art, film, and visual studies
this page is dedicated to my secondary concentration in Arts, Film, and Visual Studies (AFVS) at Harvard
through my secondary concentration, I am able to channel my creative and visual outlet
THE HARVARD UNDERGRADUATE FOREIGN POLICY INITIATIVE (HUFPI) CHANGEMAKER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Award Ceremony and Panel Discussion with Nymphia Wind
SEASON 16 WINNER OF RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE AND FIRST EAST-ASIAN WINNER
As a Co-President of the Harvard Undergraduate Foreign Policy Initiative (HUFPI), I was happy to announce that we selected Nymphia Wind, a Taiwanese American drag performer — the first contestant from East Asia to win “RuPaul’s Drag Race” in the show’s 16th season — as our inaugural HUFPI Changemaker of the Year Award Recipient. We chose Nymphia Wind for her dedication to advancing LGBTQ+ rights, advocating for Taiwanese culture, and engaging in cultural diplomacy. She exemplifies the powerful intersection of cultural advocacy and foreign policy, particularly in Taiwan’s complex geopolitical landscape.
Held on December 6, 2024, from 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM at Science Center Hall A, the panel featured myself, a representative from the Taiwanese Cultural Society, Nymphia Wind, and a Harvard LGBTQ+ Faculty member. The event was announced in the Harvard Gazette, and you can find the link here. The event was in partnership with the Office of BGLTQ Student Life, the Taiwanese Cultural Society, the Chinese Students Association, and the Harvard Korean Association.
Dec 2024
Ideated by: Jamaal (Jama) Willis, Co-President of the Harvard Undergraduate Foreign Policy Initiative
Special Thanks to the Harvard Tawainese Cultural Society, Harvard Office of BGLTQ Student Life, Harvard Radcliffe Chinese Students Association, and the Harvard Korean Club
Harvard Institute of Politics, Harvard Kennedy School
Our Narratives
Chained in a Suitcase: From Conversion Therapy to Decriminalizing Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws in the Anglo-Caribbean
Delivered a TEDx-style talk titled "Chained in a Suitcase: From Conversion Therapy to Decriminalizing Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws in the Anglo-Caribbean," sharing personal experiences and advocating for policy change through public service at the JFK Jr. Forum at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Dec 2024
Beyond Homophobia - The Counter Narrative of the Queer Caribbean
Panel Discussion with Lady Phyll Opuku-gymiah and jason jones
film screening of Judgement Day: People v. Jones and Dalton's Dream
The event, “Beyond Homophobia - The Counter Narrative of the Queer Caribbean,” was a panel and film screening that took place on October 10, 2024, at 7:30 pm in the TSAI Auditorium (CGIS South). The event aimed to highlight the ongoing efforts and progress in decriminalizing homosexuality across the Caribbean, showcasing how legal battles and constitutional reform reshaped LGBTQ+ rights in the region. The program included a panel discussion with Lady Phyll Opoku-Gyimah and Jason Jones, followed by the screening of two impactful films: Judgement: The People vs. Jones, which followed Jason Jones’ landmark legal battle against Trinidad and Tobago’s colonial-era anti-gay laws, and Dalton’s Dream, a documentary exploring the life of Dalton Harris, a Jamaican musician and X Factor UK winner, as he navigated fame and the challenges of being a queer figure from the Caribbean. This event was a collaborative effort with the Harvard Caribbean Club, the Black Arts Collective, the Dominican Students Association, and the Office of the Arts.
Lady Phyll is a prominent UK-based lesbian activist, co-founder of UK Black Pride, one of Europe’s largest events for queer, trans, and intersex people of color (QTIPOC), and former Executive Director of Kaleidoscope Trust, a human rights charity. Jason Jones is a Trinidadian LGBTQ+ rights activist who successfully challenged the colonial-era laws criminalizing homosexuality in his country.
Oct 2024
Ideated by: Jamaal (Jama) Willis
Special Thanks to Niara Botchwey
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Colonizah Inna Meh/ 我内心的殖民主义
self-ethnographic documentary
“Colonizah Inna Meh/ 我内心的殖民主义: Buggery in Jamaica” is intended to decolonize and decenter the narrative of colonial powers. My ongoing relationship with the legacies of colonization teaches me that perceptions are limiting and insufficient for accurately capturing the people who occupy those colonial spaces and define themselves. Building on the work of Caribbean Queer scholars and legal activists fighting against decriminalization of homosexuality, among others, who emphasize the “near-invisibility” of gay men in the Caribglobal sphere my work is here to shatter that invisible barrier and break the silence. Although my documentary focuses on my personal experience, this is just one instance of many Black gay Caribbean men who are trapped within homophobic families. I aim to film my perception of anti-LGBTQ+ or “Buggery” laws in Jamaica and how it has implicated the relationship I have between my identity, my nationhood, my family, and my religion. In a sense, this will be an auto-ethnography into my life. This documentary serves as a subsect to my creative thesis.
Dec 2023
Dircted by: Jamaal (Jama) Willis
Special Thanks to Takenoshin Yaza and Grace Bida
still, we rise... : Through the Shattering Lens of Slavery - A Piece Remembering the Legacy of Slavery in the Caribbean and the Implications on Harvard Caribbean Students
Photography
The Harvard Legacy of Slavery Report highlights a direct link to the Caribbean and the Caribbean slave trade. Many Harvard benefactors fueled the economic organization of Caribbean slavery and deprived countries of their natural resources – this is referred to as a factor endowment. As a counter to the natural resources drained from Caribbean nations through slavery, I want this piece to showcase the resilience and excellency of Caribbean students, at Harvard. Although generational trauma and pain have been caused by Harvard’s institution, Caribbean students like myself, have endured tumultuous upheavals to attend Harvard, despite it being the root of various cultural and historical inequities. The exhibition will focus on the legacy of Caribbean students at Harvard University who has been left out of the conversation between Harvard and their connection to slavery.
May 2023
Photographed by: Jamaal (Jama) Willis
WHAT WE MISS WHEN WE LOOK AT EVERYTHING, 2023
Photography
Trauma With jama
Podcast
Get ready to be dumped on? If you have unresolved trauma and think you're alone out there, take a listen to this podcast. "Trauma with Jama" is a podcast aimed to hear the stories of different people in hopes that you, the audience, can connect and heal with each guest on the podcast. Jama is not a licensed therapist but believes that everyone has a unique story that is worth telling. Each week, you'll hear from a new guest about specific trauma they've been through. This is "Trauma with Jama."
May 2023
Produced and Edited by: Jamaal (Jama) Willis
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The Crown and Throne: A Black Monarchy through Embrace of Black Hair
Photography
The collection is titled “Crown and Throne” because that is how I perceive black hair to be. The photographs serve as political commentary on the Crown Act (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act). I wanted this collection to remind people of how much work it takes to grow and cultivate hair, especially as a black person, given society’s Eurocentric and colonial standards of beauty. Additionally, I wanted it to be a love letter to people like myself, who have struggled with finding out how they wanted to present themselves — and by extension their hair to the world.
Dec 2022
Photographed by: Jamaal (Jama) Willis
in Boston
Photography
To youth and the next generation of students. The collection shows young people enjoying themselves in a world filled with chaos [post-COVID].
Oct 2022
Photographed by: Jamaal (Jama) Willis
Black Joy: Resistance Through Oppression
Documentary
A documentary made to showcase the power behind black joy and what exactly black joy is, in the context of academia. It takes place at Harvard University and focuses specifically on the lives of three black women: a first-year, a senior, and a graduate student. Our aim was to demonstrate the layers of black joy and the evolution it has over time.
May 2022
Directed by: Jamaal (Jama) Willis, Xavier Wright, and Alice Cheng
Chained in A Suitcase: 14 Years A Captive
Documentary
This film is an adaptation, inspired by my coming-out story. The main character Rustin struggles with being a black gay immigrant in a new country. After immigrating from Kingston, Jamaica, he finds himself now trying to assimilate into the American culture. However, due to his strict religious upbringing and high expectations from his parents, he feels constricted to the suitcase – the one he immigrated to the United States with. The suitcase is both a physical emblem of his trauma of being gay in one of the world’s most homophobic countries and a safe space from this new world where being black is over-politized and policed. In the end, he finally discovers himself and his suitcase becomes fully unzipped, and he will never be contained again.
May 2022
Directed by: Jamaal (Jama) Willis
Starring: Shea Britt, Kristen Hardy, Codi-Ann Reid, and Pierre Loius
Client Work
Photography
Aimee Howard
Lara Dada
Harvard Eleganza, Photoshoot 1
Department of State Headshots
Andrew de souza
Queer Prom
Harvard Eleganza, Photoshoot 2
@ 2024 JAMAAL (JAMA) WILLIS