We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jasmine Milan Williams. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jasmine Milan below.

Jasmine Milan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

When I was around 4/5 years old, my parents relocated us from West Covina, CA to Fremont, CA. With the distance separating us from the only community we knew our blood family, my mom and dad found us another community our new church family. This is where I got bitten by the performance/creative bug. I performed in my first play at church and I will never forget my first lines, “The King is Coming, The King is Coming, The King is COMINGGGGG!” I ran across the sanctuary full of nerves and bravery, wearing an angel costume handmade by the mothers of our church, my little wings flapping behind me, knowing the importance and power of my words, announcing the coming of Jesus, I fell in love immediately.
I was proud of myself for doing something I thought I couldn’t do, something I felt I was good at, I had a lot of issues believing in myself as a child and saying what I couldn’t do, but acting became a can-do. At age 6 I didn’t realize acting would become a huge part of my life, what I studied in college, and what allowed me to evolve into many different versions of myself. All I did know is that it is, was, and will continue to be my Chrysalis space.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hello, my name is Jasmine Milan Williams, and I am a Multidisciplinary Artist/ Auntie/ Joy enthusiast, these three things define me as a human but also as an artist. I aim to do work that uses art as a vessel for change, collaborating with BIPOC artists and organizations to tell bold stories and shine a light on Black and Queer Liberations, work that my nieces and nephews would be proud of and could know that whatever they put their mind to they can do, and work that brings joy to my soul, spirit and the spirit of others. Joy is at the root of all that I do because I know that remaining in our joy is powerful especially when society constantly and consistently tries to take it from us, I know that joy is how my ancestors survived and how I am here today, I feel their laughter, all through my body, joy keeps me free.

My biggest success as an artist has been learning that I am an amazing collaborator, I work well with others. This superpower has taken me and my artistry all over the world because I bring compassion and empathy to any project and space I enter. My art is bigger than me, and it comes with having a voice, and when you have the power to speak, I believe you must do it with the utmost care, and understanding, and to benefit the collective good of humanity.

I do not do this work for me; I do it because I see the change it can create, and the power it has to allow others to see themselves, work through their circumstances, and spark conversation. I remember in college when I played the role of Sandy( a Sex worker in a brothel for white men only in the pre-voter rights south) in Dominque Morisseau’s Follow Me to Nellies; a woman came up to me in the lobby and placed her hand on my shoulder to tell me that I was playing her aunt, confused, I gave her my full attention, and she would go on to tell me that her aunt was like Sandy a black sex worker during that era, who worked in a brothel that only served white men, she told me she could see her Aunt in me and what that did for her. We hugged tight, and she cried in my arms. Sandy was a smaller role, and I didn’t think her storyline landed on anyone like it did me, but I will never forget the impact it had on this woman and how it brought us together.

I hope that the work I am part of/create allows for human connection, communal care, and changed views. We are more alike than we know, and by stepping into someone else’s shoes I have had the privilege of knowing lives lived differently from my own, and because of that, my art is inclusive, and representative of multiple truths, because the story of each character I have told through acting and costume design has taught me so much about myself and humanity.

Have you ever had to pivot?

As I continue into my 33rd year of life, I realize that pivoting is constant, and it goes hand in hand with my favorite thing to do, EVOLVE. Trusting your pivot will only bring you closer to evolving into your best truest self. I found this out early in my career but it didn’t sink in until a few years ago. I remember sitting in a room with two of my talented, professional castmates talking about auditions they turned down because they didn’t serve any purpose to their artist missions. And I thought WOW, that’s when I’ll know I have succeeded as an artist when I start turning down work that serves no purpose to me and my artist mission. I took this pivot probably in the middle of my career, and it was scary because saying yes before meant I was always working but saying no meant I was finally growing. I was feeding my soil the things that gave it purpose and wow, how I have grown.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Give us the coin… is the first thing that comes to mind when I think about how society can best support artists, creatives, and a thriving creative ecosystem. Artists are historians who reflect exactly what is going on in every decade through their art. Nina Simone said it’s an artist’s duty to reflect the times, and that is a large responsibility that most artists would probably do for free but we have to live in this capitalist society so pay us! Art is underfunded and removed from schools because ART is power. In 2020 I remember a resurgence of art as we sat in our homes or outside of our homes waiting for the uncertainty and fear of reality to pass. I saw friends who I didn’t even know sing, create albums, and loved ones paint, write, dance, act, and create themselves a way through. I remember my dad telling me how music was how he and his friends would express what they were going through in life, art is therapy and we need it to survive. Artists should be given the utmost honor and care, so it’s not just the coin, I believe artists need amazing health care, I believe artists need affordable housing, I believe artists need space to create, I believe artists need time, I believe artists need rest, and I believe we deserve it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jasminemilan.com
• Instagram: flaws_in_all

Image Credits

Personal Photo-Oakland Theater Project’s world premiere production of A Thousand Ships by Marcus Gardley. Photo credit: Ben Krantz Studio

Photo 1- Lorraine Hansberry Theater’s production of Intimate Apparel Photo Credit: Jan Hunter
Photo 2- Aurora Theater’s production of Bull in a China Shop Photo Credit: David Allen
Photo 2- TheaterWorks production of Steel Magnolia’s Photo Credit: Kevin Berne