June 22, 2024 • 61 mins
Alvin and German conduct a great conversation with Writer and Director, Jacqueline King-Howell, ’97. Jacqueline began her career with roles at VIBE magazine and Radio City Entertainment/MSG before advancing her drama arts education at HB Studio and the Atlantic Theater Company. While pursuing acting, she wrote a script inspired by a personal experience, which became her debut film, Judy's Child. This film was selected for several prestigious festivals and made it to the American Black Film Festival's top 20 list. Her films have garnered numerous accolades, including awards and recognitions as a staff pick, and being a top 4 finalist in renowned festivals such as Raindance NYC, BESLA, Diversity in Cannes, MPAC, and the Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival. Jacqueline has also produced, directed, and written a documentary for Colgate University titled Men of Mark, and is currently in post-production for her fifth segment with Sesame Street. At Colgate, she was actively involved in various student organizations, including CSA, AASA, and Sojourners. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Anthropology and Peace Studies, with a minor in Drama.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
The following podcast is being brought toyou by the Defile Life podcast Network.
Welcome to Aftergate, powered by theDefile Life Network. Are you all Ready?
Aftergate is a podcast series highlighting Colgatealumni of color in their professional endeavors.
(00:23):
Aftergate Are You all Ready? Aftergateis hosted by Alvin Glimp aka al
and Herman Dubois aka A Jerry Already. We are doing Aftergate because Colgate University
has produced innovators who have changed theworld every day, Yet many alumni of
color and the mainstream Colgate community areunaware of the amazing accomplishments of alums of
(00:45):
color? Are you all ready?Welcome? Welcome, Welcome. This is
Aftergate and I am Alvin aka Alyour Boy, and I am a co
host of this weekly podcast totally focusedon interviewing alumni color from Kobe University.
(01:11):
And we are in season four,creeping up on nine d episodes. So
it has been an amazing journey,so it does always. I'm joined by
my co host Raw or Die fromthe famous or infamous summer of nineteen eighty
(01:34):
seven, mister Headmind Dubois aka Jerry. What's up, homie? How you
doing that? What's good Juneteenth.It's June tenth. Happy June teenth,
Happy every Happy Father's Day. HappyFather's Day. Everybody, by the way,
keep a keep an eye out.There should be something in the mailbox
(01:55):
coming to you when you'll know whenyou know. Okay, okay, and
and and we'll talk about that.But yeah, man, salute, salute
to surviving. I don't know ifyou knew, a lot of people didn't
realize unless you were down here thatyou know. Miami was a state of
emergency for about four days with torrentialtorrential downpar and thunderstorms. And it's all
(02:16):
funny because when you live out herelike you're used to it, right,
but when you know, it comesunexpectedly, and you got people kayaking down
this Game Boulevard, and you gotpeople getting rescued out of their homes because
the water is intruding knee hin.It's the second of four days of this.
(02:37):
They got bad, It got itgot bad. It got bad.
Uh, you know, they shutdown operations for a little bit. But
Miami is Miami. So part ofliving in paradise, part of living in
paradise. But great to hear yourvoice. And again a reminder as we
do these shows. It is ablessing always to do every each and every
(02:58):
one, So I get your blessing. You're okay to invite into the Aftergate
studios this week's guest. As thechurch says, Amen, Deacon Ale,
please invite the guests to the altar. Well, my good people, congregation,
Cogate listeners, after Gate family,it is my honor to have in
(03:23):
our studio this week the one,the Only Miss Jacqueline King Howell, Plastic
nineteen ninety seven. Welcome to Aftergate, My sister, Hi guys, Hi,
(03:58):
Hi Jerry. How are you guysdoing doing okay? All right?
Good to have you here. Butwe always start the show with a spin
on putting the yes in context withus and with Kogiate because there are many
(04:19):
guests that we may meet for thefirst time on the podcast literally know very
little about them. Sometimes they weredecades before, decades after. Sometimes they
might have even been there when wewere there. We just don't really they
didn't have a whole lot of knowledge. Then there's times where we had that
overlap and there were people that forsome point or perspective had engagement we know
(04:45):
we've met before the podcast, andso I like how to lead with what's
your first recollection, Jackie? BecauseI got mine. My first memory of
Jackie goes back to a reunion,one of Kogate's reunion. I believe I'm
(05:05):
gonna put it at two thousand andsixteen, but maybe it was twenty eleven
of twenty eleven. Okay, sotwenty eleven and one of a good friends,
a partner, Kadata and I hadknown each other from Atlanta and so
(05:27):
we had already connected. But thenwhen we get up to reunion, I
get introduced to Madam Jackie and yold. You know, it's easy to see,
particularly as me and Jerry have vibedover the years consistently throughout. It
was easy to see y'all's energy andhow close y'all were, and in many
(05:48):
ways this yin and yang thing interms of our personalities, Like it was
interesting to peat that as well,because me and him also have a yin
and yang thing, Like we've beendoing this for a minute, and so
that's my memory. What's your memory, mister Dubois. I think it was
that same reunion and the engagement ofthe interaction. I was trying to find
(06:11):
them and if I had really donemy proper due diligence, I would have
had them at the backdrop photo fortonight's special guests, but I have photos
almost all kicking NHRC lounge at thatreunion, and you know, it was
more of And I do this thingin professional development with teachers and with educators
that the most impactful time you havewith your students is your informal time.
(06:36):
You already got your curriculum and yougot your set lesson plan and the formal
photocol of the day. But whenyou're in the hallway, when you're in
the cafeteria, when you just hangin with your kid, that's the time
to really as valuable time for youto engage. And that was what I
was impressed upon by Jackie because Iwould see her in the formal sessions,
(06:56):
but then when we actually got tohang out as a collective. Mm hm,
it echoes what you referenced. Yousaw the dynamic, you saw the
chemistry amongst them, and although wewere not because we were not on campus
at the same time, but tohave a flow in that engagement as if
we were, because our relatability tocodate, our relatability to the experiences and
(07:18):
the student of color and and andjust the cultural I think component of of
of understanding what that journey was allowedfor it to seem as though we went
to school together, right and thennot that far apart, but we know
some of the same people. There'ssome overline, there's some overlap. We
have mutual friends and other acquaintances.So that's kind of dope. That's kind
(07:40):
of dope, but dipping ghosts eversince. So it's like, come on,
now, we got to get thefour one one on what's going down
in the life of That's that's whattonight. That's why I'm excited. I
want to be in the know becauseas happened since two and I'm gonna be
a hundred. I'm an keep ita hunted like this is a long overdue
(08:03):
interview, right, long overdue conversationfor lots of reasons, but you won't
necessarily have to get into them allright now. But I think very highly
of Jackie and what she's done,what she's accomplished, both within the Cogate
lens and outside the Cogate lens.And I know we're going to talk about
(08:24):
it later and we're going to getto all that amazing stuff. But We've
said consistently that Kogate has produced greatness, and I'm looking forward to her sharing
her story because in my book,this is one of those stories of greatness
that we need to give their flowersto in real time. So I'm excited
(08:45):
to hear about it. So let'sgive I appreciate that. I appreciate that,
and I claim it. I'll takeit off. So let's let's let's
let's start it on right. Sofirst, where are you from? Well,
originally Forbados. I don't know ifyou guys knew that I'm from.
Yeah, I'm from Barbados. Ilived there until I was a young girl.
(09:09):
And then you know, West Indianparents, you don't have a say.
They drag you to America. Iseither America to New York City or
to London. That's where you go. And came up and I went to
dumped me right in the middle ofBrooklyn bedside do or die? Okay,
okay, tradition from when I firstcame there. The first time I came
(09:35):
to America eleven eleven, So imaginethat young, very vulnerable, precisely,
and this is the time when youknow people were you know, you had
to be exported to the train stationor someone was taking your sneaks. No,
no, tell people, because there'sa lot of people who are listening
who might not appreciate what Brooklyn islike then because they understand in Brooklyn now.
(10:01):
And I would love for you,for someone who lived there, give
a little insight on what Brooklyn islike as a teenager as you're getting ready
to come into Kogate. So let'sget real specific. Let's get real specific.
Your class in ninety seven. Yougraduated class high school ninety three,
Yes, so that puts you ataround seventeen eighteen years. But you get
(10:24):
there ready eleven? Yeah, takeus from eleven. Oh god, highlights.
Highlights. That means you don't havea lot of time before Colgate.
I did at all. And whenI first got there, I remember well,
when it was time to go intohigh school. I remember where I
lived. They wanted me to goto Bushwick High that was the old high
(10:46):
school. Yeah, and my motherwas like, hell, no, that's
not happening. You're gonna go staywith your aunt and we're gonna and I
meant to boys and girls, okay, And Colgate was filled with students from
boys and girls. It was likecrew of us. Yeah, and I
just remember being thankful going to boysand Girls because our guidance counselor was West
(11:07):
Indian. He understood just the wholeWest Indian structure. So you couldn't wear
long ear rings, you can haveyour arm chowing, you can wear short
you can do none of that stuff. And he was all about us excelling
and being the tops and school.I don't know if you guys ever heard
of mister mckens, our principal.He was the what was that guy from
(11:31):
Lean On Me? Joe Clark?Yeah, so he was the Joe Clark
of Bedside and Joe Clark actually cameto our school and had a meeting with
mister mckens. And we would literallyleave school and have the security guards take
us to the train station because we'rea waiting to take your stuff. Yeah.
So I have family. I grewup. I was born on Kingston,
(11:52):
but I didn't feel that. That'sthe crazy part, Like I never
out of every place that I've lived, I felt the safe in New York
City. I don't know if youknow. We were in a West Indian
community, really lived and my momwas like hell strict and we were just
involved in so many different activities,and there was no going out. There
(12:15):
was no you went to school,you came home unless you had AFSSP activities.
I think I probably went to themovies like twice or three times like
that with friends. Like it wasjust a whole Even though I knew all
that stuff was happening, I wasn'ta part of it, right, you
know what I'm saying. Yeah,we're pretty sheltered, and boys and girls
was just doing really we were justdoing really great for you know, an
(12:39):
inner city public school, and everyonewas getting good grades and going to great
schools. And you know, Iremember we had to do the pre essats
and yeah, and I remember Icame to school one day and there was
this banner in the hallway with myname, and I'm like, oh crap,
what's going on? And I thinkI got like the highest score in
(13:01):
English for the state of New York. And I was like, what what's
happening? So but to me,it wasn't like, yeah, my mom
was like, you don't have youhaven't got no job, you have,
what else are you going to do? You got to get good grades,
that's it. So that was justthe kind of environment I grew up in.
You know. So are you hearingabout Colgate due to the students of
(13:24):
wine? Yeah? What attracted youthere? Do you know Juve and Cas?
Yes, So she went to Boysand Girls and literally she was one
of her and Alita Ortiz. I'msure you guys know, I'm assuming you
know Alita And they went to Colgateand I didn't go for like, uh,
(13:50):
you know, I'm like, Idon't know if I want to go
there. I applied to Carnell,I applied to NYU, and I applied
to BE and I got into Band n Y you but they just weren't
given any money. We're gonna behonest, you know. And Colgate was
like, you got the grades,we'll give you the money, come on
through. So I went. Thatwas my main reason I didn't want to
(14:11):
go to Colgate. Was just toofar and too isolated. But I'm glad
that I did. Were you partof the summer program? Oh yeah,
oh yeah? Oh yeah. Sowhat's that like that passage? What's us?
That is actually a great, greatway of references that is going to
(14:33):
be that's gonna be the affiliate us. Yes, it really was. Lee
was our well where the people callback then who were like in charge of
together? Yes, yeah, hewas. He was. He was our
person and you know you had theWest Indian crew pretty much. We used
(14:56):
to like stick together and have ourparties and then you have some football players
that was sometimes you know, geton us, but we were pretty cohesive.
It was like it was one ofthe best times ever for me.
It was you know, what wasit called aims or whatever? Where the
(15:18):
East. We always find it interestingto hear the different locations that they move
o us somewhere around for different reasons. So where were you guys? House?
Where were you guys? We gotinto so much trouble I think ever
since then they everyone everybody got tohave these people on campus because we live
on campus. We had as amatter of fact, you know, the
(15:39):
unofficial word is that our summer putus as an operation at risk because we
were a bit of a liability thatsummer. Well, they did change the
name of the program from scholars programthe branded Yeah that was intentional, that
show. So you have a reallygood summer. What's transition like when you
(16:03):
come on to your first year thatthat first semester, what's your transition academically?
Socially. What do you remember aboutthat time? I think O U
wes was we didn't realize how importantit was until we came in that first
day of freshman year, because wefelt everything was familiar. So we already
had friends, we knew some ofthe teachers. We were, yeah,
(16:27):
we knew the campus. We allstayed in HRC, you know, that
was the place where we all weall went. I had a new roommate,
Tanisha Bailey, who I love tothis day. She's we don't stay
in contact as we should, butshe's a pretty awesome, awesome lady.
And so I had a really goodroommate. And then all my friends were
(16:51):
there, Chelsea and Karen and Tandyand Skia and Nasal and both Caadadas and
you know, so I don't know, I just fund that freshman year was
was good. It was a lotof you know, partying more than we
should, a lot of d Uand and just really the lay of the
(17:11):
land. That's the extended rights andpassage process. Freshman year does it you
have boot camp in this summer,You have boot camp in this summer.
And then it was like, allright, go get them boys and girls,
go get them survive. Yeah,yeah, yeah, yeah, Well
did you find the transition from anacademic perspective, uh, one that was
(17:37):
easy for you? Or you know, coming out of boys and girls,
you said you had good grades,you scored well on state exam standards,
sest. But when it came downto the courses and you know, kind
of navigating that first year collegiate experience, how was that for you. I
can't remember if it was my freshmanor sophomore year because it's been so long,
(17:59):
but I think I did well.I was on a on a roll.
Okay, maybe like once or twice. And then after that my junior
year, we went to a studyabroad. It it was over that's a
whole nother story, but it wasa rap place. It was like,
oh part of time. But yeah, I think I don't remember having like
a huge difficult time. Maybe withcalculus that was kick him off butt,
(18:22):
but otherwise, Yeah, I don'tknow if I took college as seriously as
I should have. I can't believeI'm saying that, but I'm like,
as long as I'm getting a Bor you know that A comes along,
that's cute. But yeah, Idon't know what I majored in well,
(18:44):
I did sociology and so in andhe studies and then I'm minored in drama
and and I can't remember the otherthing. Sorry, that's another rite of
passage, isn't it? Discussion?Really understand that. But what extracurriculous?
(19:11):
What were you involved in? Ohgod, double a Essay, CSA Sojourners.
There was a modern dance troupe oncampus that I joined. I was
heavy in Bremer Theater. Did alot we did here which had a huge
I don't know if you guys everheard about that performance that had a huge
(19:32):
attendance. The three nights we weresold out because there was nudity involved,
so it was sold out every singlenight. It was ridiculous, Like really,
but yeah, I was heavily involvedin the theater department there, and
you know, double A Essay,CSA so Journers. I'm trying to think.
(19:56):
I know, we did some stuff. We did, like you know,
the Latin dances, and we wouldgo over to La Casa and go
to meetings there because I think itwas a women's group that we were all
in. So yeah, a littlebusy actor engaged, You were engaged,
You were engaged. I like thatbetter. Yes, I was engaged.
We'll run with that women's group I'mtrying. Is that sort that I've heard
(20:19):
a little about, but not Yes, I think that was it. Yeah,
yeah, yeah, but I don'tthink it was called I think there
was another name for it, andthen it became Sisters of the Roundtable.
Gotcha? Gotcha? You said yousaid you you lived in the HRC.
Were you there all four years?Or did you move around? My junior
(20:42):
year, T and I moved intotown, which was not the best decision
because it was so hard to getup to go to class, especially during
the winter. You know, I'msure you guys now. I was like,
really, I don't want to goto class, it's cold. I
just want to, like, tellin my apartment did you walk to cam
I didn't have a car. Ididn't have a choice. Maybe had a
(21:03):
horse in the back. No,poor black girl. What made you move
into town? Then? I justwanted to get off campus. You know,
I feel like I'm grown, I'ma junior. I gotta get off
campus. There's all these rites ofpassages that you did a calgate, and
getting off of campus was one ofyou know what I'm saying, and because
(21:26):
I had spent two years in aJC and I had a really bad experience
at a CHRC. This is whenthey started integrated in a JC, and
I just didn't have a great experiencewith one roommates, one sweet mate.
So I'm just like, yeah,time to get off campus. And then
(21:47):
I was only India apartment for onesemester because then the next semester we were
in Europe. We did the PeaceStudies study abroad and we were supposed to
be there for the school semester,but we all didn't come back until August
until it was to go back toschool. Nice. You take advantage of
the summer and you chill any anytakeaways, any memories from the study of
(22:10):
broad trip. It was the besttime of my life. I wish I
could do it all over again.We had We went to eleven countries.
Yeah, we went to eleven countries. And my family because again West Indian
and you're in America UK, somy aunt and uncle were in London.
So on weekends sometimes we would justgo out to London and stay with them
(22:30):
and go to party. We madefriends, We just had a blast.
We went to France, we wentto Germany, we went to Belgium,
we went to Ireland. We justit was just the best peace studies and
they were like, pee, letme tell you guys a little stird.
(22:56):
You don't mind. So the peacestudies, you know how you guys completely
messed up a us for everyone.Yeah, well we messed up the peace
studies group for everyone. No onewas allowed to live on the campus at
the school we were extant with everyoneknow how to live with a whole family
because the black girls, we didn'tknow how to act. So we met
these guys at a club and weknew, you know, the cousin.
(23:22):
We met them through our professor andwe were all hanging out and we forgot
that we had to go to Oxfordfor some kind of meeting the next morning.
So it's like seven o'clock in themorning. My girls are gonna kill
me for talking about this, andwe're like dying. We've been up all
night, we're still sleeping. Wecome straggling into the hotel, just wanted
to sleep, and the professors they'relike, oh, we wish everyone was
(23:42):
like you girls, Look at yougirls. You girls are on time,
You're up, let's go. We'relike, oh, my god, we
just want to die, you know, but you're just all hungover and you're
like exhausted, and he's thinking,we're on time, and we're like,
no, sir, we're now gettingin. But okay, let's let's go.
Let's let's go do this Oxford Oxfordthing. Because when you're young,
(24:03):
you know, you figure it out. Yeah, but it was. It
was a good time. Nice,very very nice, very nice. So
let's go. When you look atyour four years on campus, what are
some of your highlights, some ofyour accomplishments, things you're really proud of
academically, socially, personally, whatare some of those highlights for you?
(24:25):
My friendships that were friends to thisday, just you know, getting outside
of my comfort zone and going tothis campus. And I think for me
too, the big thing is whenI graduated, I walked off the stage
and literally handed my mom my mydiploma. And that was a big thing
(24:48):
for me because my mom had literallyjust she had just beaten cancer. So
for me to be able to likego like, look what I did,
you know what I'm saying, andthen literally like five years later after that,
I lost her. So just havingthat moment to be like look Brown,
I did this, and she wasso proud. She was bragging to
everyone. One of her her boss, was actually a trustee at Calgate,
(25:12):
so that that didn't hurt. So, I don't know, And I think
also with the study abroad trip,being able to convince the school to like
this is a good experience for youknow, the people of color on campus,
because it wasn't I don't know ifwe were even on their radar.
(25:34):
I was just going to go througha study abroad group with Syracuse and they
were like no, no, no, no, keep it here and do
you have anyone else that you wouldlike to join? So being able to
make sure my girls were able togo on that was like a great experience
and started I started pledging AKA atColgate. So I just feel like I
(25:56):
always say, sometimes I wonder ifI didn't go to college, if I
would have started on my acting careerearlier. But I feel like if I
am where I am as a creativeperson, as a writer and a director,
just a filmmaker in general, Alot of it comes from my experience
having gone to Colvid. Yeah,yeah, I really do. I really
(26:17):
do think that right to pass tolife mm hmmm, yeah, which is
in many ways the lessons we learnedlater that some of the experiences good and
mad at Coogate only gave us aplatform to be resilient, to be created,
to figure things out, to survive, to succeed, and to develop
(26:38):
skills along the way that become applicablelater in life. Agreed, agreed nicely
said, So we'll use that asa nice place to put a little pause
and we show some love to oursponsor, take a pause for the cause.
We'll be back for part two ofthis conversation with Jackie King Howell,
(26:59):
class nineteen ninety seven. So thisepisode is sponsored by Hope Murals. Hope
Murals is a nonprofit that provides adolescentyouth with an interactive experience of creative expression
via an urban arts platform that stimulatesboth mental and physical development. Please visit
(27:21):
that website at www dot murals dotorg to learn more and find ways you
can support the work they do.Welcome back. This is part two of
the conversation with Jaqueline King Howell akaJackie, class of nineteen ninety seven and
(27:41):
looking forward to hearing what her lifehas been like after Gate. Before we
do that, let's make sure weshow some love to our sponsor, Hope
Murals. Make sure you check outHope Murals at Hopemuros dot org. Check
out their social media at Hope Muralsand just find out more than they're doing
to expose our youth to urban artto affect their development. Show them some
(28:02):
love. We also are going toshow some love to our network, the
fire Life Network. Their website isgod tofirelife dot com. A lot of
interesting, empowering written content on thatsite. They have a podcast hub.
You can find podcasts like Aftergate onthefirelifepods dot com. Show them some love
and always remember were on all ofyour major favorite streaming services, so that's
(28:26):
Apple podsspreak us, Spotify, ourHeart, all of them be there.
So when you listen to us,make sure you like us subscribe so that
you'll get an alert when it istime for us to drop the next episode.
Now, let's jump back into thesecond half of this conversation with Jackie
looking forward to hearing what you havedone since Colgate's graduation. Before they do
(28:51):
that, I would like to hearyour thoughts on a topic that really has
something that was brought to my attentionfairly recently, because I will unaware,
so would love to hear your perspective. We are in such a polarized time
politically that there are people who areintentionally, passionately working to really, in
(29:17):
my opinion, take us backwards,and so I have heard of efforts Project
twenty twenty five. I am wellaware of topics like women's reproductive rights,
and like how this issue is becomingsuch a major issue throughout the country in
(29:38):
so many races. We'd love tohear your thoughts on kind of where we
are, particularly as we are headedinto the last four or five months of
this political season, and just kindof some of the major topics and major
efforts that are out there. Justlove to hear your thoughts of where we
are because our value of perspective.I will try to keep this as PC
(30:06):
it's possible. In my household,we're very liberal. We are registered as
independents, but we tend to leanleft. And I think for me,
I always tell people I am black, i am a female, and I'm
an immigrant. So there's so manydifferent issues that I feel impact me,
(30:30):
impact the people I love, impactmy community, and it's pissing me off
to see I think I expect nothingless from the Trumps of this world.
I think what irritates me is thatI feel like if the Dems are too
silent, call a spade a spade, the Scotus is screaming corruption. There
(30:56):
are people who are kissing up toTrump because they want that our dynamic,
not because they believe I call alot of people phil Christians, you know,
or ala carte Christians. They liketo pick and choose what they feel
fits their argument, fits their narrative. And for me, it's very frustrating
because I'm like, what does ittake for us to get up and fight
(31:19):
back? Having done the Peace Studiestour, we were there dealing with you
know, we met with a lotof Holocaust survivors. We learned about World
War Two and the Nazis, andwhat struck me was how quiet everyone was
(31:41):
until things got so bad. Youcan't be quiet anymore. And I feel
like we're seeing that here. Itreally pisses me off because my daughter,
after very a lot of expensive trieswith IVF, I was given this gift
and my child is everything to me. So to hear that there are a
(32:01):
group of people who are literally,you know, talking about IVF as it
relates to their version of the Bible, right, I love. These people
don't even know the Abrahamic version ofthe Bible, and we're not even going
to get into that. They knowthe Good King James Chauvinistic version. So
they're talking about IVF, they're talkingabout abortion pills, they're talking about abortion.
(32:22):
They don't care about that twelve yearold who was raped and then had
to like go God knows where totake care of a situation that she should
never have been in. And itdoesn't matter if you've been for me,
And I'll say this, I am. I call myself a survivor. I've
been sexually assaulted. I've been raped, and I talk about it. I
(32:45):
refuse to let it shame me.And as someone who's been down that road,
and as someone who's the you know, I have a young girl,
a little girl, it pisses meoff that there are these men they have
a right to come in and determinewhat the hell I do with my body
like it pisses me off. SoI don't care if it's because I've been
(33:08):
raped. I don't care if it'sbecause I'm having an EP topic pregnancy,
or it's a life or death situation. It's my body. I shouldn't have
to give a reason as to whyI decide that I do not want to
bring life into this world at thistime or at all. And my husband
always says, if more men spokeup, you would see the conversation be
(33:31):
different, and I agree with that. But I also think that we have
to stop lending these people who workfor us. There are are employees make
rules for us, like, tome, that's such crap, and I
just don't understand, and I getso tongue tied sometimes because I'm so curious.
I just don't understand why they thinkit's okay to come and tell a
(33:53):
woman what she can or can't dowith her body. And it's so,
it's so it's filled with her pocracybecause you only care about the baby,
and as soon as that baby's bornon your own. I don't want to
give you any kind of good education. I don't want to give you any
kind of good health care. Ifyou're in welfare, I think you're the
lowest of the low. I don'twant to give you any good housing.
(34:14):
I don't want to do anything tohelp sustain this life that I made you
have, because it's about control.I just won't to be able to tell
you what to do with your body, and not because I believe in it,
but because my very religious right istelling me, my base is telling
me that this is what I needto care about. So I don't really
care because I have enough money.You know, these guys, they have
(34:35):
enough money that if their daughter needsto get it done, they're going to
get it done. There was thisrepresentative I cannot remember I call him scum
his name, but the reporter wassaying to him, your girlfriend had an
abortion and you paid for it,so why is it okay for her?
But now you're trying to make surethat other women can't have it, so
they don't care. This whole idea. If you cared about life, if
(34:59):
you truly were religious, and youtruly were governed by the word of God,
you will not be doing capital punishment. You would not be tweening immigrants
the way you are. You wouldmake sure that everything is in place after
women have children. I'm fortunate thatI can do what needs to be done
for you know, myself, asa mother and from my daughter. Not
everyone has that. They don't havethe agency, they don't have the voice,
(35:22):
and I can tell you from havingthat kid. It is not cheap.
Just giving birth is not cheap.So it just And there's so many
people I know who are not votingbecause they're rightfully upset about Gaza, and
I totally get it. And Isaid to them, as bad as you
(35:43):
think the Biden administration is doing,if Trump gets in, he will,
in my opinion, purportedly allegedly,I'm not trying to get sued, he
will do everything he can to maybeflatten that country. I do not trust
that he would do anything to helpthose people. So as bad as you
might think it is with Biden,you have no idea how horrific it can
(36:05):
get with Trump. And you cannotun ring a bell. You cannot on
ring a bell. So you graduateninety seven, did you have a plan,
did you have a visional moment?What's next? And walk us through
from from that point exiting Kogate intoyour life over time, behis of those
perersional the professional will just give ussort of memory late. So you guys
(36:30):
want the real real or the cutecute story, the real real. We
always want the real. I gotinto Sarah Lawrence. They had a program
with I think it's called RATA inthe UK, and I got into that
program after after after Coke, Ihad to go to London, and I
(36:52):
think at that time Jolani had reallyhelped me prepare for it and and I
went out there and it was great, but then I just can't afford a
tuition. That's one of my veryfew regrets in my life is that I
didn't get to do that program.And believe it or not, I didn't
have a plan beyond that because Ijust knew I was going to go to
school and start auditioning, doing allthe things. And I took a job
(37:16):
at a kiosk. I had movedto Michigan with my then boyfriend now husband,
and I took a job at akiosk in a mall where I did
engrave in on jewelry because I gottamake money. And I'm just like I,
(37:36):
you know, it was like doI want to get into acting?
Do I want to whatever? Whatever? And then I'm like, yeah,
no, I'm too educated, toosmart for this crap. So I moved
back to New York and I workedat Ernst and Young as a junior analyst.
And I and I'm not going totell this part, but I've kind
of weaseled my way into Vibe Magazineto a little fib and I started in
(38:00):
turning a Vibe and someone quit andI applied for the job and I got
the job, and I moved overto Vibe Magazine. And that was cool
for what you do there. Iworked in circulation and I was constantly trying
(38:20):
to get into events. So onthe there were two levels too Vibe.
On on the lower level it wasall editorial and that kind of stuff,
and then on the second flour wasbusiness. So you had events, market
in, promotion, circulation, allthat and circulation it publishing is fun because
you get to like contests and so, you you know, running back and
forth between like bad boy, sointerested saying that now but that boy and
(38:45):
MTV and other places. And itwas interesting. It was trial by fire.
It was you know, it wasthe good, the bad, and
the ugly. And I left,and I think her name is Susanne or
Susanna de la Rosa went to Colgateas well. This is how Colgate has
(39:05):
been such a part of my life. They were looking for people to work
the VMAs and she one of theguys that worked at five knew her and
introduced me, and I was like, oh, Callgate Colgate, and I
got I did that wor at theVMA's and then I got a job.
Her name I cannot remember her name. She also went to Colgate, so
(39:28):
all my job to see Colgate.She was working at Madison Square Garden and
I got a job there in promotionsworking for it was called Radio City Entertainment
because it was Madison Square Garden andRadio City Music Hall. So like,
if you would, I would likehelp out creating like the posters and doing
all the different events. So ifyou anytime you walk by Radio City Music
(39:52):
called me. Saw the posters forthe rock at some of my handiwork,
And you know, that was afun job. And then I was like,
I want to make more money.So I just stayed with marketing promotions
and just started working for different marketingpromotions companies for a while. And my
(40:15):
last job was at Story and Igot laid off, but then it wanted
to bring me back on as aconsultant and I'm like, you know what,
this is the perfect time to getinto acting. And I remember I
knew nothing about acting, and Iheard that they were looking there were casting
for a Jim Carrey movie called ILove You Philip Mars in Miami and I
(40:37):
flew out there and all I haveis a snapshot. I didn't know what
a headshot was. I didn't knowwhat a resume was. I did nothing
right. I had a snapshot,and I'm like, here you go,
go with God. And I wentin and I did the audition with Telsey,
which is a big casting agency inNew York City, and that went
well. Then I did another auditionwith Bernard himself, who is the head
(41:01):
of the cast and the agency,and then I auditioned for Glenn Fakara and
John Breckwall who are the directors.And I was like, I wrote in
my book, I got it.I'm claiming it. This is my bro.
And then I got a call.I was like, yeah, we're
going out of the direction and I'mlike no, I'm a child of God
and I claimed this. So Idon't know who told you a whole,
(41:22):
but this is for me. AndI think like two days later they called
me back and they're like, thedirectors decided they want you. And I
flew out back to Miami and itwas you know, first time, you're
like starstruck because you have your owntrailer and there's somebody walking you to set
and I remember being in the hereand makeup trailer and the lady's like,
(41:44):
oh, someone that has another scene. I need to take care of them.
Do you might just sitting here tolike I'm like sure, So I'm
sitting there and this hand true story, was like, Hi, I'm Jim,
and I'm like, uh yeah,you know Jim Carrey, I know
you are. And I was like, Jacqueline, did it up? Been
doing the scene and he was solovely. We had a very small scene
(42:06):
that ended up on the cutting roomfloor. If you watch the movie,
you see my hand handed him achat and he brought me back to the
director's chair with John and Glenn andwas like, let's watch the playback and
he was like that was so good, did so amazing, great job.
So I was like floating on air. The directors were great. They even
sent me a card after and Iremember being until like, that's not the
(42:28):
norm. I got my stag eligibilitycard, which some that's one of the
hardest union cards to get, andI got it with I was eligible with
my first job, and I justknew that was it. I'm in this
movie. N Jim Kerry, I'msag Aligebra and then I have worked for
I didn't getting no big deals forlike a decade because that's the nature of
(42:50):
this business, you know. Soyou're doing a lot of which is probably
good because I was still green.So I'm doing student films. I'm doing
off off Broadway. I'm taking theclasses so I can like fine tune my
my my my skill and just doingall the things that I need to do.
You know, you'll get a littlecommercial hair or you'll get like a
(43:12):
little featured role here. And Iwas just getting so frustrated with the process
and no no by this not youknow, I was also dealing which I
was struggling with my mom having passed, and I'm just like this this this
in for me. I can't I'mover at dot com. And that's when
(43:36):
I started writing. And a friendof mine, brilliant director at La Tie,
he was like, why don't youjust turned this into a script and
just just just try and see whathappens. And I did it. I
sent it to him. He likedit. He was like, you should
turn this into a film, andwe started fundraising. And that was an
(44:00):
other beasts because people will give moneyto a well known director, it's hard
to get them to give it tosomeone who's up and common, and Ti
directed I Love My Friends just cameon board and really helped me out with
this. It was a story basedon me finding out that my mom was
going to die, and I justremember getting frustrated because we're raising all this
(44:29):
money and then some people were justlike, yeah, so we decide we
don't want to do this anymore,so we want our money back. So
it was just a really ye peopleare just hello, shady, and I'm
just like, you know what,this is what I'm supposed to be doing.
I'll you know, I don't careif my last dollar. We're going
(44:50):
to make it happen. And weshot the film and I got a call.
I submitted to a bunch of themfestivals and ABFF, which was like
you know, north Star for me, and they loved it. And I
didn't get into the top ten,but I made the top twenty and from
that the film was shown on comcastsfor a while and then Gravitas like licensed
(45:16):
it for like Amazon and all theseother platforms, and for that being my
first film, for that to happen, I was like, that's it.
This is what I'm supposed to bedoing, you know, thank you affirmation,
yes, yes, And it wasjust, you know, I feel
like if I'm one of my mouth, I'm so sorry. But I love
(45:37):
my career. I love what Ido. It's stressful, it doesn't make
a whole lot of money yet,but I get I'm claiming it. But
from that, I just did WhitePicket Fence, which was received so well
at March's the African American Martin's reallyan African American film festival. And if
(45:58):
you've ever seen White Picket Fences,dark comedy, and someone from Sesame Street
site and somehow I ended up gettinghired to do segments of Sesame Street.
And if you saw this spill,there's literally it don't make sense, but
it literally didn't. I just Ijust finished my fifth segment for Sesame.
(46:22):
Been working with them since twenty seventeen, and my first segment with them,
I had just given birth like threeweeks prior, and I'm on set working
then I'm like, it is whatit is. Gotta do what you gotta
do. And so I worked withSesame a lot, and I just went
(46:45):
into a partnership with three hundred studios. I don't know if you're familiar with
them. They're Kevin Lyles. Ohyeah, yeah, his his company.
So I have a production deal withthem to shoot a romantic dramedy that'll be
shot in New York and in Barbadoes. And as you guys know, I
(47:06):
pitched to Colgate to do a documentaryon the first Black men at Colgate,
and they liked our pitch and wewon the job, and we did the
documentary for them called Men of Mark, that I am super proud of,
super proud of. One of myFor those who don't know, talk about
it please. It looks at thefirst black men at at Colgate, at
(47:32):
a white institution, and some ofthem were still enslaves, some of them
had been enslaves, some of themwere free men. And these were men
who went on to do some ofthe most incredible things you could imagine,
you name it, from being presidentsat Morehouse, which I always like to
(47:52):
say it pisses the warehouse people off, but their colors and the way their
letters are done, you can't haveCalgate. Shout out to doctor Samuel Watcher,
thank you, thank you. ButI also wanted to make sure be
highlighted just what those men have donewhere it has led students of color at
(48:15):
Calgate. And you two lovely gentlemenwere in it and and gave me your
time, and I'm eternally appreciative ofthat, and we we we're trying to
find a home for it PBS orHonest Collection, and I know they're also
utilizing it on the campus to teachthe students. So I'm just I'm just
(48:39):
really proud of that film and Ireally hope that it goes. I don't
even have to be attached to it. I just really want people to know
about these men and what they've doneand how important not just to us Colgate
alum and current students, but isI don't think they did to make the
(49:00):
fabric of America stronger and better.You know, there just really brilliant,
brilliant, brilliant men. So Iam hoping it takes wings and I leave
in two weeks to go to NewOrleans for the Essence Festival. My futuristic
thriller at the organization was selected forthe festival, so I have to do
(49:22):
a stage reading at the festival.So I've been just like busy finishing up
this last sme Street segment and preppingfor this stage, reading at Essence and
getting the final touches for the film. We're student in New York and Barbados,
so and trying to be a mamaand a wife and all the things
(49:43):
and all the things. You know. I'm sitting here, like Jerry,
were just very very mouth open andpressed, loving the journey. Who spent
h we spent like a year anda half trying to get a novel to
a TV series. I respect thejourney and really relate to the idea of
(50:07):
how difficult it is to get peopleto fund new people, right, and
just the newness of it all,And just again very proud of what you
accomplished so far and what you areaccomplishing now and then where you are headed,
because we are all just wishing greatnessto continue in all that you do.
(50:29):
So continue doing your thing, MissJackie. I'm trying. So that's
dope, that's dope, that's dope. Love to get your thoughts on,
sense of perspective, right, Soyou've had an amazing journey. If you
had the opportunity to whisper words ofadvice into Jackie as she's entering Kogate,
(50:52):
what would those words of advice be, and then also what would be the
words of advice you would give Jackieas she's graduating. M definitely, as
I'm entering, is just be inthe moment, stop wondering about what comes
after. And I think growing upin Barbados, because it's such a small,
(51:17):
amazing, beautiful country, but it'sso small that you have all these
dreams and you're just like, canthis little Caribbean girl naked? And you
know, and you constantly, you'reconstantly thinking about what's next, what's next,
what's next, and you're not inthe moment. So I think I
(51:37):
would definitely just say just enjoy thefriendships and the experiences and all those things.
And quite honestly, it will probablybe the same advice graduating because it's
something that I constantly have to remindmyself of now. I'm always you know,
sometimes my husband will say to me, He's like, look at all
(52:00):
you've accomplished in like such a shortspace of time. But I don't see
it because I have certain goals andI'm like, yeah, no, I'm
not there. I have an Academyaward to win, I have theater screens
to fill. You know I'm trying. My biggest fear is leaving the world
(52:23):
in a whisper. I always saythat I cannot leave this world in a
whisper, and I have to leavesomething for my daughter. I want her
to have options. I don't wanther to ever feel like she has to
go and do a job. Sheabsolutely hates to make money. I want
to make sure that she can,you know, be free and do whatever
(52:45):
she wants. So it's but thenthat takes me away from being in the
moment. Sometimes I'm always going inand coming out. I'm like, girl,
just take a breath, take abeat, and just look at where
you are. Like it's even withthe essence thing that's coming up, I'm
still very much like, Okay,I get this, I gotta get that,
(53:06):
and you gotta do this. AndI'm not even you know, like,
my husband got us tickets while we'rethere to see d Nice. I
said, de Nice. That's hisname, isn't it? The DJDJ.
I'm showing my age, Lord Jesus, still in my age, but yeah,
(53:28):
to see him and then ushers performingas well, and I can't even
think about that. I'm like,oh, that's cute, but I need
to make sure these visuals are done, and I got to see them.
I got to use music, andmy actors like do I want them sit
in or stand in? And justall the things and the business. The
business. It's constantly because it's likethis is it gotta be right. I
(53:53):
got my own business and I can'tafford to mess up like I have three
My first three shorts are on twoB. I got a deal through a
friend and a colleague of mine,and we didn't on anthology, so they're
on there and people don't look atyou know, to Be used to be
like to Be, but now they'vechanged their business models, so it's now
(54:16):
real contender. It actually had betterokay numbers than Disney Plus. I think
Paramount Plus like the numbers have beendoing amazingly well. And I have an
anthology of my films on too Be. I forget to tell congratulations, thank
you, But can you get totell people? Well, you're going to
tell people right now, because thatleads into this next question of things that
(54:37):
you want to plug and promote sothat we can get our listeners to support
the things that are important to ourguests. So first, let's start with
the three anthology that the films.What are those shorts that people should be
doing that? What should they?How can they find it? Because we
have to be watches. How shuldthey track you down? Everything's on my
(55:01):
website so it's Judy's Child LLC dotcom. So it has like the links
to everything, it has a synopsisand everything I'm doing, like my next
of parents is like any panels I'mspeaking on, So everything is on there.
I do want to but this hasnothing to do with it. Is
(55:22):
it? Okay? If I plugsomething that whatever is important to you,
here's your chance to plug. There'sthis company I saw today or yesterday on
TV. I think it's called moveIn Mafia, and it's uh started by
a black woman and she went toHoward and she helps bosh the kids that
(55:44):
got that got into college move in, gives them the essentials that they need,
She sets them up. It's sodope and she like literally and I
don't know this woman from a campaign, but I've already liked Jeff. We're
volunteering, hearent, but that's whatshe has a team and it's all moving
Mafia and they literally just help thesekids get acclimated to college because they have
(56:08):
no one else there to do itfor them, and I just thought it
was such a brilliant, brilliant,brilliant organization. And then there's another one
called Humble Design, and what theydo is for homeless people. They get
them apartments nice and they outfit themfor them. So this lady was like
(56:30):
Steven on the floor of her kidand they made sure she had a bed
and furniture. Well, I don'tknow if they get the apartments, I
know that they helped get them setup in the apartment, so furnitures they
furnished and everything. So I justthose two things just really touched Humble Design.
And the other one is Moving mmhmm, and I love that Move
(56:55):
in Mafia does that with HBCUs Now, listeners, make sure you show her
some love on her website, butalso check out Humble Designs as well as
Moving Mafia and be intentional. Letthem know that, Jackie Senya. If
you're a business looking to get yourbrand in front of a loyal, supportive,
(57:17):
successful market, you need to becomea sponsor of Aftergate. Our network
recognizes the opportunity to work with coGates, a lum of color, to
leverage the reach of the show toincrease awareness and profitability for your business.
Reach out to the Defile Life podcastnetwork and we will work with you throughout
the entire process. We have specialpackages to get you started. Contact us
(57:39):
at info at godfirelife dot com.Every week professionals of color, ranging from
politicians to educators, to judges,to entrepreneurs, to lawyers, corporate leaders,
and even retirees. Aftergate reaches anarray of successful BIPOCA listeners, contact
(58:00):
us to learn more about how wecan benefit you. Any last words before
we get out of here, Ijust I just love what you guys are
doing. I love that you guysare like just keeping us all plugged into
Colgate, letting us know what's goingon with alum. And you know,
(58:22):
you learn about folks that, asyou said, you went to school with,
or you've heard about, or youdon't even know. So just makes
me realize how because sometimes I'm like, eh, you know, yeah,
nice school, but I've moved on. But now talking to you guys makes
me realize just how important Colgate wasan ist of my life, which is
(58:45):
I think one of the things itoffers is ability to stay connected and a
couple of shows ago, one ofour guests talked about the value and being
connected and how that brings happiness anda certain thing to your life. And
so to your point, it isawesome that Aftergate just allows the ability to
(59:09):
stay connected and get even more connectedwith folks. So appreciate that. Appreciate
you. Thank you for honoring usby being on our show anytime. Thank
you guys, and we missed youreunion this past uh, this past couple
of weeks ago. It was special. It was special. We had some
some legends in the house. Wehave some legends in the house, those
(59:30):
shoulders that we still stand on today, and it was it was dope.
It was. It was one ofthe times it felt it was a proud
moment to be part of the individualsthat were in that room. We're proud
to see that their work and theirsacrifices decades later resonated in those that were
(59:51):
in the room. So yeah,it was. It was pretty special.
It looked amazing and I'm mad Imissed that. I'll try to be there
next year. This this has beenanother episode of Aftergate season four. Thank
you to our guests, thank youto our listeners. After Gate is always
powered by the fire Life Network,so make sure you check us out in
the future on all of your favoritepodcast streaming platforms. Many more dope episode
(01:00:15):
the follow Just remember that you needto do the best you can and all
the ways you can, for allof the people you can, for as
long as you can, and thatthe covidate of your day is not the
covidt of today, and it's certainlynot the codate of the future. Peace
family. You hear that, listencloser, that my friend is the definitely
(01:00:38):
side of focus. It drowns outall the useless noise that can clutter.
Not only nay sayers don't exist,haters, smaters, the peanut gallery.
Who's that When you're in your zone, all that noise and all that buzz
is just elevator music. So enjoyyour journey, focus on your goal,
(01:00:59):
and ask in the quiet role thatit is progress. Because when it's your
time to shoot that shot, spitthat verse, or close that deal,
the only voice that matters is yours. The fire life
The following podcast is being brought toyou by the Defile Life podcast Network.
Welcome to Aftergate, powered by theDefile Life Network. Are you all Ready?
Aftergate is a podcast series highlighting Colgatealumni of color in their professional endeavors.
(00:23):
Aftergate Are You all Ready? Aftergateis hosted by Alvin Glimp aka al
and Herman Dubois aka A Jerry Already. We are doing Aftergate because Colgate University
has produced innovators who have changed theworld every day, Yet many alumni of
color and the mainstream Colgate community areunaware of the amazing accomplishments of alums of
(00:45):
color? Are you all ready?Welcome? Welcome, Welcome. This is
Aftergate and I am Alvin aka Alyour Boy, and I am a co
host of this weekly podcast totally focusedon interviewing alumni color from Kobe University.
(01:11):
And we are in season four,creeping up on nine d episodes. So
it has been an amazing journey,so it does always. I'm joined by
my co host Raw or Die fromthe famous or infamous summer of nineteen eighty
(01:34):
seven, mister Headmind Dubois aka Jerry. What's up, homie? How you
doing that? What's good Juneteenth.It's June tenth. Happy June teenth,
Happy every Happy Father's Day. HappyFather's Day. Everybody, by the way,
keep a keep an eye out.There should be something in the mailbox
(01:55):
coming to you when you'll know whenyou know. Okay, okay, and
and and we'll talk about that.But yeah, man, salute, salute
to surviving. I don't know ifyou knew, a lot of people didn't
realize unless you were down here thatyou know. Miami was a state of
emergency for about four days with torrentialtorrential downpar and thunderstorms. And it's all
(02:16):
funny because when you live out herelike you're used to it, right,
but when you know, it comesunexpectedly, and you got people kayaking down
this Game Boulevard, and you gotpeople getting rescued out of their homes because
the water is intruding knee hin.It's the second of four days of this.
(02:37):
They got bad, It got itgot bad. It got bad.
Uh, you know, they shutdown operations for a little bit. But
Miami is Miami. So part ofliving in paradise, part of living in
paradise. But great to hear yourvoice. And again a reminder as we
do these shows. It is ablessing always to do every each and every
(02:58):
one, So I get your blessing. You're okay to invite into the Aftergate
studios this week's guest. As thechurch says, Amen, Deacon Ale,
please invite the guests to the altar. Well, my good people, congregation,
Cogate listeners, after Gate family,it is my honor to have in
(03:23):
our studio this week the one,the Only Miss Jacqueline King Howell, Plastic
nineteen ninety seven. Welcome to Aftergate, My sister, Hi guys, Hi,
(03:58):
Hi Jerry. How are you guysdoing doing okay? All right?
Good to have you here. Butwe always start the show with a spin
on putting the yes in context withus and with Kogiate because there are many
(04:19):
guests that we may meet for thefirst time on the podcast literally know very
little about them. Sometimes they weredecades before, decades after. Sometimes they
might have even been there when wewere there. We just don't really they
didn't have a whole lot of knowledge. Then there's times where we had that
overlap and there were people that forsome point or perspective had engagement we know
(04:45):
we've met before the podcast, andso I like how to lead with what's
your first recollection, Jackie? BecauseI got mine. My first memory of
Jackie goes back to a reunion,one of Kogate's reunion. I believe I'm
(05:05):
gonna put it at two thousand andsixteen, but maybe it was twenty eleven
of twenty eleven. Okay, sotwenty eleven and one of a good friends,
a partner, Kadata and I hadknown each other from Atlanta and so
(05:27):
we had already connected. But thenwhen we get up to reunion, I
get introduced to Madam Jackie and yold. You know, it's easy to see,
particularly as me and Jerry have vibedover the years consistently throughout. It
was easy to see y'all's energy andhow close y'all were, and in many
(05:48):
ways this yin and yang thing interms of our personalities, Like it was
interesting to peat that as well,because me and him also have a yin
and yang thing, Like we've beendoing this for a minute, and so
that's my memory. What's your memory, mister Dubois. I think it was
that same reunion and the engagement ofthe interaction. I was trying to find
(06:11):
them and if I had really donemy proper due diligence, I would have
had them at the backdrop photo fortonight's special guests, but I have photos
almost all kicking NHRC lounge at thatreunion, and you know, it was
more of And I do this thingin professional development with teachers and with educators
that the most impactful time you havewith your students is your informal time.
(06:36):
You already got your curriculum and yougot your set lesson plan and the formal
photocol of the day. But whenyou're in the hallway, when you're in
the cafeteria, when you just hangin with your kid, that's the time
to really as valuable time for youto engage. And that was what I
was impressed upon by Jackie because Iwould see her in the formal sessions,
(06:56):
but then when we actually got tohang out as a collective. Mm hm,
it echoes what you referenced. Yousaw the dynamic, you saw the
chemistry amongst them, and although wewere not because we were not on campus
at the same time, but tohave a flow in that engagement as if
we were, because our relatability tocodate, our relatability to the experiences and
(07:18):
the student of color and and andjust the cultural I think component of of
of understanding what that journey was allowedfor it to seem as though we went
to school together, right and thennot that far apart, but we know
some of the same people. There'ssome overline, there's some overlap. We
have mutual friends and other acquaintances.So that's kind of dope. That's kind
(07:40):
of dope, but dipping ghosts eversince. So it's like, come on,
now, we got to get thefour one one on what's going down
in the life of That's that's whattonight. That's why I'm excited. I
want to be in the know becauseas happened since two and I'm gonna be
a hundred. I'm an keep ita hunted like this is a long overdue
(08:03):
interview, right, long overdue conversationfor lots of reasons, but you won't
necessarily have to get into them allright now. But I think very highly
of Jackie and what she's done,what she's accomplished, both within the Cogate
lens and outside the Cogate lens.And I know we're going to talk about
(08:24):
it later and we're going to getto all that amazing stuff. But We've
said consistently that Kogate has produced greatness, and I'm looking forward to her sharing
her story because in my book,this is one of those stories of greatness
that we need to give their flowersto in real time. So I'm excited
(08:45):
to hear about it. So let'sgive I appreciate that. I appreciate that,
and I claim it. I'll takeit off. So let's let's let's
let's start it on right. Sofirst, where are you from? Well,
originally Forbados. I don't know ifyou guys knew that I'm from.
Yeah, I'm from Barbados. Ilived there until I was a young girl.
(09:09):
And then you know, West Indianparents, you don't have a say.
They drag you to America. Iseither America to New York City or
to London. That's where you go. And came up and I went to
dumped me right in the middle ofBrooklyn bedside do or die? Okay,
okay, tradition from when I firstcame there. The first time I came
(09:35):
to America eleven eleven, So imaginethat young, very vulnerable, precisely,
and this is the time when youknow people were you know, you had
to be exported to the train stationor someone was taking your sneaks. No,
no, tell people, because there'sa lot of people who are listening
who might not appreciate what Brooklyn islike then because they understand in Brooklyn now.
(10:01):
And I would love for you,for someone who lived there, give
a little insight on what Brooklyn islike as a teenager as you're getting ready
to come into Kogate. So let'sget real specific. Let's get real specific.
Your class in ninety seven. Yougraduated class high school ninety three,
Yes, so that puts you ataround seventeen eighteen years. But you get
(10:24):
there ready eleven? Yeah, takeus from eleven. Oh god, highlights.
Highlights. That means you don't havea lot of time before Colgate.
I did at all. And whenI first got there, I remember well,
when it was time to go intohigh school. I remember where I
lived. They wanted me to goto Bushwick High that was the old high
(10:46):
school. Yeah, and my motherwas like, hell, no, that's
not happening. You're gonna go staywith your aunt and we're gonna and I
meant to boys and girls, okay, And Colgate was filled with students from
boys and girls. It was likecrew of us. Yeah, and I
just remember being thankful going to boysand Girls because our guidance counselor was West
(11:07):
Indian. He understood just the wholeWest Indian structure. So you couldn't wear
long ear rings, you can haveyour arm chowing, you can wear short
you can do none of that stuff. And he was all about us excelling
and being the tops and school.I don't know if you guys ever heard
of mister mckens, our principal.He was the what was that guy from
(11:31):
Lean On Me? Joe Clark?Yeah, so he was the Joe Clark
of Bedside and Joe Clark actually cameto our school and had a meeting with
mister mckens. And we would literallyleave school and have the security guards take
us to the train station because we'rea waiting to take your stuff. Yeah.
So I have family. I grewup. I was born on Kingston,
(11:52):
but I didn't feel that. That'sthe crazy part, Like I never
out of every place that I've lived, I felt the safe in New York
City. I don't know if youknow. We were in a West Indian
community, really lived and my momwas like hell strict and we were just
involved in so many different activities,and there was no going out. There
(12:15):
was no you went to school,you came home unless you had AFSSP activities.
I think I probably went to themovies like twice or three times like
that with friends. Like it wasjust a whole Even though I knew all
that stuff was happening, I wasn'ta part of it, right, you
know what I'm saying. Yeah,we're pretty sheltered, and boys and girls
was just doing really we were justdoing really great for you know, an
(12:39):
inner city public school, and everyonewas getting good grades and going to great
schools. And you know, Iremember we had to do the pre essats
and yeah, and I remember Icame to school one day and there was
this banner in the hallway with myname, and I'm like, oh crap,
what's going on? And I thinkI got like the highest score in
(13:01):
English for the state of New York. And I was like, what what's
happening? So but to me,it wasn't like, yeah, my mom
was like, you don't have youhaven't got no job, you have,
what else are you going to do? You got to get good grades,
that's it. So that was justthe kind of environment I grew up in.
You know. So are you hearingabout Colgate due to the students of
(13:24):
wine? Yeah? What attracted youthere? Do you know Juve and Cas?
Yes, So she went to Boysand Girls and literally she was one
of her and Alita Ortiz. I'msure you guys know, I'm assuming you
know Alita And they went to Colgateand I didn't go for like, uh,
(13:50):
you know, I'm like, Idon't know if I want to go
there. I applied to Carnell,I applied to NYU, and I applied
to BE and I got into Band n Y you but they just weren't
given any money. We're gonna behonest, you know. And Colgate was
like, you got the grades,we'll give you the money, come on
through. So I went. Thatwas my main reason I didn't want to
(14:11):
go to Colgate. Was just toofar and too isolated. But I'm glad
that I did. Were you partof the summer program? Oh yeah,
oh yeah? Oh yeah. Sowhat's that like that passage? What's us?
That is actually a great, greatway of references that is going to
(14:33):
be that's gonna be the affiliate us. Yes, it really was. Lee
was our well where the people callback then who were like in charge of
together? Yes, yeah, hewas. He was. He was our
person and you know you had theWest Indian crew pretty much. We used
(14:56):
to like stick together and have ourparties and then you have some football players
that was sometimes you know, geton us, but we were pretty cohesive.
It was like it was one ofthe best times ever for me.
It was you know, what wasit called aims or whatever? Where the
(15:18):
East. We always find it interestingto hear the different locations that they move
o us somewhere around for different reasons. So where were you guys? House?
Where were you guys? We gotinto so much trouble I think ever
since then they everyone everybody got tohave these people on campus because we live
on campus. We had as amatter of fact, you know, the
(15:39):
unofficial word is that our summer putus as an operation at risk because we
were a bit of a liability thatsummer. Well, they did change the
name of the program from scholars programthe branded Yeah that was intentional, that
show. So you have a reallygood summer. What's transition like when you
(16:03):
come on to your first year thatthat first semester, what's your transition academically?
Socially. What do you remember aboutthat time? I think O U
wes was we didn't realize how importantit was until we came in that first
day of freshman year, because wefelt everything was familiar. So we already
had friends, we knew some ofthe teachers. We were, yeah,
(16:27):
we knew the campus. We allstayed in HRC, you know, that
was the place where we all weall went. I had a new roommate,
Tanisha Bailey, who I love tothis day. She's we don't stay
in contact as we should, butshe's a pretty awesome, awesome lady.
And so I had a really goodroommate. And then all my friends were
(16:51):
there, Chelsea and Karen and Tandyand Skia and Nasal and both Caadadas and
you know, so I don't know, I just fund that freshman year was
was good. It was a lotof you know, partying more than we
should, a lot of d Uand and just really the lay of the
(17:11):
land. That's the extended rights andpassage process. Freshman year does it you
have boot camp in this summer,You have boot camp in this summer.
And then it was like, allright, go get them boys and girls,
go get them survive. Yeah,yeah, yeah, yeah, Well
did you find the transition from anacademic perspective, uh, one that was
(17:37):
easy for you? Or you know, coming out of boys and girls,
you said you had good grades,you scored well on state exam standards,
sest. But when it came downto the courses and you know, kind
of navigating that first year collegiate experience, how was that for you. I
can't remember if it was my freshmanor sophomore year because it's been so long,
(17:59):
but I think I did well.I was on a on a roll.
Okay, maybe like once or twice. And then after that my junior
year, we went to a studyabroad. It it was over that's a
whole nother story, but it wasa rap place. It was like,
oh part of time. But yeah, I think I don't remember having like
a huge difficult time. Maybe withcalculus that was kick him off butt,
(18:22):
but otherwise, Yeah, I don'tknow if I took college as seriously as
I should have. I can't believeI'm saying that, but I'm like,
as long as I'm getting a Bor you know that A comes along,
that's cute. But yeah, Idon't know what I majored in well,
(18:44):
I did sociology and so in andhe studies and then I'm minored in drama
and and I can't remember the otherthing. Sorry, that's another rite of
passage, isn't it? Discussion?Really understand that. But what extracurriculous?
(19:11):
What were you involved in? Ohgod, double a Essay, CSA Sojourners.
There was a modern dance troupe oncampus that I joined. I was
heavy in Bremer Theater. Did alot we did here which had a huge
I don't know if you guys everheard about that performance that had a huge
(19:32):
attendance. The three nights we weresold out because there was nudity involved,
so it was sold out every singlenight. It was ridiculous, Like really,
but yeah, I was heavily involvedin the theater department there, and
you know, double A Essay,CSA so Journers. I'm trying to think.
(19:56):
I know, we did some stuff. We did, like you know,
the Latin dances, and we wouldgo over to La Casa and go
to meetings there because I think itwas a women's group that we were all
in. So yeah, a littlebusy actor engaged, You were engaged,
You were engaged. I like thatbetter. Yes, I was engaged.
We'll run with that women's group I'mtrying. Is that sort that I've heard
(20:19):
a little about, but not Yes, I think that was it. Yeah,
yeah, yeah, but I don'tthink it was called I think there
was another name for it, andthen it became Sisters of the Roundtable.
Gotcha? Gotcha? You said yousaid you you lived in the HRC.
Were you there all four years?Or did you move around? My junior
(20:42):
year, T and I moved intotown, which was not the best decision
because it was so hard to getup to go to class, especially during
the winter. You know, I'msure you guys now. I was like,
really, I don't want to goto class, it's cold. I
just want to, like, tellin my apartment did you walk to cam
I didn't have a car. Ididn't have a choice. Maybe had a
(21:03):
horse in the back. No,poor black girl. What made you move
into town? Then? I justwanted to get off campus. You know,
I feel like I'm grown, I'ma junior. I gotta get off
campus. There's all these rites ofpassages that you did a calgate, and
getting off of campus was one ofyou know what I'm saying, and because
(21:26):
I had spent two years in aJC and I had a really bad experience
at a CHRC. This is whenthey started integrated in a JC, and
I just didn't have a great experiencewith one roommates, one sweet mate.
So I'm just like, yeah,time to get off campus. And then
(21:47):
I was only India apartment for onesemester because then the next semester we were
in Europe. We did the PeaceStudies study abroad and we were supposed to
be there for the school semester,but we all didn't come back until August
until it was to go back toschool. Nice. You take advantage of
the summer and you chill any anytakeaways, any memories from the study of
(22:10):
broad trip. It was the besttime of my life. I wish I
could do it all over again.We had We went to eleven countries.
Yeah, we went to eleven countries. And my family because again West Indian
and you're in America UK, somy aunt and uncle were in London.
So on weekends sometimes we would justgo out to London and stay with them
(22:30):
and go to party. We madefriends, We just had a blast.
We went to France, we wentto Germany, we went to Belgium,
we went to Ireland. We justit was just the best peace studies and
they were like, pee, letme tell you guys a little stird.
(22:56):
You don't mind. So the peacestudies, you know how you guys completely
messed up a us for everyone.Yeah, well we messed up the peace
studies group for everyone. No onewas allowed to live on the campus at
the school we were extant with everyoneknow how to live with a whole family
because the black girls, we didn'tknow how to act. So we met
these guys at a club and weknew, you know, the cousin.
(23:22):
We met them through our professor andwe were all hanging out and we forgot
that we had to go to Oxfordfor some kind of meeting the next morning.
So it's like seven o'clock in themorning. My girls are gonna kill
me for talking about this, andwe're like dying. We've been up all
night, we're still sleeping. Wecome straggling into the hotel, just wanted
to sleep, and the professors they'relike, oh, we wish everyone was
(23:42):
like you girls, Look at yougirls. You girls are on time,
You're up, let's go. We'relike, oh, my god, we
just want to die, you know, but you're just all hungover and you're
like exhausted, and he's thinking,we're on time, and we're like,
no, sir, we're now gettingin. But okay, let's let's go.
Let's let's go do this Oxford Oxfordthing. Because when you're young,
(24:03):
you know, you figure it out. Yeah, but it was. It
was a good time. Nice,very very nice, very nice. So
let's go. When you look atyour four years on campus, what are
some of your highlights, some ofyour accomplishments, things you're really proud of
academically, socially, personally, whatare some of those highlights for you?
(24:25):
My friendships that were friends to thisday, just you know, getting outside
of my comfort zone and going tothis campus. And I think for me
too, the big thing is whenI graduated, I walked off the stage
and literally handed my mom my mydiploma. And that was a big thing
(24:48):
for me because my mom had literallyjust she had just beaten cancer. So
for me to be able to likego like, look what I did,
you know what I'm saying, andthen literally like five years later after that,
I lost her. So just havingthat moment to be like look Brown,
I did this, and she wasso proud. She was bragging to
everyone. One of her her boss, was actually a trustee at Calgate,
(25:12):
so that that didn't hurt. So, I don't know, And I think
also with the study abroad trip,being able to convince the school to like
this is a good experience for youknow, the people of color on campus,
because it wasn't I don't know ifwe were even on their radar.
(25:34):
I was just going to go througha study abroad group with Syracuse and they
were like no, no, no, no, keep it here and do
you have anyone else that you wouldlike to join? So being able to
make sure my girls were able togo on that was like a great experience
and started I started pledging AKA atColgate. So I just feel like I
(25:56):
always say, sometimes I wonder ifI didn't go to college, if I
would have started on my acting careerearlier. But I feel like if I
am where I am as a creativeperson, as a writer and a director,
just a filmmaker in general, Alot of it comes from my experience
having gone to Colvid. Yeah,yeah, I really do. I really
(26:17):
do think that right to pass tolife mm hmmm, yeah, which is
in many ways the lessons we learnedlater that some of the experiences good and
mad at Coogate only gave us aplatform to be resilient, to be created,
to figure things out, to survive, to succeed, and to develop
(26:38):
skills along the way that become applicablelater in life. Agreed, agreed nicely
said, So we'll use that asa nice place to put a little pause
and we show some love to oursponsor, take a pause for the cause.
We'll be back for part two ofthis conversation with Jackie King Howell,
(26:59):
class nineteen ninety seven. So thisepisode is sponsored by Hope Murals. Hope
Murals is a nonprofit that provides adolescentyouth with an interactive experience of creative expression
via an urban arts platform that stimulatesboth mental and physical development. Please visit
(27:21):
that website at www dot murals dotorg to learn more and find ways you
can support the work they do.Welcome back. This is part two of
the conversation with Jaqueline King Howell akaJackie, class of nineteen ninety seven and
(27:41):
looking forward to hearing what her lifehas been like after Gate. Before we
do that, let's make sure weshow some love to our sponsor, Hope
Murals. Make sure you check outHope Murals at Hopemuros dot org. Check
out their social media at Hope Muralsand just find out more than they're doing
to expose our youth to urban artto affect their development. Show them some
(28:02):
love. We also are going toshow some love to our network, the
fire Life Network. Their website isgod tofirelife dot com. A lot of
interesting, empowering written content on thatsite. They have a podcast hub.
You can find podcasts like Aftergate onthefirelifepods dot com. Show them some love
and always remember were on all ofyour major favorite streaming services, so that's
(28:26):
Apple podsspreak us, Spotify, ourHeart, all of them be there.
So when you listen to us,make sure you like us subscribe so that
you'll get an alert when it istime for us to drop the next episode.
Now, let's jump back into thesecond half of this conversation with Jackie
looking forward to hearing what you havedone since Colgate's graduation. Before they do
(28:51):
that, I would like to hearyour thoughts on a topic that really has
something that was brought to my attentionfairly recently, because I will unaware,
so would love to hear your perspective. We are in such a polarized time
politically that there are people who areintentionally, passionately working to really, in
(29:17):
my opinion, take us backwards,and so I have heard of efforts Project
twenty twenty five. I am wellaware of topics like women's reproductive rights,
and like how this issue is becomingsuch a major issue throughout the country in
(29:38):
so many races. We'd love tohear your thoughts on kind of where we
are, particularly as we are headedinto the last four or five months of
this political season, and just kindof some of the major topics and major
efforts that are out there. Justlove to hear your thoughts of where we
are because our value of perspective.I will try to keep this as PC
(30:06):
it's possible. In my household,we're very liberal. We are registered as
independents, but we tend to leanleft. And I think for me,
I always tell people I am black, i am a female, and I'm
an immigrant. So there's so manydifferent issues that I feel impact me,
(30:30):
impact the people I love, impactmy community, and it's pissing me off
to see I think I expect nothingless from the Trumps of this world.
I think what irritates me is thatI feel like if the Dems are too
silent, call a spade a spade, the Scotus is screaming corruption. There
(30:56):
are people who are kissing up toTrump because they want that our dynamic,
not because they believe I call alot of people phil Christians, you know,
or ala carte Christians. They liketo pick and choose what they feel
fits their argument, fits their narrative. And for me, it's very frustrating
because I'm like, what does ittake for us to get up and fight
(31:19):
back? Having done the Peace Studiestour, we were there dealing with you
know, we met with a lotof Holocaust survivors. We learned about World
War Two and the Nazis, andwhat struck me was how quiet everyone was
(31:41):
until things got so bad. Youcan't be quiet anymore. And I feel
like we're seeing that here. Itreally pisses me off because my daughter,
after very a lot of expensive trieswith IVF, I was given this gift
and my child is everything to me. So to hear that there are a
(32:01):
group of people who are literally,you know, talking about IVF as it
relates to their version of the Bible, right, I love. These people
don't even know the Abrahamic version ofthe Bible, and we're not even going
to get into that. They knowthe Good King James Chauvinistic version. So
they're talking about IVF, they're talkingabout abortion pills, they're talking about abortion.
(32:22):
They don't care about that twelve yearold who was raped and then had
to like go God knows where totake care of a situation that she should
never have been in. And itdoesn't matter if you've been for me,
And I'll say this, I am. I call myself a survivor. I've
been sexually assaulted. I've been raped, and I talk about it. I
(32:45):
refuse to let it shame me.And as someone who's been down that road,
and as someone who's the you know, I have a young girl,
a little girl, it pisses meoff that there are these men they have
a right to come in and determinewhat the hell I do with my body
like it pisses me off. SoI don't care if it's because I've been
(33:08):
raped. I don't care if it'sbecause I'm having an EP topic pregnancy,
or it's a life or death situation. It's my body. I shouldn't have
to give a reason as to whyI decide that I do not want to
bring life into this world at thistime or at all. And my husband
always says, if more men spokeup, you would see the conversation be
(33:31):
different, and I agree with that. But I also think that we have
to stop lending these people who workfor us. There are are employees make
rules for us, like, tome, that's such crap, and I
just don't understand, and I getso tongue tied sometimes because I'm so curious.
I just don't understand why they thinkit's okay to come and tell a
(33:53):
woman what she can or can't dowith her body. And it's so,
it's so it's filled with her pocracybecause you only care about the baby,
and as soon as that baby's bornon your own. I don't want to
give you any kind of good education. I don't want to give you any
kind of good health care. Ifyou're in welfare, I think you're the
lowest of the low. I don'twant to give you any good housing.
(34:14):
I don't want to do anything tohelp sustain this life that I made you
have, because it's about control.I just won't to be able to tell
you what to do with your body, and not because I believe in it,
but because my very religious right istelling me, my base is telling
me that this is what I needto care about. So I don't really
care because I have enough money.You know, these guys, they have
(34:35):
enough money that if their daughter needsto get it done, they're going to
get it done. There was thisrepresentative I cannot remember I call him scum
his name, but the reporter wassaying to him, your girlfriend had an
abortion and you paid for it,so why is it okay for her?
But now you're trying to make surethat other women can't have it, so
they don't care. This whole idea. If you cared about life, if
(34:59):
you truly were religious, and youtruly were governed by the word of God,
you will not be doing capital punishment. You would not be tweening immigrants
the way you are. You wouldmake sure that everything is in place after
women have children. I'm fortunate thatI can do what needs to be done
for you know, myself, asa mother and from my daughter. Not
everyone has that. They don't havethe agency, they don't have the voice,
(35:22):
and I can tell you from havingthat kid. It is not cheap.
Just giving birth is not cheap.So it just And there's so many
people I know who are not votingbecause they're rightfully upset about Gaza, and
I totally get it. And Isaid to them, as bad as you
(35:43):
think the Biden administration is doing,if Trump gets in, he will,
in my opinion, purportedly allegedly,I'm not trying to get sued, he
will do everything he can to maybeflatten that country. I do not trust
that he would do anything to helpthose people. So as bad as you
might think it is with Biden,you have no idea how horrific it can
(36:05):
get with Trump. And you cannotun ring a bell. You cannot on
ring a bell. So you graduateninety seven, did you have a plan,
did you have a visional moment?What's next? And walk us through
from from that point exiting Kogate intoyour life over time, behis of those
perersional the professional will just give ussort of memory late. So you guys
(36:30):
want the real real or the cutecute story, the real real. We
always want the real. I gotinto Sarah Lawrence. They had a program
with I think it's called RATA inthe UK, and I got into that
program after after after Coke, Ihad to go to London, and I
(36:52):
think at that time Jolani had reallyhelped me prepare for it and and I
went out there and it was great, but then I just can't afford a
tuition. That's one of my veryfew regrets in my life is that I
didn't get to do that program.And believe it or not, I didn't
have a plan beyond that because Ijust knew I was going to go to
school and start auditioning, doing allthe things. And I took a job
(37:16):
at a kiosk. I had movedto Michigan with my then boyfriend now husband,
and I took a job at akiosk in a mall where I did
engrave in on jewelry because I gottamake money. And I'm just like I,
(37:36):
you know, it was like doI want to get into acting?
Do I want to whatever? Whatever? And then I'm like, yeah,
no, I'm too educated, toosmart for this crap. So I moved
back to New York and I workedat Ernst and Young as a junior analyst.
And I and I'm not going totell this part, but I've kind
of weaseled my way into Vibe Magazineto a little fib and I started in
(38:00):
turning a Vibe and someone quit andI applied for the job and I got
the job, and I moved overto Vibe Magazine. And that was cool
for what you do there. Iworked in circulation and I was constantly trying
(38:20):
to get into events. So onthe there were two levels too Vibe.
On on the lower level it wasall editorial and that kind of stuff,
and then on the second flour wasbusiness. So you had events, market
in, promotion, circulation, allthat and circulation it publishing is fun because
you get to like contests and so, you you know, running back and
forth between like bad boy, sointerested saying that now but that boy and
(38:45):
MTV and other places. And itwas interesting. It was trial by fire.
It was you know, it wasthe good, the bad, and
the ugly. And I left,and I think her name is Susanne or
Susanna de la Rosa went to Colgateas well. This is how Colgate has
(39:05):
been such a part of my life. They were looking for people to work
the VMAs and she one of theguys that worked at five knew her and
introduced me, and I was like, oh, Callgate Colgate, and I
got I did that wor at theVMA's and then I got a job.
Her name I cannot remember her name. She also went to Colgate, so
(39:28):
all my job to see Colgate.She was working at Madison Square Garden and
I got a job there in promotionsworking for it was called Radio City Entertainment
because it was Madison Square Garden andRadio City Music Hall. So like,
if you would, I would likehelp out creating like the posters and doing
all the different events. So ifyou anytime you walk by Radio City Music
(39:52):
called me. Saw the posters forthe rock at some of my handiwork,
And you know, that was afun job. And then I was like,
I want to make more money.So I just stayed with marketing promotions
and just started working for different marketingpromotions companies for a while. And my
(40:15):
last job was at Story and Igot laid off, but then it wanted
to bring me back on as aconsultant and I'm like, you know what,
this is the perfect time to getinto acting. And I remember I
knew nothing about acting, and Iheard that they were looking there were casting
for a Jim Carrey movie called ILove You Philip Mars in Miami and I
(40:37):
flew out there and all I haveis a snapshot. I didn't know what
a headshot was. I didn't knowwhat a resume was. I did nothing
right. I had a snapshot,and I'm like, here you go,
go with God. And I wentin and I did the audition with Telsey,
which is a big casting agency inNew York City, and that went
well. Then I did another auditionwith Bernard himself, who is the head
(41:01):
of the cast and the agency,and then I auditioned for Glenn Fakara and
John Breckwall who are the directors.And I was like, I wrote in
my book, I got it.I'm claiming it. This is my bro.
And then I got a call.I was like, yeah, we're
going out of the direction and I'mlike no, I'm a child of God
and I claimed this. So Idon't know who told you a whole,
(41:22):
but this is for me. AndI think like two days later they called
me back and they're like, thedirectors decided they want you. And I
flew out back to Miami and itwas you know, first time, you're
like starstruck because you have your owntrailer and there's somebody walking you to set
and I remember being in the hereand makeup trailer and the lady's like,
(41:44):
oh, someone that has another scene. I need to take care of them.
Do you might just sitting here tolike I'm like sure, So I'm
sitting there and this hand true story, was like, Hi, I'm Jim,
and I'm like, uh yeah,you know Jim Carrey, I know
you are. And I was like, Jacqueline, did it up? Been
doing the scene and he was solovely. We had a very small scene
(42:06):
that ended up on the cutting roomfloor. If you watch the movie,
you see my hand handed him achat and he brought me back to the
director's chair with John and Glenn andwas like, let's watch the playback and
he was like that was so good, did so amazing, great job.
So I was like floating on air. The directors were great. They even
sent me a card after and Iremember being until like, that's not the
(42:28):
norm. I got my stag eligibilitycard, which some that's one of the
hardest union cards to get, andI got it with I was eligible with
my first job, and I justknew that was it. I'm in this
movie. N Jim Kerry, I'msag Aligebra and then I have worked for
I didn't getting no big deals forlike a decade because that's the nature of
(42:50):
this business, you know. Soyou're doing a lot of which is probably
good because I was still green.So I'm doing student films. I'm doing
off off Broadway. I'm taking theclasses so I can like fine tune my
my my my skill and just doingall the things that I need to do.
You know, you'll get a littlecommercial hair or you'll get like a
(43:12):
little featured role here. And Iwas just getting so frustrated with the process
and no no by this not youknow, I was also dealing which I
was struggling with my mom having passed, and I'm just like this this this
in for me. I can't I'mover at dot com. And that's when
(43:36):
I started writing. And a friendof mine, brilliant director at La Tie,
he was like, why don't youjust turned this into a script and
just just just try and see whathappens. And I did it. I
sent it to him. He likedit. He was like, you should
turn this into a film, andwe started fundraising. And that was an
(44:00):
other beasts because people will give moneyto a well known director, it's hard
to get them to give it tosomeone who's up and common, and Ti
directed I Love My Friends just cameon board and really helped me out with
this. It was a story basedon me finding out that my mom was
going to die, and I justremember getting frustrated because we're raising all this
(44:29):
money and then some people were justlike, yeah, so we decide we
don't want to do this anymore,so we want our money back. So
it was just a really ye peopleare just hello, shady, and I'm
just like, you know what,this is what I'm supposed to be doing.
I'll you know, I don't careif my last dollar. We're going
(44:50):
to make it happen. And weshot the film and I got a call.
I submitted to a bunch of themfestivals and ABFF, which was like
you know, north Star for me, and they loved it. And I
didn't get into the top ten,but I made the top twenty and from
that the film was shown on comcastsfor a while and then Gravitas like licensed
(45:16):
it for like Amazon and all theseother platforms, and for that being my
first film, for that to happen, I was like, that's it.
This is what I'm supposed to bedoing, you know, thank you affirmation,
yes, yes, And it wasjust, you know, I feel
like if I'm one of my mouth, I'm so sorry. But I love
(45:37):
my career. I love what Ido. It's stressful, it doesn't make
a whole lot of money yet,but I get I'm claiming it. But
from that, I just did WhitePicket Fence, which was received so well
at March's the African American Martin's reallyan African American film festival. And if
(45:58):
you've ever seen White Picket Fences,dark comedy, and someone from Sesame Street
site and somehow I ended up gettinghired to do segments of Sesame Street.
And if you saw this spill,there's literally it don't make sense, but
it literally didn't. I just Ijust finished my fifth segment for Sesame.
(46:22):
Been working with them since twenty seventeen, and my first segment with them,
I had just given birth like threeweeks prior, and I'm on set working
then I'm like, it is whatit is. Gotta do what you gotta
do. And so I worked withSesame a lot, and I just went
(46:45):
into a partnership with three hundred studios. I don't know if you're familiar with
them. They're Kevin Lyles. Ohyeah, yeah, his his company.
So I have a production deal withthem to shoot a romantic dramedy that'll be
shot in New York and in Barbadoes. And as you guys know, I
(47:06):
pitched to Colgate to do a documentaryon the first Black men at Colgate,
and they liked our pitch and wewon the job, and we did the
documentary for them called Men of Mark, that I am super proud of,
super proud of. One of myFor those who don't know, talk about
it please. It looks at thefirst black men at at Colgate, at
(47:32):
a white institution, and some ofthem were still enslaves, some of them
had been enslaves, some of themwere free men. And these were men
who went on to do some ofthe most incredible things you could imagine,
you name it, from being presidentsat Morehouse, which I always like to
(47:52):
say it pisses the warehouse people off, but their colors and the way their
letters are done, you can't haveCalgate. Shout out to doctor Samuel Watcher,
thank you, thank you. ButI also wanted to make sure be
highlighted just what those men have donewhere it has led students of color at
(48:15):
Calgate. And you two lovely gentlemenwere in it and and gave me your
time, and I'm eternally appreciative ofthat, and we we we're trying to
find a home for it PBS orHonest Collection, and I know they're also
utilizing it on the campus to teachthe students. So I'm just I'm just
(48:39):
really proud of that film and Ireally hope that it goes. I don't
even have to be attached to it. I just really want people to know
about these men and what they've doneand how important not just to us Colgate
alum and current students, but isI don't think they did to make the
(49:00):
fabric of America stronger and better.You know, there just really brilliant,
brilliant, brilliant men. So Iam hoping it takes wings and I leave
in two weeks to go to NewOrleans for the Essence Festival. My futuristic
thriller at the organization was selected forthe festival, so I have to do
(49:22):
a stage reading at the festival.So I've been just like busy finishing up
this last sme Street segment and preppingfor this stage, reading at Essence and
getting the final touches for the film. We're student in New York and Barbados,
so and trying to be a mamaand a wife and all the things
(49:43):
and all the things. You know. I'm sitting here, like Jerry,
were just very very mouth open andpressed, loving the journey. Who spent
h we spent like a year anda half trying to get a novel to
a TV series. I respect thejourney and really relate to the idea of
(50:07):
how difficult it is to get peopleto fund new people, right, and
just the newness of it all,And just again very proud of what you
accomplished so far and what you areaccomplishing now and then where you are headed,
because we are all just wishing greatnessto continue in all that you do.
(50:29):
So continue doing your thing, MissJackie. I'm trying. So that's
dope, that's dope, that's dope. Love to get your thoughts on,
sense of perspective, right, Soyou've had an amazing journey. If you
had the opportunity to whisper words ofadvice into Jackie as she's entering Kogate,
(50:52):
what would those words of advice be, and then also what would be the
words of advice you would give Jackieas she's graduating. M definitely, as
I'm entering, is just be inthe moment, stop wondering about what comes
after. And I think growing upin Barbados, because it's such a small,
(51:17):
amazing, beautiful country, but it'sso small that you have all these
dreams and you're just like, canthis little Caribbean girl naked? And you
know, and you constantly, you'reconstantly thinking about what's next, what's next,
what's next, and you're not inthe moment. So I think I
(51:37):
would definitely just say just enjoy thefriendships and the experiences and all those things.
And quite honestly, it will probablybe the same advice graduating because it's
something that I constantly have to remindmyself of now. I'm always you know,
sometimes my husband will say to me, He's like, look at all
(52:00):
you've accomplished in like such a shortspace of time. But I don't see
it because I have certain goals andI'm like, yeah, no, I'm
not there. I have an Academyaward to win, I have theater screens
to fill. You know I'm trying. My biggest fear is leaving the world
(52:23):
in a whisper. I always saythat I cannot leave this world in a
whisper, and I have to leavesomething for my daughter. I want her
to have options. I don't wanther to ever feel like she has to
go and do a job. Sheabsolutely hates to make money. I want
to make sure that she can,you know, be free and do whatever
(52:45):
she wants. So it's but thenthat takes me away from being in the
moment. Sometimes I'm always going inand coming out. I'm like, girl,
just take a breath, take abeat, and just look at where
you are. Like it's even withthe essence thing that's coming up, I'm
still very much like, Okay,I get this, I gotta get that,
(53:06):
and you gotta do this. AndI'm not even you know, like,
my husband got us tickets while we'rethere to see d Nice. I
said, de Nice. That's hisname, isn't it? The DJDJ.
I'm showing my age, Lord Jesus, still in my age, but yeah,
(53:28):
to see him and then ushers performingas well, and I can't even
think about that. I'm like,oh, that's cute, but I need
to make sure these visuals are done, and I got to see them.
I got to use music, andmy actors like do I want them sit
in or stand in? And justall the things and the business. The
business. It's constantly because it's likethis is it gotta be right. I
(53:53):
got my own business and I can'tafford to mess up like I have three
My first three shorts are on twoB. I got a deal through a
friend and a colleague of mine,and we didn't on anthology, so they're
on there and people don't look atyou know, to Be used to be
like to Be, but now they'vechanged their business models, so it's now
(54:16):
real contender. It actually had betterokay numbers than Disney Plus. I think
Paramount Plus like the numbers have beendoing amazingly well. And I have an
anthology of my films on too Be. I forget to tell congratulations, thank
you, But can you get totell people? Well, you're going to
tell people right now, because thatleads into this next question of things that
(54:37):
you want to plug and promote sothat we can get our listeners to support
the things that are important to ourguests. So first, let's start with
the three anthology that the films.What are those shorts that people should be
doing that? What should they?How can they find it? Because we
have to be watches. How shuldthey track you down? Everything's on my
(55:01):
website so it's Judy's Child LLC dotcom. So it has like the links
to everything, it has a synopsisand everything I'm doing, like my next
of parents is like any panels I'mspeaking on, So everything is on there.
I do want to but this hasnothing to do with it. Is
(55:22):
it? Okay? If I plugsomething that whatever is important to you,
here's your chance to plug. There'sthis company I saw today or yesterday on
TV. I think it's called moveIn Mafia, and it's uh started by
a black woman and she went toHoward and she helps bosh the kids that
(55:44):
got that got into college move in, gives them the essentials that they need,
She sets them up. It's sodope and she like literally and I
don't know this woman from a campaign, but I've already liked Jeff. We're
volunteering, hearent, but that's whatshe has a team and it's all moving
Mafia and they literally just help thesekids get acclimated to college because they have
(56:08):
no one else there to do itfor them, and I just thought it
was such a brilliant, brilliant,brilliant organization. And then there's another one
called Humble Design, and what theydo is for homeless people. They get
them apartments nice and they outfit themfor them. So this lady was like
(56:30):
Steven on the floor of her kidand they made sure she had a bed
and furniture. Well, I don'tknow if they get the apartments, I
know that they helped get them setup in the apartment, so furnitures they
furnished and everything. So I justthose two things just really touched Humble Design.
And the other one is Moving mmhmm, and I love that Move
(56:55):
in Mafia does that with HBCUs Now, listeners, make sure you show her
some love on her website, butalso check out Humble Designs as well as
Moving Mafia and be intentional. Letthem know that, Jackie Senya. If
you're a business looking to get yourbrand in front of a loyal, supportive,
(57:17):
successful market, you need to becomea sponsor of Aftergate. Our network
recognizes the opportunity to work with coGates, a lum of color, to
leverage the reach of the show toincrease awareness and profitability for your business.
Reach out to the Defile Life podcastnetwork and we will work with you throughout
the entire process. We have specialpackages to get you started. Contact us
(57:39):
at info at godfirelife dot com.Every week professionals of color, ranging from
politicians to educators, to judges,to entrepreneurs, to lawyers, corporate leaders,
and even retirees. Aftergate reaches anarray of successful BIPOCA listeners, contact
(58:00):
us to learn more about how wecan benefit you. Any last words before
we get out of here, Ijust I just love what you guys are
doing. I love that you guysare like just keeping us all plugged into
Colgate, letting us know what's goingon with alum. And you know,
(58:22):
you learn about folks that, asyou said, you went to school with,
or you've heard about, or youdon't even know. So just makes
me realize how because sometimes I'm like, eh, you know, yeah,
nice school, but I've moved on. But now talking to you guys makes
me realize just how important Colgate wasan ist of my life, which is
(58:45):
I think one of the things itoffers is ability to stay connected and a
couple of shows ago, one ofour guests talked about the value and being
connected and how that brings happiness anda certain thing to your life. And
so to your point, it isawesome that Aftergate just allows the ability to
(59:09):
stay connected and get even more connectedwith folks. So appreciate that. Appreciate
you. Thank you for honoring usby being on our show anytime. Thank
you guys, and we missed youreunion this past uh, this past couple
of weeks ago. It was special. It was special. We had some
some legends in the house. Wehave some legends in the house, those
(59:30):
shoulders that we still stand on today, and it was it was dope.
It was. It was one ofthe times it felt it was a proud
moment to be part of the individualsthat were in that room. We're proud
to see that their work and theirsacrifices decades later resonated in those that were
(59:51):
in the room. So yeah,it was. It was pretty special.
It looked amazing and I'm mad Imissed that. I'll try to be there
next year. This this has beenanother episode of Aftergate season four. Thank
you to our guests, thank youto our listeners. After Gate is always
powered by the fire Life Network,so make sure you check us out in
the future on all of your favoritepodcast streaming platforms. Many more dope episode
(01:00:15):
the follow Just remember that you needto do the best you can and all
the ways you can, for allof the people you can, for as
long as you can, and thatthe covidate of your day is not the
covidt of today, and it's certainlynot the codate of the future. Peace
family. You hear that, listencloser, that my friend is the definitely
(01:00:38):
side of focus. It drowns outall the useless noise that can clutter.
Not only nay sayers don't exist,haters, smaters, the peanut gallery.
Who's that When you're in your zone, all that noise and all that buzz
is just elevator music. So enjoyyour journey, focus on your goal,
(01:00:59):
and ask in the quiet role thatit is progress. Because when it's your
time to shoot that shot, spitthat verse, or close that deal,
the only voice that matters is yours. The fire life
Popular Podcasts
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com