Jamal Joseph dabbled in writing during the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and ’70s, but it wasn’t until the ’80s that he began taking the craft seriously. Now a screenwriter, director, poet, and film professor at Columbia University, Joseph visited Bryant in September to kick off the university’s annual Visiting Writers Series.

Held by the College of Arts and Sciences’ History, Literature and the Arts department, Bryant’s annual Visiting Writer Series focuses on social justice, difficult dialogues, diversity, and the inclusion of people of many experiences and identities. In the last four years, the program has reached more than 2,500 Bryant students, faculty, and staff, and has collaborated with more than 10 campus and student organizations. Joseph’s time on campus included an afternoon writing masterclass and evening book presentation.

“A lot of times when people start writing, they'll know their character's name and just a little bit of information about them,” Joseph told masterclass attendees. “What happens is, they will get to page five, page 10, or even page 20 and go, ‘Oh boy, I don't know what my character says next.’”

Instead of immediately jumping into writing, Joseph emphasized that there are three important questions writers should ask themselves when starting a creative project: Who is my character, really? What is my story about? What is the dramatic action?

To get to know your characters — whether it’s a protagonist, antagonist, or supporting character — writers should complete a character questionnaire. Joseph explained that writers should know everything from their character’s childhood nickname and dreams to family makeup and what they ate for breakfast that morning.

Having students respond to a creative prompt and share their responses, Joseph shared his own creative work with students, faculty, and staff later that night when he read the opening to his book, Panther Baby: A Life of Rebellion and Reinvention. Joseph spoke of joining the Black Panther Party at 15 years old — making him the youngest member of the New York chapter — and what it meant to be a young man coming of age following the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy, as well as other ongoing societal changes at the time.

“The ghetto had a ranking system when it came to manhood. You could be a punk, hard, bad, or crazy. Being a soft dude meant that you were a goody-goody who was scared to fight,” read Joseph, to a captivated audience. “The manhood ranking system was connected to the idea of protecting your property, which was referred to as mine or yours, as in I got to protect mine, and you got to get yours.”

Joseph’s book went on to recount his personal journey as a high school honor student from the streets of Harlem to what it was like to be a soldier inside the militant Black Panther movement to his time at Riker’s Island where he was held as a teen in association with Panther-related crimes and was eventually exonerated. With attendees, he also discussed the books he studied within the Black Panther Party, their collaboration with the community to establish free health clinics and free breakfast programs in schools, and the party’s 10-point program.

“The 10-point program was written in 1966, but it could have been written last month because most of the issues are still relevant,” Joseph said, noting how several of the guidelines called for an immediate end to police brutality, access to fair housing, and education that teaches the true history and nature of American society.

Joseph shared how his commitment to writing evolved during his time at Leavenworth Penitentiary where he was sentenced to 12 years (he served five and a half years) for harboring a Panther fugitive. One of his fellow inmates who knew about Joseph’s involvement in the Black Arts Movement wanted him to put on a play for Black History Month; however, only two plays were available in the prison library, which prompted Joseph to write his own. When other inmates caught wind of the initiative, they asked to be part of it.

“It became a multicultural play and then became a theater company. The prison’s level of violence and gang violence dropped to almost nothing because people had an outlet and safe space where they were coming together and talking about who they were,” Joseph said, noting that two of his plays created during prison were performed off Broadway. “I realized in doing the play that I could talk about certain issues, and I could continue to be an activist and a creative revolutionary using education in the arts.”

While his early involvement in the Black Panther Party influenced his commitment to social change, Joseph connected his story to today and what it means to build a community that is based on motivation — and what that motivation can mean in spaces where individuals are trying to effect change and growth, especially when people embrace peace rather than anger.

“We were taught to live and die for this: To have an undying love for the people and that meant all power for all people,” said Joseph, who was also the godfather of Tupac Shakur — whose mother was a Panther — and authored the book Tupac Shakur Legacy. “We have the ability to fight and win if we fight together.”

The 2024-25 Visiting Writers Series will welcome Erica Berry to campus on Oct. 24, 2024. Berry will hold a masterclass from 2 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. in Papitto followed by a book presentation and signing from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in Stephan Grand Hall. Tyler Merritt will visit on Feb. 19, 2025, and hold a masterclass from 2 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. in Papitto followed by a book presentation and signing from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in Stephan Grand Hall. A final guest, announced later, will wrap up the series in March.