi, SoCal—I’m Candace Olusola and I launched an experience in LA last year called Live Free!, an idea I’ve had for nearly a decade.

It went so well last year that I ventured and turned it into a mini @livefreetour this year. I just took it back to my ol’ Kentucky home earlier this month and posed this main question:

What if abundance is different from what we’ve been led to believe?

The convo was so enriching that I’m still having ongoing conversations with many of those attendees about things we discussed 🤯

This excites me because IT’S YOUR TURN, SOCAL, to join the ongoing conversation!

Live Free! is an interactive experience for any adults who want space to have honest conversations, reflect, connect, learn practical tools, and explore what greater freedom, abundance, purpose, and flourishing can actually look like in real life.

Topics are endless—and are tailored to whoever is in the room. So, yes, your presence makes a key impact in the uniqueness of the Live Free! experience.

You don’t have to know anybody before you come.
You also don’t have to have your life falling apart.
And you most certainly don’t have to have everything figured out.

Come as you are where you are—whoever you are.

Come and see what it looks like to Live Free!

ORANGE COUNTY, CA
October 30-31, 2026
Westminster Christian Assembly

Registration is open now at the link in my bio.

#LiveFree2026 #OrangeCounty #OCEvents #SoCalEvents #transformyourlife

📸 (for some photos and clips used here): @viettran.media, http://byamjw.com, and @dustin_bloodgood

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Life was lived🌿

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Meet Theo Brown – an award-winning director and writer making waves in film! 🎬

From his debut An Electric Sleep to the acclaimed Smoky Mountain Rescue and Ivory & Gold, Theo continues to tell powerful, compelling stories. A SXSW speaker and festival mentor, he’s also currently developing new projects, including the thriller Patmos.

Join him at 3:00 PM as our Master Class Presenter at The Green Room Film Festival, Friday, March 28, 2026, at the Business and Technology Building on the campus of Oakwood University!

🎬 #TheoBrown #TheGreenRoom #OakwoodUniversity
#Huntsville #FilmFestival

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Meet Pax Fordham – a dynamic voice at the intersection of media and politics!

Currently serving in the U.S. House of Representatives as a communication assistant, Pax is shaping public messaging, creating compelling digital content, and engaging with press on both local and national levels. A proud Oakwood alum, he represents the power of storytelling, strategy, and HBCU excellence in action.

Join him at The Green Room Film Festival this weekend!

Catch him hosting and guiding our weekend from March 27–March 29, 2026, on the campus of Oakwood University.

🎬 #PaxFordham #TheGreenRoom #OakwoodUniversity
#Huntsville #FilmFestival

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Almost go time! 3 days out...🎬

Here's our festival schedule... swipe right!

You don't want to miss stacked weekend, welcome to The Green Room!

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HAPPY (B)EARTH DAY MAMA! I LOVE YOU! CAN YALL GUESS WHO MY MAMA IS?? LOUVENIA MINCIE GATES?? MIGHT SEND SEND A DUB TO YOUR CASH APP IF YOU ACCURATE AND CANT BE RELATED TO ME LBS. COMMENT. #HBD #PIECES #LOVE #FAMILY #LONGLIVE

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Opened & closed February with my book babies: Authors' Alley hosted by Athens State University Writing Center and the "Unapologetically Black" Celebration of Authors and Artists sponsored by the OUC Youth Department. #writingcommunity #musingsfrommygrownself #haiku #poetry #writer #bookishevents

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This is a long overdue recap… but I had to post one of the highlights of my Fall ‘25 🥹💙💜🩷 In September (which is Alopecia Awareness Month), I had the opportunity to screen my short film, Pics, starring the endlessly gifted @celestelware at @baldiecon 2025 alongside our amazing producer @justlexusward and EP @missgates54! This was my first screening and speaking engagement outside of film festival spaces, and getting to talk through our film with the intuitive @candacewrites was an unforgettable experience. I’m so grateful to the visionary @baldandfree for bringing us into the room to experience mutual inspiration, joy, and confidence with other beautiful bald people. To everyone who loved the film, shared kind words and asked thoughtful questions, THANK YOU! To our whole cast and crew, this is for us! I can’t wait for more nights like this ✨

📸: @bashircotterell
dress: @lulus
makeup: me
nails: @expectationsluxe
shoes: @naturalizer

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Why did Paulette Gates come back to SAC? #AdventistCommunicators #SAC2025 #adventistcomm #seeyouinsocal

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Our Film & TV Production students got hands-on experience serving alongside Program Coordinator Professor Paulette Gates during this year’s OU LIVE, Oakwood University’s biggest recruitment event!

From working with OUBN (Oakwood University Broadcast Network) to assisting with production management, our students helped make the weekend a success.

Special shoutout to our guest artist @thethirdmelvincrispell for bringing incredible energy to the event!

#OakwoodUniversity #FilmAndTV #OUBN #OULIVE #StudentExperience #ProductionLife #BehindTheScenes #iiioaksstudios #OU

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Tickets and Passes are now available. With over 30 films from filmmakers as far as Jamaica and Africa 🌍 our festival has truly become an international destination for filmmakers and creatives from all backgrounds
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Visit www.qcffnj.com to gain access to New Jersey's most important space for underrepresented filmmakers and creatives
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Emerging film from creatives across the globe serves as a powerful lens into worlds often silenced or overlooked, carrying stories rooted in cultural memory, resistance, and resilience. Independent media becomes vital in these spaces, giving marginalized and underrepresented voices the freedom to reclaim narratives without the distortion of mainstream gatekeepers. By breaking away from commercial constraints, these films foster authenticity, build bridges of empathy, and challenge dominant perspectives while also affirming the importance of representation as a tool for empowerment and transformation.

#qcffnj25

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My season of theatre ended a month ago, but I finally got enough rest to reflect on such a powerful season of learning and growing. Once again, I am learning that you cannot do ANYTHING in life successfully without a team. So even though I might not remember everyone’s name, I’d like to give a special shoutout to everyone who have devoted their time to be a part of my lighting team this season: Cassidy, Allie, Federico and the electrics crew at La Mama Experimental Theatre Club, Jesse and the crew at the DuSable Museum, LJ, Daniel, Robert, Ben, and Andrew. Thank you to all the directors and stage managers that I’ve gotten to collaborate with. Thank you to the set designers and costume designers for helping me tell the visual story of the shows. Thank you to the choreographers for trusting me to light your dances. And thank you to the producers for not having a hear attack whenever I said “yes, it’s gonna cost this much to make the show look good” lol. I’m excited to see what lessons this next season of Theatre will teach me.
#LightDesigner #LightDesign #Theatre

📸: @jeffwhitephoto @richardtermine @jayb915

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