Today we’d like to introduce you to Justen Ross.
Hi Justen, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am a black queer multi-hyphenate artist and educator from southside Atlanta. Actor, poet, musician, comedian, choreographer, and lightworker are a few of many titles that I take on.
I came into this world with an assignment. With an anointing. With an undeniable connection to something greater than myself. I believe that God has blessed me with an intuition, imagination, and a heart that was made for telling stories. As a little queer black boy, I remember everyone around me trying contain me. Contain my curiosity, my femininity, my intelligence, my empathy. I didn’t have the literacy to combat such violent acts. While unfortunate, I can now recognize that the people in my family were doing the best with the resources they had. No one teaches you how to raise, educate, stimulate, or protect queer black boys.
At a very young age, I remember feeling limited. I remember feeling like “there must be more.”
When I recall the first real moment where my expression was stifled, my sixth birthday comes to mind. I was enamored by the way the Cheetah Girls pop locked, hip rolled, and took up space. Which is something that the walls of my Clayton County home persuaded me I could never do. I lived about 5 minutes away from the airport. The sound of plane engines flying over my house from Hartsfield Jackson became a ritualistic reminder of how free I wanted to be, how far I wanted to go, and how close in proximity I was to making that my reality. Enjoying my birthday was my primary focus but what seemed like a Boeing 737 eclipsed the sun and casted a shadow on my home as mammoth as my father’s disapproval.
I reflect on my childhood experiences very often because the secrets of why I navigate the world, I feel, are embedded in those memories. They range from being beaten black in school bathrooms to my mother reading me books in darkness when power went out, all the way to my little sister being conceived. I was, and still am a young black queer man trying to gain a literacy on how to survive in this world through the arts.
Even though my Dad didn’t necessarily know how to love me when I was younger, he is one of the reasons I am the performer I am now. My first time performing in front of an audience was the 3rd grade talent show when I did a stand-up routine. My dad wrote the entire routine and recorded it on a tape recorder for me to memorize. He helped me map out the timing, confidence, and delivery needed to catch people’s attention. I performed and remembered the whole auditorium erupting into laughter. I walked away with 3rd place.
From that point, my mother decided that she wanted to enroll me into performing arts camp at the local arts center for the summer. That is when I knew I wanted to be a performer long-term.
From then on, I joined the Youth Ensemble of Atlanta and became the first freshmen to become a member of the Thespian Honors Society in my high school’s history. I worked and worked and worked. While acting was my main focus, I was also dancing (hip hop, contemporary, technique, and African), singing, rapping, and writing. I was not trained to be an “actor.” I was trained to tell stories.
In high school, I went on to become the President of my Thespian troupe and drama club.
I got into The Theatre School at DePaul for their BFA acting program in 2017 and started my training. I co-founded the first black affinity group on my school’s campus called Black Artists of Today. A performance ensemble of black artists that put on shows and held our school accountable for the ways in which black students were not being seen and heard.
I started my musical career in college as well and now have some tracks on all streaming platforms as well as a music video on youtube.
I was nominated by The Theatre School for the Princess Grace Award Scholarship for Theatre and went on to be a 2021 Princess Grace Award Recipient. I was also selected by Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. as a 2021 “Actors in Training Initiative” Winner.
I have worked really hard to get to where I am now. I may not book all of the things that I desire, but I know that my career isn’t in the hands of someone else. I am in control of my art and my narrative. I take pride in not asking permission to create and it is a value that I pass on to my young students. I am an adjunct acting and dance teacher at Tri Cities High School in East Point, Georgia. Here I have been able to guide the students to winning 1st runner up at State One Act Competition as well as becoming superiors and making the final performance at the Georgia State Thespian Honors Society Conference.
I have many achievements but they are not what keeps my fire pumping.
Ultimately I am passionate about teaching children performing arts through an afro-diasporic lens and ideology. The long-term goal is to open up a school that teaches multiple artistic disciplines and prioritizes accessibility to create a safe environment for artists of color and disabled artists.
I feel an overwhelming passion, duty, and purpose in helping all identities strengthen their superpowers in order to use them with the intention of love. I have immense faith that the obstacles that present themselves to me now: financial burden, racism, past trauma, quarantines, etc., will soon be obliterated by my undying willingness to leave this world better than I found it.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Growing up queer was really difficult for me. Especially since I was in the closet for majority of my life. Because I was afraid of who I was and how it would affect people I loved, I developed this idea that I was unworthy, unloveable, shameful, and deniable. In result, I did everything in my power to become undeniable. Which of course, was impossible. As a young boy and teen, I didn’t know where my pleasure began and where my service ended. I very rarely felt that I deserved to have boundaries, pleasure, or rest. I was very much a perfectionist by way of fear that I was not enough. This perfectionism often paralyzed my depth of love for myself, others, and my craft. I didn’t know how to give voice and love to myself. The upside to this is that I was able to be in a cocoon for many years and visualize, manifest, and cultivate what my dreams were in my mind’s eye. God and me were working. I was doing heavy interiority work for many years and finally when I was ready to express, many of my wishes came into fruition. And continue to come into fruition. While unfortunate at times, I believe that limitation breeds greatness. I think right now, my biggest struggle is reclaiming my rest and knowing and trusting that all will be well if I’m not superman all the time.
My parents were very present in my life and were often dedicated to exposing me to new opportunities across the board. I couldn’t ask for more supportive parents. My tribe is really the reason why I am in the place I am currently.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a multi-hyphenate performing artist and creative. I am an actor, poet, comedian, dancer, choreographer, singer, writer, director, teacher, and healer/lightworker. I am known for my acting (mainly in the Atlanta and Chicago area). I specialize in the role of leadership. In any space that I am in, I make sure that it is a space where all individuals can express themselves freely and safely. I specialize in moving at the speed of trust. I specialize in being that “yes” in your ear combatting the voice that is telling you “no.” I specialize in uplifting, inspiring, and enlightening young artists to the possibilities and their capabilities.
What sets me apart from others is that you can’t box me in or tell me to focus on one thing. I don’t need permission to create anything. I am dedicated to juggling many things all while keeping the betterment of my community at the forefront.
I am most proud of my community. I love black people. I love black queer people. I love what we have done, what we are doing, and what we have yet to do. I am proud to consider myself a part of the collective of black queer artists.
How do you think about happiness?
Community. Family. Friends. Eating. Drinking. A dinner date and a cocktail. Dancing to house music with my mom. Partying hard with my dad. Voguing down with some of my housemates. Ballroom culture in general. Rollercoasters. Laughing uncontrollably. Chatting about television with my sister. Creating art with my sister. Performing/sharing. Teaching. Praying. Resting. Love.
Contact Info:
- Email: justenrossactor@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jussten/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCc0vPPQr7Vco-WWrEhBn38Q
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/pj6BBEuAWcpkRBoF9
- Other: TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdSST8ja/
