Jamal Joseph (writer)
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Jamal Joseph (formerly Eddie Joseph;Sneak Peek: ''Panther Baby'' by Jamal Joseph
Algonquin Books Workman Publishing Company, Inc., is an American publisher of trade books founded by Peter Workman. The company consists of imprints Workman, Workman Children's, Workman Calendars, Artisan, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill and Algonquin Young R ...
blog, November 15, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2012.
1953) is an American writer, director, producer, poet, activist, and educator. Joseph was a member of the
Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...
and the
Black Liberation Army The Black Liberation Army (BLA) was an underground Marxist–Leninist, black-nationalist militant organization that operated in the United States from 1970 to 1981. Composed of former Black Panthers (BPP) and Republic of New Afrika (RNA) mem ...
. He was prosecuted as one of the
Panther 21 The Panther 21 is a group of twenty-one Black Panther Party, Black Panther members who were arrested and accused of planned coordinated bombing and long-range rifle attacks on two police stations and an education office in New York City in 1969, ...
. He spent six years incarcerated at
Leavenworth Penitentiary The Federal Correctional Institution, Leavenworth is a medium-security federal prison for male inmates in northeast Kansas. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. It also includes ...
.


Early life and Black Panthers

Jamal Joseph was born Edward L. Joseph in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. His parents, who never married, were both Afro-Cuban; his father, Alipio Zorilla, was a revolutionary comrade of
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
, who later served as
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
's ambassador to
Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
and
Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
. His mother placed him in foster care when he was 17 days old, and he was raised in
Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...
by the housekeeper of his foster family and her husband. He joined the ranks of the
Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...
in September 1968 at the age of 15. The
Assassination of Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Jr., an American civil rights activist, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:05& ...
had occurred that same year, leaving Joseph feeling outraged. He sought out the Panthers believing them to be the most militant Black group around. However, when he asked his local branch to arm him, instead of receiving a gun as he expected, the local chapter gave him a stack of books by African-American authors instead. He was informed that is how he would be "armed".


Legal experiences

In 1969, Joseph was one of the defendants in the
Panther 21 The Panther 21 is a group of twenty-one Black Panther Party, Black Panther members who were arrested and accused of planned coordinated bombing and long-range rifle attacks on two police stations and an education office in New York City in 1969, ...
trial, which accused the Panthers of planning a series of deadly attacks across New York City. Joseph spent a year in prison pending the verdict before it was deemed he, as well as all other defendants, were ultimately not guilty. During Joseph's time in the Black Panther Party, he befriended
Afeni Shakur Afeni Shakur Davis (born Alice Faye Williams; January 10, 1947 – May 2, 2016) was an American political activist and member of the Black Panther Party. Shakur was the mother of rapper Tupac Shakur and the executor of his estate. She founded th ...
, who was later one of his fellow defendants in the Panther 21 trial, and would act as Godfather to her son
Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...
. In 1973, Joseph, loyal to the New York faction led by
Eldridge Cleaver Leroy Eldridge Cleaver (August 31, 1935 – May 1, 1998) was an American writer and political activist who became an early leader of the Black Panther Party. In 1968, Cleaver wrote '' Soul on Ice'', a collection of essays that, at the time of i ...
, pleaded guilty to attempted manslaughter for his part in the 1971 murder of Samuel Napier, a Black Panther Party member who belonged to the California BPP faction loyal to
Huey Newton Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African American revolutionary and political activist who co-founded the Black Panther Party in 1966. He ran the party as its first leader and crafted its ten-point manifesto with ...
. In 1981, he was convicted for harboring a fugitive,
Mutulu Shakur Mutulu Shakur (born Jeral Wayne Williams; August 8, 1950 – July 7, 2023) was an American activist, and a member of the Black Liberation Army who was sentenced to sixty years in prison for his involvement in a 1981 robbery of a Brinks armored ...
(Afeni's husband), who had taken part in the robbery of a Brink’s armored car in
Rockland County, New York Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population is 338,329, making it the state' ...
as part of an operation by members of the
Black Liberation Army The Black Liberation Army (BLA) was an underground Marxist–Leninist, black-nationalist militant organization that operated in the United States from 1970 to 1981. Composed of former Black Panthers (BPP) and Republic of New Afrika (RNA) mem ...
and the
Weather Underground The Weather Underground was a far-left Marxist militant organization first active in 1969, founded on the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan. Originally known as the Weathermen, or simply Weatherman, the group was organized as a f ...
. For this, Joseph served five and a half years in Leavenworth State Penitentiary in Kansas, where he earned two college degrees and wrote his first play.Moynihan, Colin
"Oscar Nomination Caps Columbia Film Professor's Long Journey"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', February 21, 2008.


Career

Upon his release from prison, he became a poet, an author, a playwright and director. He earned his BA summa cum laude from the
University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...
while at Leavenworth. His first position after incarceration was at Touro College, in East Harlem. While there, he was instrumental in arranging historic graduation ceremonies at the Apollo Theatre, with a graduation address by Ossie Davis, preceded by a spectacular Graduation Procession down the middle of 125th Street. He is a full professor and former chair of
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
's Graduate Film Division and the artistic director of the
New Heritage Theatre Group New Heritage Theatre Group (NHTG) is the oldest Black nonprofit theater company in New York City, established in 1964. Through its multiple divisions: IMPACT Repertory Theatre, The Roger Furman Reading Series, and New Heritage Films, New Heritage ...
in
Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...
. He has been featured on
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
's ''
Def Poetry Jam ''Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry'', better known as simply ''Def Poetry Jam'' or ''Def Poetry'', was a spoken word poetry television series hosted by Mos Def and airing on HBO between 2002 and 2007. The series features performances by estab ...
'',
BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...
's '' American Gangster'' and on
Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...
's ''
The Rose That Grew from Concrete ''The Rose That Grew from Concrete'' is a posthumous album based on the poetry/writings of Tupac Shakur, released on November 21, 2000. This album features a large cast of celebrities reading Shakur's poetry and writing, much in the spirit of ...
'' Volumes 1 and 2. He is the author of the interactive biography on Tupac Shakur, ''
Tupac Shakur Legacy ''Tupac Shakur Legacy'' is an official interactive biography of Tupac Shakur released on August 16, 2006. The author of the book is Jamal Joseph, a friend of the Shakur family, Shakur's godfather, and a former Black Panther Party member, now a pr ...
''. Joseph was nominated for a 2008
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
in the Best Song category for his contributions to the song " Raise It Up", performed by IMPACT Repertory Theatre and Jamia Nash in the 2007 film ''
August Rush ''August Rush'' is a 2007 Drama (film and television), musical drama directed by Kirsten Sheridan & produced by Richard Barton Lewis. The screenplay is by Nick Castle and James V. Hart, with a story by Paul Castro and Castle. It involves an 11-ye ...
''. His memoir ''Panther Baby'' was published in February 2012 by
Algonquin Books Workman Publishing Company, Inc., is an American publisher of trade books founded by Peter Workman. The company consists of imprints Workman, Workman Children's, Workman Calendars, Artisan, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill and Algonquin Young R ...
. A television series based on the book is in development at
Starz Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...
, to be directed by
Gina Prince-Bythewood Gina Maria Prince-Bythewood (born June 10, 1969) is an American film director and screenwriter. She began her career as a writer for multiple television shows in the 1990s, including the anthology series ''CBS Schoolbreak Special'', for which she ...
. Joseph is a co-founder of the Harlem Film Company with producer Cheryl Hill, which released the 2016 feature ''Chapter & Verse'', which Joseph co-wrote and directed. The film was a ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' Critics’ Pick. In 2023, Joseph was interviewed in the FX television documentary series ''
Dear Mama "Dear Mama" is a song by American rapper 2Pac from his third studio album, '' Me Against the World'' (1995). It was released on February 21, 1995, as the lead single from the album. The song is a tribute to his mother, Afeni Shakur. In the song ...
''.


References


Further reading

* ''Panther Baby: A Life of Rebellion and Reinvention.'' Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2012.


External links


Jamal Joseph
Columbia School of the Arts - Film * * Anne Burt

''Columbia News'', September 8, 2006, modified November 14, 2007 * Colin Moynihan

''The New York Times'', February 21, 2008. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Jamal African-American film directors African-American writers Film directors from New York City American people of Cuban descent American writers Columbia University faculty Living people Members of the Black Liberation Army Members of the Black Panther Party 1953 births