Art & Activism 012 - @jalenblot

As a director, writer and friend, Jalen holds a mirror to the people that cross his path. He knows that people want to feel seen and heard authentically so he practices this in all aspects of his life. When it comes to seeing and hearing himself, he’s been on that journey for some time now - acknowledging the importance of mental health and supporting people in doing the same. Life experiences have taught him the value of learning yourself vulnerably and authentically and creating that space for all people to engage in that awareness. By no means does Jalen consider himself or the next person perfect, but by being a “mirror-holder”, he aspires to show people the God-like nature that they possess - both on set and in his daily walk.

Name: Jalen Blot ( @jalenblot )

Age: 26

Race/Ethnicity/Any Identifications that Define/Describe You: Black, Roots from Haiti

Hometown: Born in Queens, lived in Philly and moved to the Poconos when I was 9. Although, I’ve removed myself from making “home” a physical thing because to me homes are things that I create. 

Occupation: Director/Writer/Mirror Holder 

When did you start directing/writing and why? I've always been creative. Music was my foundation - played the clarinet, guitar, trumpet and piano. And sports was an extension of art where it was just poetry in motion and I’ve always been attracted to that lifestyle so much that I didn't apply for a job after college because I wanted to go into academics to be a mentor to youth and study the intersections between race and gender. After not having a job to lean on, I learned that I was struggling with depression so then I got a job in consulting in DC. Moved away from everything I knew, was going through a breakup, and trying to figure out my relationship with my father. Once I stopped busying myself, I tried to talk to people about being depressed and they would say “but you make t h i s much money” and I was like I'm still depressed. 

I struggled hard, “grateful to be here” hard and so I wrote about it in August 2016. People were thanking me and their gratitude was in that they were feeling the same thing and felt like they were alone or didn't want to talk about it publicly. I, to this day, talk to people about mental health and so from that day forward I committed myself to holding up mirrors because all people want is to be seen and heard authentically. From that point on, I was a writer, but no one reads so then I started making these cringey videos and you couldn't tell me anything because I was doing things that fed my curiosity and inner child. I was still up against this corporate job that was stealing my energy and time from committing to my art full-time. So, towards the end of 2016, God said move to L.A. and I was like no I don’t want to go to L.A. and now being here I realize my perception of L.A. was based on how people who aren't from here act and how they rep L.A. 

I didn’t want to move here so bad that I made a bet with God and I said if Moonlight wins at the Oscars move to LA. From December on, La La Land was winning everything and I thought, “this Black, gay film isn’t going to win because white Hollywood is not for that and history has shown us that they don’t value our stories, directors, writers, etc.” Then, in February, Moonlight won Best Picture and so that catapulted me to create more videos with more seriousness and figure out a way to move to L.A. At first, I was getting rejection after rejection, but something happened to me in August 2017 at the Black Film Festival in Philly. I took control and decided I'm gonna do this no matter what. I was awarded with being able to direct and keep my job and use the money from consulting to do what I love.  

When did you start using your IG to capture your writing/directing and why? I’m in the process of revamping it so people can understand what I do. I think my IG now is a collection of what I do in my life and on set, but I don't know that I curate it specifically for that because I don't know that I have a great relationship with social media. I think I’ve been underutilizing it and being in quarantine has revealed this to me.

What topics do you try to incorporate into your directing and writing?

The intersections between race and gender - that's what I'm exploring now. Generational curses, nostalgia, history, manhood from a different perspective...a lens that we don't see on tv. 

What does your process look like when you're writing or directing?

If someone is coming to me with something, that process is different - they typically have a vision in mind. My process is life - inspired by all of the things around me, all the things i wanted to experience that I never have. Curiosity requires responsibility and hella research - I wanna make sure I know what I’m talking about. Interviewing people and bringing people on to make sure there's representation and accuracy in reflecting communities I’m not a part of - just to make sure that all parties were heard and seen. My techniques are around content, metaphor and analogy and once I find 5-7 things I think, “what can I take from these to make my own, to reflect what people are experiencing?” A lot of it is subtle because I'm not going to feed it to you. After that, I figure out who can help bring that vision to life and it's not always about who’s the most talented because I’m big on who can bring a great vibe. I've learned that if I bring someone on to do something, then I have to trust the reason why I brought them on because I know how much of a team sport filmmaking is. 

I’m very much an actor’s director - performance matters to me and because I'm a mirror holder  a lot of my directing is one-on-one. At the end of the day, people are putting their emotions on Front Street and I need to honor that. 

What are your feelings about the recent murders at the hands of the police? None o f this feels recent to me, it feels like a weight that I carry daily. I don't know that the public lynchings are new and some people feel like they are because for the first time they don’t have the option to only focus on themselves. For me, it's always going to be frustrating...it’s exhausting and heartbreaking and, for someone that struggles with mental health, it's very difficult to see that. I had a moment where I wondered, “does my black life matter?” And it's not that I don't believe that it does, but the country treats us like we don't and there are several nights where I cried myself to sleep because I thought, “this could be me, my cousin, someone I know.” It's hard for me to be creative, to focus, to be happy. I have the fear that I could be next or someone I know could be next and this isn't something that we should be living through. There's been advancement and some of this is for show. And I'm fearful that no real change will happen, but I'm hopeful that it will. 

These murders are pushing me to better reflect the times and better empower my people. Making me dig deeper about  the stories I want to tell...from one extreme to another, subtleties we don't realize that add up like policing how we dress or wear our hair. I feel a spectrum of emotions...I'm always gonna feel unsafe, I'm always gonna be looking over my shoulder, but there's hope. And I hope that the proper change comes to be, but right now I don't know that that's the present that I live in.

What was life like for you growing up ? I don’t have a vivid memory of  my childhood and a lot of that is because of how I deal with trauma - I suppress and forget. My father was in and out of my life and I don't know that I had the language or tools to deal with that. The facts of my childhood are that I grew up in a single parent household. My mom worked 12 hour shifts. I’ve only been surrounded by women for as long as I can remember. I was always a giver, I don’t know if I would describe myself as naive, but I was very trusting of people. I was inspired by tv dads of the ‘90’s (because I didn't have one to look up to) and to athletes. I loved Pokemon and Spongebob which helped me to escape my reality. Moving from Queens to the Poconos, there weren't people that looked like me or that came from my background. I experienced a lot of racism, but because of my gifts I was able to increase my value to people. So, whether it was me being a scholar or an athlete, it allowed me to have passes, but it wasn't enough to impact how they viewed my people as a whole. Then, in college, I went to Haiti...I used to be embarrassed of it and of speaking the language so it opened me up a little more to experience that. I grew to learn that it's okay to love my black skin, my big nose, my hair, my soft voice, my heritage. 

How do you hope to inspire change? I don't know that there’s a unique way for me to do that, all of us are capable. For me, it looks like betting on myself. It's the belief I have in God...that's where I get my source and strength from.The results are very easy to see, but the process is often hidden so I hope to inspire change by being present, by honoring my gifts, by recognizing my value and place in the world. So, if I'm able to show people that it’s possible and I’m no different than they are and continue to hold up these mirrors to show people who they are at their cores, I think it'll be a natural catalyst for change and that'll help people to know who they are and to make decisions out of fear but out of faith. Faith based decisions are always rewarded. I just hope to activate people's God-like nature that they have inside of them. 

Favorite Food: Legume, white rice and black bean soup

Favorite Genre of Music: Alternative R&B

Favorite Artist/Band: Luther Vandross

Favorite Director/Writer: A tie between Ava Duvernay and Barry Jenkins

Favorite Color: Green 

Favorite Inner/Outer feature: My mind, my smile 

Favorite Item..: These bracelets that I always wear - I don’t take them off. One of them represents the Haitian flag and the other is wooden beads and then I have another that says “envision the end goal”.