Jamal Joseph facts for kids
Jamal Joseph (born in 1953) is an American writer, director, and educator. He is also a poet and an activist. Joseph was a member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army. He spent six years in prison at Leavenworth Penitentiary.
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Early Life and Activism
Jamal Joseph was born Edward L. Joseph in New York City. His parents were both Afro-Cuban. His father, Alipio Zorilla, was a revolutionary who worked with Fidel Castro. He later became Cuba's ambassador to Tanzania and Zambia. Jamal's mother placed him in foster care when he was very young. He was raised in Harlem by his foster family's housekeeper and her husband.
Joining the Black Panther Party
In September 1968, at age 15, Joseph joined the Black Panther Party. This was the same year Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, which made Joseph feel very upset. He looked for the most active Black group he could find and joined the Panthers. He expected to receive a weapon, but instead, they gave him many books by African-American authors. They told him this was how he would be "armed."
Legal Challenges and Friendships
In 1969, Joseph was one of the people accused in the Panther 21 trial. This trial claimed the Panthers were planning attacks in New York City. Joseph was in prison for a year while waiting for the decision. In the end, he and all the other people accused were found not guilty. During his time with the Black Panther Party, Joseph became friends with Afeni Shakur. She was also one of the people accused in the Panther 21 trial. Joseph later became the Godfather to her son, Tupac Shakur.
In 1973, Joseph pleaded guilty to a charge related to a conflict in 1971 where a Black Panther Party member named Samuel Napier died.
In 1981, Joseph was found guilty of helping someone who was wanted by the police. This person was Mutulu Shakur (Afeni's husband), who had been involved in an incident with an armored car in Rockland County, New York. This event was part of an operation by members of the Black Liberation Army and the Weather Underground. For this, Joseph spent five and a half years at Leavenworth State Penitentiary in Kansas. While there, he earned two college degrees and wrote his first play.
Career and Achievements
After being released from prison, Jamal Joseph became a poet, author, playwright, and director. He earned his BA degree with high honors from the University of Kansas while he was at Leavenworth. His first job after prison was at Touro College in East Harlem. He helped organize special graduation ceremonies at the Apollo Theatre.
Teaching and Creative Works
Joseph is now a full professor and was once the head of Columbia University's Graduate Film Division. He is also the artistic director of the New Heritage Theatre Group in Harlem. He has appeared on HBO's Def Poetry Jam and BET's American Gangster. He also contributed to Tupac Shakur's poetry collections, The Rose That Grew from Concrete Volumes 1 and 2. Joseph wrote an interactive book about Tupac Shakur called Tupac Shakur Legacy.
In 2008, Joseph was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. This was for his work on the song "Raise It Up" from the 2007 movie August Rush. The song was performed by IMPACT Repertory Theatre and Jamia Nash.
His memoir, Panther Baby, was published in February 2012. A TV series based on this book is being developed by Starz. It will be directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood.
Joseph is a co-founder of the Harlem Film Company with producer Cheryl Hill. In 2016, they released the movie Chapter & Verse, which Joseph helped write and directed. This film was chosen as a "Critics’ Pick" by New York Times.
In 2023, Joseph was interviewed for the FX television documentary series Dear Mama. He was also an executive producer for this series.
