Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamaica Johnson.
Jamaica, before we jump into specific questions about your work, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
When I was younger up until 3rd grade, I was a soft-spoken individual. I always had so much in my mind but I never really voiced anything from my head. That took a turn when my English teacher enrolled me in an acting program called creative dramatics. And from that point on I found a platform to use my voice. This program was the start of my journey and the foundation of everything I’ve done. It gave me the advantage for my very first performance to be on a public stage and performing one of the most intricate literature known in history, Shakespeare.
A man named Rob Zellers had observed me throughout the program and seen a light in me others hadn’t seen. People were always confused as to why I was acting. But acting was a way out of the reality around me and a platform to create a new truth for my world. Mr. Zellers encouraged me to compete in the Shakespeare competition when I was only in the 3rd grades competing against people in middle school and who had been trained all their life. I received an honorable mention but an opportunity in result of that. Mr. Zellers began to pay for me to participate in summer intensive training programs at the theater and with that by the time I was twelve I was enrolled in classes intended for 16 – 21 year olds.
I then attended middle school at my home school u-Prep after being denied enrollment at Pittsburgh CAPA. There at U-Prep I was awakened to two things that set the foundation for my purpose in life. August Wilson and the struggle of the black community. When being introduced to August Wilson I had a vendetta against the name because a mural of a friend who suddenly passed away while I was in second grade and he was in 3rd, was taken down and replaced with a picture of August Wilson. At the time i had no idea who August Wilson was and that he had once lived up the street from me, went to U-prep himself, dropped out of high school, educated himself and earned his GED at the Carnegie Library, then proceeded to become a legendary play write, writing about the lives of the everyday black community.
And with all the struggle I had seen in the environment around me at such a young age and learning that August Wilson can do it then I can too. That’s was my foundation of finding my purpose its life. To use the skills, I’ve obtained through art to spread the word about the beauty in the everyday struggle of the black community. I eventually attended CAPA for high school and encountered even more difficulties including race, gender identity and broken systems but I worked diligently to soak up everything I could out of the environment to be beneficial to my own success.
My senior year I left CAPA to attend a school one third the size of CAPA, Urban Pathways. On my record of leaving Capa I had performed at over 20 events including performing at Heinz Hall with the Pittsburgh Symphony, at the August Wilson Groundblessing Ceremony with Denzel Washington and speaking as an activist at Heinz Endowments Call to Moral Leadership. I had also partnered and been supported by some of the greatest people in the Pittsburgh Community such as Mark Clayton Southers, the founder of Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater and Reverend Glenn Grayson, founder of Center that Cares. I knew I had a lot to offer when going into Urban Pathways my senior year and I knew they could offer me a sense of peace away from challenges of CAPA but I never knew the extent of the support and live I’d receive from that school. At Urban Pathways I had the opportunity to teach acting class, direct the schools very first play and perform at a Black History Month Celebration at the August Wilson Center. Not only was I supported artistically but also academically. I struggled balancing school and art throughout high school but at Urban Pathways they adequately prepared me for post-secondary education. I have been accepted to 23 colleges and universities. And I graduate being able to say I was awarded an outstanding citizens award by the City of Pittsburgh at just the age of 15 and am directing and producing my own self written play at just the age of 17.
Has it been a smooth road?
I struggled with death and violence a lot. Three of my friends were killed my sophomore year and every summer one of my peers were shot. Something that was smooth was once I was front page on the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, gigs naturally flowed in.
Please tell us about your work.
I am a performing and literary artist.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
In Pittsburgh there are a lot of people who have goals and hopes for a better world. I least like that sometimes people are so selfish and don’t see the power in unity.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 412-652-3976
- Email: jjohnson330220110@gmail.com
Image Credit:
Danny Fantom, Winston Bell
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.
