Professor. Director. Poet. Artist. Activist. These words don’t begin to cover Jamal Joseph’s many accomplishments. As chairman of the film department at Columbia’s Graduate School of the Arts and a professor for over a decade, Joseph experienced his latest triumph last Thursday night when two of his films premiered on the opening night of the 2010 Artivist Film Festival.

Artivist is the first of its kind, a film festival that unites art and activism to raise awareness about social issues around the globe. The festival, held in New York this year for the first time in its seven-year history, chose “Percy Sutton: A Man For All Seasons” and “Harlem is Music”—both documentaries directed by Joseph—to premiere on its opening night at the Tribeca Cinemas.

“Artivist is dedicated to raising awareness for humanity, animals, and the environment. It is a film festival that celebrates global consciousness and advocacy,” Diaky Diaz, the festival’s founder, said.
Joseph has been a community activist since the time of his membership in the Black Panther Party in Harlem during the 1970s, and he began his long relationship with Columbia by protesting on Low Steps, threatening to burn the school down. Joseph served a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence because of a connection with an armed robbery, but he used his time productively—he earned two college degrees, and he even wrote his first play.

“Harlem is Music” investigates how different genres of music have influenced the Harlem community, and “Percy Sutton: A Man For All Seasons” explores the life and contributions of Percy Sutton, a prominent African-American political, social, and business leader. Joseph’s early encounters with Sutton, who passed away last December, include visiting the radio station that Sutton owned through his Inner City Broadcasting Corporation and co-founded in 1971.

“As a teenager I was always so exhausted that I would fall asleep right there on the studio floor. Mr. Sutton always made sure I had something to eat and a place to sleep. I had that encouragement that through the arts I would do great things,” Joseph said.

Sutton’s story of success is an inspiring one. Born in Austin, Texas, he first came to New York City for three days as a runaway at the age of 12, allegedly sleeping under the stairs behind the famed Apollo Theater, an establishment he would one day be responsible for revitalizing and bringing out of disrepair. After serving as an intelligence officer in World War II, Sutton moved to Harlem and rose to prominence as Malcolm X’s lawyer. Later, Sutton became the highest-ranking African-American elected official in New York City when he assumed the position of Manhattan borough president from 1966-1977.

Sutton’s granddaughter, Keisha Sutton James, was on hand at the premiere to take part in a panel discussion along with Joseph. James, who is vice president of the Inner City Broadcasting Corporation, emotionally expressed the depth of her grandfather’s ability to touch those around him.

“I am truly blessed to have had him as my grandfather. He just made me feel so special. Everyone on whom he laid eyes felt special,” James said.

Through the making of his film, Joseph is preserving Sutton’s legacy as a civil rights pioneer and dedicated community leader and is continuing in Sutton’s footsteps by combining the arts with activism.

“We hope that the film continues to show around the world, and that people are inspired by the light that is the Percy Sutton,” Joseph said. “He turned the light on 125th Street, not only physically at the Apollo, but in all of our lives.”