From Research to Screenplay: How Storytelling Became My Creative Purpose

2016-2017 Was a Turning Point

In 2017, I graduated with a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology 🎓, with a dissertation exploring modern representations of Black masculinity through the lives of Black cowboys in Texas. I knew the academic expectation--publish research, write books, contribute to the field.
But I had to be honest with myself: I wasn’t interested in having theoretical conversations with other academics.
What pulled me in—the thing I couldn’t shake—was how Black men understood and represented themselves in the 21st century. What did they have to say about their own lives? How were they communicating those ideas—to each other, to the next generation?
At the time, I thought the answer was a book. But something in me resisted.

Resisting the Expected Path

After graduation, the pressure to turn my dissertation into a book was immediate—an unspoken rule drilled into every Ph.D. student near the finish line. But something in me wasn't ready for that process.
In 2016, I moved to Los Angeles, and—being a creature of habit--I sought out comedy clubs.

• Mo' Betta Mondays
• Chocolate Sundaes at The Comedy Union
• The J Spot

I went regularly. These places became my version of Cheers—where everybody knows your name. And looking around, I saw the same thing: Black men telling stories.

Some crafted punchlines, some shared moments of truth wrapped in humor. No matter what was happening in the "real world," a good storyteller always held my attention.

At first, I called it procrastination. It felt easier to go to a comedy club than to sit down and wrestle with a book manuscript. But deep down, I knew this wasn’t just me avoiding work. It felt productive—even if I couldn’t explain why.

Finding the Connection: Academia & Storytelling

Eventually, I started writing a movie based on my research, convincing myself it was still in the realm of productivity—even though I was "supposed" to be writing a book.
That’s when it all clicked.

For so long, I had used comedy clubs as a mental break from academic thinking. But once I finished my coursework and dissertation defense, that original pressure disappeared. Suddenly, what felt like procrastination before now felt like purpose.

I wasn’t just escaping. I was studying storytelling in real time.
The stories. The demographics. The way Black men craft narratives in spaces outside of traditional archives—this was all part of my work. So, I taught myself screenwriting.

I played with stories from my fieldwork that never made it into academic journals. The people I met became composite characters. The conversations that stuck with me resurfaced in new ways.

Going to comedy clubs in Houston had been an escape from academic writing, but over time, it became clear that storytelling—whether on stage, in film, or in print—was the foundation of everything I wanted to do.

The Shift Into Filmmaking

• 🎬I wrote my first short film, Fowl Play, as a crash course in filmmaking.
• 🎞 I wrote Quieted, which became a festival-winning screenplay.
• 📽 I launched Beyond the Schoolyard to preserve and tell overlooked histories.

I started testing my scripts in film competitions to see if what I was writing worked. The results?

• 🏆 Winner: Best Drama Script – Hollywood Just4Shorts (Quieted)
• 🥈 Finalist: 2nd Place Script-Short Film – ​Urban Mediamakers Film Festival (Quieted)
• 🎬 Nominee: Best Script – Cannes Independent Shorts (Quieted)
• ⭐ Official Selection – ETHOS Film Awards (Quieted)

This process showed me what I had known all along—there’s more than one way to tell a story. Film and screenwriting allowed me to explore my research in ways that academic writing never could.

And Now?

Here we are in 2024, and I have my first finished screenplay. 🎬
I wrote a short film based on my personal experiences in higher education, and it’s already a finalist in multiple film festivals.🏆
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Beyond Quieted, I’m now balancing multiple projects:

• ✔ Developing Beyond the Schoolyard into a documentary and community-centered project.
• ✔ Exploring ways to expand Quieted—whether into a feature or limited series.
• ✔ Finalizing my book proposal, after years of resisting the traditional academic route.

One of my mentors—whose shoulders my work stands on—told me,
📍 “You already have the book.”

And he’s right. I just had to find my way of telling it.
Now, I’m on the second draft of my book proposal, preparing to submit it for publication.

What’s the Lesson?

I’m still not sure.
Maybe that’s why I’m writing this.
Maybe the lesson is in the process itself.
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🔊 There’s more than one way to tell a story. Sometimes, you just have to take the long way around to find it.

#StorytellingMatters #BlackNarratives #Screenwriting #Filmmaking #CreativeProcess #FindingTheStory #RootworkLegacy