Today we’d like to introduce you to Imani Vaughn-Jones.
Imani, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve been saying I wanted to be an artist my whole life. When I was younger, I thought that meant painting. When I got older, I fell in love with so many other ways to be an artist; writing, dancing, singing. My biggest and deepest love was for acting. My friend had pressured me to audition for the winter play in middle school. I wasn’t exactly interested, but I figured I’d give it a shot. At my middle school, they wanted to save paper — and, I suspect, money — so they only gave you the pages of the play that you were in. The day we’re getting our scripts, my friend’s is twelve, maybe sixteen pages long. Imagine my surprise when mine was like… sixty.
From there it was a hard and fast fall. I loved being on stage, I loved memorizing lines, I loved the warmth of stage lights. I was also into creative writing, so I quickly folded playwrighting into that mix. I went to university and majored in acting at first, then switched to screenwriting. I’ve been entangled in this cycle of acting and writing for over a decade now. They both fulfill me in unique and complementary ways.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No. Not at all. The struggle and I, we know each other well. In high school, my family hit a rough spot and we lost our car. What was once a 20-minute drive to school became an hour and a half commute via school bus. If I wanted to stay after for drama, that meant I’d have to take the city bus, which was a two-hour commute — providing I caught it on time. It only came once an hour, so if I missed it, I wasn’t getting home until 8 or 9pm. 5:30am to 8 or 9pm, that became my school day. Don’t even mention homework and the fact that I had a part-time job.
The struggle only continued in college. I worked three jobs while I was in my acting program. Classes and rehearsals combined, our days ran from about 9am to 10:30pm, which meant I had to work overnight. I came to know Tuesday as “dead day” because that would be the day I consistently had to go 48 hours without sleep.
I’ve encountered so many roadblocks and speedbumps, these ones just scratch the surface. I’m not one to romanticize struggle. The school bus shouldn’t have taken two hours. My university should have had more resources for families who don’t have college funds. But I must admit that I am the resilient and determined individual I am now because of those challenges. Diamonds are created under pressure. Irritants turn into pearls.
We’d love to hear more about your work
The three pillars of my career are actress, writer, and editor in chief. I both write and act for theatre, film, and television. I’m also the editor in chief of Super Dope&Extra Lit magazine, a digital magazine by and for people of color. All three pillars of my career have centered upon telling my truth and advocating for people of color, specifically Black people. As an actress, I consider my presence on stage or screen an act of rebellion against what has traditionally been a very white and very racist field. Similarly, as a writer, I aim to tell and honor Black stories, challenging what we’ve come to hold as the standard of film and theatre. As editor in chief, I’m opening the door for others. I write my own op-eds, but I’m also holding the door open for other people of color to be heard and get paid for their words.
Recently, I just finished a play that marries those passions; telling Black stories, making room for Black artists, and it’s something I’d love to perform in myself. It’s called “Well-Intentioned White People” and it’s about an interracial couple trying to navigate their daily lives, microaggressions, and the industry, all while struggling to keep their marriage intact. It explores police brutality, allyship, Blackness, and whiteness. I wrote it to be a kind of a poem-play hybrid, as it’s meant to be both seen and read. It’s a damn good piece of theatre. I may be biased though.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I can’t think of anything. Yes, there are people I shouldn’t have trusted, deadlines I should have worked harder to meet. But I’ve reconfigured my mindset so that I no longer live with regrets. Every loss has been a lesson. Every single experience, positive or negative, has taught me something I wouldn’t have known otherwise. Learning to free myself from regret has been one of the most liberating things I’ve ever done. Your life is so short, wasting time wishing it went another way is just that – wasting time.
Contact Info:
- Website: imanivaughnjones.com
- Instagram: imanivaughnjones
- Twitter: itmeansfaith
- New Play Exchange: https://newplayexchange.org/users/49421/imani-vaughn-jones
- Other: sdelmag.com
Image Credit:
Ron Osborn
Suggest a story: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
