We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jamiyl Samuels a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jamiyl, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project I have worked on to date is my adult book entitled “Speak II Me: A Black Father’s Journey Raising a Son on the Autism Spectrum”. This book speaks of my wife Tracy-Ann and my journey raising our son Trey who was on the autism spectrum. I did not know what autism was or the signs at the time. Because he was our first born, I had this vision of my boy being my heir and carrying on my legacy. For this reason I was in denial that anything was wrong with my son although the signs were evident in his behavior. My ignorance in part led to Trey receiving a late diagnosis and missing out on early intervention services.

My inaction put a strain on my marriage. My wife was to the point where if I did not get on board with getting our son checked out, she was going to take him and go. It was through an observation of Trey’s kindergarten class that I saw the extent of what he was going through. He was wandering around the classroom while the other students were sitting and he was getting bullied in the cafeteria. Watching my son get his lunch taken from him and not be able to speak to stop it from happening was heartbreaking. It was also the final straw needed for me to get on board with getting him tested.

Getting Trey diagnosed was only the beginning to a years-long process of what I call ‘saving my son’s life’. This included not only getting him properly diagnosed, but finding the proper educational setting and getting him the proper services. Finally getting Trey into the right school where he could receive the individualized attention and therapy necessary sparked a turnaround in his speech and motor skills that could have been further delayed if I did not change my mindset.

I know my story is not my own. Being able to write about this journey allowed me to apologize to my wife, forgive myself and heal from the guilt I was feeling. “Speak II Me” grew into a virtual discussion about fatherhood live on Instagram with men who were fathers of children on the spectrum. I was also able to have a conversation with two of my closest friends, whose children are not on the spectrum, about what it means to break the cycle of absentee fatherhood by being present and active in the lives of their children. The vulnerability and candor shown by these men who did not know each other, about a topic that is seen as taboo in the Black community, in such a public forum, was absolutely amazing.

I recently sat down with the legendary Bobby Konders and spoke to him about his own autism journey. I hope to reach out to more fathers in and out of the celebrity spotlight to continue the important discussion about normalizing empathy, understanding and inclusion for kids who appear to be different.

Jamiyl, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Jamiyl Samuels. I am the Founder/Owner of W.R.E.a.C Havoc Enterprises. The
acronym stands for Write, Record, Educate, and Create. I started W.R.E.a.C Havoc Enterprises in January 2005 as an outlet for my creative work which included Hip Hop music mix CDs. As I gained valuable writing experience as a freelancer contributing content to online and print publications such as Allhiphop.com, The Ave magazine, Vibe magazine, TheUrbanDaily.com, and working as a staff writer for HOT97.com, I began to share my expertise and offer writing and editing services to others.

I began my college career in 1996 studying Theatre Arts at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, but soon moved back to New York to finish my ungergraduate studies completing both my Bachelors degree in English and Masters degree in Media Arts with a concentration in screenwriting from Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York.
I fell in love with screenwriting after my sixth-grade journalism teacher loaned me the screenplays of “Do The Right Thing” and “Mo Betta Blues” in the spring of 1990. To date, he has completed five screenplays, two of which have made the quarterfinals of competitions such as “PAGE International Screenwriting Competition” and “Blue Cat Screenwriting Competition”.

In 2007 my son Trey Amani was born. To celebrate being a dad and heal from my own trauma of having an absentee father, I added the title of author to my resume self-publishing a book on the importance of fatherhood in the Black community entitled “Pass The Torch: How A Young Black Father Challenges The Deadbeat Dad Stereotype” in 2011. In 2016 I re-released a revised version of my debut with the intent on sharing my story with at-risk youth and families.

Trey was officially diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in 2014, a diagnosis I did not initially accept, which led to him missing out on early intervention services. In 2018 my wife Tracy-Ann and I co-authored a children’s book entitled “The Amazingly Awesome Amani” to spread awareness about ASD in the Black community. We followed up with three more books in the series including “The Sensationally Super Sandy”, based on our daughter Aja, which shed light on autism. from a sibling perspective. In 2022 I released “Speak II Me: A Black Father’s Journey Raising a Son on the Autism Spectrum” to make people aware of the danger of denial when it comes to a child with a dsability. I shared my struggle to learn about and accept that my son had a disability, something that affects many families.

In 2022 Tracy-Ann and I launched The Amazingly Sensational Kids Media as an outlet for our children’s literature and subscription boxes that highlighted stories about children with disabilities such as cerebral palsy, ADHD, down syndrome, and more. Through our T.A.S.K. Shop we are not only promoting autism acceptance, but giving a platform to parents of children with special needs to share their stories.

We also offer parent and teacher training workshops for parents and educators alike who are struggling with a new diagnosis and how to approach a parent about a child in the classroom respectively. We also conduct in-school readings of our books followed by Q&A sessions and prize giveaways for larger assemblies. Our T.A.S.K. is to use Transparency, Advocacy, Sensitivity, and Knowledge in all our endeavors to bring forth Truth, Accountability, Service, and Kindness.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is knowing that my work has resonated with someone. We have received such great feedback from people who have read our children’s books series and see us at vendor events and festivals across the U.S. knowing what our stories represent, the community we are advocating for, and the representation of Black boys and girls on the cover of our books makes an immediate impact.

For years I was my own worst critic, constantly changing and rewriting stories, afraid to release my creations to the public. One day my wife told me that I will never know how people will receive my work unless I put it out there. She told me to stop overthinking and trust God. It was the best advice I have ever received. While I am still super critical of what I write, I don’t hesitate to share. As a result, we have published a new children’s book every year since 2018. One of the pros of being independent is you don’t have to wait to put out your art. Conversely, it is still an uphill battle to be seen as a legitimate literary source in the mainstream without the major publishing companies behind you, but that makes me work that much harder to expand our reach and make an impact with our storytelling and subscription box initiative.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I am on a mission to reach a wider audience with my creative work. Growing our brand will lead to what is now my side hustle being my main source of income. There is nothing like getting paid to do something you love. Since I was a little boy drawing my own Archie comics and writing my own version of The Honeymooners, I have dreamed of my original creative work serving a purpose. Our son Trey being diagnosed with autism is a blessing from God. It opened my eyes to something I was completely ignorant about and motivated me to create a character that could educate adults who were in my position and entertain children of all ages who never saw themselves on the cover of a children’s book.

When we released “The Amazingly Awesome Amani” in April 2018, autism was seen as taboo in the Black community. It was something that was rarely talked about. Six years later we have seen more acceptance for children who appear to be different. We are having more conversations about autism than ever before. Celebrities are sharing their personal stories of family members who are on the spectrum helping to normalize the propensity for empathy and understanding. I want to continue to drive the narrative that special needs children are just as amazing as kids who do not have a disability.
There are so many stories I want to tell about fatherhood, HIV awareness, racial profiling, and more. I want to transfer all the stories in my head into more books and screenplays. I want to live out my dreams of recording music professionally by rhyming on the soundtrack to my own films. As long as God spares my life there’s a lot I want to share with the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.TheAmazinglySensationalKids.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theamazinglysensationalkids?igsh=MmVIMjlkMTBhMg%3D%3D&utm_-source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamiyl.samuels?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiyl-samuels-b4655723?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/wreachavocwritr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@theamazinglysensationalkid5597?si=yrFrkvLdstM_kOUw
• Other: https://linktr.ee/w.r.e.a.c_havoc_enterprises?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaYDRjj-F5_QfRSRugdUU2kKOAcwx6bdBy9adNT-BzhRGweHYLp3617TRaNwE_aem_ZmFrZWR1bW15MTZieXRIcw

Image Credits

1,2 – Jamiyl and Tracy-Ann
3 – Jamiyl and Trey on the cover of “Speak II Me”
4 – Jamiyl posing with high school students holding copies of “Pass The Torch” in Brooklyn 2017
5 – The Samuels family (l-r: Jamiyl, Aja, Tracy-Ann, Trey) at Black Author Expo in Virginia in April 2022
6 – Trey in superman costume 2015 (inspired “The Amazingly Awesome Amani” cover)
7 – Jamiyl signing copies of “The Amazingly Awesome Amani” at the launch party April 2018
8 – Jamiyl at Black Enterprise Summit May 2022