Damien D. Smith is a multi-talented artist, actor, director, and activist who uses his art form to create awareness and initiate conversations around a range of social issues. He is a passionate advocate for social justice and has dedicated his life to making a difference in the lives of those who are historically underserved and undervalued. His work has been widely acclaimed and awarded due to his dedication to sparking awareness on human rights. His award-winning directorial projects, are Target: St. Louis, Detangling The South, and Free To Be Free. These projects have been widely acclaimed and awarded, and have made a huge impact on the world. Jejune is excited to put Damien D. Smith on your radar and explore his inspiring commitment to making the world a better place.

Where are you based?
I am based in Los Angeles. That is the home location, but I'm really young, really global right now.

Your grandparents raised you; how did the example they set shape your goal to address injustices in the world?
Oh, that's an excellent question, as they are two totally different people but still have similar work ethics to their goals.

My grandfather was a guy who woke up every single morning to work, came home, and tended to the ten children he had; Truthfully, more because my grandparents raised more than their own. So actually, 13 or 14 children, all before the second generation of kids came in. He worked for the Salvation Army as the team who drove to pick up donations from various businesses and homes.

On the other hand, my grandmother worked at Lutheran Ministries, where she was the social outreach manager for those who were incarcerated and transitioning, aiding in family outreach. An excellent example of her work was showcased through the holidays, where she would aid transitioning and detained members in securing proper power of attorneys for their families. My grandmother would then assist these guardians with simple things, like assuring their utility bills were properly handled and that they would have the minimum necessities at hand so that the children they were looking after had some semblance of a normal childhood while their parents were away. I recall countless mornings when I would assist my grandmother with carrying refrigerators and new stoves for these families. Just genuinely taking part in advocacy work alongside her at a very young age.

Even though I was going through things in my own life, I appreciated participating in these moments. It gave light to seeing how some truly were worse off, and even when we were at the same level, we could still help give back to them. It instilled a strong work ethic and advocacy that I think shaped my career.

You are an actor and a director. What inspired you to get into film?
What inspired me to get into film is that I am, in a sense, a cinephile. I used to watch all the movies. Everything from the 80s to the 90s to period pieces. Unfortunately, I've been so busy; lately, it hasn't been easy to keep up. But you name it, from foreign films to indies, even films that haven't made it into festivals. I have seen them!

My love for movies just gave me a love for the arts all together. It motivated me to take that step into pursuing that passion because I felt like I lived there. There were moments in my life when I looked back and realized I was an actor before I even knew I was an actor. I was a performer. I was an awkward kid, but I was still in a cool family, around cool people. So you know, that allowed me to have a sense of self and personal identity. This was my trajectory before I even knew it.

You started with acting but have been doing directing more recently. What inspired you to get into directorial work?
I thoroughly enjoy directorial work, as well as storytelling. One gives me more control, and the other comforts me to being a piece of a bigger puzzle. So that's why I enjoy both of them. I would say equally because it is very comforting when you can tell a story exactly how you want to tell it and get as close to your vision as you want. But there's nothing like being in a role and doing your part and then being able to just relax and not have to worry about everything else as a director.

What message do you hope to convey through your work?
I would like to tell the story of equality and justice. And that's what I advocate through all my stories, especially in the documentary side of things. To show the humanity that is in all of us, and what is unfortunate is that we have to show and prove our humanity a lot of times in African-American communities because if they did see the humanity in us, there wouldn't be incidents like Eric Garner's, Oscar Brown's or you know, Philando Castile's.

I also want to combat ignorance. Unfortunately, a lot of things are racist or definitely rooted in systemic racism. Still, there is also a portion of things that are rooted in ignorance that can be misguided and portrayed as racism. So I hope my work creates enlightenment and generates conversation in the most entertaining way possible.

As an actor, you have appeared on fan-favorite series' such as The Purge, Young Rock, A Short Break, and Born Again Virgin, to name a few. Which roles get you the most excited?
On The Purge, I got to play with a lot of big guns. It was fun; I can't act like it wasn't. Being on Young Rock was hilarious because I got to play Don King's character, and he was a silly man.

Right now, I truly enjoy my work on Snowfall. Looking back, I want to talk about Snowfall like they talk about The Wire, The Corner, or The Shield. So I'm happy to be a part of that.

You recently returned to your role of a private investigator, Top Notch in the final season of FX's hit crime drama series, Snowfall. Can you tell us a bit about the show and your character?
Yeah. Top Notch is a fixer at heart. He gets things done for the family due to his legions for the family as a whole. This season, you see more of his complex character. He has been through the war and can see he was touched by it. So this kind of keeps him in the action, but he's always about one step ahead of everyone, in my opinion.

So with the breadth of work that you do, How do you balance the demands of working as an actor and a director?
You have to love what you do. Because through your passions, you can put energy into things that are draining. You know, being a creative, you have to think about it psychologically. You put yourself through these late nights, early mornings, and endless hours to hit deadlines or make things look the way they are and stress yourself out. But it's all worth it to assure you make the best project possible. So, in reality, you get addicted to that feeling and that storytelling. So you know, it's just love. You just got to balance it out with love.

So speaking of things that you love doing, let's talk about the award-winning film Target: St. Louis Vol. 1. This is a terrifying crazy story. Can you tell us a little bit about it?
Target St. Louis Vol. 1 is about post-World War II during the Cold War when the military conducted secret chemical testing to one of the most vulnerable populations, St. Louis, which was, you know, coincidentally full of black people.

The government had admitted that they were putting together a defensive weapon just in case Moscow attacked with plans to release an aerosol spray from below in the cloud target area. They called this an aerosol spray study, but some say, in actuality, they were putting together an offensive weapon and using poor people as Guinea pigs. So knowing the facts of their use of zinc cadmium sulfide and many other things, there was a lot of speculation about radioactive chemicals that could have potentially been used as well. So the story is centered around the people who lived through it.

They were children at the time, now adults, and they're telling their story of the impact and how they've had to deal with it - being tested on without their permission.

What inspired you to cover it?
My grandmother and I used to mail each other letters, often gossiping about family things, but in this particular case, she shared a clipping with me of this newspaper article by Dr. Martina Taylor about her dissertation on these tests. She told me how she was part of it, as it happened in her neighborhood and often talked about as kids. So I talked to my grandma further about it and knew I wanted to look into it myself, which made me mad. I was like, "you're just testing folks without their permission?" I was like, no, this is my community. So, you know, I have a skill set, and I wanted to use it to benefit my people. It's something I truly believed in, and I knew it would be worth documenting.

Will there be a Volume 2? “
Yes, there will be a volume two, three, four, and five. That's an anthology of feelings that I'm setting up to shoot in St. Louis—both the narrative and documentary. So you can look out for that. I wanted to use these volumes of film to help vitalize the film community in St. Louis Mo.

We love your new docu-series, Detangling The South, which has gained recognition at Cannes International Cinema Festival, being awarded Best TV Series Pilot Award Winner. Please tell us more about the documentary and why it's important to tell this story.
So it's important to tell this story because it's history. Detangling itself is a docu-series highlighting the overlooked, undervalued, and often ignored contributions of women's past, present, and future towards the civil rights movement. It's told by our host and Co - EP, Nia Weeks and Faye Matthews. Nia is a Social Justice Attorney, and Faye is an Environmental Legal Advocate. Together, they traveled to historical sites to touch on different aspects of untold history in Birmingham, Selma, Dade County, Florida on election night, and Sweet Auburn in Georgia and talk about these broader history stories that are so fascinating, you can't believe that you never heard about them.

Why was it important for you to follow Social Justice attorney Nia Weeks and environmental legal advocate Faye Matthews as they experience black history and talk about the right to vote?
It was essential for us to put together this tour and docu-series because voting is one of the most important pillars of our society. You know, Nia and I strategize on making this happen with those pillars, voter engagement, and the history of dissemination. Utilize these pillars to engage. We want to get as many people as we can out there to vote.

We hear some crazy historical stories through Detangling The South. Do you have a favorite story that you learned through directing this series?
You know what? I didn't learn it while directing the story in this series, but it was very interesting to learn about the Ballard House and its efforts in documenting stories through African-American history.

Getting the black vote is so important in this country. We have seen it completely change elections. Can you speak on this and the importance of it in this country?
The importance of the black vote is historically important. We all know that they come around and pander to us when election time rolls around. As of lately, I've seen this shift of us taking the power of our vote and using it as a block to get things done. For example, if you look at Stacey Abrams and how she rallied everything to unite our vote to help shift our last presidential election. Through moments like that, you have to understand the power of the African-American vote because that can change the trajectory of lives.

It's important that we don't just talk about it and not just use it at the executive level but for our local and city politicians as well. Local elections are the ones that impact our lives the most through judges, controllers, and elected sheriffs. You need to pay attention to those elections, and we need to lobby our black vote for our needs and benefits.

Yeah. So is this why you're so passionate about voting?
Yeah. This is why I'm so proud. Yeah, this is exactly why I'm so passionate about voting and engagement.

What do you hope your audience gets from Detangling The South?
I hope my audience gets knowledge and entertainment.

Detangling The South and all your work has drawn the attention of the United Nations, who invited you to participate in panels in New York in support of Women's History Month. Can you tell us more about this experience?
It is something that I'm excited to do. It's the United Nations. So to me, that's cool. I'm honored to be able to be a part of something as an advocate, as a man being able to advocate for women, and being recognized for my advocacy. It's something I don't often think about, but it's always nice when it happens.

It's just unfortunate that injustice doesn't have gender requirements. So, we're speaking about things that I found important, which just so happen to be women's issues.

Speaking of empowering women, you also directed Free to Be Free: The Story of House Bill 382. Can you tell us a bit about this documentary and why this was important to highlight?
This is something that I've been extremely passionate about for decades. Hair is a representation of African Americans and has been for generations and decades as a way to either quench our pride or exemplify our pride. When Nia Weeks and I partnered up to talk about the advocacy work she has done on the legislative level and my own on the creative level, with our powers combined, we decided to combat the planet and direct this film about hair. I'm very proud of it because I did what I needed to do for my sisters.

What you see and know as Free To Be Free is actually a compilation of three other shorter docu-series we did around the subject, highlighting the advocacy work around getting this legislation passed. I'm proud to be part of getting the first crown act passed in the Deep South in Louisiana.

Where can we watch Target: St. Louis Vol. 1, Detangling The South, and Free to Be Free?
You can find these plus various other projects on a streaming platform soon.

We’ve prioritized rolling out at festivals but now we're in this quarter where we’re looking to the engagement of finding a home for our projects for the mass to watch.

In addition to directing, you also work with a few nonprofits. Can you tell us more about what motivated you to work with Color of Change and further their mission?
Well, Color of Change aligns with pretty much our mission statement, which is to broaden engagement and touch on issues centered around people of color. So for me, it is a no-brainer for us to work together.

How did you get involved with Ms. Foundation? Can you tell us a bit about this organization and its importance?
Under the guise of Teresa Younger, the foundation was built to support the work of women across the country with specific grants to support black women in the South. We have been lucky recipients of that grant, and so they unapologetically support all the work that we do around working with women and children. They are also funders of Cyber Justice, which is another project that we do focused on teaching young people to be social justice filmmakers.

It has been a crazy few years. How have you been staying optimistic during these difficult times?
Well, you know what? I am a faith-based and firm believer in God. I am also an optimist, so I believe things are a little crazy, but this kind of shift is needed to get more understanding and get people on the right track. For example, I see more civic and social engagement right now than I saw 10 or even 15 years ago. So things are moving in a direction. There's now an awakening of information everywhere. We must decipher that information and make the best movements for us. So I stay optimistic by believing in my fellow human beings.

What is your motto in life?
Creativity, love, and art.

To keep up with Damien and his work, check out the following platforms:
Instagram: @damiendsmith
Facebook: Damien D. Smith
Twitter: @DamienDSmith

https://4910rosalie.com/
https://citizenshe.com/
https://impactglobalstrategies.com/

Images courtesy of Damien D. Smith.

Damien D. Smith - The "Directorial" Force to be Reckoned With